Anglo Celtic Plate & UKA 100km Championships – Redwick, Wales – Sun. 22nd July 2012

Just a quick update really....

Although I had a 'bad day at the office', there were some truly inspiring performances out there in a small town in Wales, on a very tough and brutal day.

I pulled at 50km after some issues with my stomach and bladder. I'll save you the gory details but it wasn't a nice experience. I was still running well up until this point, but after consulting with the team management it was decided that it would be best to stop. It doesn’t appear that I have suffered any long term damage and it's difficult to know that if I had carried on racing, things might have sorted themselves out.

One of the most surprising aspects of the race was that I was actually enjoying myself up until that point. The idea of running road, over 2 mile laps for 100km, initially sounded like hell to me but after the first couple of laps I found myself really enjoying the experience, sharing some great banter with team mates Marcus Scotney, Craig Holgate and the rest of the field.

So overall, it was a great experience and something that I definitely want to do again! I learned quite a lot during the weekend and I now know what I need to do to put me in a better place the next time I stand at the starting line of a 100km road race.


Back to the race...

Keith Wyhte from Ireland put in an impressive performance to come home first in 7:16:42, followed by Allen Smalls (Eng), Craig Holgate (making his England debut), Thomas Loehndorf (Scot, although his accent is a bit dodgy!) and Marcus Scotney (Eng) to bring the team prize home to England.

In the ladies race, Emily Gelder of Wales dominated the race with a truly gutsy performance, followed home by Isobel Wylkes (Eng) and Jen Salter (Wales), Wales taking the team prize.

A final thank you to the England Team who made me feel at home and I must also mention the Scottish folk at the event. They really are a great bunch and make me feel like an 'Honouree Scot'. Cheers my wee friends.