That’s when the repressive brain kicks in.
It all depends on the race Mr Smith…
Time doesn’t mean much on a fifty mile Fell run, so to win would have been great. I’ve only ever won one fell running event, the ‘Limestone Limp’ a 38 mile course around the dales. It chucked it down with rain all the way.
I almost won the ‘Flamborough Fling’ 26 miles starting in Bridlington on the East coast. I was feeling good and by ten miles I had broken away from the pack. There was two of us, and he said he had done this race before, so I let him navigate. Together we managed a cracking pace, but I always thought that I could leave him as we approached the end. You just get a feeling about someone running beside you.
With just two miles to go he directed us across a field to meet the coast path back to the finish in Flamborough. With barbed wire fencing to climb I knew he had made a mistake, so I left him and returned back to the correct path while he floundered about in the field. By the time I reached the coast path the marshals said that two others had since gone through so I ended up third…
On a road marathon there will be some world class runners, or even good club runners, and winning would be out of the question, so running a fast time is more important. Road running is constant, where as fell running allows for a walk while you push a jam sandwich and drink down. Running for over six hours requires some food and drink to keep the energy levels up.
On a road marathon drinks are the only thing you need and these can be taken without stopping.
Of my 36 road marathons, 35 were completed in under 3.5 hours, with a best time of 3 hours dead. A bit like me afterwards.
I mention the ‘Jam Sandwich’ specifically because there is quite a story behind it…
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Well…???
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To avoid going off topic and getting my legs smacked Mr Smith, I will take the tale of the jam sandwich elsewhere…Be sure to watch out for it…
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