The toughest runners in the Musketeers plunged into darkest deepest Cornwall to take part in the first ever Imerys Marathon and half Marathon.
While others were running with the Olympic Torch the real hard core Dave M, Neil W, Caroline E, Guy B and Louise W tackled the clay pits and ‘Cornish Alps’ and survived, but only just.
Louise was encouraged round the half marathon by Neil, leaving Caroline behind. Louise was under her target of two hours and that on a very undulating course strewn with sinking sand and stones and despite her falling! Looks like she could be setting the pace soon for the women and beating most of the men.
Caroline succeeded very well, despite having run almost non-stop for past two or three weeks on runs like the Black Death (where she felt as she had faced death in the face). Both Caroline and Neil are in bonny Scotland for the Edinburgh Half in a few days, so it was a brave decision to take part at all. I have a lot to learn from Neil and Caroline’s determination to push to their limits.
Dave thundered round the marathon brining down avalanches and causing rift valleys where ever he ran and it was all worth while, not just to train for the Dartmoor Discovery, but also for topping his age category and winning a prize.
As is common with St Austell Running Club events, this is was very well organised and fully marshalled with everything you needed to run a race. I perhaps should have taken my own gels and had to rely on jelly babies and jelly beans to get me through. It compares in difficulty with the Eden Project Marathon (run over similar terrain) and I would say it was harder.
This may be a regular run for those who like tackling the hard stuff.
by Guy