Originally Posted by
Guick Dotto
Thanks to everybody who encouraged me to have a go. Awesome experience! My target was to beat the cut offs with a dream scenario of getting in under 5 hours. 4.55.01:D Hurray!
The cramp was a surprise. From the top of Whernside it was real dig down deep inside yourself territory. I had a chance to get some salt tablets but forgot till it was too late but I did get plenty to eat. I couldn't get any steam up from Inglebugger. Everytime I tried to open up the crampy tendrils started to tighten on my legs. People kept pulling up all along the trail but somehow I kept going by maintaining a jogging pace. Just before Sulber Nick I took a massive p*sser but luckily it was a gravelly bit of path so only sustained a livid graze on my shoulder which is what I landed on. (How good did it look?) I passed the sign which said 1 mile to Horton then saw the marquees and screamed inside but it's miles away I'm not going to make it... I made it.
My wife said I looked much worse than anybody else crossing the line. Apparently my head was caked in salt so I looked like one of Davy Jones' crew in Pirates of the Carribean.
Thanks again for all the encouragement back in January. A lifetime's ambition achieved. And who knows... 4.40 next year?