Bullock Smithy

[Tea & cake]

Good to meet you BritNick & well done on a fantastic result :thumbup: Big thanks for emailing Mrs S your notes, a huge help.

Big well done too to Daz & Socks (hope the cold is on the mend socks, you sounded pretty ropey at the start!)

The biggest well done goes to my running partner Mrs Stagger. We managed to gossip non stop for the first 40m or so which helped them fly by We went a bit quiet towards the end, had to concentrate on keeping going. Got a huge boost passing a few folk in the last few miles, a steady start definately paid off. The only problem is, I am rembering the whole event as being great fun and am sat here wondering what WE can enter next :w00t:

[LM]

And thank you Tea & Cake for being the perfect partner, we were so well matched, you kept me going on those long boring sections towards the end but WE did it. Great to meet BritNick too, the hints and tips were invaluable, thank you. Well done Socks, not sure I could have tackled such an epic race with a cold.

Now what can we do next????

[BritNick]

Yes, get well soon, Socks. I hope the weekend's effort hasn't put you back. Give yourself some TLC and early nights now.

[DazTheSlug]

sorry to miss Socks, T&C and MrsS - I was wearing my fluo-green Fell Ponies vest though, so don't know what else I have to do to get noticed!

Nick - Many Congratulations on your sub-12, you must be well chuffed
however, I repeat my question: if you finished at midnight, what were you still doing there at 5am!?

I also had a great run, I normally grind to a halt, especially on the flat, but was still able to "lift" a bit all the way in from Bollington

we (the 2 Bristol Boys and myself) worked out at Walker Barn that if we concentrated a bit we could get a sub-17
we did the section to Whiteley Green at about 17min/miling
leaving us needing to do 15min/miling for the last 5.5M section
we got to Coppice car park on schedule, but started to tie up on Towers Lane
we ended up doing the last kilometre up the A6 in 7mins (equates to 10.5min/miling), which felt like sprinting at the time, and burst through the doors of the scout hut with the official time showing 4:59, but by the time the timekeeper got to us it had ticked over to 5:00! we were quite insistent about being logged as 16:59 though

[Tea & cake]

however, I repeat my question: if you finished at midnight, what were you still doing there at 5am!?

He was enjoying his moment of glory

Sorry to miss you too Daz. Didn't spot the vest or I would have said hello.

[Tea & cake]

The running flowed so freely and painlessly to the end it seemed unreal, like the most perfect dream.

Hmmmm. I don't remember this bit

[BritNick]

Daz, I don't remember the question the first time around. Anyway I was flitting between my sleeping bag failing to get some sleep and the dining hall for more food and a chinwag. I always wait for the 10am presentation anyway.

Tea & cake, neither did I until this year. Perhaps after 13 completions, you too will experience nirvana. :w00t: If you don't want to wait that long, just take along a good supply of Coke next year to bring the experience forward a little.

[socks]

He he - good old cold gets all the sympathy flowing! Actually I did feel a bit rough at the start. I was wary about pushing myself too much - you hear too many things about affects of colds & pushing hard. But I think most of it was in my head. I'd mentally switched off because of all the road at the end - but after the stony track around Cumberland Cottage, the road was bliss!

Nick - you were obviously in a sleeping phase when I finished.

[LM]

Yes our thoughts exactly! As fell runners we found the road a pain early on but boy were we looking forward to it in the latter stages, at least we could move fairly swiftly on it. The stony track by Cumberland Cottage was a proper toe cruncher.

[BritNick]

I've just uploaded my report with links to a few piccies. I think it was one of my most magical ultra experiences, one that comes with unexpected success.
http://ultraploddernick.blogspot.com/