Aldermans Ascent today, 5.3m/1300'. Possible the worst i've ever performed in a race. About 10mins in i started feeling empty and very hot, i kept doing my best and had a fairly good descent to the far CP in the bottom. Setting off out of the gill to the base of the climb my legs didn't want to run at all. The climb was punishing and i was out of water by the top, i had a gel which i think may have made to worse, my mouth was so dry. From then on i just got slower and slower, i couldn't even get going on the downhills. I decided i was on the edge of heat exhaustion and started to look for water, which i found in the form of a very small trickle running off the fell. I managed to get about half a litre down me and felt a lot better, i splashed some on my face and ended up with grit in my eyes. From then on i got progressively faster and was running comfortably over the last half mile. It just goes to show how chemically necessary water is to the body's performance, even if you're still moving and upright you can still be well down on power.

Today i met Martha Tibott from Saddleworth Runners, a young lady in her twenties. She staggered past me on her last quarter mile run into the finish of the ladies race and looked awful. I back tracked and found her collapsed in a bush in the ginnel, it took her 3 attempts to tell me her name and she was badly heat exhausted with blood coming out of both knees and foam from her mouth. I gave her some water, but she was getting less and less compus mentus. I shouted the corner marshal to get a first aider quickly, she arrived and i left her to her job.

The first and biggest problem i had was not knowing whether it was a first aider case or an ambulance case, and having this level of responsibility towards another helpless human being was quite overbearing. If anyone knows how she is, i'd be thankful for good news.