As a part of his 50th birthday celebrations, our chairman Pat Harris, treated himself to this ultra test of endurance.
54 miles along the South Downs Way, this double marathon is a sojourn along the ancient path along the chalk ridge from the Slindon Estate near Arundel to the ancient burial grounds of England’s earliest Kings in Winchester Cathedral.
Breathtaking panoramas and historical sites pepper the course as it traverses the counties of West Sussex and Hampshire. Moving through The Devils Jumps, the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and HMS Mercury. Punctuated by plenty of hills, many so immense they have been given names (Beacon, Old Winchester, Cheesefoot, St Catherines to name a few) But one incline in the middle is so immense it’s not even a hill -it’s what is known as a Marilyn.
A cool and collected Pat lined up on the startline…. a mammoth task laying before him.
“I felt remarkably calm at the start. I set off at 8.45 in D wave. Mentally this was great as I passed plenty of people as I went”
And it showed! He flew through the first half of the race in a fantastic time.
“I really enjoyed it! Particularly miles 30-40. I felt really together the whole way. I never had a wobble once!”
“Butser Hill was a killer, it just kept going and going but it wasn’t the steepest! The whole route was punctuated by these monster hills”
But he kept on going, kept putting one foot in front of the other. Up every hill that the course put in his way.
“My glutes really started to ache at around 40 miles, and my feet were in tatters by 45”
Even a change of socks and fresh Vaseline couldn’t save him from the pain at this point, but he soldiered on. Up the last hill and down, down down the other side to his goal – The Cathedral.
“The last 5 miles were a drag, the light was fading. But I could she the lights of Winchester getting closer and closer. It felt pretty good seeing my goal drawing near. I was passing people from Wave B by now. It felt awesome”
Waiting on the Cathedral steps was our very own Vice Ladies Captain Elaine, pensively looking into the distance to try to catch site of her boy. A meandering route through the old part of the city in the last half mile, meant that he appeared almost from nowhere. Crossing the line a happy man.
54 miles, 15 hours, 113,360 steps, 1 goal… mission accomplished.
Happy Birthday Pat.. you are a legend.
