Long distance king Dan Williams was at it again this weekend, as he returned to East Farm to improve on his performance there last year.
Based at East Farm near Winterbourne Whitechurch in Dorset, 12 hours of looping around the nearby fields and forest, leaping over the odd hay bale and, as it was a White Star Running event, feeling the lurve at the infamous Lovestation.
Dan set up camp on Saturday in the sunshine, cheering on the runners in the marathon and getting social with some of the other White Star regulars.
Sunday – 8am
It’s chucking down the proverbial cats and dogs as Dan lined up for the off.
“I felt rough, my throat was on fire” said Dan
But despite this he set off out into the wind and rain, clocking the 5th fastest lap of the whole race.
The course was peppered with the usual White Star Running craziness, with plenty of fancy dress and silly signs.
Dans sore throat made it hard for him to refuel at times. After running enough 3.2 mile laps to make the marathon distance, he had a bit of a break to get some food in, hoping that the rain would stop.
““It was awful on the course. An absolute quagmire. I was soaked cold. I didn’t take shoes with any grip, which was a schoolboy error. It was hard going underfoot”
But despite the challenges he faced he stuck it out, going round and round, getting wetter and wetter and colder and colder. Even an unscheduled break at 33 miles to repeg his tent to stop it blowing away didn’t deter Dan from his mission to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
11 hours and 4 minutes, 17 laps and 56.2 miles later he was finished. Cold, wet and exhausted.
All the hard work was worth it as he clocked up the most laps in the shortest time, a full hour quicker than his nearest competitor. Yes! that’s right, he repeated his win at July’s Cider Frolic to emerge victorious… HE WON!… AGAIN!!!! Showing that he is a true master at these events.
Well done Dan!
