Salomon South Downs Marathon

Redhead · June 2007

Had a fab day! Greeted by Birdypie, then One Blue Leg and friend then met up with Hippo and Limper who had spoiled me and bought me a birthday balloon. After a bit of embarrassment I attached it to my belt and there it stayed for the whole marathon! Thank you so much for your kind gesture xxx Every time I went past walkers, bikers, or when other runners passed me they were wishing me a happy birthday and it was lovely.

Really enjoyed the course, stopped to enjoy the view, took loads of photos, stroked the cows, chatted to walkers. Trundled home happily in 5:50 and was pleased as my groin strain was giving me gip from mile 5 onwards. A great day out and an excellent start to my 50s ;-)))

And yes, I had copious amounts of champagne when I got home! Went out for a 6 mile walk across the hills this afternoon to stretch my legs

[Deleted User] · June 2007

I wish i could "trundle home" in 5.50

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Redhead - isn't having a helium filled balloon an unfair advantage as it helps you float more easily along the route? Maybe the AAA need to look into this:-)

Hipps - hilly got a red t-shirt and I got black. Was it random colours? I thought gin was your tipple of choice mid-race:-)

BP - sorry I missed your post. Condolences and hope you can make it next year. We happen to be in London having a curry at the Rajasthan tomorrow (Monday) if you can make it for a drink or the full meal.

Dustin - maybe not having to lug our weight up so many hills has something to do with it. It's the repetitive battering on the legs which then causes the DOMS afterwards due to the evenness and firmness of the running surface which also makes one faster at FLM .

[Deleted User] · June 2007

BR

i had a choice of black or white

sort of
well
they had XL in black

so i decided to stay as an XL for now

its a bit big
but i LIKE black

Hilly · June 2007

It seems that everyone who did SDs really enjoyed it. Out of interest, did the same marshalls stay on the course until the last finisher or were there shifts as such?

Mike Gratton 2 · June 2007

They all stayed in place throughout with one exception at 23.5 mile drinks - not sure what happened there and hope it didn't cause any major problems. There was a marshalling problem at 13 mile check point - I think mostly an internal problem which most runners didn't notice as water and medic etc. were there just lack of humans for a while.

Plan for next year to allow marshals to stand down earlier is to have a split start with slower runners going off at 9am, relay at 9.30 and quicker runners at 10am - gives more capacity as well. Not sure yet how to split it without offending anyone. What are your thoughts?

Mike Gratton 2 · June 2007

Btw, don't bother sending the chips back if you didn't spot the box at the finish - we only get 30p back and the postage will be more than that.

[Deleted User] · June 2007

I think the marshalls were absent at mile 13 when there were lots of police there about a road accident-not sure what that was all about
no marshallds at 23.5, as you say, but we met them coming towards that water stop

i nearly collared the posh wine drinking party for a drink at that point-and then we noticed the water bottles a bit further on

Thought MG might have laid on wine, and got quite excited;)

I am LIKING the early start option

ask anyone over 5 hours to start early?

Hilly · June 2007

It's amazing the marshals stayed out there for over 7 1/2 hours. Hope they get a day off tomorrow Mike:-)

BR says if you set the slower (i.e. over 5 hours) runners first you may need to point out on the entry process that this would probably equate to about 4:10 on the road.

An exhaustive search of those at the front end would suggest a 30 min difference between road and South Downs time at the shaper end of the field.

BR points out that this would mean the winner would be a 2:20 marathon runner, with the M40 prize at London this year being won in 2:25 - so that was some runner. He also seems to have beaten the fastest relay team by a good 6 or 7 minutes!!

Have you come across him before Mike?

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Many thanks to Dickie4 - the course was well signed so didn't rely on GPS - but the advice to start slow in the forest loop and hold a steady comfortable pace to Harting Down was very simple and very true.

Also, a big Hi and hope your team posted a good time (if not placing)to the Gloucester relay runner on 3rd leg..hope I didn't slow you too much!!

Cheers to all the guys that offered vocal support to my determined efforts to run "every" step of the way, I did manage it..though some of those hills were very tough!

A great day!

SR

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Whoops - nearly forgot to thank kind knight in shining t shirt whom I trundled over finishing line with and kindly gave me a lift to Petersfield station even though he lived in Southampton.

Redhead · June 2007

BR, LOL, it would take more than that tiny balloon to lift my great bulk! Perhaps a zeppelin next year.........:-)))

The Steyning Stinger lets slower runners and walkers start as soon as they've got themselves set up at the start. The mass start was at 9am I think but I set out at 8am and others had already started. It was nice because you don't see many people when you're a back-of-packer like me and there were lots of runners going past. Plus, I got to run past lots of walkers ;-O

[Deleted User] · June 2007

where can i buy a zeppelin please

[Deleted User] · June 2007

If it were an overnight run would you need a L.E.D. Zeppelin...?:-)

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Sole Runner,

You are welcome. It was nice to meet Hilly and Barnsley runner. Mike thanks for the info on the chip as I was also lamb brained. I had good reason though took 40 mins off last years time. Thanks to all the marshalls and back room workers without whom these events could not continue. PH I have a large green tee shirt and could have done with XL, BP condolencies too.

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Dickie
I have a XL black one

wanna swap??

BR
Ha bloody ha ha HA!

Firmmy · June 2007

There is a few forum names in here I recognise that I didn't realise was racing, shame I missed you! Are there any other marathons coming up the near future that anybody might be able to recommend, preferably off road - July / August time. The pickings seem to be slim.

[Deleted User] · June 2007

you fancy an ultra luv

hmmmmmm???????

[Deleted User] · June 2007

P.H

If you so wish here is my email dickiebird90@hotmail.com.

Firmmy · June 2007

That is always an option hippo....any ideas?

On another note, does anybody know if there are any race pics for the event?

[Deleted User] · June 2007

I think they will be on here soon
http://www.philoconnor.com/events.htm

[Deleted User] · June 2007

Firmy, the Downland Ultra on July 29th is a good tough one. It's a straight out-and-back course from Clayton (5 miles north of Brighton) to Southease (3 miles north of Newhaven) along the south downs way and back. The Windmill Marathon is supposed to be happening the week before. That's also downland, starting and finishing on the outskirts of Brighton, but the Red Cross have stopped organising it and I'm not sure whether anyone has picked up the ropes.

limper · June 2007

If the slow runners went off first might there not be some congestion problems as the speedies catch up? Some bits of the track are either narrow or a bit ankle-bending at the edges.
The marshalls were fine [maybe they were the wine drinkers Hipps?!] - relaying them might be the answer, that's a long old day for them.

Glad you had a good birthday run Red!
Well done BR and Hilly - fantastic results.
Condolences BP.

[Deleted User] · June 2007