iROC : The Fell Race

The baptism of a novice

As Churchill said it’ll be long and it’ll be hard but of this I can assure you there will be no withdrawal, too bloody right. It was long, 15km. It was hard, 900m. It was bloody hard, according to my team member ‘..it’s the hardest thing I’ve done to my body ever..’ and he plays rugby regularly. There wasn’t any withdrawal either, I did complete the course dispite my ankle. The last leg included a fording of the river, so cold it anethetised my ankle sufficently to allow me to run the last mile properly.

I wasn’t last but was well down the field finishing in just over two hours, 2:03 to be more precise. Mark did much better, 1:40, well done him but we’re both outside of the top 100 entrants. The winner’s time by the way was 1:03!

There is a iROC Race Report over on SleepMonster‘s website and some photos too. More photos on my flickr photostream and Paul’s Facebook

It was a learning experience that’s for sure. Will I do another? Probably the bug has bitten, the endorphines addictive and the rationalism …

Immediate plans are now focusing on the Lakes 3000′s trip though, that’s all the 3000ft peaks in 24 hours in the Lake District, 46 miles and 11,000ft of actual ascent. Target dates are early June.