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Glyn Marston and The Sneyd Striders
Support Team
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How I ran 145 miles in 38 Hours 37 Minutes by Glyn Marston |
On Saturday the 25th August at 6.00 a.m. I, along with 48 other runners set off from Birmingham's Gas Street Basin on a mission - to attempt a race which would take us 145 miles to Little Venice London. Every year since the event began, only around ten or eleven of the fifty competitors have reached the finish line and this year would be no different.
Only an hour into the race and with the weather was getting hotter by the minute, and as we had a long way to go, some had taken the decision to run cautiously ( I think you call it jogging ). I was fortunate, I had a strong and committed support team behind me, which is essential as each year some support crews lose the runner that they are supposed to be following ( and no-one can last too long on race like this without adequate support). So with the fellow members of Sneyd Striders each taking it in turn to run ten mile legs with me, I was confident that I was going to run all the way.
I had just started running with Geoff ( he had taken over from Jill) when he almost stopped dead in his tracks, and so did I when I noticed what he had seen- a canal boat with three topless women waving at us. I knew there and then that this was going to be a good weekend for me !! But, as I carried on along the canal with Nigel phoning at regular intervals, to check my progress I soon found myself facing the dark hours of the night. This was to be my" bad patch" of the race, despite having torches it was still too risky to try to run and, as Kevin and Ian witnessed, I was almost asleep on my feet ( talk about sleep walking). Still, They pulled me through and, as day broke on Sunday morning, I found myself slowly recovering and getting back into pace ( a steady jog!).
Stan took his turn to run alongside me (taking over from Ian) and, as we passed the 100 mile mark, gave a cheer almost like a snooker player getting a century break in a crucial frame. Trevor took over from Stan, and so strong was his determination to make my journey as comfortable as possible, that he actually tore down fences ( and he'd do the same to anything that stood in my way ). At this time I was approaching 117 miles in the race, no way was I going to fail now!
My thoughts had started to focus on the fact that Nigel, my in-laws and of course my dear wife had been with me from the start, and along with Dick, will meet me at the finish line ( without one word of complaint ) - what a tedious task.
The last 28 miles were split between Dick and Nigel- these two had to endure the rain. Dick seemed to enjoy the wet stuff as he danced along the towpath and has now been nicknamed "singing in the rain Dick"! Nigel had the worst leg of the run, accompanying me to the finish line should have been a great moment, but instead I was asking " how far now" every four minutes. Those last five miles seemed to take forever, but eventually I crossed the line in 4th place, with a time of 38 hours and 57 minutes.
I had been one of only fourteen finishers on the longest annual race in Britain 145 miles along the Grand Union canal. Without my dedicated support team I would have been one of the 35 runners who didn't make it all the way, so thanks Sneyd Striders for a weekend I will never forget.
