Virgin Money London Marathon & Marathon Des Sables (Morocco)

Very hot work!!!!!
If you haven’t got access to high altitude training camps in Kenya and Ethiopia how do you tackle the hottest London Marathon on record after the bulk of your training has been spent combatting wind, rain & snow? For the 6 members who lined up on the start line for Sunday’s race the answer was to sensibly re-adjust targets and get to the finish in one piece.  Think it is fair to say that the unrelenting heat meant that finishing times were probably 20/30 minutes above expectations. Nevertheless there were some terrific performances as Rob Eaton led the way home with 02:53:42 for a superb 602^nd place. Alun Lloyd Thomas, running in the colours of his 1^st claim club Derby & County, was next in a chip time of 03:10:38 with the ultra- resilient Mark Harriott running a well-paced 03:21:23. Marathon debutant Ross Clarke, Simon Reynolds and Jennie Laing drew support and will power from each other as they met towards the finish to record times of 03:41:26, 03:42:33 and 03:44:28 respectively.  Great efforts by all concerned and now time to refuel and rehydrate in the time honoured traditions.
Ben Holmes must have viewed Sunday’s marathon conditions with something approaching envy because a week earlier he had successfully completed one of the toughest endurance events on the planet, the 33^rd running of the Marathon Des Sables. Starting in southern Morocco the 1300 competitors had to complete the equivalent of 6 marathons in 6 days. If this was not enough each competitor had to carry a backpack containing their own food, sleeping gear and what’s euphemistically called ‘other material’. They also had to manage their own, strictly measured water supply which was issued at the finish of each stage. In average day time temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade safety was paramount to such an extent that competitors were issued with a distress beacon and the helpful advice that in the event of a sandstorm, where visibility diminishes to zero, to stop where they are. The approximately 250km route included one stage called the ‘solidarity’ stage that involved 80km of non-stop day/night running. After months of planning Ben successfully completed the ultimate challenge in 47:51:57 and 548th place to raise much needed funds for his chosen charities Mind and MacMillan Cancer.
Very hot work
If you haven’t got access to high altitude training camps in Kenya and Ethiopia how do you tackle the hottest London Marathon on record after the bulk of your training has been spent combatting wind, rain & snow? For the 7 members of South Derbyshire Road Runners who lined up on the start line for Sunday’s race the answer was to sensibly re-adjust targets and get to the finish in one piece.  Think it is fair to say that the unrelenting heat meant that finishing times were probably 20/30 minutes above expectations. Nevertheless there were some terrific performances as Rob Eaton led the way home with 02:53:42 for a superb 602^nd place. Alun Lloyd Thomas, running in the colours of his 1^st claim club Derby & County, was next in a chip time of 03:10:38 with the ultra- resilient Mark Harriott running a well-paced 03:21:23. Marathon debutant Ross Clarke, Simon Reynolds and Jennie Laing drew support and will power from each other as they met towards the finish to record times of 03:41:26, 03:42:33 and 03:44:28 respectively.  Great efforts by all concerned and now time to refuel and rehydrate in the time honoured traditions.
Ben Holmes must have viewed Sunday’s marathon conditions with something approaching envy because a week earlier he had successfully completed one of the toughest endurance events on the planet, the 33^rd running of the Marathon Des Sables. Starting in southern Morocco the 1300 competitors had to complete the equivalent of 6 marathons in 6 days. If this was not enough each competitor had to carry a backpack containing their own food, sleeping gear and what’s euphemistically called ‘other material’. They also had to manage their own, strictly measured water supply which was issued at the finish of each stage. In average day time temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade safety was paramount to such an extent that competitors were issued with a distress beacon and the helpful advice that in the event of a sandstorm, where visibility diminishes to zero, to stop where they are. The approximately 250km route included one stage called the ‘solidarity’ stage that involved 80km of non-stop day/night running. After months of planning Ben successfully completed the challenge in 47:51:57 and 548th place to raise much needed funds for his chosen charities Mind and MacMillan Cancer Support. Ben’s just giving page is open for a couple more weeks at
Very hot work
If you haven’t got access to high altitude training camps in Kenya and Ethiopia how do you tackle the hottest London Marathon on record after the bulk of your training has been spent combatting wind, rain & snow? For the 7 members of South Derbyshire Road Runners who lined up on the start line for Sunday’s race the answer was to sensibly re-adjust targets and get to the finish in one piece.  Think it is fair to say that the unrelenting heat meant that finishing times were probably 20/30 minutes above expectations. Nevertheless there were some terrific performances as Rob Eaton led the way home with 02:53:42 for a superb 602^nd place. Alun Lloyd Thomas, running in the colours of his 1^st claim club Derby & County, was next in a chip time of 03:10:38 with the ultra- resilient Mark Harriott running a well-paced 03:21:23. Marathon debutant Ross Clarke, Simon Reynolds and Jennie Laing drew support and will power from each other as they met towards the finish to record times of 03:41:26, 03:42:33 and 03:44:28 respectively.  Great efforts by all concerned and now time to refuel and rehydrate in the time honoured traditions.
Ben Holmes must have viewed Sunday’s marathon conditions with something approaching envy because a week earlier he had successfully completed one of the toughest endurance events on the planet, the 33^rd running of the Marathon Des Sables. Starting in southern Morocco the 1300 competitors had to complete the equivalent of 6 marathons in 6 days. If this was not enough each competitor had to carry a backpack containing their own food, sleeping gear and what’s euphemistically called ‘other material’. They also had to manage their own, strictly measured water supply which was issued at the finish of each stage. In average day time temperatures of 30 degrees centigrade safety was paramount to such an extent that competitors were issued with a distress beacon and the helpful advice that in the event of a sandstorm, where visibility diminishes to zero, to stop where they are. The approximately 250km route included one stage called the ‘solidarity’ stage that involved 80km of non-stop day/night running. After months of planning Ben successfully completed the challenge in 47:51:57 and 548th place to raise much needed funds for his chosen charities Mind and Macmillan Cancer Support. His page at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=BenHolmes-21&pageUrl=1