41 Anthony Brown 24:24

This week, something quite amazing has happened.  John Boothman had entered this race quite sometime ago and during the London Marathon, he picked up an injury to his leg, which he has been nursing ever since.  Now you do not embark on a 268 mile race with a dodgy leg, but having already paid the quite considerable entry fee for this race, John decided to give it a go and if his leg became troublesome, he would pull out. 

In addition, the recent heavy rain made the going heavy for the summer spine race.  The race started and at the first check point, John was in 18th position.  He kept gaining places and by the time he got to Hebden Bridge, he had moved up to 9th place.  He had all his usual problems of his body adapting to the food, bur remarkably enough, his dodgy leg was not giving him a problem at all. What was giving him a problem was his feet.  Generally the ground was very wet and this had seeped into his shoes causing him all sorts of difficulties.  In addition, because of the heavy going, his time was quite slow for a summer spine.  But something remarkable was happening.  Although, he was going much slower than normal, he was continuing to gain places  and he kept slowly moving up through the field.  By Middleton, he was in 5th place in the men's race and 6th overall.  Shortly after that, he gained two more places and was in a podium position.  He is a 61 year old man and before the race, a podium place was not even considered to be a remote possibility.  But perhaps there was something about the conditions which suited John which did not suit many of the other competitors.  John, by his own admission is not a speed merchant in these events, but he does walk very quickly. Perhaps the quick runners found the conditions too energy sapping which either slowed them down or caused them to drop out.  There does look to be a high number of drop outs and once everyone has finished, we can have a look at that aspect. 

For part of the race, John found himself running along with Steve Maloney.  It was a good thing that they were working together and helping each other along, but they both must have had it at the back of their minds about that third place and which of them would take it.  By the Hadrian's Wall John had built up a lead over Steve.  Not a huge lead, but a lead nevertheless.  When John arrived in Byrness, which is the last check point before that evil climb over the mountain range to the finish, John did not stop for a rest, which would have been the most sensible thing to do before that final ascent.  It was as if he had unwittingly found himself with a podium place and that there was no way that he was going to give that up lightly. Maybe he felt that if Steve Maloney once more caught sight of him, it might spur him on to chase John.  John was very tired, but with great determination and a great deal of adrenalin at the thought of being third, he pressed on.  His pace on the ascent was quite remarkable.  He did not know where Steve was, but it was as if he wanted to put so much distance between them that Steve would eventually give up all thoughts of chasing John.  Once over the highest point, it was all more or less down to the finish except for The Schil.  He seemed to romp up it and then his pace quickened considerably with the organisers constantly having to revise down his estimated finishing time as he ate into those last few miles.  Despite the exhaustion and the very sore feet, he managed to jog over the line for the cameras. 

What started out as a race where there was a distinct possibility that he might have to drop out, turned out to be a performance of a lifetime and a podium place in what must be one of the toughest, if not the toughest challenges for an ultra runner.  And all from a man in his sixties.  John was very tired and very sore at the end, but when he has recovered, he will no doubt let us all have his account of what must have been one of the best races in his life. 

John's account of the day