There are two running races, one over 30 miles and the other over 45 miles. You would think that John Boothman, having only recently completed the 268 mile spine race would have had the weekend off. But John is always up for a challenge and he entered the longer race. He went steady with the object being to get round injury free and that is what he did. Having said that, he did finish 3rd M60.
Richard Cranham took part in the 30 mile race, which was a surprise as he has recently being experiencing a niggle with his ankle. However, he was going well and was in 3rd in third place at the final check point and his ankle was holding up. However, shortly afterwards, he went wrong and lost a place and then, going up Pendle, he rolled his ankle and fell. He could no longer run on it, but he decided to walk the last 4 miles to the finish. At that point, as he was no longer running, he should have put his kit on and it was only when he was near the trig and walking really slowly that he realised that he was getting cold. By the time he reached the steps, he was cramping badly and could hardly walk. A passing runner lent him his poles. Further down the steps, another passing runner, Dan Anderson, sacked off his race and stopped to help. Robert does not remember it, but Dan said that he found him shivering, saying that he was tired, but otherwise not talking a lot of sense. All classic signs of hypothermia. He stripped Robert down and put on his emergency kit, even stopping a walker and borrowing his coat as well. Dan also gave him his hat and dry gloves. He then walked him to the finish. What a brilliant guy. Robert finished in 34th place, but had it not been for Dan, this race might have been his last one. This incident is a reminder to us all of the dangers of hypothermia. If you ever have to stop running, then layer up immediately as your body temperature can drop rapidly and it is quite frightening, but the human body can only function within a very narrow temperature window. Thankfully, Robert got warmed up and is now OK.
45 Mile Race
57 John Boothman 10:21:06 (3rd M60)
30 Mile Race
34 Robert Cranham 6:50:27