No doubt you will all be aware of the huge event taking place at the moment- The Grand Union Canal Race, a 145 mile footrace along the canal from Birmingham to London.
Next time someone tries to impress you with claims to be training for a marathon or some expensive but not particularly difficult desert run for accountants, just ask them if they have done GUCR and watch them shrivel up before your very eyes. This is the number one race for anyone serious about proving themselves in Ultrarunning (the crazy notion of running very long distances).
The race starts Saturday at 6 am and has a cutoff of 45 hours. If you happen to see any of the competitors (you'll recognise them because they will be on the canal towpath, have a number on their chest and quite possibly seem a bit the worse for wear) then cheer them on and tell them they look great.
You can get updates here: http://www.gucr.co.uk/doc_cat.asp?cat=1
or do the really modern thing and look on twitter https://twitter.com/search/%23GUCR
4 comments:
As it's a canal, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to, erm, travel by boat, rather than having to foot it?
Or perhaps, if you want to do something really sensible, you could swim the length of the canal!
I just happened to be in Settle in North Yorkshire on Monday. The centre of the town had been taken over as the finishing point for some sort of race. Looking it up afterwards, it appeared to be something called "Adventure Racing". The only details of the particular event that I could find are:
"...5km run, 37km canoe, 89km mountain bike, 16km trek, 92km mountain bike and a final 65km trek. Plus what ever special stages lie in wait, expected to include caving, abseiling, orienteering, maybe some mountain biking..."
Perhaps I need to refamiliarise myself with the definition of "fun".
Race was tough as hell this year Frank, the weather was brutal especially during the night stage. From what I've been told it was the worst rain the race has seen since it began.
Have run this twice. Missed it this year, but the conditions were tough. Not the longest UK run though. Thames Ring ultra, held every two years, 250 miles nonstop. And yes, people do finish!
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