Got up late, had no time for breakfast, just made the last bus out to the start.....time for a coffee and a Kit Kat chunky, a bit of a warm-up and soon we were lining up for the start.
The Kenyan shot to the front, I settled in second, with around 2,000 behind me. I took it handy enough running at the comfortably hard pace, but not flat-out. Plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings, speak to a few fellow competitors in the half and ultra. Conditions were similar to last year - very windy and it felt like we were running into a strong head-wind/cross-wind all the way to Maam Cross. So the speed was slow but the effort level was where it needed to be.
The last climb between 9 and 11 miles was a killer. A few squally showers and very blustery conditions and you were hardly moving. But once at the top I could enjoy the last couple of miles down to the finish crossing the line is 1:18:32 for second place. The Kenyan ran 69 minutes and I think he was targeting 65 minutes so that gives you some idea of the conditions.
All in all still very enjoyable and I think that's the first time my Mum has watched me race. Another great day and I guess I'll be back next year to give it another shot! Well done to everyone who took part and to the organisers. Certainly a very unique event which should be done by all at some point.
All up 23.1kms (a 2.0km warm-up and no warm-down). And that's 91.8kms for the week.
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