As I was walking to the back of the shuttle bus queue for the Six Foot Track Marathon I got a huge surprise to see none other than Mick Charlton waiting patiently in line to be transported the start of what would be a very big day out.
He hadn’t mentioned planning to run this event during the many Monday afternoon sessions around North Lyneham. When I think about it, I did notice him running the odd extra 3.1km lap. One particular occasion was the afternoon it bucketed down rain and most people scampered off to the safety of their cars.
I said “Wow – are you doing this?” Which was bloody obvious, he was standing in the queue! I didn’t see Mick at the starting line near the Explorer’s Tree because I arrived on the last bus with a few minutes to spare. I got my next surprise when I finally caught Mick at Caves Road 37 kilometres later. He was doing well and looking in much better shape than the many other walking wounded. This course can bite you if you don’t respect it. I said “Took a while to catch you. You’re doing well”. It had taken well over 5 hours.
I ran as hard as my wobbly legs would let me and opened up a bit of a break. I ran a little scared down the hill to the Caves and sat down as soon as I cleared the crowds around the finish. Mick soon arrived. It had taken him 6 hours 25 minutes. A very long day. The quiet achiever looked fine. I’m sure I didn’t. We’d had a great day.
He hadn’t mentioned planning to run this event during the many Monday afternoon sessions around North Lyneham. When I think about it, I did notice him running the odd extra 3.1km lap. One particular occasion was the afternoon it bucketed down rain and most people scampered off to the safety of their cars.
I said “Wow – are you doing this?” Which was bloody obvious, he was standing in the queue! I didn’t see Mick at the starting line near the Explorer’s Tree because I arrived on the last bus with a few minutes to spare. I got my next surprise when I finally caught Mick at Caves Road 37 kilometres later. He was doing well and looking in much better shape than the many other walking wounded. This course can bite you if you don’t respect it. I said “Took a while to catch you. You’re doing well”. It had taken well over 5 hours.
I ran as hard as my wobbly legs would let me and opened up a bit of a break. I ran a little scared down the hill to the Caves and sat down as soon as I cleared the crowds around the finish. Mick soon arrived. It had taken him 6 hours 25 minutes. A very long day. The quiet achiever looked fine. I’m sure I didn’t. We’d had a great day.
