Statto's alternative Thames Path 100 race report

Clearly there are only two statistics which really count - what time you finished and what position you came. There are many other factors such as who ate the most cake / bacon / fruit. I come for a triathlon background which loves alternative metrics such as who changed their shoes in the quickest time so I have done so alternatives such as your placing in each time section and who slowed down the most / least.

To put it another way, if this were the Tour De France, Carl Adams would be first down the Champs Elysees with his hand in the air despite an overall 111th finish as he was fastest on the Abingdon to Oxford section

I have also looked at scaling your splits for each section would translate if you did that for the whole race. For example the first section is 30.5 miles but only makes up 23% of the average person's race. As an example, the "average" person did the first section in 5:28:24 and finished in 23:36:57. I did first section in 5:04:18 so my projection based on that first section would be 5:04/5:28 * 23:36 = 21:53 (I finished in 22:27). I have done this for all finishers and segments.

For shorter sections it is very volatile but it gives an idea of how you did. For example if you spent a lot of time at Henley aid station, your grossed up split based on Henley to Reading will be very slow. Also the faster runners tend to slow down a bit less than average but I haven't allowed for that. Anyway enough of the caveats (and sorry if the table formatting is crap)...

1. Rank by section (I don't run well at night but do quite well in the day)

Runner	Dorney	Henley	Reading	Streatly	Abingdn	Oxford
Michael Stocks	3	1	1	1	2	9
Dan Masters	7	2	3	3	1	3
Jeremy Isaac	12	6	7	2	4	4
Ed Fuller	2	4	8	7	5	42
Mari Mauland	16	17	22	8	3	2
Steven Lord	1	5	5	5	14	51
Richard Heath	13	8	12	4	8	40
Peter Jackson	9	7	13	6	18	11
Nick Marriage	8	3	6	11	20	30
Sergey Ionov	11	15	9	9	9	13
Tiaan Erwee	10	10	14	17	17	5
Ammon Piepgrass	14	12	17	12	7	34
John Stocker	4	9	4	42	15	18
David Thompson	26	22	19	26	6	8
Chris Spurling	60	21	15	13	10	14
Rhys Pippard	21	14	2	34	24	24
Peter Windross	6	19	21	24	32	26
Matt Brand	25	27	10	10	26	49
James Brouner	20	34	36	15	21	33
Robert Treadwell	28	16	24	14	52	65
Sam Jelfs	24	48	42	61	16	16
Stephen Mitchell	62	23	20	16	31	57
Jim Seaton	34	30	34	41	29	10
Allen Taylor	29	29	43	64	23	12
Tim Cox	43	52	38	22	19	36
James Gregory	41	24	44	45	27	29
John Taylor	23	28	46	18	45	80
Iain Stewart	80	25	47	21	22	53
Andrew Melbourne	15	11	16	20	43	202
Andrew Mckillop	32	47	23	31	37	68
Andrew Smith	39	36	48	23	39	59
Daniel Stephenson	50	44	25	37	49	19
Glen Blake	27	33	66	19	44	137
Aaron Oliver	70	83	26	70	28	23
Henry Church	45	36	68	49	59	43
Kenneth Fancett	35	40	29	43	81	61
Duncan Swain	73	68	40	52	40	22
Chris Larmour's	66	93	87	40	30	41
Sarah Sawyer	36	45	30	72	68	55
Edward Olcot	94	43	77	35	36	50
Naomi Moss	83	63	37	67	38	38
Bryon Powell	40	147	11	125	25	20
Kim Olsen	63	75	86	38	51	27
Samuel Kilpatrick	72	50	28	60	69	46
Drew Lichtenstein	65	59	61	59	58	32
Tony Sharkey	49	62	72	51	56	64
Markus Flick	42	42	32	36	82	127
John Volanthen	44	26	71	24	104	115
Nigel Cowan	31	38	45	33	110	119
Jon Cox	47	49	63	89	53	93
Ashley Gilbert	82	57	110	68	65	15
Mark Hooper	100	69	52	29	57	92
Calvin Hemmings	81	38	57	85	107	21
Tim Moloney	150	78	138	32	34	17
Elmar Sistermanns	64	61	59	115	76	62
James Bennett	5	13	18	54	208	175
Ryan Holmes	68	41	27	39	102	176
Dean Bethell	108	84	94	107	55	7
Colin Thomson	57	85	136	117	60	35
Jim Wallace	96	46	50	58	103	74
Chris Bennett	149	88	107	53	35	39
Mark Grenyer	17	20	54	28	198	189
Jason Bingham	18	18	56	27	197	190
Christopher Sayles	127	58	69	47	46	114
Stephen Turner	46	128	134	75	64	58
Phil Bradburn	104	125	41	57	62	69
Simon Atkin	37	55	124	65	139	71
David Stuart	69	53	58	87	123	70
Michael Wiggins	30	35	100	96	157	73
Keith Shaw	22	32	35	30	206	142
Thomas Haine	56	56	88	114	101	82
James Spray	109	82	96	108	54	47
Nick Balding	75	112	119	112	41	77
Adam Williams	48	67	73	98	119	76
Richard Pomeroy	85	54	62	71	151	60
Martin Burton	93	77	113	77	73	72
Ilsuk Han	78	123	92	79	74	67
Ercole Lugari	33	79	67	86	125	108
Jan Hanousek	58	89	60	84	95	132
Michael Oakes	59	80	122	74	85	126
Ozgur  Gulec	79	87	39	83	115	94
Noora Eresmaa	116	60	53	105	79	89
Aodhagan Fitzsimons	111	109	152	99	48	28
Guy Brown	95	95	78	66	63	144
Brandon Webb	102	86	112	90	91	45
Ben Parkes	19	31	85	123	177	179
Philip Marsden	166	115	89	62	33	88
Mark Copeland	76	65	90	76	108	125
Mel Horley	118	120	33	50	87	97
Yiannis Theologos Michellis	71	74	55	44	162	146
Colin Barnes	87	117	129	95	89	44
Darren Chalk	84	97	51	63	113	147
Shelley Gooch-Smith	112	51	64	69	140	112
Cameron Kirkwood	77	121	93	131	105	48
Gavin Bowden	53	73	175	97	83	153
Colin Dear	120	139	105	110	67	25
Andi Dunn	136	101	80	82	71	86
Kyle Johnston	99	70	76	55	111	180
Chris Holmes	61	81	83	48	194	75
David Boxall	115	103	132	73	70	110
James Owen	103	94	106	126	130	31
John Parker	101	66	139	81	127	85
Christopher Kay	122	102	65	118	121	37
Alex Portwine	126	91	103	88	99	78
Nick Reed	124	131	145	92	61	79
Phillip Tunney	105	110	123	124	93	54
Simon T Brown	88	129	118	138	90	56
Darren Handley	86	107	98	111	100	102
Simon Bennett	91	96	95	94	128	96
David Pereira	142	140	181	206	13	6
Carl Adams	203	145	128	93	42	1
Gregor Gucwa	147	116	84	91	80	81
Sam Nylander	132	76	81	56	98	172
Daniel Turton	89	126	133	127	88	87
Ryan Spencer	148	118	117	104	86	52
Steve Evans	67	106	140	167	137	98
Steven Illingworth	165	130	125	120	75	138
Peter Johnson	117	134	109	146	112	135
Laura Watts	54	72	195	80	84	211
James Allum	153	138	126	119	94	120
Simon Bray	189	162	70	45	47	199
Paul Commons	169	149	187	150	11	207
Glen Keegan	128	157	142	197	12	208
Lee Wallhead	144	111	116	101	116	197
Jamie Sinclair	51	92	160	185	190	150
David Rudall	98	113	173	162	156	151
Gary Martin	97	114	170	163	155	152
Rodrigo Freeman	152	186	141	149	50	156
Gary Timmins	121	99	82	128	169	200
Alexia Melling	162	127	114	141	153	121
Tony East	155	132	98	161	132	158
Thomas Kingston	125	166	147	143	145	90
Adam Ford	161	108	135	109	122	203
Annemiek Hamelinck	178	160	75	136	126	118
Taras Mencinsky	123	98	91	200	187	91
Robert Whitehead	140	148	137	165	173	66
Carlos Celaya Escribano	38	105	121	156	201	204
Antony Dunkels	138	136	104	129	159	194
Steven Hawkswell	52	100	31	211	189	187
Tracey Watson	154	133	97	170	131	193
Huw Jones	143	137	161	78	138	206
Rui Pedras	139	164	184	140	120	149
Richard Langley	113	165	180	103	179	167
Louise Tidbury	131	156	144	196	134	103
Georgina Townsend	110	64	49	102	205	210
David Tarbuck	186	193	101	122	114	111
Charles Erleigh	133	152	159	145	185	116
Ruth Mitchell	135	119	205	106	193	124
Colin Third	107	161	149	168	191	101
Graham Akrill	141	178	162	174	160	84
Dan Park	191	159	154	186	97	95
James Moore	55	71	111	208	192	209
Kieran Alger	172	143	79	151	186	173
Chris Coates	90	153	169	116	196	198
David Hockey	163	135	115	143	174	205
Ken Hughes	74	122	163	181	210	177
Andy Arnold	158	195	178	137	149	143
Phil Servas	176	184	171	176	133	107
Melanie Ross	204	202	190	154	96	83
Richard Etherington-Smith	180	158	74	133	180	201
Chris Parry	201	176	143	142	154	123
Graham Brownsmith	129	187	208	171	135	161
Peter Wright	130	185	209	169	136	159
Emmett Graham	206	171	186	130	109	145
Daniel Benwell	119	146	179	159	207	136
Sonny Peart	194	196	150	153	117	148
Andy Marsh	182	154	148	184	181	113
Spencer Millbery	179	150	174	179	166	174
Charlotte Davey	156	168	198	173	148	184
Julian Howard	157	167	199	178	144	182
Alan Mercer	196	191	193	158	124	134
Sarah Belchier	193	198	151	152	118	181
Jody Raynsford	202	151	168	160	150	188
Claudio Bernardo	173	180	196	210	77	141
Bob Arthur	164	174	203	203	129	140
Lynn Cunningham	185	175	130	157	188	168
Matt Liggins	145	142	157	204	195	122
Lisa Ripley	198	182	158	135	178	157
Corinne Rodgers	199	181	156	134	176	163
Mikko Liukka	92	90	127	187	211	109
Roz Glover	211	163	120	139	167	162
Jo Yarnall	207	170	185	147	143	165
Ellen Norris	167	194	172	194	164	166
Francisco Otermin	137	144	165	177	204	191
Jonathan Ryan	171	173	155	183	161	195
Ira Rainey	159	189	194	166	184	169
Giuseppe Tramontin	174	179	197	209	142	99
Erika Laiche	188	172	183	201	168	106
Stefan Klincewicz	183	190	202	172	147	178
Judith Webb	209	205	200	182	66	131
Judith Mallon	208	206	200	180	72	128
Daniel Whittaker	134	209	191	202	141	133
Paul Wootten	160	192	192	164	183	185
Daniel Williams	200	208	176	155	146	154
Sigrid Jahn	192	188	182	195	152	170
Philippe Ecaille	210	211	167	148	78	139
Marissa Harris	146	155	166	188	203	192
Ian Lang	205	169	153	132	170	196
Rachel Hessom	181	200	164	190	182	164
Sarah Easingwood-Wilson	187	141	177	191	202	186
Torquil Landen	151	197	210	199	163	155
Ken Lane	195	207	188	207	172	63
Lynsey Dawson	170	183	146	193	200	160
Paul Daniels	168	201	211	189	165	171
Lorna Muirhead	177	177	189	175	199	183
Azud Irshad	190	210	131	121	209	104
Tess Brooks	184	203	206	205	158	117
Joanna Turner	197	199	204	192	175	129
Ian Robertson	175	204	207	198	171	130

Reading is almost exactly halfway by time for the average runner. The multiplier is total time / Reading time. A higher means you slowed down more.

2. Reading multipliers (I slowed down more than most)


Carl Adams wins the prize for running the last 42 at almost the same pace as the first 58.

Runner	Reading mult	Rank	Actual rank
Carl Adams	1.75	1	111
Philippe Ecaille	1.78	2	196
Tim Moloney	1.78	3	54
Judith Mallon	1.81	4	191
Judith Webb	1.81	5	190
David Pereira	1.81	6	110
Mari Mauland	1.81	7	5
Melanie Ross	1.82	8	159
Chris Bennett	1.82	9	61
Dan Masters	1.83	10	2
Philip Marsden	1.83	11	87
Emmett Graham	1.85	12	164
Simon Bray	1.85	13	121
Paul Commons	1.86	14	122
Chris Spurling	1.87	15	15
Aodhagan Fitzsimons	1.87	16	83
Chris Larmour's	1.87	17	38
Jeremy Isaac	1.87	18	3
Daniel Williams	1.87	19	194
Alan Mercer	1.87	20	171
Colin Dear	1.87	21	96
Rodrigo Freeman	1.88	22	128
Tim Cox	1.88	23	25
David Tarbuck	1.88	24	146
Sonny Peart	1.88	25	166
Jo Yarnall	1.88	26	182
Nick Reed	1.89	27	105
Dean Bethell	1.89	28	58
Edward Olcot	1.89	29	40
David Thompson	1.89	30	14
Iain Stewart	1.89	31	28
Dan Park	1.90	32	151
Sarah Belchier	1.90	33	172
Ryan Spencer	1.90	34	115
Roz Glover	1.90	35	181
Chris Parry	1.90	36	161
Michael Stocks	1.91	37	1
Ken Lane	1.91	38	202
Kim Olsen	1.91	39	42
Joanna Turner	1.91	40	208
Phil Servas	1.91	41	158
Duncan Swain	1.91	42	37
Aaron Oliver	1.91	43	34
Gregor Gucwa	1.91	44	112
Andy Arnold	1.91	45	157
Tess Brooks	1.91	46	207
Paul Daniels	1.91	47	204
Phil Bradburn	1.91	48	66
Stefan Klincewicz	1.91	49	189
Andi Dunn	1.92	50	97
Steven Illingworth	1.92	51	117
James Spray	1.92	52	72
Bryon Powell	1.92	53	43
Ian Robertson	1.92	54	209
Lisa Ripley	1.92	55	178
Corinne Rodgers	1.92	56	179
David Boxall	1.92	57	100
Mark Hooper	1.92	58	52
Claudio Bernardo	1.92	59	174
Azud Irshad	1.93	60	206
Ian Lang	1.93	61	198
Naomi Moss	1.93	62	41
Ashley Gilbert	1.93	63	51
Nick Balding	1.93	64	73
Christopher Sayles	1.93	65	64
Peter Wright	1.93	66	163
James Brouner	1.93	67	19
Glen Keegan	1.93	68	123
Graham Brownsmith	1.93	69	162
Sam Jelfs	1.93	70	21
Stephen Turner	1.93	71	65
Annemiek Hamelinck	1.93	72	134
Sergey Ionov	1.93	73	10
Rui Pedras	1.93	74	142
James Allum	1.93	75	120
Daniel Whittaker	1.93	76	192
Colin Barnes	1.94	77	91
Graham Akrill	1.94	78	150
Giuseppe Tramontin	1.94	79	187
Sigrid Jahn	1.94	80	195
Jim Seaton	1.94	81	23
Thomas Kingston	1.94	82	132
Ilsuk Han	1.94	83	77
Jody Raynsford	1.94	84	173
Stephen Mitchell	1.95	85	22
Martin Burton	1.95	86	76
Matt Brand	1.95	87	18
Brandon Webb	1.95	88	85
Torquil Landen	1.95	89	201
Bob Arthur	1.95	90	175
Ammon Piepgrass	1.95	91	12
Mel Horley	1.95	92	89
Allen Taylor	1.95	93	24
Andrew Smith	1.95	94	31
Alex Portwine	1.95	95	104
Phillip Tunney	1.95	96	106
Richard Heath	1.95	97	7
Rachel Hessom	1.96	98	199
Erika Laiche	1.96	99	188
Colin Thomson	1.96	100	59
James Gregory	1.96	101	26
Charlotte Davey	1.96	102	169
Julian Howard	1.96	103	170
Drew Lichtenstein	1.96	104	45
Ellen Norris	1.96	105	183
Tiaan Erwee	1.96	106	11
Guy Brown	1.96	107	84
Daniel Stephenson	1.96	108	32
Ira Rainey	1.96	109	186
Tony Sharkey	1.96	110	46
Simon T Brown	1.97	111	107
Christopher Kay	1.97	112	103
Peter Jackson	1.97	113	8
Paul Wootten	1.97	114	193
Robert Whitehead	1.97	115	136
Daniel Turton	1.97	116	114
Andy Marsh	1.97	117	167
Lynn Cunningham	1.97	118	176
Spencer Millbery	1.98	119	168
James Owen	1.98	120	101
Andrew Mckillop	1.98	121	30
Richard Langley	1.98	122	143
Louise Tidbury	1.98	123	144
Sam Nylander	1.99	124	113
Jonathan Ryan	1.99	125	185
Henry Church	1.99	126	35
Cameron Kirkwood	1.99	127	94
Alexia Melling	1.99	128	130
Charles Erleigh	1.99	129	147
Huw Jones	1.99	130	141
John Parker	1.99	131	102
Ruth Mitchell	1.99	132	148
Adam Ford	2.00	133	133
Samuel Kilpatrick	2.00	134	44
Noora Eresmaa	2.00	135	82
Lorna Muirhead	2.00	136	205
Peter Johnson	2.00	137	118
Darren Handley	2.00	138	108
Lee Wallhead	2.01	139	124
Jim Wallace	2.01	140	60
Tony East	2.01	141	131
Simon Bennett	2.01	142	109
Ed Fuller	2.01	143	4
Richard Etherington-Smith	2.01	144	160
Michael Oakes	2.02	145	80
Lynsey Dawson	2.02	146	203
Glen Blake	2.02	147	33
Kieran Alger	2.02	148	153
Calvin Hemmings	2.02	149	53
John Taylor	2.02	150	27
Robert Treadwell	2.02	151	20
Colin Third	2.03	152	149
Gavin Bowden	2.03	153	95
Elmar Sistermanns	2.03	154	55
Jon Cox	2.03	155	50
Darren Chalk	2.03	156	92
Kyle Johnston	2.03	157	98
Tracey Watson	2.04	158	140
Rhys Pippard	2.04	159	16
Antony Dunkels	2.04	160	138
Mark Copeland	2.04	161	88
Sarah Easingwood-Wilson	2.04	162	200
Peter Windross	2.04	163	17
Shelley Gooch-Smith	2.04	164	93
Richard Pomeroy	2.04	165	75
Ozgur  Gulec	2.05	166	81
Nick Marriage	2.05	167	9
David Rudall	2.05	168	126
Sarah Sawyer	2.05	169	39
Gary Martin	2.05	170	127
Kenneth Fancett	2.05	171	36
Simon Atkin	2.05	172	67
Jan Hanousek	2.06	173	79
David Hockey	2.06	174	155
Steve Evans	2.06	175	116
Thomas Haine	2.06	176	71
Adam Williams	2.06	177	74
David Stuart	2.06	178	68
Steven Lord	2.07	179	6
Daniel Benwell	2.07	180	165
Matt Liggins	2.07	181	177
John Volanthen	2.07	182	48
Markus Flick	2.07	183	47
Marissa Harris	2.07	184	197
John Stocker	2.07	185	13
Chris Coates	2.08	186	154
Yiannis Theologos Michellis	2.08	187	90
Francisco Otermin	2.08	188	184
Ercole Lugari	2.09	189	78
Chris Holmes	2.09	190	99
Nigel Cowan	2.09	191	49
Gary Timmins	2.09	192	129
Ryan Holmes	2.11	193	57
Taras Mencinsky	2.11	194	135
Laura Watts	2.12	195	119
Michael Wiggins	2.13	196	69
Jamie Sinclair	2.17	197	125
Ken Hughes	2.18	198	156
Andrew Melbourne	2.21	199	29
Carlos Celaya Escribano	2.24	200	137
Georgina Townsend	2.25	201	145
Keith Shaw	2.28	202	70
Ben Parkes	2.28	203	86
Mikko Liukka	2.29	204	180
Steven Hawkswell	2.32	205	139
Jason Bingham	2.32	206	63
Mark Grenyer	2.32	207	62
James Moore	2.33	208	152
James Bennett	2.47	209	56

3. Grossed up splits (I was a bit slow from Streatley to Abingdon)

Runner	Dorney	Henley	Reading	Streatly	Abingdn	Oxford
Michael Stocks	17:11	14:40	12:48	13:26	13:55	16:57
Dan Masters	18:09	15:48	15:01	14:41	13:41	14:47
Jeremy Isaac	18:33	16:45	15:24	14:37	15:53	15:42
Ed Fuller	17:07	15:58	15:26	15:34	16:55	19:26
Mari Mauland	18:41	18:27	17:41	15:48	15:26	14:35
Steven Lord	16:27	16:24	15:06	15:30	18:07	19:54
Richard Heath	18:34	17:05	16:04	14:59	17:34	19:24
Peter Jackson	18:29	16:52	16:15	15:32	18:25	17:14
Nick Marriage	18:13	15:55	15:14	16:48	18:32	18:44
Sergey Ionov	18:30	18:13	15:31	15:56	17:41	17:21
Tiaan Erwee	18:30	17:52	16:31	17:56	18:18	15:42
Ammon Piepgrass	18:37	18:03	16:43	16:52	17:25	19:01
John Stocker	17:32	17:31	15:04	20:29	18:14	17:56
David Thompson	20:04	19:01	17:30	19:16	17:08	16:24
Chris Spurling	21:34	18:54	16:32	17:02	17:47	17:26
Rhys Pippard	19:07	18:12	14:59	19:52	19:15	18:15
Peter Windross	17:52	18:47	17:37	19:07	19:58	18:31
Matt Brand	19:59	19:43	16:02	16:27	19:29	19:49
James Brouner	19:04	20:13	19:18	17:43	18:57	19:00
Robert Treadwell	20:13	18:26	18:02	17:11	21:37	20:47
Sam Jelfs	19:25	20:59	20:03	21:31	18:16	17:52
Stephen Mitchell	21:38	19:11	17:32	17:50	19:56	20:22
Jim Seaton	20:37	19:52	19:09	20:21	19:48	17:09
Allen Taylor	20:23	19:49	20:05	21:40	19:12	17:21
Tim Cox	21:01	21:16	19:39	18:58	18:31	19:10
James Gregory	20:56	19:11	20:10	20:47	19:38	18:39
John Taylor	19:24	19:44	20:12	18:29	21:18	21:54
Iain Stewart	22:25	19:34	20:26	18:51	19:06	20:12
Andrew Melbourne	18:40	18:00	16:36	18:45	21:12	30:47
Andrew Mckillop	20:26	20:54	18:01	19:26	20:31	21:07
Andrew Smith	20:54	20:23	20:30	18:59	20:37	20:27
Daniel Stephenson	21:16	20:47	18:09	19:57	21:25	18:05
Glen Blake	20:07	20:11	21:35	18:31	21:13	25:10
Aaron Oliver	21:54	22:36	18:12	22:02	19:45	18:14
Henry Church	21:04	20:23	21:42	20:56	22:02	19:28
Kenneth Fancett	20:40	20:38	18:24	20:39	23:07	20:30
Duncan Swain	22:13	22:06	19:54	21:07	20:42	18:09
Chris Larmour's	21:44	22:57	22:36	20:17	19:49	19:25
Sarah Sawyer	20:40	20:49	18:47	22:06	22:24	20:18
Edward Olcot	23:14	20:46	22:02	19:53	20:30	19:52
Naomi Moss	22:38	21:48	19:32	21:54	20:32	19:16
Bryon Powell	20:54	25:36	16:03	24:33	19:21	18:06
Kim Olsen	21:41	22:22	22:33	20:02	21:31	18:35
Samuel Kilpatrick	22:04	21:05	18:20	21:29	22:25	19:35
Drew Lichtenstein	21:43	21:38	21:02	21:26	22:00	18:56
Tony Sharkey	21:15	21:46	21:49	21:01	21:41	20:38
Markus Flick	21:00	20:45	18:57	19:57	23:09	24:59
John Volanthen	21:01	19:39	21:48	19:07	23:57	24:30
Nigel Cowan	20:25	20:36	20:11	19:38	24:05	24:38
Jon Cox	21:14	21:02	21:11	23:00	21:37	23:03
Ashley Gilbert	22:37	21:29	24:03	21:59	22:17	17:49
Mark Hooper	23:28	22:07	20:43	19:24	21:46	22:56
Calvin Hemmings	22:28	20:36	20:51	22:53	24:02	18:06
Tim Moloney	25:35	22:28	25:35	19:37	20:13	17:54
Elmar Sistermanns	21:42	21:42	20:56	24:03	22:47	20:35
James Bennett	17:38	18:05	17:08	21:11	29:45	27:23
Ryan Holmes	21:51	20:38	18:14	20:16	23:56	27:25
Dean Bethell	23:46	22:36	23:13	23:44	21:40	15:59
Colin Thomson	21:24	22:39	25:30	24:10	22:02	19:07
Jim Wallace	23:21	20:50	20:37	21:25	23:56	21:37
Chris Bennett	25:33	22:52	23:58	21:09	20:16	19:17
Mark Grenyer	18:41	18:47	20:50	19:21	28:24	28:32
Jason Bingham	18:43	18:46	20:51	19:20	28:24	28:32
Christopher Sayles	24:31	21:33	21:43	20:49	21:19	24:28
Stephen Turner	21:05	24:11	25:22	22:19	22:13	20:25
Phil Bradburn	23:36	24:01	19:56	21:18	22:06	21:11
Simon Atkin	20:41	21:25	24:42	21:45	24:55	21:30
David Stuart	21:52	21:17	20:52	22:56	24:30	21:29
Michael Wiggins	20:24	20:16	23:30	23:24	25:34	21:36
Keith Shaw	19:11	20:03	19:17	19:26	29:16	25:25
Thomas Haine	21:24	21:28	22:39	24:01	23:52	21:55
James Spray	23:46	22:35	23:17	23:44	21:39	19:40
Nick Balding	22:14	23:48	24:23	23:59	20:57	21:40
Adam Williams	21:15	22:02	21:54	23:29	24:25	21:38
Richard Pomeroy	22:39	21:20	21:05	22:05	25:24	20:29
Martin Burton	23:09	22:27	24:10	22:29	22:32	21:33
Ilsuk Han	22:16	23:59	23:08	22:36	22:39	21:01
Ercole Lugari	20:35	22:31	21:40	22:55	24:31	24:03
Jan Hanousek	21:28	22:52	21:00	22:52	23:40	25:04
Michael Oakes	21:31	22:32	24:38	22:17	23:14	24:59
Ozgur  Gulec	22:20	22:48	19:43	22:48	24:21	23:10
Noora Eresmaa	24:04	21:40	20:46	23:43	22:55	22:47
Aodhagan Fitzsimons	23:47	23:41	26:44	23:35	21:24	18:38
Guy Brown	23:20	23:02	22:17	21:50	22:06	25:35
Brandon Webb	23:33	22:41	24:04	23:03	23:31	19:34
Ben Parkes	18:53	19:58	22:32	24:28	26:30	27:35
Philip Marsden	26:12	23:54	22:41	21:34	20:13	22:44
Mark Copeland	22:15	21:57	22:52	22:23	24:02	24:54
Mel Horley	24:16	23:58	19:02	20:56	23:23	23:24
Yiannis Theologos Michellis	21:59	22:20	20:50	20:43	25:44	25:44
Colin Barnes	22:53	23:56	25:02	23:22	23:26	19:31
Darren Chalk	22:38	23:12	20:37	21:38	24:19	25:47
Shelley Gooch-Smith	23:47	21:14	21:19	22:00	24:59	24:22
Cameron Kirkwood	22:15	23:58	23:12	24:55	23:58	19:42
Gavin Bowden	21:18	22:10	27:35	23:25	23:10	26:06
Colin Dear	24:20	25:04	23:55	23:46	22:24	18:20
Andi Dunn	25:06	23:32	22:19	22:45	22:27	22:36
Kyle Johnston	23:24	22:08	21:56	21:17	24:07	27:50
Chris Holmes	21:37	22:33	22:28	20:55	28:11	21:37
David Boxall	24:02	23:36	25:10	22:15	22:26	24:11
James Owen	23:36	22:58	23:56	24:34	24:39	18:52
John Parker	23:29	21:58	25:39	22:44	24:35	22:35
Christopher Kay	24:23	23:33	21:27	24:12	24:27	19:12
Alex Portwine	24:31	22:56	23:37	22:59	23:50	21:44
Nick Reed	24:27	24:15	26:10	23:18	22:04	21:44
Phillip Tunney	23:36	23:43	24:42	24:29	23:39	20:15
Simon T Brown	22:58	24:13	24:21	25:19	23:27	20:20
Darren Handley	22:49	23:39	23:24	23:54	23:51	23:44
Simon Bennett	23:01	23:09	23:17	23:21	24:36	23:19
David Pereira	25:21	25:11	27:45	30:32	18:04	15:50
Carl Adams	28:16	25:29	24:59	23:20	21:07	14:10
Gregor Gucwa	25:29	23:54	22:29	23:04	22:58	21:54
Sam Nylander	24:53	22:22	22:23	21:18	23:49	27:10
Daniel Turton	23:00	24:02	25:20	24:49	23:23	22:40
Ryan Spencer	25:33	23:56	24:21	23:40	23:21	20:09
Steve Evans	21:49	23:38	25:46	26:44	24:52	23:29
Steven Illingworth	26:07	24:14	24:44	24:17	22:43	25:13
Peter Johnson	24:06	24:17	24:01	25:38	24:08	25:09
Laura Watts	21:19	22:09	29:02	22:36	23:11	38:55
James Allum	25:41	24:46	24:45	24:16	23:39	24:41
Simon Bray	27:35	26:41	21:47	20:47	21:21	30:22
Paul Commons	26:36	25:41	28:00	25:45	17:59	33:09
Glen Keegan	24:47	26:24	25:51	28:48	18:00	33:13
Lee Wallhead	25:26	23:43	24:12	23:38	24:21	30:20
Jamie Sinclair	21:17	22:57	27:13	27:46	27:35	25:56
David Rudall	23:24	23:51	27:32	26:37	25:34	26:01
Gary Martin	23:23	23:51	27:30	26:37	25:34	26:03
Rodrigo Freeman	25:40	27:44	25:47	25:44	21:28	26:19
Gary Timmins	24:23	23:30	22:26	24:51	26:03	30:33
Alexia Melling	25:58	24:07	24:12	25:31	25:30	24:46
Tony East	25:45	24:15	23:24	26:35	24:50	26:27
Thomas Kingston	24:28	26:50	26:23	25:33	25:11	22:51
Adam Ford	25:58	23:40	25:24	23:45	24:28	30:58
Annemiek Hamelinck	26:53	26:30	21:55	25:12	24:32	24:32
Taras Mencinsky	24:25	23:29	22:53	29:41	27:02	22:51
Robert Whitehead	25:15	25:38	25:32	26:41	26:21	20:48
Carlos Celaya Escribano	20:43	23:37	24:34	26:06	28:33	31:35
Antony Dunkels	25:12	24:21	23:45	24:53	25:39	29:33
Steven Hawkswell	21:17	23:31	18:57	33:23	27:18	28:06
Tracey Watson	25:44	24:16	23:23	26:50	24:42	29:33
Huw Jones	25:25	24:38	27:13	22:34	24:52	32:59
Rui Pedras	25:14	26:45	27:52	25:25	24:27	25:55
Richard Langley	23:48	26:46	27:44	23:39	26:34	26:50
Louise Tidbury	24:52	26:17	25:59	28:42	24:50	23:46
Georgina Townsend	23:46	21:51	20:32	23:38	29:05	36:26
David Tarbuck	27:19	28:17	23:33	24:27	24:20	24:19
Charles Erleigh	24:59	25:52	27:11	25:34	27:00	24:30
Ruth Mitchell	25:04	23:57	31:33	23:44	28:05	24:51
Colin Third	23:45	26:38	26:32	26:46	27:39	23:40
Graham Akrill	25:17	27:29	27:19	27:13	25:40	22:29
Dan Park	27:38	26:29	26:56	27:46	23:44	23:14
James Moore	21:22	22:08	24:03	30:47	28:04	33:42
Kieran Alger	26:45	25:25	22:17	25:46	27:01	27:10
Chris Coates	23:01	25:59	27:30	24:09	28:18	30:21
David Hockey	26:06	24:20	24:12	25:33	26:22	31:53
Ken Hughes	22:13	23:58	27:22	27:31	29:57	27:26
Andy Arnold	25:50	28:25	27:39	25:13	25:21	25:25
Phil Servas	26:52	27:44	27:30	27:19	24:50	24:02
Melanie Ross	28:29	29:08	28:20	25:58	23:40	22:01
Richard Etherington-Smith	26:56	26:27	21:55	25:02	26:34	30:43
Chris Parry	28:04	27:25	25:51	25:33	25:33	24:51
Graham Brownsmith	24:51	27:45	32:00	26:50	24:51	26:32
Peter Wright	24:52	27:44	32:01	26:49	24:52	26:31
Emmett Graham	29:30	27:03	28:00	24:55	24:02	25:37
Daniel Benwell	24:20	25:33	27:39	26:29	29:30	25:10
Sonny Peart	27:39	28:35	26:37	25:57	24:24	25:54
Andy Marsh	27:01	26:09	26:28	27:44	26:39	24:24
Spencer Millbery	26:55	25:50	27:33	27:23	25:54	27:12
Charlotte Davey	25:45	26:54	29:49	27:02	25:20	27:59
Julian Howard	25:46	26:53	29:49	27:23	25:08	27:58
Alan Mercer	27:44	28:06	28:55	26:11	24:31	25:07
Sarah Belchier	27:38	28:35	26:38	25:57	24:24	27:53
Jody Raynsford	28:15	25:50	27:28	26:34	25:24	28:13
Claudio Bernardo	26:50	27:30	29:33	31:48	22:50	25:24
Bob Arthur	26:06	27:14	30:15	29:59	24:38	25:20
Lynn Cunningham	27:14	27:15	25:02	26:09	27:11	26:58
Matt Liggins	25:28	25:17	27:10	30:05	28:18	24:46
Lisa Ripley	27:49	27:42	27:10	25:11	26:32	26:26
Corinne Rodgers	27:50	27:41	27:09	25:11	26:29	26:35
Mikko Liukka	23:04	22:53	24:45	27:51	35:13	24:04
Roz Glover	30:19	26:44	24:27	25:23	25:59	26:32
Jo Yarnall	29:31	27:00	27:56	25:44	25:05	26:45
Ellen Norris	26:13	28:19	27:31	28:29	25:45	26:48
Francisco Otermin	25:08	25:27	27:23	27:22	29:00	28:44
Jonathan Ryan	26:44	27:03	27:01	27:38	25:43	30:02
Ira Rainey	25:57	27:57	29:00	26:41	26:55	26:58
Giuseppe Tramontin	26:51	27:29	29:35	31:12	25:00	23:31
Erika Laiche	27:25	27:03	27:51	29:51	26:02	24:02
Stefan Klincewicz	27:04	28:06	30:06	26:51	25:13	27:29
Judith Webb	29:40	29:25	30:04	27:34	22:23	25:03
Judith Mallon	29:39	29:25	30:04	27:27	22:28	25:00
Daniel Whittaker	25:03	30:31	28:32	29:54	24:59	25:06
Paul Wootten	25:57	28:09	28:36	26:40	26:54	27:59
Daniel Williams	27:55	30:04	27:35	26:00	25:12	26:13
Sigrid Jahn	27:38	27:47	27:50	28:38	25:30	27:06
Philippe Ecaille	29:40	32:11	27:27	25:44	22:51	25:19
Marissa Harris	25:28	26:11	27:27	27:52	28:47	29:17
Ian Lang	29:28	26:57	26:45	25:01	26:05	30:11
Rachel Hessom	26:57	28:46	27:22	27:57	26:48	26:39
Sarah Easingwood-Wilson	27:22	25:12	27:38	28:06	28:39	28:02
Torquil Landen	25:37	28:35	32:40	29:40	25:44	26:16
Ken Lane	27:42	29:41	28:11	30:34	26:20	20:37
Lynsey Dawson	26:41	27:42	26:11	28:26	28:30	26:31
Paul Daniels	26:22	28:56	33:51	27:54	25:46	27:07
Lorna Muirhead	26:52	27:25	28:15	27:18	28:26	27:58
Azud Irshad	27:36	30:50	25:07	24:19	29:46	23:49
Tess Brooks	27:09	29:09	31:38	30:08	25:36	24:31
Joanna Turner	27:44	28:44	31:29	28:23	26:24	25:01
Ian Robertson	26:52	29:10	31:46	29:20	26:13	25:02

Centurion Thames Path 100 2017 - Stella, yarn bombs and JD fudge

So I was back in Richmond for my third Thames Path 100. The first was the wet one, the second was the frosty one. Hopefully this would be the surprisingly mild uneventful one.

I made my way through the usual kit check and quick stop at the excellent Centurion shop to pick up a few bits and bobs. I caught up with a few familiar faces and met a few new ones. Ultra running's power couple - the Sawyers to start with.Sarah would have a "dreadful" race and finish as second lady. I had a quick chat with Dan Park who started his Grand slam journey with a controlled sub 26 hour finish. I finally met David Tarbuck who I have spent lots of time on Facebook with but would be finishing his the Thames Path at the second time of asking after succumbing to the cold last year at Whitchurch. I had an amusing chat in the queue for the portaloos with someone who would turn out to be Dan Masters. He had got stuck into a microwave Tesco's curry the night before and was still settling his stomach...

I had a quick chat with the lovely resident photographer Stuart March about his step into full time photography ( http://www.stuartmarchphotography.co.uk/ offering commercial, lifestyle, wedding and of course sports).

James Elson did his usual excellent briefing - although he has now upped the criteria for putting your hand in the air at those with 10 or more 100 mile finishes rather than the previous 5. I am only on 6 so far... It is quite rightly a serious briefing with a bit of humour and he made a point that every finisher is important whether they are first or last which really sums up the event.

Soon enough it was time to get started. James was on megaphone duties and Nici very excited to have the air horn. Now James - if you are reading this - please could you start the next one like this...

How the TP100 start is in my head (Gladiator - On Nici's signal unleash hell)

I started fairly near the front to avoid the dash for the bridge. I sensibly took the route round the kissing gate and made up about 5 places on the two people in front of me who went straight on. Shortly after this Ken F went past me. It is one of my ambitions to beat him but it wouldn't happen today.

 I went out reasonably steady and bumped into Chris who is a friend and physio of my running buddy after a couple of miles.. He finished in just over 20 hours last year and we shared the first 25 miles or so. The first few miles were uneventful with some walking breaks and we made it to the first checkpoint. I bumped into a fellow fetchie who was volunteering at CP1 ( http://www.fetcheveryone.com/ ) and my carefully planned nutrition strategy was amended when I spotted a lovely cheese scone. I tried to avoid caffeine so for the first time in about 60 checkpoints, I didn't grab a cup of coke. I saw Jim Vince - an exclusive member of the 600ers who was marshaling one of the crossings I think.

I have few memories of the first 26 miles and before long I was up to the marathon point in 4:16. This was pretty lively and was a person best for running a marathon while eating a cheese scone. In absolute terms it was pretty quick too and whilst good to have some fast miles under the belt, it also meant I had gone out a bit quick. I had planned to get to Dorney in 5:15 and got there in 5:03 so was very pleased and had a celebratory Pepsi (black gold). 

I had a zip lock plastic bag which I was using to break each leg in two with a virtual aid-station at halfway as I dug around in my bag for a snack. I can highly recommend this and it avoids the cycle of slow depletion of energy followed by gorging and nausea at the aid stations.

I made it to Cookham to be greeted firstly by "Steph the legs" who even has it on her top now. I was quite surprised to see Mark Denby in race kit topping up water bottles. He absolutely smashed the A100 but had to pull up with an injury on the TP100, He had stuck around to help out which is a really nice touch and I wish him a speedy recovery.

I ran for a bit with Ryan who is the youngest person ever to run 100 marathons. A very impressive achievement and must be one of the youngest Centurions too due to the 21 year age restriction. At 21 I was mainly drinking beer and playing computer games.

I struggled a bit with rhythm between 38-51 as I was conscious I was going out a bit quick and need to get some walking breaks in. I'm not very good at running slowly so either run at 10 minute miles or power walk at 14-15 minute miles.  I traded places many times with a guy with a pink head scarf thing - at one point he did say "not you again you bastard" as I went past for the 5th time which I took to be good natured...

The is a bit where you run through someone's front garden. It is someone who has a Cricket pitch in their front garden though...

It was very warm and I had been sweating quite a lot. My skin was disgusting and covered in salt. I took a toilet break just to check everything was ok hydration wise. I had made it to 45 miles which was about 6 miles short of my pee bee but I didn't want to take any chances today in case something was up so checked everything was ok. My bladder is one of strengths as a runner as it saves me a lot of time in ultras :)

Henley was the usual smooth operation. I didn't have a cup of tea for a change and had some coke. Now the Centurion running shop do some fantastic kit ( https://www.centurionultrarunningstore.com/ ) including my Injinji socks and bodyglide but the hydra cup wasn't great (although fine for a 50 miler). It is a bit like trying to have a drink from a condom which is fine for coke but not so great for hot tea. As it turns out this was a very good thing as it meant I didn't lose much time in aid stations in the second half as I wasn't faffing around waiting for tea and then drinking tea. Also good for the environment so can't complain too much.

As I came out of Henley I was a guy in quite a bit of trouble. He was walking badly and not in a great way. I checked up on him and he was fine - just getting his legs back after the break. I was about 50 yards ahead but he was still only a bit behind. He was still close at Shiplake so I slowed a bit and he caught up. He was soon back on form and we shared the miles to Reading. We were battling with Red Jacket Walking man and Yellow Jacket (Calvin) with places swapping a lot.

Amazingly we made it to Reading before head torches were needed which was a massive bonus. The previous two years it was dark well before Reading so I knew I was having a good day. However the tough part of the race (at least for me) it the next 27 miles to get through to Clifton Hampden was still to come. I had a good refuel thanks to Joe Delaney and Paul Ali amongst others.before setting sail for Whitchurch. I managed to drink a coffee out of the cup and was on my way for the start of the fields...

I was well ahead of schedule getting here in less than 11 hours. My benchmark is doubling your Reading time to be your finish time so I potentially had a sub 22 in me and that would be a dream finish. But then you sit back and think there is a whole night of pain and 11 hours of graft to get there. Probably best not to dwell on these things...

Just before the Tilehurst Railway station stair mountain, an American guy came past at a rate of knots. I asked where he was from and he said he was from Utah. I asked if he was Byron but he said no - Bryon. It was definitely Byron Powell as I have his book (relentless forward progress) and read irunfar.com regularly.so why would he call himself Bryon? Turns out after many years, I have been reading his name incorrectly. I did wonder what he had been up to as he is very quick runner as was travelling quickly.

There are seemingly dozens of gates between Reading and Whitchurch and we briefly had a gate bitch for part of this. "Gate bitch" was a pacer originally from Oregon and we had a bit of a chat before he worked out his runner was much faster than us and he disappeared up the trail to catch him up and we were left opening gates ourselves. Before long the walk across the Pangbourne meadow and crew car park was upon us. The aid station is just across the river...

I have crossed the Whitchurch Bridge 6 times in Centurion events and several other times. It is a toll bridge with nothing special about it. Except tonight where a "yarn bomb" had erupted and the left hand side of it was an amazing crochet display which ran the entire length of the bridge. It was fabulous to look at all the things that had been made and escape from the running. I did wonder if I was dreaming or hallucinating. Bryon's photo is here proving I wasn't:

https://twitter.com/LanterneOrange/status/858454474268004352/photo/1

and the BBC South Today video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-39798877/bridge-yarn-bombed-by-hundreds

I love the Whitchurch to Goring roller coaster but ITB had tightened up so I was struggling to run. I could walk fairly quickly but trying to run the downhills which is normally my strength was painful. This was still quite enjoyable with alpine style switchbacks and Mount Whitchurch was safely negotiated.

Goring was drop bags and if I remember rightly some lovely potato wedges. They hit the spot perfectly. My drop bags were packed with warm clothes for an alpine climb but I didn't even have my waterproof on as the weather was very mild. However in 2016 it had been sub zero in places.

The usual trudge to Wallingford was done fairly slowly but safely. I had fallen in a muddy puddle during 2016 so it was great to get here safely. Bryon was sat outside with a pack of parma ham and looking a bit out of things as we left the aid station. He had flown past us by Reading but had stalled here for a bit.

We were making it across the weir which I'm not comfortable with at the best of times let alone at 2am when Bryon catches us up with a bottle of Stella Artois in hand. He finished what was left, put the bottle in the bin and then took off at what seemed to us like 8 minute miles. Certainly a different pacing and nutrition strategy to me.

The usual mind numbing drag to Clifton Hamden was under way. This section is 7.5 miles long but it feels like about 13. The sun rose the first time I left this aid station in 2015 and was well in the sky in 2016 but it was still quite dark this time. I had a rare cup of tea which I nearly scalded myself with. It is worth using this as a stop to regroup for the final push but be careful not to get too comfortable. The race should be almost in the bag by now but 15 miles is still over a half marathon to go. This is where the mental side of ultras come into play. It was mostly done but I would still need to push myself hard for potentially another 4 hours.

Marco and I had shared many stories along the way and one of the marshalls you go past twice must have overheard one of them as he asked about Marco's lawn mowing skills. The story of Marco trying to mow the lawn the day after the TP100 2016 was quite funny. It took him over an hour to mow a small patch of grass while his girlfriend laughed and did the rest of the garden.

If you ran or paced the NDW100 last year, the chances are Marco used his barista skills to make you a cup of tea or coffee. He was working at the Lenham 90 miles checkpoint and thinks he made roughly 350 cups of tea and coffee. The Lenham aid station is a grassy layby just off a country road with no creature comforts but Marco did a massive shift getting some very broken runners back on track. I remember thinking and hopefully telling the aid station people that it was the most important aid station of the NDW and it was great to be able to tell Marco in person. 

I dragged Marco along for some of the sections and he pulled me along too - it was a great partnership which helped us both get to the end. Marco also did a shift at the A100 under an umbrella pointing people into the village hall. He would have been the last volunteer I saw before I officially became a grandslammer. Marco has signed up to the races to be a grandslammer but was talking about dropping out and saying  there was no way he would be able to run the SDW100 in just 6 weeks time. However I last saw Marco asking for Winchester hotel recommendations and pacing charts which would suggest he had changed his mind.

The stretch to Abingdon was endless fields but at least had a lovely sunrise to go with them. We met up with Michael who seemed familiar. It turned out we had shared a few miles on the 2015 Vanguard Way marathon - it was a marathon for me but Michael had turned in the an ultra by adding a few bonus miles.

I was going to say before long but it was well after long, we arrived at Abingdon. There were some very cute goslings on the path with fortunately not particulary protective parents. I wouldn't have fancied a fight with a goose at this point. There were also swans which were well off the path thank goodness.

The highlight of the Abingdon aid station was the legendry JD fudge. Having seen the impact of alcohol on Bryon, I was well up for some JD at 6.30am. It didn't disappoint and Louise hadn't skimped on the alcohol. I had 2 hours 20 to get the last 9 miles done for a new PB so I needed to keep pushing myself. I had done it in 2hr 15 and 2hr 18 the last two years so this was definitely a possibility.

We bumpbed in to Phil (Bradburn)and his pacer shortly after Abingdon. Phil was one of the many and varied names his pacer was using as "encouragement" during the final few miles. There are many different styles of pacer and Phil's pacer provided us with some amusement.

As always, I get a lift after sunrise and the pace picked up a bit. Marco was struggling a bit and we went parted shortly after the final aid station. I figured he would get home safely under 24 hours from here. The last few miles dragged a bit (you may be sensing a theme) but before long the famous left turn was here. I had managed to painfully jog some of the last few miles and came across the line for a 7th 100 miles finish in 22:27:02 for a 13 minute PB and my fastest TP100 by 36 minutes. I was very pleased having been slower in 2016 than I was in 2015.

I had a quick chat with Dan Masters who had finished second in 15:30. Maybe my race strategy next year will involve microwave curry and Stella Artois. I caught up with a few people including the Queen of the Trig Point Sharon and the lovely Louise.

About 15 minutes later, Marco crossed the line. Marco was taking no risks about missing on a famous Nici hug by doing his best impression of a sack of potatoes and collapsing on the finish line. It looked quite serious as everyone ran into look after him but he came round quite quickly and was ok.

I made my way home via a taxi, 3 trains and a tube. I was hoping to get the Reading to Clapham junction via Richmond train but this wasn't running due to engineering work, I had to stand and was looking at the sign saying "please give up your seat to those less mobile". There can't have been many who were less mobile but I was to tired to talk. I then had the bonus of a trip on the circle line (at least I had a seat) before one last train and the 15 minute trudge (normally a 5 minute stroll) home from the station.

However I had made it home safely with another finish in the bag. I was delighted with this for many reasons. Finishing any 100 is special and a PB was great. It was under the old Sparta qualification time of 22:30 which might seem like a stupid thing to be proud of but it is cool to know my performance would have been good enough to get to the start line up until 2015. I'm up to 4 Western States tickets too and I'm keeping the UTMB points ticking over for 2019 if I don't get in this year.

I also had a Thames Path 100 which I wouldn't describe as horrific. The 2015 has a monsoon with horrific blisters and the 2016 was freezing and involved lying down in a muddy puddle. The 2017 was dry and warm. It might even persuade me to come back again...

How to finish the Centurion 100 Grandslam

Last year I finished the Centurion Grandslam of 100 mile races in 95hrs 46 to finish 11th out of 55 starters and 24 finishers. Here are my 3 key steps to finishing this amazing challenge

1. Sign up to all 4 Centurion races
2. Turn up to all 4 races
3. Finish all 4 races

That is it. If you follow this 3 step plan, you will join the exclusive club of 68 Centurion 100 mile Grandslammers with the t-shirt and massive buckle that goes with it. I am one of 31 people who have done it in under 4 days. It is comfortably the hardest challenge I have ever done and something I am very proud of having finished.

I thought I would share my year covering both the races and what happened between. I have all the race reports elsewhere on this blog if you want the finer details of the races.

My training is constrained by a job in London with a bit of a commute plus a wife and two young children that I like to spend time with. This means that the traditional training plan with a long run (or even two) at the weekends was not an option. In the 6 month run up to the Thames Path, the longest runs I did was 17 snowy miles through Chamonix in February and a 3:38 marathon in December the year before. I keep all my training on the excellent www.fetcheveryone.com as well as Strava and every run was recorded. I have shown the graphs if you don't believe me.

I'm not suggesting this approach to anyone aspiring to be a grand-slammer but it may serve as a lower bound for what is possible. I have been blessed with a naturally slim body (I have the tiniest wrists of any man I know despite being over 6 foot tall) and a cast iron stomach (see the post on things I have eaten) which definitely help.

A key part to my training was double days. On my way to work, I would get off at Clapham Junction  and run the last 7 miles in to work and then combine with a lunch time run of 5 miles. Probably not a good as a 12 mile run but better than more time reading the Metro and BBC Sport at my desk. I managed to cobble together some 50+ mile weeks with a typical mileage of about 30-40.

It was more by accident than design, but my morning run was generally done in a "fasted" state as I left the house having only a cup of coffee inside me. I think these slow runs at 9ish minute miles with a backpack with my work stuff were good training. This run of about an hour was then topped up with a faster lunch time run.

Thames Path 100

http://76thmile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/thames-path-100-2016-snow-meteors-and.html
All Grand-slams start in Richmond and mine was no different. I had done this race before in 2015 and despite having much better conditions in 2016, I had finished about 30 minutes slower. It was a strange feeling finishing this race. I was happy to have a 3rd sub-24 finish but disappointed that it was my slowest. I could probably have finished a bit quicker and gone sub 23 but it just didn't seem worth it as I was carrying a bit of an injury through the last third. The feeling of finishing was different. The previous two races were stand alone events but this was part of something bigger and definitely unfinished business.

First recovery

There are only 6 weeks between the first two races. This was on my mind when I was getting the train back home from Oxford. I was in a lot better condition than after the 2015 TP100 (decomposing donkey with trench foot) but still not ideal.  I had a minor hamstring injury which I was recovering from but that didn't stop me from getting out and running. I had underperformed on the Thames and wanted to get back on it. I could run for about 2-3 miles before my leg tightened and I had to walk it home. In hindsight I should have rested but within two weeks I was running ok.
It took the best part of 5 weeks to get my legs back to feeling like they weren't full of cement.
Normally I taper for events but I had only got back to normal the week before. We had a family holiday in Spain over the second May Bank Holiday (watching Dan Park shaped dots while drinking beer) and I managed to do a 10 mile run with sub 8 minute miles the weekend before the SDW.

South Downs Way 100

http://76thmile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/centurion-sdw100-cows-wasps-fog-and.html
This was a cracking race and my best of the year. It just went right all day. I held great form until I hit the fog on Bo-peep in the last 15 miles. I was even ahead of Ken F for quite a bit of the race and managed a legendary sprint finish ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmiqina9ZRE )
On the train home, I ended up chatting to Frank, Mark and Ken F about the Grandslam. It was all starting to become real....

Second recovery

Apart from a few blisters, I felt pretty good. I even went into work the Monday after the race and nobody realised anything was untoward. I left it a full week before starting to run again. First run back was a gentle loop on the North Downs Way. I am fortunate to live near the Caterham - Botley Hill section of the NDW so you can't get better training that running on the course.
The extra couple of weeks made a huge difference. I was back to normal with 3 weeks to go rather than just the 1. I got a 49 mile week in just before the race and was ready to face the North Down Way.

North Downs Way 100

http://76thmile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/north-downs-way-100-glowworms-dormice.html
 This was a big race for me in its own right. When I started ultras, this was the most famous 100 mile race for me. It was also the only 100 mile race I knew of.  It also known as a breaker of grandslams - no more so than when Wendy Shaw was taken out of the hurricane Bertha affected race with hypothermia at mile 98 (she has 3 other 'slams so don't feel too sorry for her). I got round in 25:31 which I was very pleased with. I had a lift back to the station with 2015 Grandslammer Louise and she told me I basically had the GS buckle in the bag but I still have the Autumn 100 to go.
Finishing the NDW100 was a major ambition of mine and completed a "career" slam (I did the 2015 A100). I felt a lot of pressure had come off as this year would be a fantastic one either way.

Final recovery

The gap to the last race is 10 weeks. The first two of this was in Maryland, US with my in-laws. I did some running to get out of the house but it was all fairly gentle. I resumed normal running fairly quickly but didn't do anything fast or long. I was paranoid about getting injured - I would have been devastated to have been injured and miss out.
The last few weeks really dragged. Every run I was thinking about the Autumn 100. I had done it the year before and kept visualising the route. I just wanted to be on the start line.
I had been catching up on TalkUltra podcasts ( https://iancorless.org/podcast/ ) and there were a couple of Centurion related episodes. Firstly it was great to listen to Mark Perkins and how to run the SDW100 9 hours faster than me. The second was Ed Catmur talking about his running. Ed was helping out at the Knockholt for the NDW100. They talked about Centurion running and the Grandslam came up. Ed mentioned it was something he wanted to do but it had eluded him. I have raced against him and barely even finished on the same day as him but I would have a change to beat him to the big buckle...

Autumn 100 

http://76thmile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/centurion-autumn-100-orions-belt-belt.html
 I was finally here. James Elson has a tradition of asking people to put their hands up at the start if it is their first 100 miler, they have 5 or more finishes and who is going for the grandslam. There was a massive round of applause for the potential grandslammers but we were only part of the way there.
Every race for me is a case of ticking off miles but this race more so than normal. I had each leg as being a mini version of each race. The first leg on the Thames was the TP100 . The second and third  on the Ridgeway were the undulating Downs Double leaving just the last leg of the Autumn 100. It was weird to think that baring disaster, I would be walking back into the hall as a Grandslammer.
I had a terrible last leg with pouring rain but it was great to see so many people who had been part of the journey. It was an 8 hour grind but I had no doubt I would be make it back to Goring. Even the last legs splits into 4 sections being a fractal version of the slam.
Leaving the last aid station was a great feeling with 4 miles to go. I had 5 hours to cover the distance and with Dan Park sweeping I would definitely get there. I was coming down the final stretch and a fisherman congratulated me on my race. It was the final mile...

Coming into the village hall was a brilliant feeling. It had been a lot of sacrifices with time away from home, training and pain. I had the obligatory hug from Nici, put on my new red shirt and I was part of the exclusive Grandslam club. Now everybody who finishes a Centurion event is special but this was something else. The previous three races didn't quite feel right at the finish but this was the real finish line.

I am very proud to have joined the club of Grandslammers. We are a varied bunch including at least two cancer survivors, some in less than 3 days, some nearer 5 but they all count. Mine isn't the fastest or most inspiring but I got there.



Thanks for reading to the end - it is almost as much an achievement as doing the slam itself. However it wouldn't be possible without James Elson creating the challenge and the volunteers making it a reality.

Me with two special people who helped me get there

I might be biased but I think it is up there with the best challenges in the world for an "average" runner. I don't think there is a better challenge in the World that you can just sign up to. Sure there are the Hardrocks, Sparathlons, UTMBs and WSERs but you need to be elite or have the lottery gods on your side (I'm 0/3 so far).

So why not give it a go - although you will have to wait for 2018 as you have probably already failed step 1 for the 2017 edition...

The class of 2016