|
|
Thames
Path Ultra – "My fastest
50 miles".
The Thames Path Ultra is
a 50 mile foot race from Reading to London along the Thames
Path. It was designed to replace the Thames Meander that Ben
had raced the previous year and follows much of the same route.
"Having the experience under my belt and having
accomplished so much in the last year, I was really looking
forward to this race".
Ben was looking to improve on his time
from last year of just over 10.5 hours (over a slightly longer
course.) and planned to finish inside 9 hours.
"I was in excellent company, there is a small
but inspiring Ultra Distance community, and pitting yourself
against elite athletes is good for pushing your own boundaries.
On the day it was just a matter of setting off fast
and pushing as hard as I could, and and if you do that all day,
you eventually get to the finish."
Ben says he surprised himself when he
charged over the finish line with good friend and ultra distance
runner Duncan Hewson in a time of 7 hours 57
minutes and in 'joint
9th place'!!
"Breaking 8 hours for 50 miles is a big achievement,
particularly when exceeding my own expectations by so much.
However, it's in my nature to constantly seek improvement and
push myself to my limits, so I'll be back to test myself at
next year's event before the 'ENDURE' expedition.
Having the experience, and the knowledge that you can push yourself
so much further and harder than most people would conceive,
makes it easy to be confident and undaunted when faced by a
big objective".
|
|
|
|
|
