Multisport race (Wartrail Tri-Challenge) 10:21:33 [5] 59.0 km (10:32 / km) +1918m 9:04 / km
shoes: Salomon 3D Pro green #7
0430 - Mountain Run from Lady Grey to Balloch. Started off okay, but within a few minutes started feeling ill, a funny feeling following the early morning breakfast. I found that walking helped, so I changed tactics and decided to slow down, but keep up a decent speed and see what would happen after a few hours. At CP1 at the microwave tower, I was together with Martin Dreyer, with a chasing group of about 5. We had all got a little lost on the hiking trail up to the tower in the dark. The mountains were beautiful at first light, with snow patches all around. We were regularly running in shallow snow, with it being quite thick in places on south-facing slopes. Just before CP2 (Olympus), I had to let Martin go... with him immediately picking up the pace. Shortly after the CP, I also was caught by first Cobus, then Donovan, Garth, Jeannie, Ugene and Andre. Thankfully they were happy to slow down to my pace once they'd caught me and I managed to hide my discomfort. The old jeep track between Olympus and Snowdon (CP3) was quite often covered in snow, so we did a lot of walking through the grass beside. Just after 6 hours, just beyond Snowdow, I felt better and was able to up the pace. Martin had a 36 minute lead and I was keen to see if I could at least catch some of it. The last 25kms were superb. I felt great and could push rather hard, particuarly the descent into Skiddaw (CP5) and Balloch. We were told to miss Avoca (CP4) due to the deep snow there. I ended up 2nd, 32 mins behind Martin. Cobus finished about 35 mins later, with the rest of the large group just over an hour adrift. Not my best run by far... almost 55 mins slower than last year due also in part to the snow.
Split 2005 2006 2007
CP1 1h17 1h16 1h22 - fastest 1h16 ('06)
CP2 3h16 3h14 3h37 - fastest 1h58 ('06) vs 2h15 ('07)
CP3 4h55 4h51 5h43 - fastest 1h37 ('06) vs 2h06 ('07)
CP4 7h00 6h45 7h33 - fastest 1h54 ('06 w Avoca) 1h50 ('07 w/o Avoca)
CP5 ?h?? ?h?? 8h55 - fastest
Finh 9h55 9h42 10h21 - fastest 2h55 ('06) and 2h48 ('07)