White Peak Marathon
27/05/2010
White Peak Marathon
Last weekend was the hottest so far this year and while it did not stop the athletes of the town’s running club from running, it did tend to slow them down a bit.
It was certainly the case for those who made the trip to Derbyshire to run 26 miles from Thorpe along the Tissington Trail to Parsley Hay before turning to follow the High Peak Trail towards the finish at Cromford.
Helen Skelton started well and was second lady until the 16 mile mark when she succumbed to the heat and struggled to breathe even though her legs felt fine. Despite struggling on she had to pull out at 18 miles and was bitterly disappointed, but it was the sensible thing to do.
Jo Coombes and Heather Hogan ran together and supported each other along the way. Taking things at a slightly slower pace, they managed to complete the course and finish 169 and 170th in 5hr 16m 48s and 5hr 17m 12s respectively in a field of around 200.
No day for achieving a personal best time, they did well to finish the race in temperatures of 30 degrees plus and they are now sporting and excellent tan for their efforts!
