Brathay Goes to Town
- Duncan
- 5 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Paddington Goes to Town
Matt Damon, appears to me to be such a good guy, he may not be? I guess I'll never know. I like how he plays characters, Jason Bourne, Linus Caldwell, Mark Watney, Benjamin Mee and Will Hunting to name but a few.
Yesterday, I thought I felt my hamstring begin to go, so for a long while I walked, probably about 12 miles, it was a long schlepp and boring. There's only so many times you can try to sing to kill a few minutes, or maybe kill a song for a few minutes. By the way how do singers do it, those artists who dance around on stage and sing, for hours. I can't blast out words for any more than a few seconds when I'm running. Finish time yesterday was just under 6 hours. Unfortunately, as Johnny found out today I can't hold a tune, I forgot key words and can clearly not harmonise. What a tune to pick, 'Islands in the Stream' Johnny was Kenny Rogers word perfect, I was more of a poorly-rehearsed, camp Dolly Parton impersonator, but the only big thing up front about me is my belly.
Sadly, we've lost another runner through injury, John McCann, a rather wonderful man, who had to retire after completing a week of marathons. The course is brutal, and unforgiving, it carries no memory, one day you can be going fine, the next, yuck! Rob and Katie by contrast are storming, especially Rob who is well on course to break the fastest finish for 10 marathons, but just whisper it as we don't want to jinx it, nor let the potential for the achievement go to his head. I think Matt will make sure it doesn't.
Ella's plan to get me ready today was to do PNF Stretching after physio work and warm-up. Little Rock Tape on the left achilles (weirdly, not the achilles that I was worried about coming into the event), and Compeed for the blister. For about 7 miles the legs felt fine, the hamstring a little stiff but then I sort of caught up with Johnny who apparently wasn't expecting to finish day 2 (his words not mine) and now we're on the eve of Day 9. Just before mile 5, someone had lost a 2p coin. I'm sure there's a saying, 'see 2p on the ground, turn around pick it up, pocket it and you'll be 2p richer and not get injured on day 8 of a multi-day running challenge.' Not too catchy, maybe it needs some work but there must be something in it?
Probably the three of the most awkward things I've witnessed, have been (in no particular order):
Frustration - I've been away for one week and the missus forgot to put out the bin, on the day the house is up for sale and open for viewings, useless without me
Vanity - who seriously wants to have their leg hair plaited by their physio
Stupidity - cheek chaffing without fixing the friction
Running, plodding or just shuffling along with company helped the miles fly by. We've come up with our own 'Texas Gift Shop Awards' but they need some work. We got as far as 'cheestrings' for the detritus dropping Ashleigh and Stuart, an egg timer for Katie and Rob, who seem so competitive they probably check who can boil the kettle quickest, and finally a compass for Gary, the only ex services, map reading expert who can get lost on a looped marathon. I probably win tape to keep my big mouth shut. We've worked out how to successfully get to Day 8, basically by having no pre-conceptions, no expectations, enjoying the journey, not trying too hard, the placebo effects of rock tape and limiting the training to stubbornness and dumb luck. That and relying on the talent of a bunch of incredible physios.
Another sports day for the Uni Physio team and we had to rely on VAR footage. Who won either of these finishes?
Did Jamie's team win? Diesel's team certainly finished first but who was 2nd or 3rd? Rachael, Charlotte and Courtney were all out again on the course supporting. Thank you so much! James taping is first class, see for yourself.
Galina offered me a proper coffee this morning, real crema, black and strong. Delicious, the coffee of course.
My blister has finally popped. Feet are still on fire when I slow to a walk but at least there's not a huge throbbing swelling waiting for the juice to pop in my socks.
A finish of almost 5 hours 15 for the eight marathon after a rubbish day yesterday. What a difference 24 hours can make. As Matt Damon might say, 'How do you like those apples?'
DJ Théo's tune of today...
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