' 300 Spartans? Paah!....who needs Spartans when you have 300 'Tourists'! Part 2.

The Tour of Merseyside 6 stage 52 mile week funfest of good friends and fellow fun loving 'Tourists'! Part 2

Stages 4-6

Foreword....

So here we are on Part 2 of my week long blog about my participation in perhaps the greatest relatively unknown running event in the UK. If you like me are on the Tour you like me will now probably be feeling a little worse for wear or a tad tired, but also buzzing on the excitement that the tour brings to our lives during the week, or perhaps it's all the sugar in the gels and the Lucozade we've been drinking? :)

As time is of the essence as I have yet another run in T-minus 4 hours and I'm currently sat with my feet up trying to rest them as I type this blog entry...I will swiftly move on and start with the next stage in our week long adventure and the one a lot of the funsters had been looking forward too all week. I give you...

Stage 4 - Day 5 - Otterspool Red Bull Rage 5 miler. 

Well as you see from the picture above , the Red Bull Rage 5 miler is in fact optional fancy dress day on the tour, after it was first started last year at the Hale Village 5 miler which was Stage 4 last time round. 

Hale Village decided we where just a little too much of an inconvenience I guess, but we managed to leave in true 'Tourist' style last year with the fancy dress tourists showing them all how to have a bit off fun and lose that 'bug out of their a**!' as the Americans so politely put it.

The trip....

My lift for today was yet again ever helpful David Marsh, and we were swiftly on our way by 4.45pm. Weather was a bit undecided and after a few bits of light rain as we approached our destination it started to brighten up again. I was glad for one that the forecast had been accurate as I had nothing other than a vest and shorts along with my trusty Hoka Clifton 2's. 

After managing to get parked up without falling through to Austrailia care of the mahoosive pot holes in the car park, we walked the short distance to the Riverside Police Club who had kindly agreed to accommodate us all and it became quite a challenge to recognise people we knew.

Especially when the majority were obviously in fancy dress. A lot of the costumes where full on, and with make up or head cover it was near on impossible to recognise the usual people we chat to. 

I was trying to keep my head down and be as inconspicuous as possible as I wasn't wearing fancy dress. I'll be truthful here I suffer with fairly low self confidence as I was skitted a lot at school and it pretty much scarred me into my adult life.

I still find it hard to blend in and not feel out of place within groups of people, which is why a lot of the time I come across as very distant as well as quiet obviously. I find it very difficult to accept compliments all though I do appreciate them, so I would like to say THANK YOU to every one I know among the 'Tourists' and the 'Cakers' for all the friendship you offer me :)

Any way I've drifted of topic and time is ticking until the next race....

After a period of photo time and chat time and the obligatory toilet time we were pretty much good to go. There was an abundance of great costumes, and I obviously cannot post pics of them all, especially as there were so many and I'd have to ask all their permissions before I did. I'll post a few pics randomly as I go.

The start....

So as the norm the group picture was taken, but this time just the fancy dress brigade (See main blog pic) and after Alan's announcements of the official race leaders positions and race vest giving it was time to line up and get ready for the off....

We started in the field at the Police Club and then ran down to the Prom and took a right turn at the infamous 'Red Bull' and off we went, and what a sight it must of been, especially if you were merely walking your dog down the Prom or out for a quiet walk or run.

There were some ingenious costumes that a lot of effort had been put into, and it was going to be interesting to see which ones held out for the duration of the 5 miles, including fellow 'caker' Sal who had come as 'Table dancing Sal' an amazing amount of effort, and it appeared to be holding up well.

The course was 2.5 miles out and then 2.5 back so pacing this was going to be fairly easy if you could prevent yourself from going off like a startled rabbit as we always do on the 5 miler. After a days rest on the Wednesday a lot of us feel fully refreshed at first at least.... and usually go off too fast, but eventually we learn and settle down a bit.

As per usual I had done the same, I'd gone of fairly fast and I wasn't helping myself by slowly and steadily overtaking a steady line of people which seemed to go on forever as you forget 300+ tourists is a lot of people in one place. I eventually started to catch sight of the usual suspects i.e. running nemesis's, we all have them. Fellow runners who we know run either just above or just below our usual pace and we know we should be there right with them at least.

The first one I saw was 'Dennis the Menace' who I actually thought was Simon as he was dressed in the same outfit. As I drew nearer I suddenly thought he seemed to of grown a bit. That was when I realised it was Darren, so I gave the usual 'Hello' or 'well done' if it is the later stage of a run.

Onward I went and huffing and puffing a little, and next up was Ian who was dressed as Indiana Jones and a great costume as well. The costume did play in my favour run competitor wise though, as he was struggling with the heat of the extra clothing and I could hear him muttering with discomfort. I slowly ran behind him knowing I could afford a breather for a while.

Further we went along the Prom and passing great costumes as we went and I passed a few others I knew who were running well and said my 'Hello's' as I passed. My breathing was a bit more comfortable now so I pushed on past Ian and started to look out for who ever else I knew had beat me on other stages and that I knew I should be trying to friendly compete with.

At some point I went past Chris who is doing well run wise in recent months after setting up his Runsomniacs early morning running group. A credit to him and his hard work and commitment, it's good to see him knocking out PB times again.

We eventually went past the Britannia Pub on the Prom, and knew full well the turnaround point was coming up soon. I was currently chasing Sarah who I have always had friendly tour competition with and she was doing well ahead of me. She was also doing well in the tour itself and was well within the Top 10 ladies at this event, a testament to all her hard work throughout the last year.

First off I managed to spot a rather bright as always 'Ultan' in bright orange trousers and a Hawaiian shirt. I think he had regretted his choice as he was looking rather hot and flustered.

I eventually got past Sarah after the turnaround and tried to push on, but not too much as I wanted to wait til mile 4 before I pushed on harder. Slowly I managed to pass people, and people I am honestly struggling to recognise, the challenge on the tour is as much about getting around everybody and saying hello or merely remembering their face for when we are all on Facebook later etc....

Eventually I spotted my ever friendly running pal David and slowly... slowly... and ever so  slowly tried to catch him, but b*gger me he is getting faster every time I see him. He was the last of my running nemesis's and friends that I was trying to get past and I was very happy when I finally got past just after 4 miles, or what I thought was 4 miles as the GPS 4 mile point and the 4 miler marker were clearly distant relatives and quite far apart....

After eventually getting past the 4 mile marker I tried to push on as the last mile is usually the one you save something for and can usually get through just about in one piece. I carried on making up a few places but it was a struggle. We eventually caught sight of the good old Red Bull but then remembered we have to run past it and do another switch back. Question was how far past? with the GPS and 4 mile marker blip I wasn't sure where I was distance wise, although common sense should of told me to follow the GPS distance.

On the switch back finally and I saw another fellow running friend Barry, and one who is always ahead of me, and yet again he was too far ahead and I had no intent in trying to catch him as he is just one step too fast for me at the moment. I wasn't too sure if his 'minimal' costume was aiding or hindering him tonight ( see above pic) he was clearly streamlined and using wind resistance :)

Finally the right turn of the Prom approached and we were welcomed by a nasty incline/uphill subject to how often you run up hills. I was honestly knackered and trying to hold my position. Up the road a little and past a smiling Keith and a right turn into the field and of towards the finish line...

Finished..... 

I finished in a very knackered 36:33,  66th and 8th in my category, and was just 3 seconds faster than last years PB at Hale Village, and that one had a 1 mile downhill into the village, so I reckon our efforts will of been harder tonight, especially with that little uphill at the end.

Quick bit of refreshments and handshakes and well dones to other runners, and it was time to watch everyone come in safely, and to get a look at all the costumes and whether they survived the course or not.

The cakers did them selves proud with their costumes and they all came in safe and smiling which is a good sign that fun was had. The fact that there was a bar at the end seemed to help their spirits as well.

I promptly left them there and got my lift back with David Marsh who thank fully still let me in the car after beating him!...

So that was it for another day 'Tourists' fellow 'Cakers' and 'Running with Gru' blog readers. I now looked forward to seeing everyone at Stadt Moers for the Friday night 6 miler cross country which I had warned is a sod of a run, but not as hard as getting up for a 10am 12 miler on Saturday morning with practically no rest or sleep!!

***

 Stage 5 - Day 6 - Stadt Moers 6 mile cross country.

Pre race....

So It was Friday morning and the morning after the night before which in this case was our shortest run on the Thursday night. A night most of us gave it our all, and today was Friday and 5 days into our week long event. Tiredness was creeping in if we hadn't slept well and physical strain was showing as some people were slowing and being hindered by niggles old and new.

Sadly some people were unfortunately too unwell to continue and apparently the DNF and DNS list was growing as injuries were appearing among our group of 300+ strong Tourists.

I awoke feeling very refreshed and thought I was nicely recovered from the previous nights adventures, but as I nipped out for some pasta from my local Scoozi pizza & pasta shop I discovered all was not well. I had a new and nasty twinge in the bottom of my hamstring and into the knee. I've had hamstring issues since June 2015 and it went several times on the Tour last year. Some races you saw me limping and some you saw me racing and getting PB's, it was a weird week to say the least.

Stadt Moers last year was the race that my hamstring problem shot me down twice in one night, I started to run up the first hill and after a mere two to three steps got snipered in the back of my leg as my hamstring pinged and seized and wouldn't move through the full motion range it should do. I hobbled up the hill and carried on as it went numb and eased a little as it warmed up and loosened up. I actually had a good race until I got sniped again as I sprinted to the finish!

My Tour was almost over at that point last year, I did not want a repeat this year at the same event.

The trip...

Transport yet again was ever reliable Mr Marsh who continued to let me in his car despite me pipping him at the end of a few recent races. We did discover on the way there tonight that on the overall standings there was only 30 seconds between us! The competition was going to the end.

We arrived and parked up, and set off to the start and finish area, picking up Sal And Darren who had parked nearby as they got there fairly early as they had traveled from Anglesey daily and had apparently covered near on 700 miles during the week!

We got to the start/finish area and watched the area getting finished off by the Btr crew and volunteers who had done an amazing job all week in setting up a fantastic start/finish and hospitality area for us all each night. Well done guys and THANK YOU!

Fellow runners were now amassed and taking the usual group pics, including my fun loving 'Cakers' who don't need an excuse for a group pic, a selfie or a bit of hilarity..

Tiredness was showing on a fair few faces, and tales of niggles and woe were abundant among us. Especially as now the realisation was kicking in that shortly the night would be over and then we were up again for a long and slow 12 miler with hardly any recovery or proper rest.

I tried to stretch my hamstring and legs in general without putting too much into it as I don't like stretching niggles, but rather just try and warm the area up by moving around. I even did a few runs up the first hill at the front to check everything was OK. It wasn't really, I could feel a pain on and off in the hamstring, but a bonus of it going slightly numb was encouraging!!



Race start... 

So it was pre race photo time, and I had seen Paul Cooper our official Btr event photographer for the week loitering around up the hill in the distance and I was wondering exactly what he was doing as he was there a fair while. It appeared that he was practicing getting the right distance for the vital group photo as it was due to lash it down on Saturday morning and he wasn't very hopeful of getting a decent group shot done.

So we all lined up at the start, but not to race, but to get the vital photo in. We all squashed in bit by bit, and Paul stood further and further back until he was almost in the bushes up the hill!

Then Alan did his usual pre race talk and gave us all the race standings as we clapped 1st, 2nd and 3rd in both the male and then female categories, and then it was line up and we were off....

This is a two lap course so lap one is the live and learn lap, if you go of too fast and don't know the course, you are in for a shock as the first half of loop one is up, down, up, down and up, down a bit more, then a bit more again (getting the picture?).

The problem with this course is if you are having friendly races with your nemesis's then it is easy to lose sight of them as the course winds around and around.

I was extremely lucky to get up the first hill and up and down a few more and discovered my hamstring had settled in nicely and was playing ball fingers crossed.

I sat back as it got crowded as people stuck to the newish trail path that had been laid over the year but I saw an advantage when a downhill appeared and a couple of my nemesis's bunch up as the runners slowed a little going down. That was my cue, I stepped aside and ran on the rough grass alongside down the hill and passed a dozen people and just about managed to tuck back in again as the leaders came back in our direction.

I then had to recoup and sit a bit with the runners in front of me and follow them as their paces seemed good and pretty much what I wanted. It's easy to get carried away here and rush off but you fall foul to the hills later on and get caught again so it is pointless.

More and more twists and turns and ups and downs and then another downhill and a few more places gained as people slowed downhill, and then I passed Ann-Marie taking photo's and then a little downhill and then up past Keith Peacock who was marshaling.

Around we went and eventually a nice long downhill and yet again a very over cautious line of runners who all went precariously down the hill. If it was wet then fair enough, but if it's dry just let the momentum take you effortlessly down the hill. It's a tactic that will serve you well if you practice it, or in my case wear cushioned Hoka's so my knees don't get battered running downhill.

Luckily for me one of my fastest nemesis's Sarah was on this downhill as I sped past, but I was so busy trying to go down safely and take deep breaths in I couldn't get a 'hello' or 'well done' out as I passed by.

A tarmac section and part two of the first loop soon came round and I now had the problem of maintaining pace as the road runners among us (not me) would start to pull back time and places, especially if they had taken it easier on the hilly bits.

A hung on to the pace of the guys in front of me as comfortably as possible, but I was a tad pushed and hanging on. I reminded myself this was merely lap one and had another to do yet.

The halfway mark soon came round and after another precarious dash down the hill onto the straight I was soon at the start/finish area ready to start lap two...

Off on lap two and I was now trying to maintain the pace of those around me and sit with them instead of trying to pass. I had gone past all my friendly nemesis's  so now had no target other than staying ahead of anyone I had passed, and I was fully aware Sarah and indeed Ian would not be far behind me as I had purposely slowed my pace to recoup energy for the last mile.

Another big downhill came and I used it to pass the group of 4 or 5 runners I was running behind, it was a risk as I was fairly confident they may chase me down again, but thank fully they didn't. I think most of us were just trying to get around safely tonight and conserve energy for the big push tomorrow.

The course continued as per the first lap with the flatter tarmac sections being a chance to try and settle the pace a little and reserve some energy for the last mile again.

The last mile approached and I hung on to the guy in front who had gone past me earlier and I was confident the downhill would be to my benefit again. It was , and I passed but was wary of a retaliatory sprint finish. I checked over my shoulder and thankfully didn't need to sprint to much, especially as at this point last year that was where my hamstring got snipered again!

Finished....

So I was safely finished with my hamstring intact, and a decent time for me as well, as I managed to take off two and a half minutes off my time last year with a surprising 57th place, 9th in my category and a time of 44:10 which was a new course PB.

Sadly as I crossed the line one of the first people I saw was David Marsh who had had to pull out on the first lap due to a problem with his hip, he was now sadly out of the Tour. I was genuinely gutted for him, but tried not to show it as over emphasizing someones injury and it's upset I feel makes them worse.

So we clapped our fellow tourists in one by one and cakers who all came in safely and did them selves proud, and then it was food and drink time as recovery time was limited and every minute counted ready for the morning.

The usual group pics and smaller group pics ensued along with handshakes and well dones, and then it sadly it was goodbyes, and see you in the mornings as we all went our own ways until the morning....

  

*** 



Stage 6 - Day 7 - Wirral coastal path 12 miler.

Pre race....

Well what can I say about Saturday morning? I was knackered as I'd stayed up til 2am to write Friday nights blog and get it posted in time, because I knew full well I wouldn't have time on Saturday. I also knew I'd have todays blog (Saturday) to do as well and I couldn't retain two days worth of tourist antics and memories without forgetting bits.

So up I got at 6.30am after not sleeping much, but physically my body felt OK. There was no sign of my hamstring pain or twinge and I was confident that apart from falling asleep on my feet and running into the sea, I may actually be good to go again!  

Two pieces of toast  and a coffee was all I could eat so I took some snacks with me for pre run if I needed. Clothes for the day were the most difficult decision as the weather forecast was the pits...or New Brighton on a rainy day, which ever is worse!

I decided on t-shirt and shorts and my Hoka Clifton 2's again as I knew it was flat and a hard surface so needed cushioning. I also wisely took my new Innov8 waterproof ultra jacket which was incredibly light for use with ultra's etc so it wouldn't weigh too much in running back packs etc. Today would be a good test for it as the forecast was still quite warm, so it's breathability would be vital,

The trip... 

So transport today was courtesy of Vicky who was giving me and Maddy and Annie who are all fellow cakers a lift there. It was a straight forward enough trip there, and fairly quick, and we rolled up about 9am and fairly early. On a good day this would be ideal, but on a wet day on a seafront with no shelter? not so much....

 

We eventually got out of the car with about 30 or so minutes to go and walked the 5 minutes to the Btr tent and the start/finish area, to say hello to our friendly fellow and now damp looking tourists, mostly who had wisely chosen a waterproof covering or bin bag at least.

It became apparent that we were going to get quite wet as there was no where to stand out of the rain, which I did sadly feel was a bit poor as there was obviously no place to change etc if needs be before or after the event. On good days this is no problem as you come in your running gear ready to go or get changed outside, but when the weather has been forecast to be cr*p and guaranteed heavy rain for hours you should really provide an extra little gazebo type shelter.

I stood in the rain in my waterproof as did the other 300 odd tourists as only 15 or so lucky people could fit in the baggage tent which was no longer for bags unless you fought your way in to put it in there.

My waterproof kept my top half dry nicely but after 10-15 mins I may as well have gone for a swim in my shorts and trainers.

Luckily we were just about all in good spirits from the weeks events (see pic above) and seeing all our fellow tourists and friends kept us all going and it's only when I'm writing the blog I'm raising the 'shelter' issue.

Race Start....

So the final stage and the final day was upon us. Alan did his speech and announced the leaders etc and we were more than good to go as we edged towards the start line ready for what most of knew would be a long hard and uncomfortable slog out and back along the Wirral coastal path and promenades.

Off we went and at quite a pace in parts as a lot of us tried desperately to gain some ground quick to prevent being trapped behind a lot of us as the path narrows in parts. I wasn't the only one running along the slanted section of the upper seawall that the path ran along. It was ideal to run unhindered without zig zagging left to right to left again dodging trailing feet and the odd bit of doggie doo's etc..

The usual suspects were ahead of me, and I managed to catch up with them fairly quick or within the first mile or so at least. I carried on running pretty much with Ian and just infront of us If I recall was Chris as well. Neither myself or Ian had any intention at that point to push the pace as we had a long way to go still.

After a comfortable few miles and feeling good I suddenly felt an energy drop in my muscles in my legs and felt slightly light headed. I can occasionally get this early in runs if I haven't got my nutrition right and have drained myself the day or night previously or not had something for breakfast that my body could actually digest and use quick enough for the early stages of the run. 

With foresight I should of had a gel before I started just in case, I had one gel in my hand but that was for mile 6 and the turnaround to ensure my legs wouldn't lag on the return trip, but I couldn't risk having it this early as it would not last the entire run. I started to drop behind Ian and let him go ahead as I decided what to do.

Luckily for me a guardian angel or two in the shape of Steven and his partner Kareen (fellow Thunder Run teamies) had set up a little sweetie stop and choc brownie stop at mile 4!! Thank you guys, you saved me. I stopped to eat some and Steven yelled 'It's only mile 4, get a move on, eat and run'. So I left with a choc brownie in my mouth and a couple of jelly sweets in hand.

After half a mile or less it started to work and I slowly regained my legs and promptly caught Chris again, and could see Ian and also Sarah not too far in the distance as we eventually approached the beach section at mile 5 or so.

The beach was an eye opener to say the least, and I was not expecting to find the tide had not long been out and that we would be running through loads of water, puddles, seaweed and whatever else was on that beach. Some people clearly found the puddles perhaps just a little too much fun ( see picture below).

Once my Hokas were soaked again and my socks I gave up and just ran through whatever was in front of me. I started to regain ground on Ian and Sarah who I don't think were particularly enjoying their time on the beach this year :)

6 mile turnaround and aid station was a pick up on the beach, I took a water bottle and walked a little while I opened my GU gel, washed it down and set off on the chase.

Back on the prom and it was time to say well done to fellow tourists and cakers as we passed each other, even time for a hug stop with Jay and Sal which was a new experience mid run for me.

The miles slowly passed and the gel had kicked in and I started to push to slowly catch and overtake people in front. It was slow but methodical and all to plan. I caught Ian and Sarah pretty much at the same time and I briefly chatted with them both, firstly checking on Sarahs race position in the ladies top 10. She was doing well and as far as I could tell was in a comfortable position in todays run. 

Ian was taking in a gel and I knew this meant the chase was on for him as well once it kicked in, so I pushed on to slowly build a bit of a buffer if I could. I felt good and my legs felt strong and I had to keep telling myself to steady the pace a little as there was still at least 4 miles to go at least, and indeed time for the gel to wear off and the legs drain again.

Thankfully I was slowly overtaking again and both Ian and Sarah remained behind me, I'd also now bagged some more sweets from the now 8 mile pit stop run by Steven and Kareen. This topped up my energy and I pushed on.

Final miles and at mile 11 I saw a friendly face in Martin McConnell who was taking pics, so I gave a quick smile (I think) and I was now in my last mile and on the last push as I always leave a bit for the final mile and the possibility of a sprint finish if required.

I squeezed past the final few that I could reach including the gent I just about passed at the end of last nights run, and after passing David Limbrick with his camera I managed to sprint in (or maybe slow sprint) to the finish and finally cross the line after a testing and momentous 52 mile week of fun, frivolity, friends and frolics?....

Finished....

Well I finished with a new PB on this course of 1:34:48, a PB of six and a half minutes over my best time in 2014. I finished 9th in my category and 73rd overall. In the overall finishing results I was now 11th in my age category narrowly missing 10th place to Ian Raymond, and I was 75th overall for the Tour with a gun time of 6:51:30 taking a mere six minutes of my best Tour completion time back in an injury free 2014. I was happy with that, and I also felt strong still and not completely knackered like previous years.

It was now clap your friends, competitors and fellow 'Tourists' over the line time, Photo galore time and stuff your face with cake time for the cakers as Barry's wife Marina had been good enough to bring along several trays of cup cakes for us to treat ourselves!!

More and more of us came in all smiles and with a huge sense of achievement and phot's were carrying on as people shared their pride and friendship with their fellow unique 'Tourists' as anyone now with a medal was an instant new friend!

Occasionally you would see runners who had finished, walking or running back out on course and down the prom to run walk or clap in fellow friends who may of been struggling in the final mile or half mile etc. 

Staying for the last one in was now an established Tourist family tradition although it was noted by many I spoke to that several had shot of before their fellow club mates and Tourists had finished. Something that myself and my fellow cakers will not do as the tourist slogan of no man left behind has been adopted by ourselves as it is the sign of a strong friendly and welcoming group of runners.

I can assure you all that could of my cakers stayed to clap all their compatriots in and to share their pride in each other and get pics together etc with their new top Tourist bling and t-shirts and to treasure the last of their time together at this great event.

Finally...The presentation!

So the hard part was over and we were mostly all over the water again back in Liverpool and eagerly waiting at the Camp & furnace with a well earned pint or drink in hand for the end of tour presentation and video recap of the week.

Anyway, presentation as always is done by Alan as he thanks everyone and gives flowers out etc to some of his vital helpers and support team included Yvonne of course.

Winners are announced in 3rd, 2nd and 1st order and the mens winner was this time round non other than Terry Forest who had finally managed to pip previous winner Anthony.

Womens winner was Jenny Claque who regained her winning position from 2014.

Well done to them and to 2nd and 3rd place in both categories...

So it was finally tour recap video time, this is always one of the major highlights of the week for me as the Tour Dvd that comes out afterwards contains all the video shown at this presentation and the final day video and the finishers which you don't see at presentations video due to lack of time to edit it and add it.

If you purchase the Dvd in the coming weeks it will have everything on including film of the presentation itself, so well worth buying and a great tour memento!

We all watched the screen avidly and some excitedly as we looked to see if we had made the video at any point, which is fairly easy to do if you make a mental note of where Colin is stood at the start or finish of the nightly runs as he film pretty much the whole start and finish.

Some are lucky enough to get interviewed if Colin thinks you have something interesting to say about the tour itself as the Dvd is also a promotion tool as well, so positive comments or feedback throughout the week is welcomed on camera.

Some people are picked to be filmed or interviewed purely because they are well known or genuinely funny tourists or lovable rogues etc. Some star purely because some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths is an example of true friendship and uniqueness of the tour atmosphere....and some because they can't help putting their foot in their mouth and are comedy gold!

I got on a few times passing the camera etc, and the cakers got on briefly. I also got a brief clip of my interview on while talking about whether or not I would return for yet another tour on sign up day.......needless to say he read me like a book as I signed up again today after saying I wouldn't.

As per usual the video was a blast and the sound track pure music class from a man with great taste in music and a talent for filming and editing obviously, well done Colin.

Well done also to Paul Cooper for the great Btr pictures which he takes and which get put on the official Btr page on Flickr on the web.

Presentation and video over it was now down to drinks with friends new and old.....some of us went home soon after as we were knackered, but a lot of those who lived in Liverpool and the surrounding areas obviously took full advantage and partied long and hard around Liverpool, as subsequent pics and video's that appeared online during the evening showed......

Thank you....

So that was it for another life changing week of fun , frolics and great friendships strengthened and new ones created as the tour lived up to all the well deserved hype and hysteria that rightly surrounds it in running circles.

Thank you to all at Btr especially Alan and Yvonne who none of this would be possible without, and obviously Erica who takes on a dual role of Btr crew and Tourist every year. Thanks to all the rest of the crew and the volunteers for all their fantastic hospitality throughout the week and indeed pre event and post event. Especially my good friends and fellow cakers Keith and new Btr adoptee Stan, and Lainey for all the pics throughout the week.

Massive THANK YOU to Colin for all the video production throughout the week and the Dvd when it's out. THANK YOU to Paul for all the great pictures that he takes throughout the week. Don't forget to check them all out on Flickr on the Btr page.

See you next year??

Question is...how many of you managed to get up in time for the 9am roll call after all your celebrations and well deserved lie in's? Did you manage to sign up for the 350 strong Tour of Merseyside 2017?  Will I see you there? Will the cakers be back bigger and stronger? Will you be one of them?......

***

300 Spartans? Paah....who needs Spartans when you have 300 'Tourists'

The Tour of Merseyside 6 stage 52 mile week funfest of good friends and fellow fun loving 'Tourists' Part 1 - Stages 1 - 3.

The pre story...

Well this is the 3rd 'Tour of Duty' for me at the best yet relatively unknown multi stage running event in the UK. If your not from the North West of the UK that is, as any 'local' runner from the North West of England who knows his salt (where does that expression come from?...) knows about this great event already.

The event started back in 2013 with roughly 75 runners, followed by roughly 150 in 2014 and then roughly 300 in 2015 and finally roughly 350 in 2016. I had already done 2014 and 2015 as part of my '14runs' charity campaigns in both years and have written extensive blogs about them on both years. This years event for me is purely for fun with no charity commitment attached to it as my charity commitments have progressed to running a charity running group called 'Run or Cake' and organizing a once yearly charity running event the 'Seaside24'. This takes some of the pressure of my running commitments although it appears I still have as many hard ones for fun to do as I do when I do them as charity challenges!

The foreword.....

I  planned on keeping this blog shorter than previous years although you all know I get carried away. I also did this blog daily as a work in progress and added daily to it. I did stages 1-3 as Part 1 of 2, and stages 4-6 as blog part 2 of 2 just in case the blogger application had a fit and I lost the lot later in the week.

You can read day by day by scrolling up or down the blog, or read all off Part 1in one go and read Part 2 later on, there is a link for Part 2 at the end of Part 1.Warning! it's going to be a book never mind a blog by the time the whole thing has had it's final edit and I've added bits after the event and added in and taken out various pictures as the weeks progress and I get my hands on them.

So off we go.....

Day one - Stage 1 - Southport Half Marathon 13.1 miles

Pre race...

As always it was a lousy nights sleep for me as I can't sleep the night before, or the night before the night before as well apparently this time. Up at 6.30am showered and clothes selection was Injinji toe socks, twin layer running shorts and my trusty black 'Run or Cake' t-shirt as I thought it was going to be fairly cool. Shoe choice for the day was my brand spanking new Hoka One One Clifton 2's, a newer version of my previous Clifton's which I'd put 550+ miles on just on roads.

As always Southport threw in the usual cloudy and cool start (emphasis on the start) and after a 3 course breakfast that started with 2 rounds of toast with peanut butter, followed by a banana and a last resort Mars bar as I was strangely still hungry, and all washed down with the usual vital caffeine alarm call to ensure I was actually awake, I was good to go.

8am or so and I was down at Victoria Park where the event was taking place and I headed for the familiar Btr Liverpool hospitality tent and a vast amount of keen 'Tourists' who were there already. Last year for some strange reason I was almost last getting there as I arrived with only 10 mins to spare, no idea why as I only live half a mile away.

I was greeted by the ever friendly Keith Peacock at the entrance to the hospitality area as he was gate guardian for the day among other vital jobs he does. Then it was hello time as I tried to say hello to as many of my cakers group (run or cakers) and people I knew in general from previous Tours and various running forums etc.

It was tourist group photo time next and the photographer from Btr (name to follow) started to try and round up 300+ tourists for the picture (brave man) it was no mean feat as we have a tendency to wander off when left unattended, sometimes to porta loos...sometimes to bushes...and sometimes to pubs.

Group photo done (see top of page) and it was time to get to the start line.........

The start.....

Well what can I say about the start, 2000 odd runners consisting of several hundred 10k runners,  over a thousand half marathon runners and 350 odd tourists. No one really knew who was supposed to line up at the front or anywhere to be honest. There where the usual sneaky half marathoners and the odd tourist on the front line mingled with the 10k'ers who were supposed to be at the front as they would be going off faster.

Tannoy instructions where on hand but didn't really help, and I eventually queued right at the back of the field slightly disgruntled that my gun time was going to be crap as the Tour uses gun time over chip time as opposed to the other way round at the end of the Tour and final positions would go on that.

Anyway I wasn't going to be placing anywhere important position wise so I just went with the slow start over the line and behind a thousand odd runners.

So off we went eventually off through Victoria Park and winding around the paths with a sense of getting nowhere fast as we tried to settle into our own individual paces which isn't easy with so many runners in front of you.

Through the park and a quick 'hello' to Darren F as I passed and out the other end onto Rotten Row and some much welcomed space. Time to speed up now and a quick 'hello' to Catherine M and others as I passed and I tried to up the pace a little to play catch up a bit.

It was a right turn at the end of Rotten Row and eventually a left at the roundabout at the bottom of Lord St and off down the Lord St boulevard as we locals like to call it. This was the first time for a long time that a section of Lord St has been closed to traffic for an event and a credit to Vital Events for getting this sorted. It was a pleasure to run down it, something I have never done in my 47 years of living here.

Half way down Lord St and it was a photo op courtesy of Nick B and Cara B doing the shout outs.

End of Lord St roundabout and a familiar face in Graham Moreton aka Tarleton Photography and a quick shout to tell him I was there and a few photo's for the collection.

We continued beyond the Lord St roundabout up Albert Rd to Hesketh Park which is the latest addition to the park run family. In we went with a quick loop around it's duck infested waters and then out the other end and a welcome water stop for those that needed it, I also found fellow caker and Natterjack runner Robert Mc and started to run with him.

We exited the park and I spotted fellow Natterjack Run Club member Richard who had come down on his bike to support, then I saw Ciaran M supporting and taking pics as we continued on towards the furthest point out on the course at Stanley High School where the countries best 10k the 'Mad Dog 10k' is hosted every year in Feb.

I won't lie it became quite apparent at this point that I had left my running legs in bed this morning, as we were only at mile 3-4 and I could feel the drain in my legs. Hence why I ran as comfortable a slower pace I could, as it was going to be a long haul.

Past the school and the start of the Mad Dog route and out onto the Coast Rd. As ever the Southport Coast Rd welcomed us with a lovely cooling breeze in a 14mph crosswind/headwind. This seemed to slow a lot of people down, but I live here so this is what I run in most of the time, so it was head down, arms in, shortened stride and off I went. I left Robert as I moved past as many people as I could.

As we approached the section that goes to the pier we had a chance to see fellow runners ahead or behind as we ran a switchback section and a welcome chance to encourage friends as we passed either way. Too many to mention here as I passed.

Switchback done and we were off around the Marine Lake,another friendly 'hello' to Rachel R and then another water stop and for me a gel stop as well as we were pretty much approaching 9 miles now so I was going to need help for the final 3-4 miles as I was going to lag otherwise.

From now on I tried to slowly push the pace as I knew the gel would kick in and get me through. I passed Rachel R again much to her amusement as to how I passed twice in 5 minutes, and after getting to roughly 10 miles managed to slowly pass Clare W with a 'hello'.

Around the lake we continued and onto the narrow section of the lakeside path past the Lakeside Miniature Railway no less, and a speedy Bhanva was spotted ahead. Another polite 'hello speedy' as I passed and then a little further another photo op courtesy of Nick B again.

I bumped into an old work colleague at this point as well as she recognised my name as Nick shouted it out, so it was a quick slow down to chat and back off on the chase again to try and catch people i knew ahead.

Out from the lake we came and back under the Southport Pier and down the Coast Rd we continued and we fast approached the 11 mile mark as the legs really started to lag and in my case was going slightly light headed as I was pushing my pace to catch up with fellow 'tourists' at every opportunity and I was playing 'catch the caker' every time I saw a caker shirt ahead. 

I passed and said 'hello' to Sharon R who was coming back from injury and was doing well for a comeback, and sadly I passed Chemaine B who had been suffering a pre tour injury and it had taken it's toll and I sadly discovered later she had to drop from the tour. She will be missed by all the cakers.

Last mile.....

Last mile now and I had seen Claire D ahead for quite awhile, but I was only slowly catching and it was getting challenging. I finally passed with a 'hello' and 'well done' and I then spotted Ultan M, actually I spotted his socks and his bright red Salomon running shoes and his Btr Tunnel 10k top. The challenge was on again as he was running pretty much the same speed as me and catching up was hard. 

I finally caught him with about 400metres to go and settled in alongside to finish with him, but with about 100 metres to go a fellow 'tourist' sprinted past full pelt and I said to Ultan "trust a tourist to do a sprint finish" and before he could even acknowledge my comment I was off hot on the heels of fellow tourist 'Jim' down the red carpet we shot like speeding bullets (well it felt like it to us) and I just pipped him at the line and promptly applied the air brakes as I tried to avoid the other people in the finish area including the announcer and the photographers! 

A quick moment of 'I want to hurl' , a minute to compose myself, and then it was a few handshakes with fellow finishers and off to the Btr hospitality area. But not before clapping in as many cakers as I could. It was good to see Chemaine get in safely as I was now feeling a little guilty that I hadn't stopped when I saw her walking in, but you often make it more difficult for people if you stop and you can make them feel uncomfortable that you stopped just before the end of your race.

Finished....

So it was Btr hospitality time courtesy of Alan and Yvonne Rothwell and their trusty Btr crew, and time to pick up my number for the rest of the week. It was also time to say well done to everyone. Refreshments were a plenty as always at the Btr tent for the week of the Tour and I'd even brought my own nutrition products with me to try and recoup energy as quickly as possible. One of these being the new SIS 'Whey 20' protein product which is a ready to consume 'lemon' flavoured yogurt type texture product new to the market. Just for the record....they taste rank nasty! just ask Ian Raymond who saw my face as I tried them for the first and last time!

A few obligatory post run pictures in little groups with friends who were all returning thick and fast, including a small group of cakers, as it was impossible to get all 40 of them in one place at one time for a bigger group shot.

Post race prep.....

Next was the pub and a pre arranged reserved area in the Sandgrounder Pub on Lord Street for a few cheeky shandies a bit of food and some great cakers and tourist company.

The food there is decent for a pub and they have all the treats hungry runners crave after a hard run, and a vast drinks selection as well :)

Several plates of chips and sweet potato fries were consumed by the group including the odd pizza, chicken burgers, hot dogs, spare ribs etc and whatever else took our fancy.

We slowly parted company one by one and said our good byes's and see ya tomorrows, and then it was a short walk home after escorting an ice cream faced Erica to the train station.

My time for the day was a surprising 1hr 47 mins considering it felt like I'd run 1:50-1:55 with the slower start, but the playing 'catch the caker' in the later stages brought my time up again. I might try that through the week, it was fun.

So that's it for the day, to all those on the tour itself...see you all soon at the Thurstaston multi terrain 6 miler!

***

Day 2 - Stage 2 - Thurstaston multi terrain 6 miles.

Pre race...

So we were now on day two and after yet another lousy nights sleep of 3 x 1 hour sleep I decided to give up and get up at 6.30am. This did allow me to write the previous days run report/running blog i.e. the one  you are reading, and it gave me the spare time to put my feet up and type it all out. I was planning on adopting a European sleeping pattern and having an afternoon siesta, but it didn't happen.

After yesterdays blog entry I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon trying my best to rest and stay off my feet as much as possible to recover from the half marathon yesterday. This also involved a visit to my local Scoozi pizza & pasta shop for a lovely Chicken Carbonara to try and top up my carbs and my energy stores. I was also regretting my previous nights choice of 2 x 100% beef burgers with salad from the same said shop, as they repeated on me all morning and required multiple loo visits during the day, clearly lots of meat late at night is not a good call.

I spent the afternoon on Facebook and the likes catching up with everyone's run posts from the Tour and from my Run or Cake group and logging their runs from the previous day.

Finally the time came to pack my kit etc for the day and make my decision on what I was wearing for the event. After a mixed forecast that kept changing I think everyone had pretty much accepted that one way or the other we were going to get wet, whether it be from rain, the beach, the muddy puddles or just the humidity of the evening.

I went with a Run or Cake t-shirt, single layer running shorts, a waterproof pair of socks and the vital component my Hoka Challenger ATR's which are a trail based shoe which would be vital at points on this course having done it before.

The trip....

So my lift for the night was the ever reliable and helpful David Marsh who had offered me lifts for most of the week, and with his knowledge of the race locations it was a vital choice to ensure I got there with plenty of time each night.

5pm or so and we were off and we had a catch up chat as I'd not seen David for a fair while, or certainly not long enough to have a general chat about whatever has been going on, or about future runs etc.

We got there fairly promptly and the weather forecast looked like it was on our side as the earlier rain had passed and it looked like it was going to stay dry for the run.

We got parked up and it was off to the big green field for the start/finish area which was unexpected as I hadn't realised we had reverted back to the 2014 start/finish area. But it was a better choice and I was very happy we wouldn't have a cramped start like last year or get caught in a pinch point in the first 100 metres like last year where I personally lost a lot of time on certain competitors.

It was good to now get the chance to chat to fellow tourists and cakers from the Run or Cake charity group and it was incredibly handy having a fair few cakers wearing their cakers t-shirts, as it makes it easier to find each other for a chat pre and post race.


The start..... 

It was race brief time now and we all lined up to listen to our host Alan Rothwell to hear final instructions and to see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd position race vests awarded to the lead runners from yesterday.  It was the familiar Anthony for the men in 1st, and also familiar Jenny for the Women in 1st.

So now it was time for another group picture from our tour photographer Paul I think! thankfully I was already at the front so it was easier, and I didn't have to move and I might actually be able to spot myself this time with being on the front row for the first time.

So 7pm was here and it was line up, Garmin up and off we went across the tricky uneven green field and out through the gates towards the caravan park via its long entrance road.

This is the moment were everyone hare arses off to try and make up some places, and we often get carried away and run too fast and are soon puffed out. I know I went off too fast and I started to feel some real discomfort in my previously injured hamstring, and I was genuinely worried I may be in trouble if I'm not careful so I slowed a little.

At the end of the road was the slip road down to the beach and I saw a few familiar faces who I was conscious I wanted to be ahead off. Especially Chris W who beat me yesterday and Ultan M who finished in a similar time and for some reason unbeknown to him was wearing his tour Buff/Giraffe retro styli i.e. inside out! (see pic). I also passed the G man who performed well last year.

Off onto the beach and sand and pebbles and rocks we went as we tried to find a good line to run on. This is always a strange one as we tend to follow each other like ants as we curve along a suitable bit of beach route, but never in a straight line from point to point.

I decided to try my advantage as a beach and dunes runner wearing trail shoes and waterproof socks and went for a straighter route no matter what was in front of me. At times it was an advantage as it was still a decent firm terrain and only a little wet and as long as I was prepared to leap and jump the odd big pebble/rock then it was fine. It was at this point that I passed Chris W who shouted "spot the experienced beach runner" and hinted it may be an idea to follow me. I'm not sure if anyone did as I never looked back.

I was taking over people nicely taking a different route where possible and avoiding the softer sand that most were running on. I eventually caught Sarah G and then Ian R who are always good competition and way ahead of me at Southport yesterday, but I was aware I was running at my limit and would probably pay the price later as soon as we come off the beach.

2 miles later and we were now off the beach onto the trail path and then the long tarmac road section. This is where I always struggle after coming off a hard ran beach effort, especially as it a long slow gradual uphill and some people speed up here and you tend to try and follow them. I battled with myself to slow a little and recover ready for the proper hill (you know the one) as opposed to chase or keep up with those in front.

I settled down a little and decided to let anyone pass who was coming up behind me, I think only a couple went past anyway including Ian R as I think most people were in the same situation as me.

The road now started to steepen as we approached a friendly group of marshals and supporters including Lainey who took pics as people passed, yet again true to form as I was concentrating on the run I completely didn't recognise her.

Up over the bridge and straight into an oncoming Alan Rothwell on the lead bike closely followed by Terrence and then Anthony who were on their return journey already while we were merely approaching the hill and the 'steps of hell'.

I was already huffing and puffing and wondered how I was going to go up the steps without stopping and losing places. Thank fully the hill is interspersed with a few more level bits were you can attempt to get some breath back.

I managed to get up the steps OK but I was at my cardio fitness limit and wasn't far off having a little stop, and I swear they put more sets of steps in each year!

I saw Chimpy at the top and knew it was over and the downhill was just around the corner. A muddy corner at that as well, and where did the steps come from on the downhill? I don't remember them from previous years. I clomped down the steps trying to negate how many steps I had to do between each to not fall flat on my face!

I now had my chance to overtake Ian R again who had regained his place ahead of me earlier on the road stretch. He knows I wear cushioned Hoka's and he knows I like downhills so knew full well what was coming :)

I ran like a nutter down the hill to get as much time as i could on those behind me who were hopefully being a bit more careful. I went past Ian but figured he will probably catch me again on the road after the woods we where in.

Out onto the road and through the houses once more and into oncoming runners so we could at least say hellos and well dones etc as we passed familiar friends and runners.

Down the road and off to the right to the marshals who were now manning the water stop as well. Quick bottle of water over my running hat and a quick swig and then bottle in the marshals bin bag and I was off again after the group in front of me.

This was now the long and very straight cycle path and I knew full well from previous years that this damn thing never seems to end. I tried to maintain pace behind the group of at least 10 runners I could see strung out in front of me. No ones pace seemed to change, there was no slowing and no catching up and I was running scared that Ian would once more pass me on the flat section.

The 5 mile sign appeared and it was a welcome sight and I tried to speed up a little but to be fair I had nothing left, I was struggling to maintain my current position and pace and if I went any faster I would of gone too far and would blow up, so I settled with my pace at the time.

I was now within the last half mile or so and the turn off from the cycle path and passed several groups of supporters and then Keith Peacock who I swear was winding me up when he said earlier "when you see me, you have roughly a mile to go" I passed him at the car park and thought I swear it's only 500metres or so and maybe the route at the end is different. 

Thank fully it was a mere left down the road and then another left back to the field, and after a few swift shoulder checks to make sure another sprinting tourist didn't try and have me off again like Southport and I was over the finish line to a few welcome friendly faces.


Finished... 

So I was finished and it was a quick visit to the Btr refreshment section and a smiling Stan Cottier for a bottle of Lucozade and a banana and then back down the route a little to join some of the supporters in cheering in the rest of the runners as per tradition. It was nice to be able to cheer in cakers as well, especially now I'm finally learning everyone's names as I'm terrible with names.

Pretty much everyone was in and I was getting cold, so it was back to get my bag and my hoodie and then find David ready for a swift lift home.

It was a great night as always and a credit to the organization of Btr Liverpool events and Alan and Yvonne Rothwell and their dedicated and friendly crew and marshals, they are all a credit to the North West running scene.

I finished tonight in a respectable 46m 33secs which was 68th place and I'm pretty sure an improvement on my previous years, so I'm very happy with that. I will drop places again though on the upcoming Walton Sustrans Cycle trail 10 miler, it's a sufferfest for tired legs, but a friendly and social route with multiple out and backs so we can all encourage each other on.

See you there fellow tourists!

***

Day 3 - Stage 3 - Walton Sustrans 10 miler

Pre race....

Well it was now Day 3  Stage 3, and the day that I always dread as it is the one were the tiredness of the legs from the previous two days efforts usually rears its ugly head.

I woke up feeling fairly Ok and spent the day resting and writing the previous days blog and various bits and bobs on Facebook for my running group. It takes several hours a day to keep up with it all and to log every members runs and respond to them all personally, but I enjoy doing it and it fills my time.

I felt fairly rested, but struggled to eat a reasonable amount of food as I just didn't really feel that hungry as the day progressed, so I pretty much snacked. It was a gamble whether that would come back to bite me on the a** tonight.

Late afternoon I applied and massaged some Arnica massage oil/balm into my upper and lower legs, and was quite happy that nothing felt tender, tight or sore. Although my previously injured hamstring was slightly delicate, which to be honest is the norm if I've been doing any kind of sprinting.

The trip....

My lift for the day was fellow Run or Caker and Natterjack Run Club member Barry Rimmer and we got there promptly for 6pm and parked up in the ample car park.

Today was unofficially cakers day for the members of my Run or Cake group as we had roughly 40 members of the group participating in the Tour this week, and today was the day we decided to try and all wear our 'cakers' tops as a show of support for each other on what would be a long and tiring run.

Walton was the ideal choice for cakers day as we would see each other on a regular basis on the two out and backs and switch backs of the course and the plan was to shout  out support to each other or HI5 each other.

Two of our members Sal and Jay took to the spirit of the night and dressed with a Minions theme which was cool. Long story short as host and leader of the group I am personally known as 'Gru' as opposed to Les ( aka 'Running with Gru' ). The name came about as I realised the similarity of my role as a protective leader of a group of friendly and ever helpful running Minions/cakers and the role of keeping everyone in check. It also was a fun way of adding a fun element to the group. Myself and the Adminions ( Do you get it??) look after our little groups of runners, and take personal responsibility for them.

We all congregated as per normal near the Btr hospitality tents and when we got a decent amount of us together did our best to get a couple of group shots, as most of us usually have a club vest or personal fav running top on at runs daily at the Tour. Quite a few members were missing as they were either stuck in traffic, in porta loos, or generally elsewhere chatting away oblivious. We did our best though and got a few decent group shots.We also had a random photo bomber as well, such was the draw of our friendly group :)

The start.....

7am rapidly approached and we made our way to the usual metal and rusted bridge over the main road and our official start/finish and mid run point for tonight. Alan did his best to give us race instructions and various other info but it was pretty wasted due to being obviously above a busy main road and having the odd chatty people in the crowd who made it difficult for the attentive people among us to hear. Some of us obviously know this event like the back of our hands and the routes, but the newbies really need to be able to hear the vital info.

After a cramped line up we were off and down the cycle path for 2.5 miles in a North north west direction, although for some reason it always feels like South to me. I took it easy to start as it is a very narrow path to start, especially with 300+ runners all starting at the same time, and it was fairly hard not to trip over peoples feet or to feel congested or hindered for a fair while.

The field very slowly spread out and I personally was waiting for a wider section which I thought was at mile 1.5 to 2.5, but my memory had failed me totally as it never came, so I just sat back and ran a slow comfortable pace and decided I would use it to warm up my legs and my hamstring in particular before I could possibly speed up at the 2,5 mile turnaround.

As always approaching the 2.5 mile turnaround was part of the fun as you could see people coming in the opposite direction who you knew and in our case i.e. cakers we could HI5 a few fellow cakers and shout support to the others we knew.

After the 2.5 mile turnaround and water station I started HI5's again as a string of cakers behind me came in thick and fast and after that I tried to up the pace a little. It did become apparent that my legs although Ok did not seem very energetic and my cardio fitness was off as well tonight.

I pushed a bit from mile 4 to 5 and the halfway point and steadily but very slowly started to pass a relatively strung out field, but I wasn't feeling good at all and knew it was going to be a long tough haul to 10 miles.

Passing the half way point at 5 miles on the bridge is always a highlight as you get support as you pass and you can smile and pretend to everyone that you are in fact feeling as fresh as a daisy, whereas in reality you are often feeling a little lightheaded, drained and huffing and puffing a bit, pretty much like some of the dubious weed smoking locals that seemed to congregate along the path and strangely in the bushes as I kept getting a whiff of weed yet couldn't see anyone.

I carried on trying to up the pace a little and tried to slowly one by one chase the person in front of me. This proved hard as most were moving quite nicely pace wise and it took me a fair while to start to catch up with a few familiar faces.

I eventually managed to catch up with Chris  who had trounced me on Stage 1 so I was happy to crawl back a bit of time on him. Next was Ultan and took me a long time to catch him. We were fast approaching the 7.5 mile turnaround point and I started to see people I knew coming in the opposite direction. The various leaders went past first, closely followed by the next fastest group of fast runners and the next group which contained a couple of fast running cakers, first being Keith R and then a little later Trevor C who were all doing well.

A bit nearer the turnaround point now and I started to see a few faces that I really should of been chasing down a little earlier as they were quite a way ahead. Ian R was first to go past and I pretty much knew already that he was too far ahead for me to make up the distance. He was closely followed shortly after by Sarah R who again I felt was running too strong for me to catch up. 

My plan was to stop at the 7.5 mile turnaround have a breather and consume a GU gel to guarantee my legs didn't fail me on the return leg to the finish. I saw a few faces that I knew were near enough to chase on that last section so I put the plan into action, much to the amusement or puzzlement of the marshals and volunteers manning the water station at the turn around as I promptly stepped to the side and stood with them while I had a drink, a gel and a breather, and then said "Thank you" and sped off on the chase.

The first couple of hundred yards felt great as I had a new lease of life, but that obviously waned as I realised I needed to be a little more conservative with the pace until at least the last mile. I continued slowly overtaking and catching the few faces I knew I probably could catch up with on a good day.

Again as we were now on the return leg it was time to cheer, HI5 and generally support our fellow running friends old and new, including my cakers. I really enjoyed this element of the run and it made it a lot more runnable as it took your mind off the effort level you were on trying to get through 10 miles after two hard days running.

The last mile eventually came and I upped my pace again in a last bid to catch a few more little groups which I did, and I finally managed to catch a very competitive David Marsh who was ahead of me again.

The finish line approached and I did not have anyone to try and sprint with as the gaps between runners at this point was quite big, so it was a fastish finish but nothing drastic or dramatic as I crossed the line in 1:18:19 which I was very happy with. It wasn't a course PB but it was better than last years run when I was injured.

Finished....

As per normal it was shake hands time with those who had beaten me fair and square and congratulations and well done to anyone who had already finished at that point. A quick visit down to the refreshment point back at the Btr tents, and then it was back to the finish line to cheer in fellow tourists, friends, competitors and of course fellow cakers...

 

So that was it for another day, everyone was eventually in safe and well, and the usual rounds of post race photo's were taken  at every opportunity so we would all have some mementos of the day etc.

We eventually all dispersed in our various homeward directions whilst pondering just what exactly we would be doing with ourselves the next night which was a day off. 

This depended on your plan for the week though, and had been quite a topic of conversation among runners and newbies in particular trying to get tips on what to do, as some were going to run on their alleged 'day off' in a bid to stay loose and not seize up, while others like myself use it as a complete rest and recovery day, and in my case as a mental flip and reset to my brain and body that a mere 3 days runs are behind me, and after a 48 hour break would only have another 3 days running ahead of me. This was a tactic that serves a lot of people well.

 Part 2 and stages 4-6 will now be in a separate blog post. I will leave a link to it here for your convenience....

 http://fitnesswithgru.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/300-spartans-paahwho-needs-spartans_8.html