Firstly, they lied to us - it was 43 miles, not 40!
Given the week before Kieren was barely able to walk on his calf at the end of a run, it was not an unreasonable stretch to suggest that 43 miles might have been out of the question.
Andy needed a partner to go down with him and they had both told too many people to back out. Worse than the thought of 43 miles, Kieren had to deal with Andy’s tuneless singing on the way down (and the way back), in addition to his ‘car chat’. Not fun! At 10pm we arrived at ‘The Travellers’ – beautiful little place in the village of Talybont-on-Usk.
After a pleasant night spooning, Andy and Kieren woke up to find that there was actually another single bed. Anyway, after packing our bags with enough food to last us a week in the Brokeback Mountains, we set off with trepidation. How would our injuries hold up?! After a slow start, to ease ourselves into the terrain, we found a steady rhythm. Overtaking people on the up, and pushing harder on the flats and down. Andy was in pain, but pushing hard. His knee was starting to cause a huge amount of discomfort.
At mile 15 the course split (Ultra Vs Marathon), and Andy impressively made the decision to complete the marathon course so he didn’t affect his training going forward. Huge amount of admiration for making a very tough call! Kieren continued on the Ultra. At check point 5, Kieren rang Andy to see how he was getting on – Andy sympathetically informed Kieren that he had finished and was just tucking into a hot Chilli-Con-Carnie and a coke. B@$tard!! At the same point, the check-point lady let Kieren know he had 17 miles to go ‘You are over half way now – well done’, she said…
The hills were brutal and the terrain was boggy, rocky, muddy, grassy, sandy, hilly. Andy had a cracking finish and went on to complete the marathon in 5 hours 47 while Kieren finished the Ultra in just over 9 and a half hours. A glorious bath helped our aching muscles, before we hit up the local to relax in front of a fire, with a pint. Top work. Only two toe nails to remove – pretty good going.
Given the week before Kieren was barely able to walk on his calf at the end of a run, it was not an unreasonable stretch to suggest that 43 miles might have been out of the question.
Andy needed a partner to go down with him and they had both told too many people to back out. Worse than the thought of 43 miles, Kieren had to deal with Andy’s tuneless singing on the way down (and the way back), in addition to his ‘car chat’. Not fun! At 10pm we arrived at ‘The Travellers’ – beautiful little place in the village of Talybont-on-Usk.
After a pleasant night spooning, Andy and Kieren woke up to find that there was actually another single bed. Anyway, after packing our bags with enough food to last us a week in the Brokeback Mountains, we set off with trepidation. How would our injuries hold up?! After a slow start, to ease ourselves into the terrain, we found a steady rhythm. Overtaking people on the up, and pushing harder on the flats and down. Andy was in pain, but pushing hard. His knee was starting to cause a huge amount of discomfort.
At mile 15 the course split (Ultra Vs Marathon), and Andy impressively made the decision to complete the marathon course so he didn’t affect his training going forward. Huge amount of admiration for making a very tough call! Kieren continued on the Ultra. At check point 5, Kieren rang Andy to see how he was getting on – Andy sympathetically informed Kieren that he had finished and was just tucking into a hot Chilli-Con-Carnie and a coke. B@$tard!! At the same point, the check-point lady let Kieren know he had 17 miles to go ‘You are over half way now – well done’, she said…
The hills were brutal and the terrain was boggy, rocky, muddy, grassy, sandy, hilly. Andy had a cracking finish and went on to complete the marathon in 5 hours 47 while Kieren finished the Ultra in just over 9 and a half hours. A glorious bath helped our aching muscles, before we hit up the local to relax in front of a fire, with a pint. Top work. Only two toe nails to remove – pretty good going.