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Hooray - we did it !
Well it was a slog; the roads were very bad to run on; the camber was very bad (making running very uneven on our feet & legs). This took it's toll right from the off.
Mick (Mike Smith) suffered from a really bad calf-muscle strain on Day 1; this resulted in him having to alternate between running & walking from Day 2 onwards. This limited his ability to cover the full 160 miles in the time-period we agreed on (because of safety time-constraints); however he did run / walk a total of more than 120 miles.
Sometime during Day 3 I picked-up an impact injury to my knee-cap; I kept on running for Day 3 & Day 4; but I had to revert to just walking on Day 5 & Day 6. I completed 136 miles out of a planned 160 miles. Believe me having to "fall-short" was something I really did not want to do. If I could have continued on walking I would have done so (common-sense won-over stubborness !).
Mike Spiring ran for the first 4 days. Day 5 he ran the first half then he had to walk the rest. Day 6 he ran for approx. 8 miles then he had to walk the rest of the day. His injuries were muscle soreness and blisters; therefore (in some discomfort) he was able to complete the 160 miles - unlike Mick & myself !
We all did as much as our bodies would permit; all of us were strong enough & fit enough (from the training we put in) to complete the challenge. We could not prepare our bodies for long-distance downhill running or the bad roads. Those two factors made it a real PAIN !
Last but not least - Darren, MIck & Mike want to say a hugh THANK YOU to Nick & Ollie.
Nick did all the driving and helped with our "stops" (for water, food, etc). He also had the pressure of driving between various points we were at.
Ollie - he was the "body mechanic" - every day he massaged our leg muscles (well it was tortuous pain to be honest) and he also helped with nutrition and the "stops".
We could not have done the challenge without them !!!!!!
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Darren (on behalf of all of us)
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