Salcombe Marathon
I received a phone call from John Exley on Thursday 29th April asking if I fancied running the inaugural Salcombe Marathon in Devon. I asked him what was involved and he told me that it was all off road and followed the South West Coastal Path from Torcross to Bantham with almost 5000 feet of climbing.
Thinking it sounded like a nice scenic run I agreed but said that I would have to get some long training runs in as I hadn't done much running lately.
There lay the problem, apparently the race was on Saturday 1st May and as he knew I'd say yes he'd already entered us. This gave me 2 days to prepare so I went out for a run immediately and then started tapering for the race.
Wendy and I travelled down the day before and camped, unfortunately I had too much Devon Cider and was nearly late meeting John at the start even though I was 2 miles away and John had just travelled 150 miles.
Everything worked out fine in the end and we had the most beautiful run which included catching the Salcombe ferry half way. Thanks to the better halves for meeting us along the route and keeping us going with drinks and food.
It was a great day and we'll be back next year, but maybe with a day or two more training.
It doesn't matter how much you hold your breath John, that vest is still not going to reach your shorts.
John Exley and Chris Hall 4.30 hours.