Torun Half Marathon, Poland
HE was last heard of toiling away as a Trappist Monk in a Himalayan monastery, but after being barred in disgrace from the religious order for breaking vows of silence and celibacy, Dave King has emerged from the running wilderness.
The hairy legged one recently took part in far flung races in Poland and Swindon.
Competing in the Torun Half Marathon in Poland, Dave finished 70th among a field of 150 runners in a snail-like time of 1hr 52min.
“I ran like a sack of potatoes” said Dave. “I was going well at 10km and was holding a nose-bleedingly high placing of around 30th, but then I suddenly pulled up with nasty hamstring cramp.
"Temperatures were in the high 70s and the second half of the race was plain nasty since I couldn't get rid of the cramp, until I got to a drinks station at 10 miles which had isotonic liquid. I was just glad to finish.”
After the race, runners were rewarded with pints of beer, as well as platefuls of pea and sausage soup!
Dave somewhat redeemed himself a few days later by taking part in a low-key 10km race in Swindon. He finished 54th among 270 runners competing in the Lethbridge 10km, run along a disused train line, similar terrain to the 6.5 Special route near Wickham.
His finishing time was 45min 15sec. "That was much better, and after the Polish disaster it was the sort of decent run-out I needed," he said.
Dave King.