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Jonathan's 2011 Thames Ring 250 Miles Report:
Jonathan's 2011 Ridgeway Relay Report:
Jonathan's 2011 Lanzarote Ironman Report:
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A runner from Wendover is celebrating after taking joint first place in Britain's longest non-stop race, the 250-mile Thames Ring Ultramarathon.
Steve Charleston, a member of Bearbrook Running Club in Aylesbury, started the grueling event at 9am on Wednesday last week and reached the finish line just after midday on Saturday.
The route for the 250-mile race started in Streatley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and navigated its way along river and canal towpaths in Berkshire, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire before finishing back in Streatley.
Charleston did battle against 37 other competitors from all around the world and his finishing time of 75 hours 26 minutes meant he shared joint first place with fellow competitor Steve Thompson from Birmingham.
During the entire race, Charleston only slept for a little over three hours and his success was determined by the effectiveness of his race strategy that took into account his pace, nutrition and how much time he allowed himself to rest.
"There's a lot to take into consideration when you're doing a race that's 250 miles long because you have to look after your body properly," explained Charleston. "But as long as you make the right decision at the right time, a distance like 250 miles is extremely tough but achievable."
Charleston admitted his race wasn't without incident. In the early hours of Thursday morning he had to contend with a violent bout of sickness after misjudging his nutrition, and then in the early hours of Saturday morning when it was raining heavily and visibility was nil, he lost his footing on one of the tow paths and plunged 15 feet into a canal lock.
"I was looking at my watch and the next thing I knew I was seeing bubbles above my head under the water," he said. "It was a pretty scary experience but it's easy to misjudge situations when you're physically and mentally exhausted. Hallucinations were a regular occurrence during the race, as well."
Charleston owed much of his success to his decision to buddy-up with fellow competitor Steve Thompson with 90 miles to go and he said it was fitting that they crossed the finish line together on Saturday.
"We were running at a very similar pace so it made sense to help one another out," Charleston explained. "He took care of the navigation and I looked after our timing and pace. It was a memorable experience to reach the finish line together and it was the right thing to do because we'd been through so much together during the final 90 miles."
Of the 38 competitors that started the race, the equivalent distance to almost 10 consecutive marathons, only 17 made it to the finish line.
Aylesbury's Bearbrook Running Club fielded three teams in Sunday's 86.5-mile Ridgeway Relay off road race, with the ladies team taking first place in their category.
The race follows the route of the Ridgeway National Trail that starts at Ivinghoe Beacon in Hertfordshire and finishes at Marlborough in Wiltshire. The route is divided into ten different stages, ranging from between 5.4 miles to 11 miles in distance. Forty teams from across the region contested this year's event.
After ending the opening leg in 37th place, the ladies team steadily climbed the leaderboard throughout the day and eventually completed the route in 29th place overall. Excellent performances from Pete Mason, Jen Kendall, Helen Mulhall, Debbie Simmons, Kelly Ingram, Sandy Ridgway, Linda Huxley, Sarah Everad, Steve Wickam and Penny Herbert meant the team beat its closest rival from Abingdon Amblers by almost three minutes to take first place in category.
Team captain, Penny Herbert, said: "Our team consisted of some experienced runners and some that only recently joined the club through our Monday night training sessions for beginners and novices. So winning our category is a real triumph - especially for those that are relatively new to running."
The Bearbrook 'A' team also had a successful day and eventually finished the race in eighth place overall. Rob Palmer, Claire Doherty, Graham Smith, Lucy Mayer, Bob Hodges, John Yarnell, Toby O'Callaghan, Kevin Cole, Owen Byrne and Neil Edwards all pushed hard to record an overall team pace of just over seven minutes per mile.
By finishing eighth, The Bearbrook 'A' team finished one place higher than it managed at the same race 12 months earlier.
Also turning in an impressive performance was the Bearbrook 'B' team. Adrian Twissell, Victoria Curtis-Smith, Pete Cairnie, Emma Curtis-Smith, Debbie Channer, Jonathan Mudd, Paul Hearn, Mike Lemon, Simon Allen and Doug Preston all ran through the pain barrier on their individual stages to guide the team to 18th place out of 40 finishers.
"The Ridgeway is one of our favourite events and the 30 people that ran so hard on Sunday did the club proud," said teams co-ordinator Steve Wickam.
Aylesbury's John Yarnell raised more than £3,000 for charity on Saturday when he swam, cycled and ran through the pain barrier to complete his first-ever Ironman event in Lanzarote. The Bearbrook Running Club captain needed to call on all of the strength he accumulated during 10 months of hard training to complete the course in 12 hours, 54 minutes - comfortably inside his target time of 13 hours.
Yarnell was raising money for the Aylesbury-based Action for Children charity and was required to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and then run a 26.2-mile marathon.
"The enormity of the achievement hasn't sunk in at all," said Yarnell, who also raised an extra £200 by shaving his legs for the race. "I tried to predict what part of the race would be the toughest before the start and I thought it would be the bike. But I was wrong.
"The marathon was an absolute killer and definitely the toughest run I've ever done. I hit the wall at 14 miles and had to call on all of my mental strength to get through it."
Yarnell has said he'd like to take part in more Ironman events but is focused on having a well-earned rest for the time being. He said: "I'm really looking to getting my life back because the training was incredibly intense. I had a full English breakfast the day after the race and it tasted superb. I don't want to see a banana or a plate of pasta for a very long time!"
Fellow Bearbrook Running Club member Paula Robinson also joined Yarnell in Lanzarote and put on an impressive performance to finish the course in a time of 12 hours 10 minutes. The Fairdford Leys resident was taking part in her sixth Ironman event and her time was good enough to claim third place in the VET 40-45 age category.
