Coed Brenin Enduro 2014

Coed Brenin Enduro 2014

Sunday 3 July 2016

Fancy a run Rob?

Yesterday Rob completed the Lakeland Ultimate 110km run. I think its fair to say that Rob wasn't really a runner before entering this event a year ago, but he's worked and trained extremely hard for the last year to complete this difficult and personal challenge.

They set off at midnight from Ambleside on Friday, and Janet et al spent a long time trying to catch him en route to offer encouragement and support. We decided to walk in from Langdale and catch him  on the Stake Pass, at the approx 58-59 mile mark (not totally sure).

Here he comes
The weather was pretty awful, 10-12 degrees (quite chilly), very windy with frequent very heavy showers and as we got soaked walking the few miles along Langdale and up to the Pass I did wonder how Rob would be faring in these conditions.


Keep moving
Rob estimated he'd be at this point by 3-4pm, we arrived at 3pm, and he popped up at around 4pm. Rob said he felt pretty beat at this point but didn't look too bad. He said that his legs had been hurting for the last 30 miles, but this wasn't getting any worse....

Rob nearest to camera blue!

Robs the middle of the 3 blurs!

He walked with him for a while, tried to offer a cup of tea, crisps (not required), took pictures and offered encouragement until he wanted to jog again. We saw him bravely descend down into Langdale, wishing him well.


We headed out, jumped in the car and went to the finish in Ambleside where we saw Janet. Janet had last seen Rob at Elterwater and said he was 'fading fast'. We saw many of the people on the 55km course jog in and finish.

Down into Langdale
Rob arrived...... and it was quite a shock, Rob walked on to the finishing fields with a woman who I think was worried about him and offering encouragement. Rob was in a bad way, he was really struggling physically, his speech was a little incoherent and he said he was a mess. We walked with him nearer to the line and he did manage to jog over the line. The supporters at the line recognised that he was doing the 110km route and there was a lot of cheering and clapping.

20m from the finish - come on Rob


This is Rob after 'coming round' a little!
I hope Rob doesn't mind me writing about this, but I was so impressed by his grit, sheer effort and determination to get to the end. Clearly his body was in shut down (I think for quite a while!), but his persistence and strength of character and mind got him to the finish. An amazing achievement Rob, well done.





1 comment:

  1. How dare you say my body was revolting - I think it's pretty good! Cheers for meeting me on Stake Pass, not easy for you with the springeing worries ....

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