Cold Comfort

Never attempt a marathon if suffering from an illness is the generally held, and wise, view.  However, when you tend to spend your free time with folk who grind them out day in, day out, no matter what their health issues it's easy to forget the impact of being in less than top condition.  This is my excuse for deciding to start the tough Beachy Head marathon despite having a scratchy throat and the vague cloggy-headed feeling of an impending cold.  That and the fact that I'd had to pull out after four miles last year.  Oh, and that it would be my fiftieth of the calendar year which would put me ahead of clubmate Martin's best ever year's total in our unofficial private competition...

A month off long runs and a few fast paced efforts in the meantime had my legs feeling pretty good at the start line.  Despite the  hilly terrain it all felt fine up until mile 18 and I was convinced that I would finish well under five hours, even daring to think about a charge for 4:45.  At this point I met up with Paul, veteran of over 300 marathons including several Beachy Heads, he mentioned that it always seemed like sub-5 was possible at this point but that the remainder of the course was very tough indeed.  He was absolutely correct!

It was during this final phase of continual sharp ascents and descents that my cold began to tell.  During the uphill hikes my head started to spin and chest ache, I was slowing to barely moving in order to allay the light-headedness, and then on the downhill jogs my legs seemed unwilling to pick my feet up off the floor which meant I was stumbling and staggering all over the place.  But I got through it, accepted the sub-5 was gone and jogged through to finish in 5:07, faster than I would have expected a month or so ago but well over what I feel was achievable on the day had all been well.

And that's it for this mammoth year of endurance running, now for a bit of rest and then to commence a proper training plan aiming for a substantial PB in March of next year.  It's been a bit of a slog for most of the year but there have been a number of achievements which I don't ever expect to repeat;

• 100th marathon/ultra (obviously - I can only reach 100 once!)
• 50 marathon/ultras in a calendar year
• 53 marathon/ultras in a 52 week period
• 7 marathons in 7 days

My long term aims now are to eventually get my marathon PB below 3:30 and to ease my way into the world of 100 mile events with a view to completing the Centurion Grand Slam , possibly in 2017.


24th October 2015  Beachy Head   5:07:41    #101

#100

With the concern about getting through #98 and #99 unscathed, #100 sort of crept up on me a bit.  The day was as good as I could have hoped; sunny but not too hot, Samphire Hoe looked fantastic, a strange other-world at the foot of the white cliffs, accessed via a tunnel which gives it a Narnia-esque feel.  It was by my favourite marathon organisation., SVN, and my glamourous assistant Mandy was there with me, her support of everything I do in running is a constant for which I am very grateful.

The run itself was almost irrelevant, I coasted to mid-way then put in some effort to record another negative split, another standard day of marathon completion.  I did consider slowing up in the final mile to try to exactly repeat the time from my very first marathon but concluded that this would be daft.  I was then presented with my medal, tee-shirt some certificates to go with the cards that several friends had written for me.  Glen had gone to the trouble of getting an alternative tee-shirt prepared referencing the Anti-Nowhere League's notorious song 'So What', the shirt has an ANL symbol with the wording 'I have run 100 marathons... So What?'.  I was sharing 100 Marathon Club official presentation day with Karen and so after all formalities the various cakes and Prosecco were available to all.

Reaching the milestone hasn't really meant a great deal to me of itself, it is something that I have ticked off along with other tick boxes on the way; doubles, quads, 52 in 52 weeks, 7 in 7 days and so on.  In some ways it feels like a burden lifted as I can now get on with running properly again, doing some faster, shorter stuff, getting my PB down and getting more into ultras, I'm pleased to have done it but looking forward rather than back.

23rd September 2015  The Tolkein Run  (26.9 miles)  5:02:41  #100

Nervous Nineties

Daftly I'd ended up with no leeway and so with my official 100th marathon booked, I had to race through the nineties with nothing going wrong.  The Bad Cow double was hot and humid on day one and rainy on day two.  I really didn't fancy them so soon after my Irish adventure but I had a schedule to stick to...

Cakeathon was another rainy day and I seemed to have nothing in my legs but the schedule was the schedule...

And then, with ridiculous stupidity I somehow thought it would be great if numbers 96 to 99 were a pair of two marathons in under 24 hours, never having attempted that feat previously, and with the first of each pair taking part partially in darkness.  With my terrible night vision and an over-riding necessity to avoid injury.  This was when the nineties did indeed become nervous!  There really so many things that could go wrong, particularly with my car chugging on beyond the 150,000 mile point.  However, I got them done.  The dark runs were tough, Kent Coastal was hot and had a lot of concrete, Bath Two Tunnels was novel, the mile long second tunnel on both loops being a cool experience in both senses.

So...  I adhered to the daft schedule, injuries were avoided and the 99th marathon completed.  It was a relief more than anything.

22nd August 2015  Bad Cow day 1          4:47:03  #93
23rd August 2015  Bad Cow day 2           5:05:58  #94
31st August 2015  Cakeathon                  5:19:43  #95
5th September 2015  Black Hugin            4:53:35  #96
6th September 2015  Kent Coastal           4:54:33  #97
19th September 2015  Thames Trail          5:18:23  #98
20th September 2015  Bath Two Tunnels   5:11:11  #99

A trip around the Inishowen Peninsula

This trip was a mini adventure undertaken on my own as Mandy was unfortunately unable to travel.  A coach journey pausing at Heathrow got me to Stansted Airport where I had assumed I would enjoy a comfy night's sleep on a bench before catching my early morning flight, however, there was no space to be found in more conventional locations so I wedged myself onto a wide window sill behind some cash machines...

and had just began to drift off when I was nudged back to full consciousness by an official who moved me on.  What sort of place has this country become when a man en route to some overseas marathons cannot grab some sleep behind a couple of airport cash machines? Hell in a handcart and all that.  A couple of hours wandering around and the gates had opened allowing me to charge through and claim a proper padded bench to kip upon.  Luxury!

My lack of sleep became apparent during the short flight; I remember seat-belting myself in to ensure I would be completely safe in the event of a crash, a brief glimpse of a cloudy shoreline through half-opened eyes and then the bump as we landed.  One of the most trouble-free flights I've ever enjoyed.

After a few misunderstandings with the strongly Ulster accented car hire assistant during which I thought he asked how my journey had been but in reality I seemed to agree to fully comprehensive insurance, which I didn't want, however once that was sorted I set off for the border in my smart black Fiesta, fully prepared for the armed control point and intensive questioning regarding my intentions.  Well, to be honest I had checked whether there was still anything like that in place and so was prepared for the unencumbered drive into the Republic.

My digs at the Tullyarvan Mill Hostel were basic but exactly what I required and at about £80 for five nights I was never going to complain about anything anyway.  After a walk into Buncrana town I set off across the boggy interior of the peninsula to Redcastle for the race briefing and to collect the required accoutrements, namely race number, dibbing chip and daily instruction cards which were satisfyingly exhaustive.  Harold, the genial and exceedingly helpful organiser held a brief talk covering the shuttle bus details and start times; 7am for those expecting to take over 6 hours, 8am for 5-6 hours and 9am for the speedy guys.  It was explained that there were some stern hills and so to add half an hour the expected flat time.

I wasn't planning on doing anything more than jogging round and so got myself back to the Redcastle Hotel by 8am the following morning for the medium paced group.  After catching up with a number of familiar faces from the UK circuit we queued up to have our dibber necklaces cleared then reset and of we trundled into the pleasant Irish morning.  The first 10 miles took us along the north-western shore of Lough Foyle past craggy coastline interspersed with small deserted beaches to the Shrove lighthouse where the route took us left and onto the first real climb of the day before doubling back so that our route to the lighthouse was now to our left as we climbed to the midway point enjoying evermore expansive views of the Lough and Northern Ireland across the water.

Dominating the scene for the last few miles, initially to our left and then as we switched back, on our right was the rounded mass of The Warren, a mountain rising above the town of Greencastle, and as we passed the halfway point the route turned ominously and headed directly up its testing slopes.  Three miles of effort later we descended to the north-eastern coast of Inishowen and to views even more spectacular than prior to the climb.

Kinnego Bay

Finish for day one was in the town of Culdaff where we were served a hot meal in one of the pubs.  After a leisurely discussion of the many sights of the day, the shuttle bus was boarded to take us back to Redcastle Hotel. A contented drive back across the beautifully bleak inner peninsula, a relaxed stroll into Buncrana for supplies during which I noted the peaty waters of Crana River resembled a flow of ale.  It almost made me jump off the wagon!

Flowing ale

Day two necessitated a drive back out to Culdaff for a short bus trip to the start, about three miles north of the town.

Today's route took us to the northernmost tip of the island of Ireland at Malin Head, famous for its weather station; the shipping forecast mantra 'Rockall, Malin, Hebrides', which has wormed its way into collective consciousness now has added vibrancy for me having run headlong into what seemed gale force rain lashing in from the wild Atlantic waters of sea area Malin .  This was bleak, beautiful awe-inspiring stuff.

Gale warnings for sea areas Rockall, Malin, Hebrides

Once the route turned back after a loop of the headland the going was much easier and I finished back in Culdaff in just under five hours feeling strong, although a delay in the dibbing system gave me a time a little over five hours, about 15 minutes faster than the previous day and again with a negative split.  It was during the welcome warming post-run meal that a plan formulated; 15 minutes faster each day and all with a negative split?  That sounded like a nice challenge to myself!

Day three started back in Culdaff and finished directly outside the hostel at which I was staying so the obvious thing to do was get the coach to the start and run back 'home'.  This meant running with the faster people but also meant that I could pass the first half in the company of good friends Rosie and John which was a very nice change to the reasonably lonely first two days.  However at halfway I had issues of negative splits and a 15 minutes to address so I pushed on a little quicker on my own.  There was a potential thwarting of my plans ahead in the shape of the Mamore Pass.  After a relatively flat first half, I was faced with maintaining a decent time over this forbidding mountain pass

Photos never seems to adequately convey steepness!

The photo really does not do justice to the zig-zagging steepness of this climb, however, going straight down the other side was equally tough on the legs, but with time on my mind I went for it feeling slightly out of control.  My thumping feet disturbed one of the ragged sheep grazing at the side of the road and he bolted along the road ahead of me, soon picking up a startled companion, then another, until it seemed as if I was pursuing a frightened mini-flock down the road.  At the bottom of the hill a lone marshal was operating a water station and her eyes grew wide as the out-of-control flock thundered toward her.  Her scream caused them to veer sharply right onto a small track where they gathered, eyeing me accusingly.  I was starting to worry that I'd be chasing my woolly pacers all the way to the finish line.  Having given up on my human sheepdog trial attempt I got my head down and put in some effort over some testing undulations, managing to record a speedy (for me) final full mile of 8:32 to achieve the negative split desired.

The final day, took us from Buncrana via Muff back to Redcastle and required a sub 4:30 to keep my goal on track.  It also meant driving from the start to the finish, getting a bus back to the start, running to the finish and then later driving back again.  The Muff marathon really did involve several hours of shuttling back and forth for me.  As the flattest of the days I was able to cruise to halfway and then accelerated in the heat to finish in 4:26 and claim a fourth negative split.  The medals for each day were able to be fixed together to form a single mega-medal which even incorporated an outline of the Inishowen Peninsula and approximate maps of the four routes.  Genius!

The Mega-medal!

There followed a really nice meal at the hotel after which trophies were presented and Harold tempted us all back for a repeat next year with talk of a generous 'early-bird' price, which in Sterling 'equated to nothing' he assured us Brits!  This was a fantastic four days, brilliantly organised but in a relaxed and friendly manner.  Despite the remoteness of some of the routes you never felt left on your own as marshals constantly drove back and forth checking on runners and giving out water.  And the views; just beautiful! I think I will be taking advantage of Harold's offer...





13th August 2015  Kinnego Bay      5:14:46  #89
14th August 2015  Malin Head        5:00:30  #90
15th August 2015  Mamore Pass    4:46:13  #91
16th August 2015  Muff                   4:26:19  #92

Complacent

Endurance running has a way of keeping you honest.  You get out what you put in.  Train diligently and you run well.  Take short cuts and you will be found out.  Having completed two 50 mile events and three of around 50K so far this year I had lost the fear of shortish ultras but, it seems, also the respect for the distance.  Mistakes made at this one were that I failed to fuel properly, set off too quickly and approached it thinking I knew it all having completed both the marathon and ultra distances in previous years.  It well and truly gave me the mauling I deserved. 

Mistake one; fueling.  I had a larger breakfast than normal prior to this sort of event.  This laid heavily on my stomach and resulted in reasonably severe stomach ache about two hours after the start.  I didn't take any food or gels to eat during the event.  I always eat regularly in the early hours of an ultra and it pays dividends for me in the second half.  During this one I relied on the sugar-rush effect of a sports drink, an attempt to replicate what happened in my previous event.  It failed to have any effect on this occasion.

Mistake two; pace.  I start ultras at the back and slowly.  I am happy to let the vast majority disappear over the hills and far away.  I then gradually increase effort and my sensible start rewards me with relatively fresh legs which enable me to finish strongly.  Here I started mid pack with a series of ten minute miles on a hot day and hilly course.  I am just not good enough to do that at the moment.

Mistake three; arrogance.  I knew the course quite well.  I knew how to approach it, when to run, when to ease off, which sections I would enjoy and those I would not. I also knew I would finish in under six hours as I knew everything.  I deserved to be taught a lesson. 

With ten miles left, my legs had well and truly 'gone', even fast walking was more than they could achieve and I was reduced to regularly sitting on benches to recover sufficiently for a further half mile shuffle.  Any attempt to actually run resulted in a light-headed, swimmy feeling and I had to stop, stooped with hands on knees in order to recover.

So completely was I put in my place that an oddly positioned '2 km to go' sign within 400 metres of the finish, whether placed there as a joke or mischievously I don't know, completely flummoxed me and I once again slumped onto a bench.  A friendly passer-by asked if I was okay and pointed out that the end was almost, literally, in sight.  I staggered through the final few metres completely unable to muster anything resembling a run.  A sobering end to several hours of misery and, hopefully, some important lessons learned.


9th August 2015   Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 50k    7:10:34  #88

Help me make it through the night

Three twelve-hour timed events in eight days; what could possibly go wrong?  I was looking forward to these challenges as a test as to whether I had the mental focus to keep trudging out the miles come what may, a decent step towards longer ultras planned for next year.  I had even privately blamed my dnf at Caldecotte the previous week on lacking focus as these were more important events.  Best laid plans and all that...

Though I started conservatively on the first day at Ranscombe my slow pace soon felt tougher than it should have done.  It was warm and hilly but even so my cautious start should have felt like cruising, instead my legs felt heavy and rests became a necessary part of each lap.  By the time I had completed marathon distance I was dizzy and nauseous, telling myself that I needed to get through phases such as this I pushed on for another lap but was starting to feel as if I may not get round another one and so stopped at that point.  After half an hour laying in the shade I felt a little better but knew the correct decision had been made.

By the time I was more aware of what was happening Mandy had completed her fifth lap and several people were encouraging her to get another two done to reach marathon distance for the first time.  I heard a friend say that he would accompany her for the final lap and so I decided to go round with her for the sixth.  Completion of the full distance after seven weeks with no training whatsoever was a great triumph of determination. particularly as she finds running so challenging.  I was very proud if a little guilty that supporting me in my hobby has lead to her being drawn into a netherworld in which running a marathon or more a week is considered perfectly normal.  Sorry love...

On the Sunday morning I awoke feeling dreadful.  I realised how bad things were when I fell asleep during the process of putting my socks on.  After a couple of further attempts to get moving the lure of the duvet proved too strong and I slipped back into slumber feeling no need to justify yet another in my rapidly growing dns and dnf count.

Endure 12/50 commenced at 7pm, went through the night to finish at 7am, and if successfully completed would be the first time I had carried on throughout the hours of darkness.  The event took place at Beale Park, only a couple of miles from home, and consisted of five mile laps, mainly on flat trail and including a scenic stretch alongside the Thames.  It was a relaxed, sociable environment and being so close to home there were a lot of friends involved, which was excellent.

I started in my preferred 'ultra' mode of Very Slow Indeed, jogging round comfortably and aware that putting off the effects of fatigue for as long as possible was likely to pay dividends later.  I ran with my club mate and friendly rival Pete for a while before he pushed on with me calling after that I would catch up with him at 35 miles.

Despite my controlled start the familiar heavy legs soon made their presence felt and by the ten mile point weariness was already a worrying factor with hamstring and glute pain also preying on my mind.  I walked back to my car, grabbed some grapes to supplement the two Clif bars I had already consumed, took a couple of ibuprofen, donned a head torch and set off into the gloaming.

My night vision is poor.  I once drove my car into a ditch thinking the inky blackness was some lovely fresh tarmac.  This combined with my fatigue contributed to a marked slowing in my already snailish progress.  Despite caution in the dark I just could not distinguish the humps from the hollows and eventually, inevitably, took a tumble.  At that point I resolved that it would be safer to just hike through the darkness, avoid the possibility injury through tripping, and see how things were when the light returned.

My walking pace is good, a legacy, I always like to think, of keeping up with my mum as a small boy whilst she paced it around Maidstone market seeking out bargains.  However, even given the darkness, I was disappointed with only being able to knock out 17 minute miles.  By the time I completed my fifth lap, meaning I needed one more to 'count' for 100 Marathon Club purposes, I wasn't even sure I would get that far.  I repaired once more to my car, gathered together some grapes, energy drinks and gels to leave in the solo runners' support tent (which I had only just discovered, conveniently located right beside the start/finish!) and headed out again, after, bizarrely, joining the toilet queue for a few seconds before realising that I didn't even require use of the facilities.  At this stage I calculated that if I got lap six completed, I could rest up and maybe get another two done in the morning to record a total of 40 miles for the event, with which I would have to be satisfied.

One of the enjoyable and uplifting elements of this undertaking was the supportive, friendly attitude of the marshals spread regularly throughout the course, their spirits didn't seem to wain throughout the twelve hours which was a great boost.  My favourite part of the course was the VW camper van parked in a field just as the course reached the river on each lap.  Prior to dark it was pounding out dance tunes which brought a smile to my face every time I approached.  After dark the volume was understandably reduced but the ultraviolet lighting gave the scene a trippy, surreal feel.  Added to this a glowing, blue, ghostly bar was plentifully stocked with vodka shots and Lucozade Sports drink.  I haven't used this drink for a few years now as I found it too sickly sweet.  However, in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of an ultramarathon, feeling knackered, a bit miserable, sorry for myself and having decided (once again) that I wasn't suited to endurance running, I took one and glugged it down in one go.  

Not long afterwards the sugar-rush hit me and I felt much better.  Immediately I was loving the novelty of being out by the darkly powerful river during the nighttime and pushed on with renewed vigour.  On the next lap I felt the urge to start running again on the non-trail sections and was striding through the trail parts a far faster rate, unable to resist breaking regularly into a canter.  I topped up my sugar on the next two laps and felt unstoppable. Even early morning rain didn't dampen my revived enthusiasm.  Mental calculation revealed that I would now be able to complete ten laps within the twelve hours and therefore be entitled to get another one done thereafter.  

During the tenth lap I was full of the joys of 50 mile running and passed Pete at 47 miles, twelve  miles after the point I had jokingly told him I would catch up .  My mile splits on this circuit were 10:32, 10:35, 9:51, 10:48 and 9:50 and I am certain I could have continued at this sort of rate but I realised that I would achieve a PB if I stopped at that point.  I know some runners quite legitimately claim shorter distance PBs recorded during the course of longer races but personally I don't and so decided to stop simply in order to record an official time for my own purposes.

This was a night full of learning.  I definitely need a better head torch, my current two, although very serviceable for the cheap price, do not pass muster with my weak night-vision on unfamiliar trails.  More importantly I have often heard that no matter how bad things seem they can always improve and although I had experienced this to a lesser degree previously, this experience really drove it home.  At ten miles I was in pain and heavy legged; at 25 I was uncertain that I would complete another lap; at 45 I was on top of the world and running freely feeling that nothing could stop me.  It was fantastic!  I am aware of the role that sugar played in this turn around and will look to see how I might use this more judiciously over these longer events.

I love a stat or two and so it is always a pleasure when events provide split information for me to analyse, ponder and play with.  My lap times were; 53:10, 55:35, 1:12:51, 1:23:12, 1:26:55, 1:30:02, 1:08:21, 1:07:41, 1:05:27, 50:22.  Laps three and six include the excursions back to the car and so are slightly longer than they otherwise would have been if I had used the solo runners' support tent from the start.  These figures show that I was faster over the second 25 miles than the first by about ten minutes; 5:51:43 compared with 5:41:53.  I'm not certain that this is the best method over a 50 mile race but I certainly enjoyed doing it that way.  I'm not sure whether I'm happier about the negative split or the fact that my last lap was the fastest of the night but one thing I am sure about is that my most enjoyable two runs so far this year have both been 50 milers.

11th July 2015 Ranscombe Challenge  30.4 miles  7:02:20   #86
12th July 2015 Ranscombe Challenge          dns
18th July 2015 Endure 12/50                50 miles   11:33:36  #87
26th July 2015 Snowdonia Trail                    dns

Just getting it done

Since NDW50 I've been completing one or two marathons a week with no real concern about time, just getting them done and enjoying things as much as possible despite the understandable deadness in my legs.

Shindig in the Shire was a beautiful stroll around the Shropshire Hills with one very testing climb on each of the two laps.  I ran a great deal of this with all-round endurance machine Kate and was very satisfied with a sub six hour finish given the previous week's efforts.

Kent Roadrunner is a course on which I never seem to perform well, I approached this with my fail-safe run nine minutes walk one minute strategy but even that didn't assist my weary legs and I ended up basically just walking the final eight miles.

Viking Coastal double was definitely a weekend of two halves.  There were quite a few from my running club attending and it's always nice to have a bit of friendly rivalry to add some interest.  Day one was terrible for me, the legs just did not want to work properly and I was beset with stomach problems which necessitated a visit to public conveniences at the halfway point, all of which contributed to me finishing last of six in the Reading Roadrunners sub-race.  On Day two I reverted to the trusted nine/one strategy and had my determined head on.  There were two goals; first placed Reading Roadrunner and with a quicker time than yesterday's 'winner', Pete, who had finished in about 4:30.  I reached halfway in 2:15 and then put in some effort to achieve both goals with a 2:07 second half, and in the process recorded my fastest time of the year.

Holly Challenge is a quirky event starting at Race Director Denzil's house and involving 32 laps of the undulating, uneven circular trail upon which his home is situated.  In addition to the tricky underfoot conditions it rained consistently and there were many large puddles one of which covered the width of the trail.  Combined with this I was beset with some knee and lower back issues which all served to make this a real grind, but a pleasing one to complete.

The hills and technical trails of Trail Marathon Wales were never going to allow anything other than a plod round in my current condition but the scenery proved a lovely distraction, as ever, and I got another one completed.

The Barrow Challenge offers half, full and ultra marathons over the course of ten days, I was 'only' doing the marathons on days three and four.  The courses are self-navigated following printed instructions over a mixture of road and trail.  An early navigation error cost me a bonus mile on day one and the familiar leg weariness made it more of a slog than I would normally hope.  After the race I drove up to spend a lovely few hours with my daughter in Nottingham, before heading back to my hotel at Braintree for the night.  Next morning I set my satnav expecting a journey time of about half an hour but was surprised to find it was double that.  Some slightly faster driving than I was expecting for got me to the venue with about 20 minutes to spare and it was then more of the same, apart from the getting lost bit. The journey home gave me a driving distance of 550 miles for the weekend to go with the two marathons.   It was only when recording the official results in my spreadsheet that I noticed my last three marathon finishes were all within eleven seconds of each other.  Consistent if not much else!

Next up was a 30 mile ultra with Enigma running featuring eight laps of Caldecotte Lake, a course with which I have grown a little over-familiar following my travails at Quadzilla and Week at the Knees earlier this year.  An added interest was the presence of Commonwealth Games marathon runner and British 100k record holder Steve Way at the race to prove fitness for the British ultra team after an injury.  I hadn't focused on this event at all, turning up having forgotten a couple of provisions and not really fueled properly.  The lack of focus told very early and during the third lap I knew I had had enough.  I could have trudged round in the heat to finish in something well over six hours but just could not be bothered.  The only thing that made me think twice was that my mum had come to see me run for the first time since my very first marathon in 2002 but I knew she would much rather me stop than push myself when it didn't really feel like something I wanted to do. So I pulled out with no guilt whatsoever, sat in the shade and had chat with mum, Mandy and two of my most admired endurance running friends Ellen (recovering from the 250 mile Thames Ring race) and Traviss (veteran of something like 35 100 mile races).  These are two of the people who are inspiring me to go further once my 100 marathons are done and dusted.

 
23rd May 2015   Shindig in the Shire          5:51:31  #78
30th May 2015   Kent Roadrunner              5:22:17  #79
6th June 2015    Viking Coastal                 5:04:26  #80
7th June 2015    Viking Coastal                 4:22:09  #81
13th June 2015  Holly Challenge                5:14:30  #82
20th June 2015  Trail Marathon Wales        5:46:48  #83
27th June 2015  Great Barrow Challenge     5:46:37  #84
28th June 2015  Great Barrow Challenge     5:46:45  #85
5th July 2015      Enigma Ultra                           dnf