Endurancelife 7x7x7

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The endurancelife 7x7x7 - Day 1 - Off Road Running Marathon

Barry Matthews - endurancelife / 03.07.2005

The rain had moved elsewhere and the sun was shining this morning as we awoke for the first of what will be seven consecutive marathon distance events over the next seven days and one of the most unique endurance challenges in the world.

After a hearty breakfast and final preparations, we made our way to the coastal village of Beesands and the start of what was to be one of the hardest 26.2 mile courses many of the group had ever undertaken.

The route followed the coastline from Beesands to Start Point and Prawle Point, before looping back circuitously inland via some very steep hills back to the sea. It was a 2 lap course, which added a mental challenge simply knowing that you had to complete the gruelling hills twice !

To add to the challenge, a disgruntled local took it upon him or her self to remove some of the route markers overnight and as a result there was some confusion and wrong turnings taken on the first lap. However these were soon corrected and by the second lap, there was a fierce battle for the top 4 places.

Graham Walton, Joe Green, Shaun Callaghan and Neil Thubron were closely grouped at halfway, but during the second lap Neil pulled away from the group and sustained his lead until the end, finishing in 4hrs 20mins. Joe Green finished 2nd in 4hrs 29mins and Graham Walton finished 3rd in 4hrs 41mins. the fact these athletes are all usually sub 3 marathon runners showed the severity of the terrain and the difficulty of the course.

There were some notable performances lower down the field with Natasha Ballard coming in a very impressive 8th place in 6hrs 17mins and Dave Thomas finishing his first ever marathon in a time of 6hrs 58mins.

Tomorrow is the Mountain Biking Marathon - It might sound easy, but with the hills and tracks the competitors have seen today, they know what to expect and no one is relaxing !

For today\'s full results please see: For full results go to http://www.endurancelife.com/races/seven/one05.asp
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