Endurancelife Trail X: COAST 2 COAST Devon
Devon Coast to Coast Solo
Ian Grace (Team Endurancelife) / 07.10.2009
The participants assembled at Brendon village hall on Friday evening and prepared their transition bags and bike ready for the 1am start time. The course consisting of 140 miles from North Devon (lighthouse at Foreland Point) to South Devon (Coastguard station at Prawle Point) was to be made up of a range of disciplines from trail running, road cycling, off road cycling and kayaking.
Following the race briefing were ready for the off. The first 4 miles or so were to be completed in non race time and the actual race time was to start at the lighthouse on the North Coast. With the first section essentially neutralised, a gentle jog to the start was in order as others sped off, wasting valuable energy that would be needed later on in the long day ahead.
After 50 minutes or so, the first checkpoint was reached and I dibbed in (in last place). I had the whole field ahead of me. The pace was fast and as I was racing against my normal racing partner, Mark Bottomley, we were both aiming for a high placing in the race. Mark sped off up the road and into the first hill, and my heart rate shot through the roof. Mark was setting a fast pace and I eased off as there was a long way to go. The run across the hills in the dark was made easier with a bright torch but was a bit tricky in places. Starting at the back of the field, I had to force my way past a few of the slower runners on the narrow sections to get to the bike transition.
The first bike leg was 55miles across Exmoor to Okehampton. The whole ride was going to be through the night and good lights and head torch were essential. I had competed in the two day race last year so was familiar with the route but still needed to slow down in places to check the map. The last thing you want is to go shooting off in the wrong direction in the middle of the night.
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