The weather forecast for today was a bit grim..... and being an eternal pessimist ( or optimist with experience!!) I was expecting more than grim......
I wasn't expecting torrential rain, sideways rain, flooding, gale force winds - grim yes, but not grim grim!!
Today was the Shipton Star Marathon on/around/across Salisbury Plain, dodging soldiers, tanks and bullets whilst doing 26 miles. Last year it was a scorcher - this year, my main concern ( other than said soldiers, tanks and bullets) was hypothermia and drowning!!
The weather was APPALLING!! And, unfortunately, as the Plain is chalk and clay, once it rained, it turned into a wet, slippery, boggy mess!
Halfway through the organisers changed the route as it was deemed 'too unsafe' to complete the original route. There was a 20% gradient hill which they didn't firstly want us climbing (read sliding) up or secondly slipping down...... Spoilsports!
By halfway (13 miles) everyone except me and my 'new best friend' Jim had retired!
We came to the conclusion that this had cost us £2 to enter and we were going to darn well finish it!!
Jim's wife was recovering from a broken ankle, so he was a 'lone walker' like myself... looking for a 'wing man' so he gave me that honour.....
He was a 70 year old ex Merchant Navy chap, and was great company for the 26 miles!!
Although we didn't actually do 26 miles - we did more!! My family will tell you that I can't read a map (at all!!) and Cap'n Jim doesn't really know 'L' from 'R' ...some of the Plain looked very familiar, I'm convinced we did it twice, my Garmin watch, unfortunately didn't give us the route, just the mileage, and we clocked up 27.1 miles!!
And they wouldn't give us a bigger badge for doing more...... Mind you..... what can you expect for £2!!!
So......two finishers only for this years Shipton Star......a wet, muddy, cold one, but finished nonetheless!!
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