2 Laps of Dronfield 2000 Rotary Run:- My London Marathon Substitute!

Firstly, blah blah, no I am not doing London Marathon. Secondly yes I did try to do it because I would obviously have liked to have done it. But I'm not bitter about it, in fact I've let it go and have moved on. I'm not dwelling on the fact that I didn't get in on the ballot. I don't actually hold a UK passport so I'm also not fussed that I didn't get in as an overseas athlete either. I'm not bitter that this was the first year that the qualifying times were lowered by 5 minutes and I missed out on a qualifying spot by 72 secs for the new time. The Sheffield Childrens Hospital also don't have any charity places at London Marathon so that drew a blank as well. In fact they were also approached directly to see if they would let me run as part of this challenge and the refused to support my quest. I must however assume that they get bombarded with all sorts of hairbrained ideas. Still I'm not going to rabbit on about it, like I say I've moved on.

What I did do was something far more exciting and far more exclusive. I was also accompanied by 2 of my favourite running partners which made it extra special. What I took on was the Dronfield 2000 Rotary Walk, opting to run the first lap clockwise with Jonny C, fresh off the plane from the Paris Marathon and the second lap anticlockwise with Simon O, keen to get back into decent training after the Haworth Hobble. And so we set off after parking in Holmesfield.

This was marathon #7 completed in 5 weeks and whilst the legs felt pretty good at the start, the sore throat and chesty rattle was getting a bit tiresome. The benefit of going for longer runs is that you don't have to breath as hard so as long as the legs would hold out this should be pretty straight forward.

The weather was perfect, just a nice solid sunny day with a little wind on the tops and warm hollows and I was soon just running in a vest. Route finding on the first half of the clockwise direction out of Holmesfield was mixed with easy paths that were well signposted through to signs missing, defaced or lying on the ground begging you to take a punt as to the route.

It was really difficult to stay focused and positive mucking around so early on, but having a companion helped keep it all in context. We rocked up back at the car a little later than planned, Jonny relieved to finish and get back to watch Wilson and Mo and me keen to crack on with Si and my now extensive knowledge of the route.

Si had earlier dropped off his wife and kids at our house and had spotted our son making chocolate brownies for later. So between these, Simons Apple Betty cake and the baked spuds and chilly, there wasn't really much time to talk about anything else. There is something specially about doing a decent bit of exercises knowing that there was an all you can eat buffet waiting back home.

The weather held well although the wind did pick up and it got cooler. Legs felt generally good all the way round and apart from walking a few hills the pace stayed consistent. On review I think that this is a great walk, in fact first class walk with beautiful views all the way round. As far as a run route, I would opt for anticlockwise especially if you don't know it. Ideally a couple of hundred quid could do with being spent on the maintenance given that it was put together to mark the Millenium and now 14 years on its showing the signs of neglect in a few key areas.

So from my marathons perspective, it was always going to be long and with the errors it clocked in at just over 29 miles. It gently undulated all the way round and without the need for speed gave a good opportunity to stretch the legs on mixed terrain and stop and admire the view at every possibility. This ended up being a lovely sociable run hardly bumping into anyone. Thank you very much to my tag team partners for coaxing me round. I'm definitely looking forward to running more with you both through the summer.

Shoe Choice: More Mile Cheviots
Stats. Distance: 46.7 km  Elevation: 1.06 km  Total Dist: 306.2 km  Total Elevation: 5.37 km