Circumnavigating Derby - AKA The Wilmot Wander

Well with 6 weeks to go its probably best to get some distance in the legs and just check that I can still run a reasonable distance. In fact maybe a little more than a marathon as I have just had the stupid idea of doing 2 in the first weekend to kick things off. So I saw this Wilmot Wander race and as it starts just down the road from my mate Ben. He was kind enough to put me up for the night which meant I could get in a gentle 5k jog then straight into top quality nosh, half a pie, a few beers and bed.

He delivered me to the start on a murky cold grey morning pretty much at the end of the wettest January for the last 100 years to start an off road run. The weather forecast was awful to add to the sense of adventure. My start time was just after 8am. We were started in groups of 4.

The vast majority of the route is off road however what it lacks in elevation it easily makes up for in volume of water! I started the race in reasonable spirits and rain and clocked up the miles happily oblivious to how cold I was getting and to the fact that I was getting slower and slower. I got to the check point at about 20k and realised something wasn't quite right when I couldn't undo my map case and change my map over. I decided to stay for a while, have food, several cups of coffee and put on all the spare clothing I had. A fair while later and core temperature returned to vaguely normal, I could take on board the instructions from the kind chaps at the checkpoint. Blah left here, blah right here, blah otherwise you'll be shot by the local farmer, blah blah.. Woah, back up there, you might need to repeat that! Ok so cautiously back to running and looking out for angry farmers, I ran round the next few corners and one of those little dog rat things, you know the ones that make up for their inconspicuousness by yapping over loudly, well it nailed it up to me and took a chunk out of my running tights and my left knee! If I had had the energy....

With the heat returning and with a helpful dose of adrenaline it was time to crack on and catch up with the people who left me at the checkpoint. In fact I caught them by the next checkpoint and had a good lead on them by the one after that. Last was the flat run in to the finish which cained the ankles. Very please to finish such a long off road run especially in winter and with in that weather. Still the sun came out for the walk home which was nice. On getting back to Ben's it was time to replace some of the 4000 calories expanded. And reach for a cold beer, no not to drink but to hold against my ankle.. Where the bloody hell did all that swelling come from! Thank you Ben for your kind support. Can't wait til the next challenge...

Distance: 53km  Elevation: 480m  Finish Time: 5hrs 17mins  Running Time: 4hrs 46mins
Lessons learnt: 1.