Medoc Marathon

[El Gordo]

This is one of the wackiest race reports I've had the pleasure of reading. It comes from my old friend Richard Bampfield whose intervention on this forum a while back helped to resolve some sort of Christmas wine dilemma, if I recall correctly.

Richard is a Master of Wine, an irritatingly select band of bastards who make their living drinking, er, sorry, "tasting" wine.

Seriously, Richard is one of life's good guys, and is raising money for Christian Aid with this run. If you want to contribute, I'll post his details up tomorrow.

WARNING: Anyone (like me) who agonises too much about what to eat and drink before and during a race, may want to look away now.

Here we go:

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"Many, many thanks for the fantastic support I received prior to the Medoc Marathon and for the hugely generous donations received. I can now confirm that I did finish and that I did run all the way, apart from the refreshment stops (see below) - I actually came in 2826th out of the 7908 runners, which suggests that a lot of people may have actually indulged even more in the refreshments than I did!

Please forgive the outbreak of verbosity, but a quick report is the least I can offer to repay the kindness shown me.

There was a dry spell at the start as we ambled through Pauillac, but, after 4 kms or so, Pichon-Longueville provide an excellent appetiser in the form of half a banana and a glass of Suduiraut. The field began to spread out as we passed Latour, all the Leovilles and Ducru-Beaucaillou, and I fell into a steady rhythm alongside 2 chaps in a cage, a platoon of Roman gladiators, some cows with oversized udders and Arabella. This picturesque Medoc scene was topped off by an excellent glass of the 2000 as we passed through the gardens of Beychevelle.

10 kms later, we were back in Pauillac, and the serious part of the marathon began. Grand Puy Lacoste 2001, washed down with a slice of sponge cake, and a decent glass of Pontet Canet both proved impossible to spit. A slice of black pudding and some terrine outside Mouton were a little hard to digest, but the chocolate cake offered shortly afterwards provided a crucial isotonic boost. Lafite 2001 and a couple of prunes meant that we surged up the hill to Cos d'Estournel, overtaking a vertical press, Obelix and the Thomson Twins on the way. At this stage (over half way through), I was cruising and almost felt like a post-prandial cigar, a feeling enhanced by the band playing a bluesy Brown Sugar outside Cos.

Saint Estephe, though, is, as we all know, tougher than Pauillac and I can vouch for the fact that it is quite a large appellation to boot. In the mid-day warmth, it was lucky that a succession of producers were on hand with a supply of bananas, more cake and some of their excellent 2003's. I was less impressed by Lafitte-Carcasset 1997, but we had just been overtaken by a group pushing a steamroller, which had left something of a sour taste in my mouth.

At Phelan-Segur, they have obligingly erected a wall at 30 kms and, right on cue, I hit my personal wall as we approached. A glass of their excellent 1994 and a slice of fruitcake later, I was on my way, but by that stage my taste buds were enjoying the occasion a great deal more than my legs. A Paula Radcliffe moment threatened at about 36 kms, but the glass of Chambert-Marbuzet 1996 offered at Haut-Marbuzet was a fine restorative.

The last few miles from Montrose along the estuary to Gironde were grim. A glass of chilled dry Entre-Deux-Mers and a couple of oysters raised my spirits considerably for a couple of kilometres, but the Entrecote was rather tough and a horizontal tasting of the Mouton Cadet range failed to revitalise my feet. Surprisingly perhaps, the energy boost we needed to carry us to the the finish was provided by a cup of sparkling Cremant de Bordeaux and a brace of canelets. In the final furlong, it was noticeable that we were being overtaken by many of the cartoon characters we had passed earlier but, by then, it didn't matter. The feast was over. Five hours may not be a quick time for a
marathon, but we felt it was just about right for a leisurely French Saturday lunch.



If you have not already made a donation to my chosen Charity, Christian Aid, there is, of course, still time, and I can send you another tax exemption form if you wish. As you can tell from the above, I would prefer donations to be measured in terms of miles run rather than oysters consumed!

Best wishes
Richard"

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Well done mate. Excellent stuff.