Robust August

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Thanks, gents. Somewhat surprisingly, the official results gave me a time of 1:19:10 - actually five seconds inside my time from last year, so a PB after all. Quite how my timing and official timing differed by quite so much I fail to understand, however I guess I'll take the better of the two and claim it.

Also a little surprising is how sore my legs have been since race day, so today I opted for a gentle recovery run rather than the intervals I had planned. I set the treadmill at a slow, flat canter and settled in to watch the movie/documentary Running On The Sun: the Badwater 135 about the 2000 Badwater Ultra. This is (as the name suggests) a 135-mile run from the depths of Death Valley to Mt. Whitney through some of the severest country on Earth.

There have been a couple of movies made about this race - Running On The Sun being the first of them. Directed by multi-Emmy award winning Mel Stuart, who died last week and was better known as director of the classic 1971 version of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (with Gene Wilder) and also of the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter , this is not (as I initially thought) some amateur's attempt to document the race with handycams and a small budget. Rather this is a well-crafted and serious attempt to convey just what the race is about and what goes through the minds of its participants. And it does it fantastically well - the progression of pain, blisters and vomit is fast and furious and really makes you understand just how insane ultra-running is.

And yet, and yet, somehow the damned thing is incredibly inspiring as well. I was pretty much mesmerised for the whole 100 minutes. When it was over I have to confess I was fairly shaking at the thought of it all, and quite determined never to attempt anything on such a scale myself. And yet then again ... later, and repeatedly through the day that followed I found myself entranced by the race entrants and what they went through in their efforts to win a stupid belt buckle, which is the only prize, and then only if you finish inside 48 hours. And throughout there is little but pain and suffering - even for the race winners who suffer every bit as much as the back markers and those who fail, some of them within sight of the finish line. One of the runners sums it all up when he says "at the moment I'm just trying not to throw up on my shoes"... it's that kind of race.

This movie takes you to the dark side of running; to the incomprehensibly insane self-flagellation that has no reward save a handful of equally insane people clapping the finishers at the end, the finishers then fading back into obscurity with nothing to show for it other than a brass clothing accessory. And somehow, thanks to Mr. Stuart's skill, he makes it very appealing. Like insects drawn to a blue neon light, you just know you shouldn't go there, but damn it, it's soooo pretty! Well done, Mr. Stuart, you may just be the ruin of me. Rest in peace good sir.



15.25km, 99 minutes, easy recovery.
YTD 943.5km