TR24 Team of Five

Ben, Matt, Catherine, Robert and Mark

The team of 3 -5 is regarded by many purists as the ultimate form of 24 hour relay running, combining the need for fast running with both endurance and sleep deprivation. GRC’s team of five at the TR24 featured the same line up as successfully competed in 2017.

Matt Williamson was first off and his task was to run fast enough to get the rest of the team running in clear air without taking too much out of himself, a conservative forty three and a half minute run met this target, next off was the injured Catherine Payne who had pulled out of a midweek race in order to save her injured leg as best she could for this one, again a conservative 48:08 kept the team ahead of the pack. The third runner was Robert McArdle in his third race in seven days initially struggling with an ankle injury picked up some six weeks previously but later was struggling trying to pass the solo walkers especially the ones two abreast and carrying poles in the more twisty sections in the woods. He handed on the Mark Hillson who despite the growing heat punched in a sub 50 minute lap 4 before handing on to the final member Ben Mason. Less than three and a half hours after finishing his previous lap Matt was running again on this occasion just keeping his time sub 45. The team settled down for another ten laps before Catherine’s Achilles tendon tore forcing her to stand down at the end of her third lap. This meant the remaining team members had an even smaller rest period dropping to under three hours between laps even in the dark. Short of training Ben Mason had also given his all and ended on the deck after his third lap only to be cajoled out for a final circuit of the course before he too would have to retire. With the gap between laps now under two hours the last thing the team need was for Mark to get his foot caught in the tree roots and badly scrape his knees in a fall. Daylight came and the running order was tweaked to try and get an extra lap in. Robert had a quick turnaround to start his sixth lap an hour after finishing his fifth one. By the time Mark set off on his sixth lap the heat was as much of a factor as it had been the previous day. Matt started his seventh lap knowing that anything under an hour would catapult them up the finishers table as Robert was standing by for his seventh lap but it was not to be, Matt simply ran out of steam in the final 4k and even had to walk at one point. After the initial disappointment of not getting an extra lap wore off the team vowed to return next year and get that extra lap.