Chris Limmer lined up at the start line of the 41mile Millennium way ultra marathon just a week after running the Manchester marathon dressed as Tinkerbell. The two events could not be more different with just 99 starters standing in the bus station of the town of Newport near Telford on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border. The race itself took runners along disused railways, various waterways as well as farmland before arriving in Burton on Trent just under 41 miles later. The lack of course markers meant that Chris and the other runners had to rely on looking for the red and white national trail markers and carefully reading the pre-event course information.
The first part of Chris’ race was largely uneventful as he passed through Stafford town centre and along the river Sow before getting to the second check point just after Rugeley. At this point halfway through the race Chris was around 20th place and was feeling comfortable despite the fatigue from the previous weekend. It was soon after this check point the course diverted off the Trent and Mersey canal and across farmland. With no markers Chris ran with a couple of other competitors who had either run the course before or were able to use the maps on their phone. The teamwork meant that they reached the final checkpoint in good spirits and relieved to have just 10 miles to go with the main navigational challenges out of the way. Soon after this final checkpoint the course re-joined the Trent and Mersey canal for the final 5.5 miles to Burton. At this point Chris upped the pace using his experience of a similar tactic in other ultras. This largely worked and Chris left the canal one final time then sprinted towards the leisure centre that marked the finish. With full results yet to be confirmed Chris provisionally finished 11th place and little over 6hrs and 40minutes.
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