Beverley Athletic Club’s Mike Blamires took part in the second running of the Grantham Ultra race last Saturday.
A series of two 29.3 mile races run on consecutive days, the course followed a towpath alongside the canal from Nottingham to Grantham. Those competing on the second day stayed overnight in Grantham on Saturday and returned to Nottingham via the same route on Sunday.
Blamires opted for day one only and finished in 20th position out of 105 competitors. He was delighted with his performance.
His tactics were to run steadily at 9-minute mile pace and finish in about 4½ hours. Between 18 and 20 miles the muddy terrain forced him to slow down slightly and he was overtaken by a number of faster runners.
Nibbling small amounts of food to maintain his supply of energy, he passed the marathon stage in 4 hours 8 minutes feeling strong and overtaking those who had passed him earlier. He finished the course in a very respectable 4 hours 36 minutes.
The race was won by Oliver Jeffcote in 3 hours and 18 minutes.
Blamires was using the race as preparation for the Grand Union Canal Race in May in which competitors are required to complete the 145 mile distance between Birmingham and London within 45 hours.
