LPTL - La Petite Trotte à Léon (the little trot to Léon) 25th - 30th of August 2009.
I met Julie Gardner at the Trig race having previously done my first 100 mile event with her a few years previously . Subsequent to our meeting I received an e-mail asking if I would consider taking part in the LPTL as the third member of the first all women British team to enter the event. The second lady of the team was Alison Brind, Stone Master Marathoner & consultant in Gastroenterology; which I figured might come in useful in case of a medical emergency.
It was a chance of a lifetime so with holiday booked from work & no thought of what I was letting myself in for I agreed to make up the team. The training for the event was the hardest & most time consuming I have ever encountered. Guided by our team leader Julie I entered & completed all the advised events. The Fellsman, 61 miles & 3,400 metres, LDWA Wessex 100, The Lakeland 100, 6,300 metres & countless trips to the Lakes to "do hill work". At this point I would like to thank my hubby Chris who was with me throughout, the best training buddy anybody could wish for ( sorry about all the sleepless nights in a windswept tent or village hall, in places I can't remember the names of or ever wish to go back to!)
So it was at 10:00pm on a Tuesday night in August in Chamonix France, I found myself alongside another 55 teams about to begin LPTL. I must admit that one thing Johnny Foreigner is good at is using the most up to date technology. Each group had a tracker (Our team name was The Midget Gems) & the family at home were involved in watching the teams progress on google earth, so I had up to date texts on my phone on our progress in the event! The event was to complete a circuit of Mont Blanc in the Alps crossing through France, Italy & Switzerland, 245 Km & 21,000 metres of ascent in 114 hours with only 5Km of tarmac track throughout. We had to be completely self supporting & sleep wherever available (if room, in mountain refuges or alternatively use our survival bags or tent on any available mountainside). The ascent on the event is hard to describe. We started one ascent (the usual zig zag path stretching off into the distance at 3pm & reached the mountain refuge just before dark & on another going through the night we looked up to see stars & realised they were the head torches of other teams high above us! Of course one doesn't come without the other & one descent took us over 5 hours. How can you descend continuously for that amount of time?; it seemed incredible & I realised how small our mountains are here in Britain. Some of the views were the best I'll probably ever see (when will I ever be on top of the mountains surrounding Mount Blanc with the sun coming up again?). By day 4 however just as you think I can't go on any longer we reached our last climb & in temperatures of 30+ I realised that we had a chance of completing the event as the 1st British all female team. Coming down into Chamonix reduced us to tears at the sheer relief that we could finally wash & sleep & not have to climb any more. At this point I would also like to thank Brian Langston on foot care advice (Still no blisters!) We completed with only an hour to spare & were one of 11 teams (Note out of 55 started) to complete; which included an all male British team, a good result all round for the Brits!
For our completion we received a cow bell & North Face gillet & sheer relief/satisfaction/pride that we as a team of dog walker, physician & receptionist became the 1st all female British team to complete the LPTL.
Report by Jill Ross


Not wanting to detract from Jill's fantastic achievement in any way, it seems only fair that we should mention that her husband Chris completed a similar 150km run around Mont Blanc, rather than sit on his derriere, while Jill did hers.

Only 271 runners completed the race this year, with Ben Gamble of SMM winning in 1:18:26 and Ruth Watchorn-Rice of Cheadle RC first lady home in 1:29:29.
There were fewer Harriers than usual, as well. Those who did were:

A challenging 30km circular run starting and finishing at the Belper Rugby Club grounds in Derbyshire. A third road, a third trails and the rest fields, with three hills (577’, 971’ and 525’ ) with a total climb of 2319’ and only a few muddy spots.
Won by Steven Neill of Pudsey & Bramley Fun Runners in 1hr 59:53 (new course record), the race attracts runners from far afield (e.g. Goole, Killamarsh, Dulwich, Doncaster, York)
I struggled around in 2hrs 40:06, finishing in 87th place overall, from 323 finishers, but 1st MV60.
Pete Sarson

A nice 10m  undulating course on quiet country roads .
Two harriers ran, chris owen 1.12.34pb and eric landers 1.21.17.
First male was nick jones 53.04 sprectum striders, and first female was liz abbot 1.02.11 from preston harriers ac.
A bottle of beer was awarded to all fineshers.
316 ran
Weather conditions: over cast with a slight wind

Report from: CHRIS OWEN

Sharron Hawkins finished 216th overall (out of 237 finishers) in a time of 2hr 16:44
Can you send us a report on the event Sharon ?

Here’s the Train(s) - do they need two engines to beat the runners?

The race was won by Gareth Raven of Sale Harriers in 1:21:18 - more than 5mins ahead of the second man home!
959 finished the course including these 11 Harriers in the official results :


Here are a few of the happy Harriers at the finish of Race the Train

And Richard Bisiker was first Harrier home in the 5ml race.


And Edward Simpson enjoyed his run iin the Toddlers Trot!

448 RUNNERS COMPLETED THE 5 MILE COURSE THIS YEAR, REPRESENTING 47 CLUBS AND 141 UNATTACHED
Stafford Harriers fielded 58 runners and gained 3rd Team position in both the Men and Ladies competitions.
Well done to everyone who ran.

Great to see John Greatholder back running after his horrendous accident
- he’s even brave enough to admit that the official results show him younger than he actually is - should be M55 !

Caroline Stark & James Thorpe on their way UP, UP, UP the FIRST hill of the race.

..

Well now I’m reminded how someone feels when they’ve taken nearly 5hrs to run a marathon ---kna****ed !
Wasn’t sure whether to do this one or not, but have enjoyed it in the last few years, so wanted to run it this year in spite of the low level of training.
It’s a multi-terrain run with a few hills included, starting and ending in Hartington, Derbyshire.
This year, due to the frequent rain storms in recent weeks, the route was waterlogged in several places - with knee deep mud and water - and slippery in several others. The very steep Ecton hill was as hard as ever, as was the steadier but longer climb which follows soon afterwards. BUT, it was dry and warm for the run.
The only other Harrier I am aware took part was Mick Moore who wisely chose to walk rather than run the 26mls.
I finished, with calves caked in mud, in 4hrs 50mins (somewhat slower than previous years) and was 20th out of 93 runners who completed the course. Fastest runner was Gareth Briggs in 3:33 and first female runner was Adela Salt of Trentham AC in 4:09.
Pete Sarson

i was competing in my annual Newquay race which i combine with a weeks holiday.The route was altered for the 3rd year running due to recent floods. A record 530 competed in the race with the vast majority of the runners from the cornwall and devon area. The race was part road and part track with some challenging hills to say the least. i met up with a guy from trentham running club who managed the run in 1 hr 23 mins. my time was 1 hr 45mins. My usual partner in crime, Rob Proctor, couldnt make this years annual run/holiday as his wife gave birth to a boy on the 8th August.
Terrain: road for the first 3 miles then a long trek on a disused railway track (boring). final few miles on the road
Weather conditions: nice and sunny

Roving reporter: Tim Hough