Grantham Running Club duo take on the Rasselbock six-hour event which is held at the beautiful Sherwood Pines in Nottinghamshire
Two members of Grantham Running Club joined 190 runners taking on the Rasselbock six-hour event which is held at the beautiful Sherwood Pines in Nottinghamshire.
The idea of the event is to run as many loops of 5.79km in six hours, between 9am and 3pm.
Jo Grace, who has been out of action with a foot injury, was taking on the event for the first time as a dry run in preparation for Equinox.
She managed to complete seven laps, covering a total distance of 40.51km in 5:20:21. This gave her 57th place.
Marj Spendlow was taking part for a third year and completed eight laps covering a total distance of 46.30km in a time of 5:20:15.
It was an improvement of 14 minutes, 36 seconds from last year when doing same amount of laps and she came home in 38th place.
The event is held each year during the summer months but the UK weather lived up to its unpredictable reputation this year.
Runners coped with torrential rain, baking hot sun, then back to torrential rain and cold winds for the last hour.
The course winded through the beautiful woods, taking in many hills on multi terrain paths and the tree roots became very slippery once wet, providing an additional challenge.
The winner was Chris Gabbott who completed 12 laps in a time of 5:54:36, covering a distance of 69.44km.
Grantham Running Club member Kate Marshall tackled the scenic Suffolk countryside and villages when she took part in the Valley of the Owls Ultra Marathon.
With its headquarters at the Suffolk Running Centre near Bury St Edmunds, the race is one of a number of events throughout the year which are well organised by the small and friendly team at Zig Zag Running.
The course was made up of two half marathon loops with an out and back 5k to make up the distance.
Having previously completed a marathon at Zig Zag's Sun's On the Run - Sunrise to Sunset Challenge in 2023, Kate was looking forward to returning to this lovely corner of Suffolk for more running in the early summer sunshine.
Valley of the Owls is a multi-distance event, with approximately 300 participants choosing from 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon and two ultra marathon distance options.
Kate opted for the marathon + 5k ultra distance which was more than 29 miles and completed it in a relaxed 06:18:34.
Only a handful of runners chose ultra distances, with Kate being one of only two runners completing the Marathon + 5k distance, making her second overall and first female on a technicality.
Finishers were awarded with an attractive owl-themed medal and Kate thoroughly recommends Zig Zag Running for anyone wanting to try an ultra distance as part of a small and friendly event.
