There is no finish line. There is only one finisher. The last one standing!
Mark is an endurance athlete and is an Ambassador for Eladon.
He contacted us to tell us about his final big race of the season, a backyard ultra-marathon, held in Yeovil, Somerset.
A backyard ultra is a form of ultra-marathon race where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 4.167 miles/6706 metres, in less than one hour. When each lap is completed, the remaining time within the hour is usually used to recover before the next hour’s race.
All competitors must complete the 4.167 miles within the hour and be ready to start the next one, or they are out. The race continues until there is only one person remaining who can complete a solo lap within the hour.
There is no finish line. There is only one finisher. The last one standing!
Mark told Claire that he started competing in ultra-marathons 2 years ago, since then he has seen them becoming more and more popular, however, this was the first time he had taken part in a backyard ultra-marathon. Ensuring he was fully trained and prepared, feeling good with a great mindset, he was ready and up for this new challenge.
The backyard ultra-marathon started at 8.00am on Saturday 10th September with half of the distance run off road, and the other half on road.
As you can see from the videos Mark has kindly shared with us, the sun was shining, he was in great form and really enjoying the day, managing to keep his energy levels up between laps eating chicken and rice, or a crumpet.
Running throughout the night, with his torch and the moon providing the light he continued, on the hour, every hour.
By sunrise, with very few competitors remaining, he said that his emotions were running high and although in his mind he wanted to keep going, his tired and extremely sore feet prevented this, and he was instructed to finish.
Claire asked “what time did you finish running?”
Mark replied “9.00am on Sunday, I came in 6th place and ran 104 miles in total”
Claire’s response “Wow, that’s 25 hours later, what an amazing achievement”
Mark also said that there was no way he could take part in events and put his body under that much strain without really taking care of himself, a healthy diet and Eladon’s supplements, Elagen Sport & Joint Formula, and also taking zinc in the evenings, are all essential for this.
Following the event Mark took a well earned break for 10 days and he is now very slowly getting back into training. He added that throughout the winter months, now after over 20 years of experience, he reduces the amount of hours he trains to between 8-10 hours each week until Christmas. In the New Year, he then increases training and builds up to 25 hours a week, with events starting again from April onwards. His choice of training includes cycling and running in a nearby forest, swimming and also pilates, yoga and body balance, which he attends classes in his local gym.
Thank you Mark for allowing us to share your story and videos, well done from all the team here at Eladon!!