It’s a great event. Very flat for the first 15km then gets lumpy but the real climbs are from Combe Martin onwards.
Navigation is not too bad but can be tricky from Lee through Ilfracombe.
Get used to steps! 
Getting quite a few emails from UTMB about races opening for next year!
Istria is the latest, that area does look nice but not in the plan.
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Anywhere to change at the finish?
Suspect I would probably get a hotel in any event having said that - a long drive back to Manchester!
Not really, the finish is in the middle of a street! There is a pub opposite but I would suggest booking the Premier Inn in Minehead.
I might even do that because just driving back to Mums in Somt would still be a bit dodgy with being tired.
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Chunky distances between checkpoints - first one is 29km 
Shortest distance 15km?
Yes, probably about equal in time. I look to get to CP1 in about 4hr15 , which is after midnight
I need to up my game as that is my age group 
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@tunster and @p00key did you notice any extra ‘hoopla’ at SDW now it’s part of the World Trail Majors?
Nothing materially changed as far as I could see except perhaps they seemed to be a bit more professional around the live streaming/streaming the checkpoints
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Mrs T away that weekend
Will have to see if I can get a dog sitter
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Despite me never finishing the 110km, (I’ve done the whole course over two race distances) I’d say it’s probably my favourite race.
Plus, you don’t have to finish to get a pasty, they have them at the start 
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No not really - there was more streaming but less photographers around I thought.
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Endure 24
So Jan did this over the weekend. The first thing I noticed and which I hadn’t appreciated is the sheer size of the event. A ‘team’ can be a solo runner or a pair or a variety of runners, I think up to 12. There were a 1000 teams!!! So I think that is something like 3000 runners plus supporters all camping, so the whole thing is just huge.
Its a lapped event with each lap being 8k/5miles and you attempt as many laps in 24 hours as you can do. If you set off before the 24 hours is up then you can go for one more. We have both not been well (I bailed on the Back Yard Ultra the previous week) though Jan was a week further into her recovery than me. As a consequence she set herself a heavily revised target of 50miles or 10 laps and then it was see how she felt.
The first few laps were fine until lap 4 when she was taken down by another runner who had tripped. Unfortunately this was at a point in the loop which was on gravel so she made a bit of a mess of herself. So a quick clean up of knees, elbows etc and she was good to go. By lap 8 she was really feeling her lack of fitness and at that point had decided on two more laps and then a rest. Lap 10 was completed at 12:50am by which time it was incredibly cold; it was hard to think that it was June.
Any way a few hours sleep later, I think more for me than her and she called the race. Probably a wise decision. So we had breakfast and watched the rest of the event.
If you fancy it then I would recommend the event. The numbers and the level of support make it quite enjoyable. One of the most memorable parts of the race was watching the constant stream of headtorches whilst waiting for her to finish her final lap in the middle of the night. The village itself is well set up and everyone has clearly come to make a weekend of it which made for a good atmosphere. My only criticism is that they ran out of food very early on in the race so if you plan a solo attempt you really need to bring your own nutrition.
I need to decide whether this format or a back yard ultra is best for me as I really want a crack at something like this.
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Nice one @Sparky and sounds like Jan made the sensible choice.
It is indeed huge! The atmosphere is great. We hired a motorhome both years, so had a fridge freezer and kitchen, so we were all stocked up food wise but looking at queues for pizza and other food, I can imagine demand was high.
Unless you mean the food at the aid station half way around? That was always well stocked for me.
Did you get in the solo area ok ?
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Yeah I do mean the aid station. I really don’t know what happened but they ran out very early on and didn’t seem to restock. I think at one point they ran out of water, which is unforgivable
We didn’t arrive until about 9am on Saturday so were one of the last to arrive. We were directed to the solo area which meant the car and tent were together and we were right next to the course which was perfect
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Wow that is very bad. That aid station has been very good both years I’ve done and in 2022 it was a proper party there.
Having said that, you can definitely feel the Threshold penny pinching machine kicking in after they’ve taken it over. I hope they learn from their mistake.
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Good Hardrock film…
I started to watch this on the mac but will save it for the big tv later, looks epic.
I have signed up for this - just to be nosy more than anything if anyone else up north or close fancies it
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Hi Pookey, I’ve been on the Ventoux #1 study for a couple of years with the biomonitor in my chest monitoring my heart for irregular beats etc., I’ve posted a few updates on TT but I think a few are on the heart thread or elsewhere.
I think they were going to ask me about this and I might reply anyway.
It has been fascinating and the couple of times I’ve been there and spoken to Wasim have been excellent to ask questions and find out the views of a cardiologist first hand.
I was in the MRI for nearly 90 minutes and at one point had an amino acid injected to trick my heart into beating faster to get a better image of the heart when expanded.
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