Apocalypse 50
Saturday 14 May 2016
50 miles; 9,800′
Weather : warm and hot in the afternoon
Conditions : too warm to run efficiently and that slowed the pace but at least there was no rain and the visibility was excellent.
The event was centred on the Church Stretton School which operated as the start/finish/central checkpoint/base for refreshments and bag drop.The route consisted of four loops from and back to the HQ as follows:
Conquest:Caer Caradoc Hill (mildly observant runners would have noticed the iron age hill fort around the summit); The Wilderness; Willstone Hill and Gaer Stone.
War:Over The Long Mynd via the Carding Mill Valley; through Ratlinghope and back over the Betchcott Hills
Death:A double ascent of The Long Mynd.
Famine:Out to Wenlock Edge then back over Ragleth Hill.
The loops could be completed in any order and, indeed, in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction so long as all the self-clip checkpoints on the course were duly clipped into the race “passport”.The permutations meant that at the start runners scattered in all directions and it was never possible to know where you were in relation to other competitors until the end.With everyone coming back to the race HQ at the end of each loop the organisers only needed one main central base to monitor proceedings and keep the runners fed and watered.
|
Name |
Miles |
Ascent (feet) |
|
Conquest |
9.5 |
2,350 |
|
War |
13.5 |
2,600 |
|
Death |
12.5 |
2,400 |
|
Famine |
14.5 |
2,450 |
|
Total |
50.0 |
9,800 |
Starters:102
Finishers (all four loops):64
Finishers (only three loops):18
Finishers (only two loops):19
Finishers (only one loop):1
Retired:All but one finished at least one loop; 38 retired before completing all of the loops
Fastest Man:Colin Earl10:08:00
Fastest Lady:Kirsty-Jane Birch5th11:13:38
Steven Jones:32nd13:40:13(DPFR)
Trevor Matty:39th13:47:29(DPFR)
There were also seven entrants who did the Apocalypse 25 (just two loops).