Ultra Discussion Thread

jamule · 16-01-2018 04:13PM

Jim Mann is no more. retired hurt.

Jakey Rolling · 16-01-2018 04:15PM

Looks like Jim took a lift in to Alston.
Unfortunate for him and us, it was a cracking duel to that point.

Pavel only 2 hours down, which could easily be reeled in.
Race still on!

Neady83 · 16-01-2018 04:30PM

Great for Eoin, disappointing for us. Such a shame as he was going so well. It just goes to show, the race isn't over until you cross the finish line.

lgk · 16-01-2018 04:31PM

Jim marked as retired at Alston!

Edit: Video on Facebook now interviewing him, confirms injury has rule him out.

Conditions sound nice, wearing goggles and balaclava, GPS screen freezing over...

hillsiderunner · 16-01-2018 05:10PM

He injured his quad he says on the video. It was incredible performance he put in, I was cheering for Eoin but it was unbelievable how strong Jim looked at the checkpoints.

Pavel is still only a number of miles behind Eoin, so there is plenty of racing left.

I better do some work!

Jakey Rolling · 16-01-2018 09:50PM

On one of the video updates they said that Carol had slept on the trail - really?!!
I guess if you're carrying a bivvi and survival bag it is doable, but one of the more extreme options!
Anyhow, she is holdin around a 25km lead, with the 2nd place currently snoozing at Middleton checkpoint.

Enduro holding just a 6km lead over Pavel having had a 2 hour head start from Alston.
All to play for with approx 100km to go, coming up on 60 hrs racing and the current record is 95 hrs...

Djoucer · 16-01-2018 09:55PM

Enduro slept on trail when he won in 2016. Took a short nap under a bridge, I think it was.

He's in control of the race now. Pavel is chasing now and will have to do something drastic (at this stage) to catch him.

That said, they're both great at running on little sleep.

Weather is set to hammer them tonight with gale force winds and snow squalls.

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 07:13AM

Excruciatingly slow progress for all overnight, about 25 km covered since midnight. About 80km left to the finish.

Enduro still holding about 7 km lead over Pavel.
Seemed to take a break there in the shelter of the woods about 10km south of Bellingham CP.

The Swiss Simon Gfeller has taken 3rd place with Tim Hollins close on his heels, but both about 30km back from the two leaders.
I'd say they'll be in some state when they reach Bellingham.

Just spotted this website linked from the Spine website, great granular view of the route, elevation, distances
https://tracedetrail.fr/index.php/en/trace/trace/44362

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 08:54AM

Great to see Carol has reached the summit of Cross Fell overnight, now having a well earned rest at the hut with 3 others. Downhill into Alston in the morning.

Itziger · 17-01-2018 09:15AM

All to play for. Even though the second woman is going strong, you'd expect Carol to hold on, am I right? Nip and tuck with the lads. An Irish double would be something else.

summit2summit · 17-01-2018 09:46AM

Itziger wrote: »

All to play for. Even though the second woman is going strong, you'd expect Carol to hold on, am I right? Nip and tuck with the lads. An Irish double would be something else.

An Irish treble could be on. The woman’s MRT winner was Irish

snailsong · 17-01-2018 11:58AM

The two leaders seem to have pushed on through Bellingham. Pav gained about half an hour on Enduro on that leg. Lead now about an hour and 20min. They must be wrecked.

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 12:13PM

Lead is down to nothing now, Pavel is flying it at this stage, took hardly any break at Bellingham.
Heavy snow in the Cheviots to come, may suit the big fella with the long legs.
Having said that, apparently he lost his map and his GPS is screwed.
If he has navigation problems, maybe they will run together to the finish??

Keeks · 17-01-2018 12:15PM

Looks Like pavel has passed Enduro now.....

snailsong · 17-01-2018 12:16PM

Something's up. Eoin has stopped and appears to be backtracking towards Bellingham.

dcorcaigh · 17-01-2018 12:16PM

has Eoin tuned back to Bellingham?

snailsong · 17-01-2018 12:18PM

Injury?, snow too deep?, hallucinations?
We await news.

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 12:21PM

Ahhh, Enduro heading back to Bellingham - would be heartbreaking if he has to abandon at this point

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 12:40PM

Post on Pavel's FB, says he met Enduro heading back to CP "for safety reasons".
How on earth this info posted up so quickly, has he someone accompanying him, or is he taking time out to post on his own FB??

jameshayes · 17-01-2018 12:57PM

From facebook: "Eoin is safe and well and has made some tactical decisions that shouldn’t be shared here for race reasons. He is leaving CP5 shortly."

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 01:04PM

jameshayes wrote: »

From facebook: "Eoin is safe and well and has made some tactical decisions that shouldn’t be shared here for race reasons. He is leaving CP5 shortly."

Whoo hoo! Race is still on!

jamule · 17-01-2018 01:07PM

went back for snow shoes

Jakey Rolling · 17-01-2018 01:09PM

He's off again, 5km behind Pavel now, 65 km to the finish.

summit2summit · 17-01-2018 01:12PM

Apparently Eoin left CP5 but had to return for something and that’s when Pavel passed him.

Montane Spine Race, day 4th: Pavel Paloncý made 18 minutes long stop at CP5 Bellingham. At the moment he met Eoin Keith - Athlete heading back to CP5 he said "for safety reasons" without any detailed information (maybe he forgot some gear???). For Pavel it means he is the firtst runner in the race since now on! He is feeling well, had a couple of problems during the night - by accident he reseted his GPS, then his map was blown away so he was just using his cell phone to navigate through the plains and swamps covered with snow. But now he is feeling well and want to push hard all the way to the finish line. If everything goes well, he could be there around midnight (GMT).

snailsong · 17-01-2018 01:13PM

Did he go back for snow shoes or had he forgotten some compulsory carried kit. It will be interesting to see if he moves faster now.
It looks like Pavel will smash Eoins record from 2 years ago. Eoin could still make a race of it though.

summit2summit · 17-01-2018 01:41PM

Looks like Pavel has veered off course

snailsong · 17-01-2018 01:46PM

Back on track

DubOnHoliday · 17-01-2018 01:53PM

snailsong wrote: »

Did he go back for snow shoes or had he forgotten some compulsory carried kit. It will be interesting to see if he moves faster now.
It looks like Pavel will smash Eoins record from 2 years ago. Eoin could still make a race of it though.

It says he went back for snow shoes.... hope it makes the difference... go Eoin!

snailsong · 17-01-2018 02:14PM

DubOnHoliday wrote: »

snailsong wrote: »

Did he go back for snow shoes or had he forgotten some compulsory carried kit. It will be interesting to see if he moves faster now.
It looks like Pavel will smash Eoins record from 2 years ago. Eoin could still make a race of it though.

It says he went back for snow shoes.... hope it makes the difference... go Eoin!

Yes, I see that now. Would be interesting to know if Pavel has the snow shoes. I assume he has. There would be no reason for Eoin to give up his lead if they were on an even footing, so to speak.

Fatigue must be a big factor at this stage. I don't think they've either rested since the 2 or 3 hours they took on Monday night. If they try to keep going to the finish it'll be tough. Also, if Pavel still has GPS issues then navigation will become very difficult after dark. He already seemed to lose the path briefly.

Expecting a few more plot twists before this finishes.

Itziger · 17-01-2018 02:39PM

Incredible race going on. I see Carol is in with a little group which could be very useful and important to help her get to the end in the conditions there.

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