So in my role as both Chairman of the TRA (Uk Trail Running Association) and the Race Director for the Thames Ring 250 I organised a Workshop Day for runners to come along and find out about the race in more detail. To be fair the original suggestion for a workshop had come from a friend (Javed) and was an excellent idea. (Unfortunately Javed was ill on the day and could not attend)
For those who don’t know the Thames Ring is a 250 mile Run starting and finishing at Goring on Thames and runners have 100 hours to complete the distance. The route follows canals and rivers in a massive ring as in the picture below.
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| The race runs in a anti-clockwise direction |
Its a classic race and a pretty big challenge for the runners, the finish rate is around 44% over the previous 4 editions of the event. the event only runs every 2 years, the first one ran in 2009.
The workshop was a great success with the venue being at Goring Village Hall, This is the race start and finish by the river Thames.
The aim of the day was too give anyone doing the race or thinking of it to gain information from the race organisers and more importantly those who have done the race before. We also had some additional fantastic speakers.
The day went as follows: (With plenty of breaks in between sessions for interaction)
– Arrivals and introductions
– Me waffling on about the origins of the race and the basic info
– Ellen Cottom previous finisher tells her story and gives great advice
– Brian Finlay a previous volunteer at the event talks about the race from a volunteers perspective
– Advice on management of yourself during the race (sleep/food/hydration/time/kit etc) to include Maxine Lock talking about foot care.
– Marvellous Mimi Anderson talking about her ultra experiences and upcoming run across America
– John Sreeves a previous finisher talking about his experiences
– Finishing off with questions about the event and any feedback
All in all a great day where hopefully everyone took something away that they can use in the race or even their own running.
Thanks to Kathy Tytler for the pictures as I pinched them from the TRA facebook page.
See you on the trails
Lindley (AKA The Bearded One)