I've seen madness!

I spent my weekend watching people run round in 400m circles for 24 hours. The Sri Chinmoy 6-12-24 hour event was held at the Millenium Stadium and I got to provide a bit of support for Simon on the 6 hour (which he won with 65k!) and Matt on the 24 hour (which he totally owned!).

For 24 hours 16 people ran or walked around the track, changing direction every 4 hours. 9 did it for 12 hours and 10 for 6 hours. The weather was abysmal with rain for well over half the event that made rivers beside the track, drenched everyone and resulted in lots of chafing and blisters.

I did a 6k run around the neighbourhood and it was great while I was running but my foot swelled up something chronic overnight. I elevated it a bit and it seems fine now. Of course there was more standing than elevating but that is the price you pay for the privilege of watching these incredible people battle. There were some really determined people out on that track...and there was Sophie. Sophie was joy in motion. She never stopped smiling...she was 2009's Viv Cheng! When her feet hurt she ran in jandals, when it rained she wore a rubbish bag, she was a ray of sunshine!

Matt took out the 24 hour with 201km! He genuinely enjoyed himself and even when he struck adversity he kept ongoing and even came up with some novel solutions. He took the news he had to run another 5 laps not 1 lap due to counter error with good grace (everyone was tired and he had 3 runners who were close together to keep track of and there was a note that said 3 laps to 200km but he just saw the 200k and was excited!) and was rewarded when he thought he had 2 to go with the news he had 1 to go. He finished strongly and was an inspiration! And he's a National champ now!

What a great way to spend a weekend!