Cyprus International 4 Day Challenge Race 3 - Trail Half Marathon

Day 3 began with a 1 hour bus ride back up into the mountains to another village from where the trail half marathon would start. The route was modified this year, starting in the village rather than in a nature reserve which meant a severe uphill start from the village to the nature reserve! On stepping off the bus I was reminded that my legs were non-functional and also that it was approaching Christmas as a nativity scene was set up outside the church where the race would start. Of course the sun was already blazing down even now at 8:45 in the morning.

The race was to be started by the mayor who would give a signal upon which the church bell would be rung to start the race. A first for me! Although my M50 challenger, Fritz, had sat right behind me on the bus (a sign of things to come), I lost sight of him on the start line so had no option but to go in the front-line again with the RAF guys to prevent him slipping away un-noticed.

The bell tolled and the race started. Within 100m Fritz was on my shoulder and the gently uphill street turned into a very steep ascent out of the town. This was very much a tactical race, so the brakes went on and energy conservation mode was selected. We twisted and climbed for 4km, eventually emerging into the nature reserve and on to the rough trails similar to the day before. I was trying to run as slow as possible whilst still maintaining position in the field. We climbed 500 feet to the first water station at the 4km mark. I grabbed a drink as did Fritz, turned a sharp corner and was faced with the start of the 1000 foot, 5km descent. I leaned forward and let myself go. Fritz did not go with me. The hot and dusty trail twisted and turned through a series of hairpin bends and I passed a few other runners who were less comfortable on such a steep and rough descent. I grabbed another bottle of water at the 8k mark and started to sip away at the first of the 3 gels I was carrying. Although the pace was fast, the heart rate was low and the running was good on this descent. However, all good things come to an end and the bottom of the descent intercepted the coast trail and the start of a 12km slog to the finish. All was quiet behind and I soon caught and passed two runners who had over cooked it on the descent. The coast road climbed and fell in harmony with the very complex coastline. Furthermore the road was rocky and sandy. Finding an efficient running style was not easy. On the bright side, the race route was marked out in km's and psychologically it is always great to see them ticking by much more quickly than mile markers do, especially when you hit double figures. I could see a couple of runners occasionally in the distance but had no intention of catching them, preferring to conserve energy and just not to get passed by anyone else. This strategy worked and after the 20km marker, I could see the finish line arch on the beach in the distance. Unfortunately, 500m from the finish, the route turned off the coastal track onto the soft sand of the beach making that final 500m absolute torture. A couple of minutes later I was over the line and glad to stop. A half minute later a pack crossed the line including Fritz and they seemed to be working hard, chasing down those in front. Perhaps I had been too cautious on the coast road as this meant my lead in the M50 category had extended from 11 seconds to 41 seconds, still not comfortable with only the 10km road race to go. My time for the race was 1:26:20, which I was quite happy with given the fatigued state I started in, the terrain, heat and tactical nature of the event. I was holding on to 9th place overall but now by only 10 seconds. The stage was won by one of the RAF guys in a fabulous 74:29.

However, I soon forgot about that and stuck into an ice cream from the ice cream van that was following the event around. A very captive customer base there! International incident of the day was provided by a group of German runners who shamelessly stripped off completely naked and went for a swim in the sea only to emerge from the water in front of some very prim English ladies who were there to support their sons/daughters in the race and had walked down to the water's edge to take photographs of their offspring (so they claimed anyway). There were loud shreaks to be heard, none of which had any effect on the Germans who continued to parade around starkers. I went for a very respectable paddle up to my waist in the sea to cool my tired legs, shorts still in place!

I was pretty much unconscious for much of the afternoon and evening, hence the day late posting of this post.
Alan