Eight Aycliffe runners took part in the Adidas Thunder 24 hour event held in Catton Park in Derbyshire over the last weekend in July. The event is a 10k cross-country relay competition and the aim is to complete as many laps as possible over 24 hours.
On 27th July, midday, Dez Fielden started the ultra endurance race and he whizzed round in one of the fastest legs of the day in 40.52. Temperatures of over 25 degrees, made the conditions hard but a well-placed water station at 5k helped many of the 2,500 competitors.
A baton had to be exchanged in the finish zone and next up was team captain Lee Wren. The picturesque countryside was a wonderful back drop and dashing through the woods and over the fields surrounded by tents, gave the competition a festival feel.
Lee ran out of his skin in 41.27, which gave the ARC Angels a great start. As the day progressed the weather changed and after 7 hours of torrential thunder and lightening storms, the course was flooded and sections were extremely hazardous.
John Burnside, veteran member, thoroughly enjoyed the night – time run. “Wearing a head torch and running through the woods, when you can’t see your hand in front of you, was one of the best running experiences of my life!” he remarked.
Dez was determined that the 24 hours would be utilized and as the other team members tired of running in liquid mud, he stayed out on the course till the end. He ran 3 x 10k continuous loops in under 3 hours on top of the 3 laps he had ran throughout the rest of the day.
Other team members included Ste Smith, Penny Johnson, Naomi Kellett, Tracey Warrior and Graeme Miles. All of the team had an amazing time and were extremely proud to finish in 29th place out of 253 teams with a total of 26 laps making it 161.2 miles ran in 24 hours.
