Perth Ultrafest

I went through to Perth on Saturday to see Aileen compete for Scotland in the International 24 hour race. Unfortunately the Irish and Welsh teams withdrew leaving only Scotland and England to contest the international fixture. In only her second 24 hour race and first on the road, Aileen finished third woman covering and amazing 177.157 kilometres. There were 28 competitors, the youngest being an M25 and the oldest being a W60. I was only there for two hours plus but found it very entertaining - on the 1400 metres loop you saw the runners at frequent intervals and could actually see positions changing as the race went on. Mind you when I realised at tea time that they were still running, and then getting ready for bed at about midnight thinking the same before getting up in the morning and reminding myself that they still had two hours to go, the reality of the feat really hit home. It's a pity more of the club did not make their way through to see her in action.
There were other races - an open 50K and 100 K race started at 12 noon when the internationalists had been on the road for two hours. Among the familiar faces in these races were Davie Gardner of Kirkie Olympians and Terry Mitchell of Fife who dropped out quite early on when he seemed to be running well.
They tell me 100 miles in 24 hours is quite easy - run for 15 minutes, walk for 5 minutes, and repeat for 24 hours. Mind you it's only 4 miles an hour ..... Who's up for the challenge?