Race Report: Marathon du Medoc 08/09/2012 #3

I remember hearing talk last July/August at the club about costumes and an ark being
built then a rehearsal run with Mik and Grant in fancy dress (Mr & Mrs Noah).
 

I thought at the time they were mad but where do I find myself today, on the start line
of the 28th Médoc marathon with eight other Striders all in fancy dress costumes.

For those who don’t know, this “race” is a full marathon but with several differences,
namely 20 wine stops, 30+ bands, oysters, steak, ice cream and numerous snacks along the way, oh yes and waterstops.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and was kindly met by Jason at the airport, that evening Istayed with Jo, Jason, Chris Coppenhall and Alan Pearson at a local farmhouse, the evening was spent doing some serious race training with several bottles of local red.

On Friday we registered and collected our numbers in Pauillac then met with Grant at
a local restaurant, La Salamandre and viewed the start area.

Our second night was spent at the “Camping Le Paradis”on route we stocked up with
more of the local red to continue our race preparation

Raceday arrived, and what a day it was…..

Mik and Chris were foolish enough to go on stage and introduce themselves prior to
the start along with various cavemen, ninjas and romans.

We managed to meet all the other Striders prior to the start for a group photo

The music and the countdown started. We were presented with a flyby by the Air-force and acrobats suspended over the main road.

The run took us through some fabulous Châteaux and it seemed rude not to taste the
various wines on offer. I must say I was slightly disappointed that somehow I
managed to miss the only white wine stop but did manage the other nineteen red ones.

Most of these Châteaux are normally closed to the public. It was a pleasure to be able
to stagger through such wonderful places.

At the halfway mark, somehow we managed to break the sign…hic

Yet another glass of red

The finish and still standing… just

Jason breathalysed most of us and we were unfit to drive.

As stated in his email...

Mik Escolme: Unfit to drive
Jason Bulley: Unfit to drive
Perry Wyatt: Unfit to drive
Chris Brumby: Unfit to drive
Alan Pearson: Unfit to walk let alonedrive
Chris Coppenhall: Unfit to drive and failed to keep the oysterdown
Jo Bulley: Unfit to drive in France
Grant Stanning: Unfit to drive in France
Jill Young: Didn't supply a sample of breath (so unfit to drive by default)
So... overall a great success!!

The day has clearly taken its toll. Alan not only sampled wine at every stop but in
some cases two and three glasses. At the oyster stop he downed four fresh
oysters… animal.

As you can see from Alan’s “toga line”, it was quite a hot day.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable run with the emphasis on enjoyment rather than
chasing a time.

Thanks to the French attitude for a fun race and the wonderful company of fellow Striders made this a fantastic weekend.

For more information visit the website.

 

Perry