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Four Ton Tom

Monday 26th October 2015

What do you do when you've already conquered the 100 mile distance? If you're Tom Farsidesyou decide to complete four Centurion 100 mile races in a calendar year.

We asked Tom tell it like it was:

"I’d trained for one or two marathons a year for about 10 years and felt that I needed a change. I decided to make 2015 ‘The Year of Going Big’.

Long story short, I signed up to do all four of Centurion Running’s 100-mile races. Finishing each of them earns you a very stylish belt buckle which is emblazoned with “Finisher” if you complete within the 28-30 hour cut-off or “One day” if you dip under 24-hours. If you finish all four 100s within a calendar year, you get an enormous additional “Grand Slam” buckle that looks like it should be able to self-transform into a Tardis.

The Centurion 100s are along the Thames Path in early April, the South Downs Way in mid-June, the North Downs Way in early August, and a combination of the Thames Path and The Ridgeway in mid-October. The first three each earn you 4 UTMB points and are Western States Qualifiers. The final one bags you 3 UTMB points.

Centurion Running (who also organise four 50 mile events) rely very heavily on an army of volunteers and there is a waiting list to join them. That’s how good Centurion are. They care deeply about runners, staff, volunteers, supporters, the public, and the local environment - and it shows. Routes are wonderfully marked and markings are removed as soon as humanly possible after races. Amazingly stocked aid stations are provided at 4 – 11 mile intervals along every route. I have seen runners stop mid race to collect others’ litter. Everyone is treated with admiration and respect. Support is simply unstinting. Many people’s stories are truly astonishing. A lot of emotion gets expressed. Needless to say, runners and volunteers come back year after year.

If you can run a marathon (and nearly anyone can), then you could run a 100.
Running your first 100 is satisfying and brings obvious bragging rights. “Have I run a marathon? Well, as it happens…” Running four 100s in 7-months is a really interesting challenge, as much about coping between events as within them. And beyond stoking smugness, you get enough metal to start your own scrap yard."

Tom ran 23:43:18 See full results