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What went on up the Downs (Part 2)

Wednesday 8th June 2016

Best disqualified A team

Getting 6 men together to form an A team was something of a challenge this year but thanks to cooperation from Malcolm and the B team and some juggling by Matt Greenall who himself had to pull out, 6 guys made the start line for a 9am Kick off at Beachy Head expertly transported by our driver Louise.
James Miles spearheaded the team from leg one and in-spite of the competitive line up and a minor navigational error at the end of the 7 sisters he held his own to get the team going.
Next up was Alex Bonzi who was a late replacement and did well to learn his legs in time for the event. Alex was followed by Jim Whitelegg on leg 3 who also kindly joined the team as a late replacement.
As we waited for Jim's arrival at the end of Leg 3 it had become apparent that James was struggling to weight bear on his foot after twisting an ankle on Leg 1 and it was increasingly looking that he may have to pull out. Jim came in to pass the batten onto SDWR debutant Mark Cossey for leg 4 and we headed for the start of leg 5 deep in discussion as to whether we should call it a day after the first 6 legs or carry on as a 5. In any event we still had 2 legs to run and potential records to be taken so Jose Luceron took the batten from Mark at the start of Leg 5 with that very goal in mind.
So it was onto Ditchling Beacon for what was potentially our last leg of the day and, as per tradition, a band of Our Supporters from the Phoenix family were there to provide support and some consolation as was the case.
Jose, swiftly arrived at the Beacon having successfully taken the senior record for his leg and Donald Maclellan set off for saddlescombe on Leg 6 not knowing whether this was to be it for the day. Buoyed by a good run on Leg 6 where he broke the Vet's record, Donald, was keen to continue and after a vote at saddlescombe it was unanimous that we would carry on as 5 runners but no longer in the official race. We left a disappointed James at Saddlescombe in the safe care of Liz, his physio wife and continued on our way.
We had earlier thought our race was over and in official terms it was but the situation engendered a new dynamic. We were now running free, racing across the Downs with wild abandon no longer truly bound by officialdom. We had become like Caballo Blanco!
By legs 15 we were now back in the thick of the runners and as fate may have it we caught up with the Phoenix B team at legs 16/17 and the pre race banter of overtaking them on leg 18 was becoming a real possibility. Our Spanish Missile, Jose, did not disappoint on leg 17 in almost reeling in the B's leaving Donald a bit less to do in catching Anita on the last leg which he duly did, breaking another Vet record!
Our decision to continue racing without a full team brought a mixture of bewilderment and appreciation from teams we ran with. We had initially thought it crazy ourselves but when you remove the tension it seems you really can run free!

Thanks you Donald for this report