Kingston Self Transcendence 6 hour

[Neil]

On Saturday, myself and 49 other like minded individuals (i.e. crazy) ran around a 840m course at Ft. Frederick at RMC in Kingston for 6 hours.  Picture attached.

The farthest I've ever gone before was 50k and I was hoping for 60k here but ended up with 56.8k. Not in the top 10 but maybe the top 20.  Results aren't up yet.

The race started at 9:00 AM under an overcast sky.  Good conditions except a steady east wind was in our faces all day when we were by the lake.  I did the 1st 1/2 marathon in 1:52 putting some time in the bank. Right about then the sun came out and things got hard.  Had to slow down just to not overheat. At the 4 hour point, I knew the 60k goal wasn't in the cards.  I could feel a bonk coming on and knew I had to get down to a pace I could sustain. I decided to walk through the 2 segments of shade which was about 1/5 of the lap and run the rest of the sunny part. Reached the marathon at 4:10 and continued the walk/run strategy the rest of the way. Not much of either really.  The walk pace was 10:30/km and the run was 6:30/km. For the last hour my feet and knees were really feeling it.  With 50 minutes to go I got a stitch in my side which I haven't had in a long time.  How can you run for over 5 hours and then get a stitch? When you have less than a lap left, they give you a sand bag to drop when the gun goes off.  I gave it my all on that last lap (5:30km pace) and almost got back to the start.  In the end 67+ laps around 10k behind the winner.

This may have been my first and last 6 hour race.  After 5 hours I wasn't having much fun.  You get a sense of accomplishment and everything but now its like been there, got the t-shirt.

btw, After 6 hours you can see though time.

[Sandy]

Awesome Neil!!!  And people complain about 10k loops...they have no idea eh!  As tedious as it can be it is good for spectators and for logistics.  Congratulations and what's next?

[Rhonda]

Absolutely amazing accomplishment! A friend of mine did it a couple years ago. I am just in awe of the time, the distance and the mental endurance required. Way to go!

[Neil]

Y'know the repetitive aspect of the race wasn't an issue. The course was the same but the people would change. You would lap some and others would lap you.  A sadistic aspect of this was observing people as they would progressively struggle or hit some threshold.  It was like watching a car crash. If they had big mirror you could have watched yourself. Then there were those that seem to get stronger...

What's next?  Unfortunately, probably some medical attention on a knee I've been dealing with for the last 6 months.