On a frosty and dark Sunday morning in early January 2025, a handful of intrepid HAC runners boarded trains along the Chiltern line towards Wendover, in quiet anticipation, watching the moonlit rolling fields through the windows of the carriage, wondering “how the heck are we going to run back all this way, and then some!!”
From the starting point of the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Wendover, the gang joined 200+ of their fellow motley runners, to embark on the Country to Capital Ultra Marathon, in it’s 17th year.
The first 23-miles or so afforded the runners beautiful scenery, the best of bucolic Britain sparkling with frost and the odd cottage still lit-up for Christmas. And the cold also meant that a hard-frost had firmed up the terrain underfoot, giving front-runner Kallum Pritchard the edge he needed to put some distance between him and the rest of the first pack, early on.
The first-time ultra-runners followed in the footsteps of race-leader Kallum, flanked by a support crew of HAC friends (Nikki Penty-Alvarez), or keeping good company and pace (Zoe Dobbs and Ed Harrison) or valiantly bringing up the rear (Mukesh Desai).
As the route enters the “capital” portion of the race in local Denham, to join the towpath all the way to Little Venice, Paddington, the route was well-supported by HAC members, family and friends, from Chalfont to Hayes and well into central London, Mel and Christina could be heard cheering from a bridge before they even came into sight!
All the HAC runners completed this challenging 43-mile race within the time limit, but special mention needs to be made for Kallum, who not only retained his title as race winner for the second consecutive year, but also set a new course record in an incredible 4.45.17, which means he averaged a pace of just over 4-minute/km for the entire 43 miles. Awe-inspiring! Where will his obvious talent for long-distance running take him next?!
He was followed by:
Nicola Penty-Alvarez, 5th Lady 6.41.00
Ed Harrison 7.51.32
Zoe Dobbs 1st v50 Lady 7.58.44
Brett Hutchinson 8.24.48
Mukesh Desai, the only runner in the male 70-79 category with a fantastic finish of 10.31.17
Thank you to Patrick, Shaun, Jeremy, John, Martin, Katie, Matt, Paige, Mel, Paul and Christina for their support throughout!
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Met League Race 5 Senior Results
Senior results from the final Met League race of the season, a very muddy Trent Park!
Met League Race 5 Junior Results
The athletes had to negotiate an amended course due to roaming cows! Well done to all the juniors who took part!
