We Did It !!!

The 10th Gin Pit Double Marathon has finally happened and I’ll have to admit it has been far from easy to organise. There have been times this year when I have thought it would never happen and with only a week to go I was extremely nervous that the rearranged event may still be stopped by a possible last minute change to Government restrictions.

It has taken me a lot more effort to fulfil the Trail Running Associations additional requirements to get the event’s permit reinstated. I’m not complaining about this, I understand why it is necessary and appreciate the effects of the Trail Running Association to be able to grant permits. I had to provide a Covid-19 risk assessment and race plan. The start of the event had to be significantly changed to keep social distancing so we had 6 runners, 2 meters apart starting every 5 minutes, making the event more of a time trial than a traditional race.

After having dealt with all the Covid requirements the race still wasn’t plain sailing as a storm happen to pass across the region on day 1 and brought wind and persistent heavy rain all day. This was the worst weather we have ever had to endure on a Gin Pit Marathon weekend. I was so relieved that day 2 was much calmer, drier and we even got to enjoy a little sunshine.

I want to thank all the fabulous helpers this year, without all of you the event just wouldn’t happen, I know I say this every year but it is completely true.
The check point marshals on day 1 who battled with the terrible heavy rain were Louise, Roger, Tim and Gary. Poor old Roger’s check point sheet turned into papier mache and then Gary’s car broke down. Thanks team for putting up with such rough conditions and still managing to smile as the runners passed.
For day 2 many thanks to check point marshals Jon, Andrew, Chris, Mike and Lynn.
Thank you to all the marshals, you did a wonderful job supporting and looking after the runners.
A special thank you goes to Yuk-Lam, Abbey and Lucas for putting up with me arranging this event, for managing registration and also standing at the finish line for long periods, timing the runners as they finished, especially on Saturday in the horrible wet weather.

Well done to this year’s winners;
Day 1 had joint winners for the men with Paul Brown and Darren Jenness both finishing in 3 hours 17 minutes and 12 seconds. Susan Clapham came home first for the ladies with an excellent time of 3 hours 41 minutes 19 seconds.
On the much drier second day, once again we had Darren Jenness first home in 3 hours 22 minutes 42 seconds, making him our overall 2 day double marathon champion for 2020. For the ladies we had local lass Cat Dascendis who lives only yards from the course, finishing in 4 hours 13 minutes 21 seconds and as she had also run day 1, was our 2 day double marathon female champion for 2020.

I would also like to give a special mention to Gareth Tomlinson who couldn’t make the actual weekend but during the same week ran his own virtual double marathon with fantastic times of 3 hours 7 minutes and 3 hours 12 minutes, absolutely fabulous running!

Through our summer lockdown I took the opportunity to run lots of the course and investigate new paths. I came across Bickershaw Country Park with its serpent shaped Fir Tree Flash. A stunningly beautiful natural area which I soon realised I could incorporate into the course along with Crankwood, allowing me to remove the rather boring road section though Bickershaw. Even though I had more than enough to contend with I took the late risk of altering the course and I’m so pleased I did. The positive feedback I received from all the runners was wonderful and made it all worthwhile. I want to thank Mark Champion from Lancashire Wildlife Trust for giving me permission to run the race through the park. I would also like to thank Dawn from a farm on Crankwood Road for her permission to run the altered course along her lane. I would also like to thank the Bridgewater Canal Company for once again kindly allowing us to run along the Bridgewater canal.

I’d also like to thank my good friend and mountain biker Spencer for cycling the course very early on Sunday morning and replacing a few signs which had gone missing during the first day. Also Stuart Hamilton for turning up unexpectedly along the Guided Busway on day 2 taking some wonderful photos of the runners which he kindly shared on Facebook. It is wonderful how people join in every year and make the event so friendly and special. I must thank you all!

For anyone looking at this event from the outside you might be forgiven for thinking this is just another running event. It was set up by me for much more than just running. I wanted to offer a special event to the local area and that is why I created the Gin Pit Double Marathon, the only single loop double marathon in the UK. That said the primary reason for the event being set up was to raise money for the Brathay Trust. Annually it raises around £2000 and roughly this year it will have done the same. I haven’t quite finalised the figure at the point of writing this.

I want to say well done to all who ran, especially for putting up with the awful wet weather on day 1. A special well done to the 15 hardy souls that managed the full Gin Pit Double. As the event was rearranged I can thoroughly understand why some runners could no longer make the new date. I want to give a massive thank you to the runners who couldn’t come but still allowed me to keep their entry fee and donate it the Brathay Trust, your generosity is appreciated and I know the charity will really benefit from your kindness.

As for me, I hadn’t intended on running day 1. I was expecting there would be too much for me to oversee to allow me the opportunity to run. Fortunately due to the wonderful level of support from my family and friends at Astley and Tyldesley Road Runners, once I had set off all the runners I was able to join the last group and run. In fact virtually every helper was asking if I was running. There seemed to be a longing from my friends to see me run the Double once again. Obviously I wasn’t mentally prepared for the run and coupled with the very poor weather it didn’t help me quickly gear up mentally for running a marathon. All I could do was run at a comfortable pace and tried to relax while still in the back of my mind keep worrying that everything to do with the race was going to plan. Once I got to the finish I was pleased to find out the day had gone well. My finishing time for day 1 was 4 hours 11 minutes.

Day 2 was also the day of the 40th Virtual London Marathon, an event I had entered like thousands of other people up and down the country. I had planned to run the Gin Pit marathon and double it up as my Virtual London marathon. A few others who were running day 2 of the Gin Pit were doing exactly the same. I partnered up for the whole run with my good friend Simon, a younger and faster runner than me and I must thank him for pulling me round at a quicker pace than day 1 to nip me under 4 hours with a finishing time of 3 hours 56 minutes.

I do hope to continue to hold the event but with the continuing uncertainly in the country due to Covid-19 I’m not sure when the next Gin Pit Double will be. I am going to wait until things have settled down and we can be a little more certain of the future.

If you have read this far and feel the urge to give Brathay a donation please can you follow the link below to my Just Giving page:-

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/malc10in10x7

Stay safe, be kind and keep on running, all the best,
Malc