Bourton Roadrunners

Chiltern Challenge 50km

JULY 16 proved a crazy day for Catherine Wheeler and Stephanie Holton of Bourton Roadrunners.

Supported by Mike Pratley and Gary Holton, they set off early to Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire to compete in their first ultra trail marathon – the 50km Chiltern Challenge.

In 26-degree heat it was a tough, hilly course with more than 900m of elevation. However the scenery in the Chilterns was stunning – and there was plenty of time to view it!

The route was mainly along the Ridgeway and Chiltern Way, taking them through fields, woods and quaint villages. Both had low energy points at times but kept each other going and even had a sprint finish to beat a fellow runner to the finish line, coming in joint 27th among the women and 109th overall in 6hr 56min and 49sec.

Then the crazy bit. Not content with 50k, they had planned to speed back to their home village of Bourton to compete in the popular Bourton One-Mile Challenge on the same evening.

The race offered not only club points but also county points as both are included in championships.

Mike had an hour to get them back to Bourton and managed it with six minutes to spare, pulling up at the start line as Catherine and Steph jumped out to a spontaneous round of applause from fellow Bourton Roadrunner members.

Starting the mile race with stiff legs the first half mile proved a bit sluggish but after that they picked the pace up to finish in a very creditable time of 8min 44sec and were actually laughing as the madness of the day slowly dawned on them!