TILLEY CONQUERS HADRIAN’S WALL

Stablemate and ultra girl Jenny Tilley has eventually got back to The Stable News on her race report, giving the old Coach Stazza excuse of “It was in my junk mail.” She finished the Rat Race The Wall 70-miler in 17 hours 13 minutes and 14 seconds, with an overall finish place of 205/484 and 43/121 out of the female contingent. Tilley traversed the length of Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle in the west to Newcastle upon Tyne in the east. Almost the full width of England!

As with all ultras held over the course of a day or so, the weather can be as much of a battle as the distance, but Jenny’s luck was in; perfect conditions—15 ℃, and dry, with a small breeze.

Tilley told The Stable News: “This was my first race at this distance, so it was a first-time PB for 70 miles. However, I have previously run 48 miles in 8 hours and 12 minutes, off a lot more training, so there’s definitely room for improvement over this distance.

The race was very well waymarked and supported, with excellent pit stops and bag transport. Mixture of undulating trials and road—although 80% of the route was road, which made it tougher on the legs. Very scenic route at times, with patches of endless stretches of road. I would not personally do this race again, but it was great to have ticked it off the bucket list. Would recommend it for anyone that is new to ultramarathons, as the support is second to none.”

Bounding back into the office with a pile of stationary he got from Tesco, Ally composed his thoughts about Jenny’s race: “Aww yeah! I love a new Paper Mate pen and look how clean these erasers are. Eh? Oh aye; Jenny smashed that ultra, and she said she’d not had a major amount of training going in. Amazing stuff, JT.”

Coach Stazza told The Stable News: “Solid graft, young Jenny … not a bad shift at all.”

Tired of traipsing across the country, Tilley turns her attention to the London Marathon in October. Ah, a wee 26.2 miles. Sure that’s just a training run for you ultra dafties.