The weather was ideal as I set off on another Gatliff Marathon; dry and a cool but comfortable temperature. Conditions under foot were also ideal with little mud. I think it’s the first time I’ve completed a Gatliff with dry feet.
Overall numbers for entries to the Gatliff (any route) has remained around 230. This seems to be steady but hasn’t returned to the peak years before Covid when, for many years, we had entries in excess of 300. All 95 starters of the 25km event finished with an average time of 5:11. 97 people set off on the 50km event with 95 completing the course (87 finishing within 10 hours with an average time of 7:29). [See “Gatistics” in the results for further detail and the relative difficulty ranking of each year’s 25km / 50km events.]
The 50km route headed south to Winnie the Pooh country in the Ashdown Forest before returning back via Cowden, where the 25km route re-joined. Except for Ashdown Forest the route was fairly flat which, along with good conditions under foot, led to good times, including 21 Personal Bests. Congratulations to the quickest round the route:
Colin Stark 5:10 Lisa-Joanne Walbridge 5:35
This year saw 4 Special Certificates being issued for entrants that had completed 10, 30 or 40 Gatliffs (50km) in 10 hours or less.
40 Completions David Wakeling 165 hours & 19 minutes Av. Time 5:36
30 Completions Tim Styles 222 hours & 8 minutes Av. Time 7:24
10 Completions Lisa-Joanne Walbridge 63 hours & 22 minutes Av. Time 6:20
10 Completions Bryan Darney 87 hours & 3 minutes Av. Time 8:42
The 25km route followed the 50km route to Dry Hill but then cut across to Cowden before heading back to Edenbridge. Congratulations to the quickest round the route;
Nick Morrison 2:02 Megan Lennox 2:39
A big thank you to the huge army of helpers led by Margaret Philipson that make the Gatliff a successful event and without which, the Gatliff just couldn’t happen.
Hope you all enjoyed the day and hope to see you next year! Spread the word and bring your friends!
Tim Styles
