Jim Fell completed the Dopey Challenge in Disneyworld Florida.Thousands of runners lined up to compete in 1 or more of the following
races:
Thursday - 5k run
Friday - 10k run
Saturday -half marathon 13.1 miles
Sunday - marathon 26.2 miles.
That's 48.6 miles covering 4 races in 4 days. Disney have called this The Dopey Challenge, and 6,576 runners lined up to do all 4 races. Thousands of others
did just 1 or 2 races.
Further details can be found on http://www.rundisney.com/disneyworld-marathon
Jim completed Thursday's 5k in 23:37 a new Werrington Joggers Age Category record.
Jim then completed Friday's 10k in 48:17 (23:28 + 24:49) creating not only a new Werrington Joggers over 70s record for the 10k, but also for the 5k in the same race. Jim finished 346th overall and first over 70 in the race.
On Saturday Jim finished the half marathon in 1:54:48 taking it a little easier, bearing in mind the full marathon to come just 22 hours later. Ken Popple's club half marathon record still stands for the time being.
Jim then set a new Werrington Joggers Age Category record for the marathon on Sunday, giving him 4 new club records in 4 days. Jim came 2nd in his Age Group in the
marathon in a time of 4:49:35 and narrowly missed out on the top spot by 33 seconds, having led all the way to the 26 mile mark.
Jim won his 70+ Age Group in the Dopey Challenge, having meticulously planned his
tactics, training and potential jet lag. He even arrived in Florida just 2 days before the first race, so that he would be used to getting up at 3:00am for the races
(-5 hours time difference).
The Dopey Challenge is a lot of running with the accumulated fatigue and risk of
injury. Jim managed to avoid any real injury, and completed the first 13.1 miles in 2:08. The second half was where it got really hard, with his quadriceps
getting tight. This may have been partly due to the high humidity. The marathon started at 5:30am at well over 90% humidity.
The humidity at 4:00am was recorded at 100%. Everybody's kit was soaked, and breathing was heavier than normal for the same pace.
There were 6,576 entered into the Dopey Challenge, and Jim won his Age
Group. He did say "never again.
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Also in the 5k was Lorna Hope, competing in her first ever running race. Disney's 5k has many first time runners and is a great place to start out on your
running adventure. Lorna finished strong in a time of 46:41.
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Not quite as daft as Jim, Steve Hope competed in just the marathon.
He had to manage a recent injury, so was happy to run the
whole way round without walking. Like Jim, the quads got very tight,
maybe due to a slight change in running style, maybe to the very high
humidity or maybe because 26.2 miles is a long way. More niggles
appeared between 5 and 10 miles, but these were contained with a jog /
shuffle style that was designed to restrict the original injury. Even
so, the pace gradually got slower as the quads got tighter and tighter,
and I don't think that they would have held on for much more than the
26.2 miles. Happy to have finished and to have ran all the way.
Results.
5k
Jim Fell 23:37
Lorna Hope 46:30
10k
Jim Fell 48:17
Half-marathon
Jim Fell 1:54:48
Marathon
2748th. Steve Hope 4:29:02
4,401st. Jim Fell 4:49:35
19,838 finishers.
Dopey Challenge
Jim Fell 1st in Age Group.