Run Day 8 - Ailly-sur-Noye to Lorteil

Dealing with it

Watching Rob prepare for each day’s marathon reminds me more and more of the last few years of my rugby career, taking longer to bind myself together than to play the match. He appears regularly before Dan, who just comes out of his room and is ready to run, and carefully applies cream, puts on ankle supports and plasters for his blood-raw toes and then he’s there. It’s working well though, because today the guys did their fastest time in the sequence of 8 marathons – a very decent 4 hours 18 minutes – with Dan, for the first time having to work to keep up with the bionic ankle man.

It was a late 11am start at Berny-sur-Noye this morning after we’d set our goodbyes to Elizabeth, a kind and much-travelled hostess. Dinner and breakfast had been excellent and with a blue sky, following wind, flatter terrain and a gentle start along a sheltered river valley, the boys worked into a strong rhythm and after half-way, it was clear that they were focused on beating their best time so far.

By then, we’d travelled through Breteuil, where Sandra, Faye and I looked around the shops and had a late-morning coffee and hot chocolate before the runners passed by with Stephen and Val in close attendance. After 2 miles on the busy D1001, we turned off onto a much quieter road, the D61, which we followed through Thieux, Bucamps and Le Quesnel-Aubry, where we picked up the D151.

Rob and Dan sped up during their 3rd 6-mile stretch and completed 18 miles in 2 hours 50 minutes, slowing slightly after that before going for it over the last 2 miles. Both runners were tired but had still been running well within themselves and managed to eat a full meal prepared by Sandra, in the camper van, at their stopping point in the village of Lorteil. After 8 days of running, they are precisely on schedule for their planned arrival at the Stade de France on Thursday – a brilliant achievement.

Our accommodation tonight is the Villa Ibis, a large house in extensive grounds in the village of St. Felix – very grand and very comfortable with baths for the boys to have long, cold and hot soaks. This evening, Sandra and I are off to Charles-de-Gaulle to pick up Dave O’Brien, their Australian buddy – a serious runner – who is going to keep them company for the last 2 days of their amazing journey.