How was your weekend running?

In a very, very odd weekend, I got chased by a former Formula One driver up and down hills in Northamptonshire. Come and read all about the Wings for Life global race - and tell me about your own weekend running

Well, this is a bit embarassing. On the weekend I put up a live stream to the global Wings for Life race, which I was heading to Silverstone to take part in. Anyone who ended up watching it may have seen rather a lot of me, because, um, I ended up winning it - first female, anyway.

The race is a unique one - it takes place simultaneously at multiple locations around the world - and raises huge sums for the Wings for Life foundation into spinal cord injury research. Runners are chased by a ‘catcher car’ - in the UK driven by none other than David Coulthard. (Friend at the start line to him: “Is this the slowest you’ll ever have driven a car, David?” Coulthard: “Ha, you obviously didn’t follow my Formula One career!”) You get a half hour head start, after which the car starts very slowly but gets progressively faster. As it comes past you, your timing chip registers you as ‘caught’. The winners are essentially the people who run furthest, and get caught last. I managed just shy of 35km, while Tom Payne, the male winner in the UK, did an astonishing 61km.

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from Fitness | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1DOae6R
via FITNESS