What is the Arch to Arc?

The Arch to Arc is a mega-triathlon from Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It involves an 87 mile ultra-marathon run from London to Dover, a 21mile swim across the English Channel and then a 181mile bike ride from Calais to Paris. When it is raced in a relay format it is classically done by 6 individuals doing an hour of exercise and then 5 hours off. Vickie and I will be the first 2 person team to attempt the Arch to Arc and we intend to break the 40hour barrier which will challenge some of the fastest 6-person relay teams. To make it even more unique Vickie will do the entire 87mile run, I will do the Channel swim and we will relay the bike ride (got to play to our strengths, plus I don't like running).

Sunday, 5 October 2014

Kinver 10k

One of the main reasons why I signed up with Ollie  for a 2015 Arch to Arc Challenge was because I thought it would be a good opportunity to raise some money for Pancreatic Cancer; the illness my dad has been fighting for the last 7 years.  It therefore seemed appropriate that the Kinver 10k (sponsored by dad's company BodyKraft) be named as the first preparation event on the A2A journey!  OK, so you are probably wondering why I am starting my preparation with such a short race, so I'll explain:

  • My family home is in the village of Kinver
  • Bodykraft sponsor the race and my brother Tim was driving the lead car
  • Kinver 10k is almost exactly 10 months before the start of the A2A swim window, and 10 months of training seemed like a good length of prep time!?!
  • 10k is 6.214 miles.  6.214 miles x 14 = 87 miles; the length of my A2A run from Marble Arch to Dover
  • The race has to be the hardest 10k I have ever done - the first 5k is almost all uphill - so this also seemed an appropriate way to kick off the preparation for the longest and hardest run I'm ever likely to do
  • Thanks to Paul Willis I love running hills!
  • Through this race Kinver Rotary Club raises money for Action Heart, the Midlands heart charity I ran my first London Marathon for
  • I heard Mike Pugh was racing and I wanted to beat him again!
The race started well with a short, sharp climb out of the village towards Enville, then the only descent in the first 5km, before a left turn up Wigley Bank Road, then on to Sheepwalks Lane and up, up, up over the sheepwalks.  It was a pretty warm day and I was hurting by the time I reached the top of the climb.  However, it was great to see an old school friend Rebecca Payne and her family out cheering on the descent and I was rewarded with a race win, lunch out in Kinver afterwards on mum and dad and a cheesy grin photo in The Stourbridge News!

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