Never one to shy away from a challenge, and fast becoming one of the club’s gnarliest runners, Grantham Running Club’s Dale Towning continues his mission to take on implausibly long races by completing the 100k Race to the Stones.
This event begins in Lewknor in Oxfordshire and takes competitors along the oldest path in Britain, finishing at the Avebury Stone Circle, Europe’s largest neolithic stone circle in Wiltshire and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Runners had 48 hours to complete the mission with the option to stay at a top flight basecamp at the end of day one or push on through the night.
The route provided breathtaking scenery as it passed through woodlands, riverside and ridge trails, taking in sights such as the Uffington White Horse and Liddington Castle before ending in the ancient village of Avebury.
Dale has had ambitions to complete an ultra-marathon since he started running in 2019 and was inspired by GRC run leader Chris Limmer who was training for a 100 mile run at the time.
Having completed the Grim Reaper 40 miler at Grimsthorpe Castle in May, and religiously completed endless long slow runs as well as helping with the GRC beginners, Dale was well-prepared, but still felt overwhelmed beforehand. It was finally happening following months of anticipation. Thankfully there were no nerves, just excitement.
The course was 95% trail and Dale was in his element in the woodlands with plenty of tree roots to keep him on his toes. The route was mostly tracks with an enormous elevation of 4,328 feet and Dale was thrilled to have been able to run more than he walked. He managed to eat along the way but started to feel sick at 35-40 miles so stuck to water after that.
There was also a dicey moment early on at 15 miles where his back started to cause him some pain and his IT band decided to throw a spanner in the works on his right leg but thankfully a couple of ibuprofen kept those niggles at bay.
Having decided early on to go for a non-stop effort through the night, Dale was only a couple of kms away from the finish when he saw the headtorches of runners coming towards him. Thinking he was hallucinating from lack of sleep he wondered if he’d gone wrong but in a cruel twist the organisers had runners doubling back round a cone before their final push to the finish.
Dale crossed the finish line at 2:10 in the morning where his support team Russell and Emma were waiting for him. They had followed him around the course, popping up in various places carrying supplies, water and much needed banter during the lonely hours.
Dale completed the 100k in 16:59:25.
He is already looking forward his next challenge with a solo spot at Equinox24 at Belvoir Castle and a 70 mile Hadrian’s Wall run from Carlisle to Gateshead in 2025.
