ROAD RUNNING
If someone called The Warmonger abandons something , it ’ s clear you better assess the situation . Princess had indeed opted to look after his wife ,
Crazy Hazy , who was still on the move . I have always thought she does what she does because she has Princess as an accomplice . And when we heard Bricius was still doing loops , it cemented what I had thought : Pops looks after mom , the son carries on . At midnight , when the moon was burning away the clouds , this all made absolute sense to me . So much love in the world , I thought .
Monday 1 May – Loop 16 ( 1am )
Bricius and Terminator finished their 16th loop and then both chose not to carry on . It was a good call . Either you make the call , or the SBBU will . Irish Spartan would go on to find that out the hard way , on his 24th and final loop …
Monday 1 May – Loop 23 ( 9am )
Irish Spartan is 64 years old , and he is the oldest SBBU runner . He was running and walking like a champ , few chinks in his armour , and yet , somewhere out there on the 24th loop – almost the victory loop – the SBBU took another soul . The rest of this story , pieced together from witnesses who saw the incident ( and who can no longer be located ) should be taken with a pinch of salt . As with all legendary tales …
A dad pushing his kid in a pram found the Irish Spartan on the side of the road . Things did not look good for the tired athlete , so the dad took out the kid , placed Irish Spartan in the pram and pushed him up the hill towards the finish line , several kilometres away .
So , 15 minutes after the race had ended , in hobbled Irish Spartan , leaning heavily backwards , his chin to the sky , like a drunkard being drawn back to the pub by magnets , being propped up by the guiding hand of Claudia the Great ’ s husband .
Belloc72 with Bia Figmo and Atlanta
its designated hour , Bia Figmo acted in its stead and would buoy up my hopes and spirits with her positivity and humour . We could only laugh at the desperate situation in which we were entangled , where our bodies slowed down as time sped up .
One of my rowing friends , Nuno , walked with me for the last few loops . I was in a bit of a tricky position , and he was helping me stay fuelled and hydrated , and more importantly , upright . I am not 100 % certain I could have finished the SBBU without the help of Bia Figmo and Nuno .
A year ago , I told Johnny Cobra that doing the SBBU was not that hard , as long as you paced
Nuno , Belloc72 and the Walshinator keeping the legs ticking over late in the event
yourself , rested when you could , and kept fuelling the body . Somewhere out there , in the wee hours of the morning , I added a caveat to this : If at any stage you show weakness , the SBBU will chew you up , grind your bones and break you . Mess with the SBBU at your peril . As King Leonidas famously said to his Spartan warriors before the Battle of Thermopylae , “ Spartans , this is where we fight . This is where they die .”
SBBU Postscript
Truth be told , there was so much action squeezed into 24 hours , I could write pages and pages on what everyone got up to : Keeto ’ s speedwalking , Alby dropping me on lap 5 , Dimitra ’ s SA
As he stumbled in , the cheers from the crowd and challengers alike carried Irish Spartan and his mischievous smile over the finish line . Several hours later , he sent Johnny Cobra a text : “ When can I enter for next year ?”
Monday 1 May – My Last Loops
Bia Figmo kept me company in the wee hours of the morning . We chatted about our families , and how to fix the world ’ s problems . When the sun refused to rise at
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