I travelled from northern France to run my first 100km in England. It may seems weird as we have many choice for this distance in France but I have a tropism for meeting real English people in their so nice country. It was my second race in England after the also very nice Norman Conquest 50 mile.
I write this short notice in English to thanks you all for this great day.

Things I particularly enjoyed.

• All the people along the way saying always the same « well done ». It’s better that the French « allez les gars c’est presque fini ».
• All the volunteers very kind at every stage. Positive attitude, offers of help to refill my bladder, the gentle spray of water during the very hot hours…
• A good medic staff witch greatly help me to recover from a very bad and heavy fall on my shoulder just after the tenth kilometre. I don’t know what was in the 2 pills I get but I didn’t feel any more pain till the end of the day. Hope I wasn’t as doped as the bicycle guy.
• 10 pit stop.
• Just the right number of participant. Not too much to have to wait in line in single track and not to few to feel really alone along the track.
• A very well marked track with some very useful light bar for the night.
• A very nice track in a superb landscape. Almost no macadam. A shame it was a race because some interesting spots were not just on the way. I hope the walkers took the time to enjoy.
• The soup at the hottest hour of the day at the mid pit stop.
• The applause at the arrival. I seldom felt more happy than at this instant.

Thinks that can be improved.

• A gps file before the start. I’ve heard that one was available but I didn’t found it on the website. It wasn’t usefull but it’s a good safety tool.
• Less processed food at the pit stop. It seems common in uk but i think stuff like dried fruit and plain sugar cubes can found their place on the pit stop tables. As i was aware i used mainly my own food during the way.
• A drop bag for the middle of the race ? It’s common for 100km in France but it was ok like this for me.
• Maybe a race with no food at pit stop like in Marathon des sables ? It would be more in the ultra mood.
• No beer even if Brakspear appear as a sponsor of the race. Where were the beers ? I would have enjoyed it for example at the last pit stop.

My last words will be to congratulate the organisation team and to say that I hope I can join you for the second edition of race to the stones.

PS some of my poor pictures taken during this day.