My Forum

Schmunkee - The List Fairy wrote (see)

I do believe,TC, that if you win you should race at least 50% of your 2013 races in PSOF Kit in recognition of our voting

That would assume Pirate kit exists which would fit TC.

This could be the consummation of the great TriTalk/Pirate Alliance which started at the Enduroman Deca when we lent Monique a waterproof cap and gave Symes some jellybabies.

Was told there was lots of tri-talkers two timing (Big - now a runner - Ted, you know who you are ) on here so just thought i'd drop in.

I've never competed at Enduroman but i've crewed on a double, a quin and a deca at both Lichfield and Avon Tyrell so i've seen quite alot of what goes on. As regards the double being for slow plodders this just isnt the case when there are top athletes such as Ghislain Marechal, Paul Thompson and Hywel Davies racing. The double is in fact relatively short and raceable compared to the triple, quin or deca which generally need a different strategy based more around food and sleep than just racing.

Also bear in mind the AT course isnt a normal course people who could easily do sub 11 at the outlaw would probably do 12.5 to 13 hours at AT. At the other end of the field finishing AT in 18-20 hours is probably a far bigger ask than completing the outlaw just inside the cut off.

I would also second everything that has been said about Enduromans great organisation. Everyone is one happy family with Pirates supporting and lending TTers food and vice versa. Never had this experience crewing/supporting on any other race. It almost became known as the great Pirate/TT alliance but that was maybe going a bit far.

I'm in after 8 straight rejections (my entry was 'lost in the post' one year so reset my 5 years of rejections  count). Didnt get a magazine so rang up this morning. Lady I spoke too wasnt too concerned and said as i'd already paid I wouldnt get an email but it didnt matter as I was in and the magazine wasnt important. The problem was just that nobody had told me I was in - A minor detail. Moral of the story is if you havent heard by now ring them. I got straight through with no queue. Number is under contact link on VLM's web site. Option 3 on phone menu.

The hard bit is over I just have to get ready to run in only 6 months!

I've done the Lincoln 10K every year since 98 apart from 2 and the start/finish problems seems to be recurring themes. Its a shame as its my home race and has a great course - it just needs the recurring problems sorted.

At the start I was just telling my nephew who was racing for the first time that its traditional about now for a starting delay to be announced due to parked cars on the course when lo and behold what should happen - a delay of 30 mins due to cars parked on the course which the owners refused to move with the consequence that the police refused to let the race start. As this has happened a few times before you would have thought a strategy would have been developed by now - especially as the organiser is the city council who you would have thought had more knowledge/resources and better liason options with the police than most club organisers have available.

The finish isnt usually too bad in my experience - yes a bit of aimless wandering around but not the mass queues of this year. I'm not sure what the reason is but surely it just needs an adequate number of volunteers/helpers to hand out water then medals then tshirts then a clearly labelled wheely bin to put your chip in. This should be bread and butter stuff for the professional organisers of a race of this size. 

With all events which are growing rapidly as Lincoln has done you expect problems when new systems are tried - this is excepted by most people. I think the grumbles arise when the same or similar or foreseeable issues arise each year. Also this isnt a cheap race so funds should be there to deal with issues professionally.

Having had a moan I must say that one thing which was much better this year was officially  using waitrose's car park. This was only 10 mins from the start and had loads of room with no queues. I dont know if this was signed OK for non locals but it was very convenient for me.

As always the course is great and I had a great (although slow) race. For anyone reading the forum who hasnt done Lincoln dont be put off by the problems - its a great course. Just remember to bring a bin bag in case it rains during the start delay and have a contingency plan for meeting family etc due to castle issues. Oh and anyone with tow truck is especially welcome.