The Viking Way Ultra is a 147mile race that is starting on 7th April and runs from Humber Bridge to Oakham. It is a non stop race and has a cut off of 40 hours.
34 runners, including myself, have been selected to participate in this tough event organised by Mark Cockbain, an accomplished Ultrarunner himself.
The event is self sufficient (no crew allowed) with basic stuff being provided at checkpoints every 15-18miles.
I am probably not going to do any other races before it, concentrating on this event and getting up to recce the route as often as possible so navigation is a little easier when tired on the actual event.
I am doing this race in memory of Squadron Leader Anthony Downing who was the RAF serviceman who died of injuries sustained in Afghanistan over christmas. Ant was a a good friend and a talented endurance athlete. I met him when I crewed at the Enduroman Double Ironman in 2009 and was lucky enough to have him in my life. Anyone who knew him would describe him as a gent. He was a kind, generous and modest guy who lived life to the full and whose only weakness was the copious amounts of tea he drank, his only addiction.....he normally couldn't open his eyes in the morning til he had his first cuppa which always made me laugh!
He was a talented runner and cyclist, having cycled across the States in 25 days, a fact he was pretty modest about. He had also planned on doing Arch to Arc 2013 even though he thought I was insane for doing it. Much as he liked to claim he was more sane than me I think he was at a similar level of insanity.
He was an all round great guy and leaves a void in many peoples lives.
Those who worked with him both liked and respected him and his loss will be felt for a long time so to honour his memory I am raising money for the RAF Benevolent Fund. Please give generously to a very good cause in honour of a very good man.
www.virginmoneygiving.com/Jokilkenny
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Subscribe to this comment's feedwritten by Jo Kilkenny , January 27, 2012
Thanks Adrian. I don't think he mentioned it which is hardly surprising given his modesty when it came to tell people some of the events he had taken part in. I am aiming to do him proud!
written by Adrian Wood , January 24, 2012
Good luck Jo. I don't know if you're aware that Ant organised the C Squadron IOT team back in 2000 that ran the Viking Way as a relay. I was on the team with Ant (who, incidentally ran much more than his fair share!).
Good luck with the run and fundraising.
