Allen Taylor completes South Downs Way 100 mile event in less than 21 hours!

If anyone is worth the status of Trotter running legend it’s Allen Taylor.

On the weekend of June 13 and 14, Allen competed in the South Downs Way 100 mile race organised by Centurion Running.

Not only did he complete this insanely long distance but he also knocked a massive three hours, three minutes off his previous 100-mile time.

The SDW100 is a 100 mile foot race taking in the entire South Downs Way National Trail, something which crosses a huge range of terrain types and underfoot conditions vary greatly. The Downs are primarily composed of chalk which tends to mean the trail is dry and usable year round, but also means the trail is very rough in places with a lot of loose stones and rocks. At times the SDW becomes dirt road, woodland tracks, rocky chalk ascents and descents, grass, mud or road surface.

The terrain of the event is 15% road and 85% trail and is a point-to-point course taking competitors from outside of Winchester to Eastbourne. As well as the mileage being a massive undertaking in terms of preparation and determination, the course has a total climb of 12,700 ft.

Allen ran alone but was given huge support by his crew; wife Marie, son Josh and sister-in-law Louise. They met Allen at every aid station.

On the day the conditions were dry and very humid making the first 30 miles very uncomfortable. The cloud lifted between 35 and 47 mile where the humidity was replaced by blue skies and sunshine. Allen reached 54-miles where he had a change of clothes and took on some food but was struggling with a knee injury which was causing him a lot of discomfort and swelling with visible bruising.

But he dug deep and carried on with pure grit and determination to reach 80 miles before switching on his headtorch to continue his run under the cover of darkness. 

The last points in which his support crew met him were at 84 and 89 miles where a murky fog had descended on the downs leaving him with limited vision. At this point the downhills were causing Allen a lot of discomfort on his knee but the end was so close he dug in even deeper to get to the finish.

And what a finish it was. As the stats show, Allen comfortably reached the cut-offs as follows:

22.6 miles: 03:41:22 (09.47 min/mile, ranked 62nd)
35.1 miles: 06:11.30 (10.35 min/mile, ranked 63rd)
54 miles: 09:48:25 (10.53 min/mile, ranked 50th)
69.8 miles: 13:26:07 (11.32 min/mile, ranked 39th)
83.3 miles: 16:26:15 (11.45 min/mile, ranked 31st)
100 miles: 20:34:54 (12.20 min/mile, ranked 27th)

Allen finished in 20 hours 34mins and 54secs coming 27th overall, an epic time that not only reflects his running skills but also his mental stamina and determination.

Allen has now completed the Downs double after finishing both the North Downs and South Downs Way.

It’s also been a good few days for our fellow members and their own quests for racing achievements.

Dave McMorrow continues his rich vein of form with another super performance at the Bude Lifeboat Run on Wednesday 10 June.

The Lifeboat Run is a six-mile multi terrain race with some stunning views over Widemouth Bay in North Cornwall. A flat fast start gives way to some hills and the finish line rewards runners with a bottle of beer. Dave ran in a time of 44.33 and was 89th out of 342 finishers.

Mark ‘Wurzel’ Wotton continues his odyssey through the marathons towards the big 100. On Saturday June 13 he completed the Langport Marathon a self-navigating run which takes in the Somerset Levels through fields and woods. Despite getting lost here and there, Mark finished it in about 7hours.

A day later he was in Yeovil for the marathon - a new event - alongside Stephen Barker. The marathon is fairly flat with only small inclines. The start and finish are on the athletics track at Yeovilton’s Nuffield Sports Pavilion. Stephen completed it in 3:38.08 coming 67th overall and Wurz did it in 4:59.45 for 189th overall. There were 222 finishers.

Report by Emma Pearcy

Photos show Allen battering through the miles (top image) and Dave McMorrow giving the Lifeboat Run some Trotter welly.

Images kindly supplied by Marie Taylor and Laura Brown.