Gavin and Tara conquer the gruelling Man vs Lakes race
STRATFORD AC husband-and-wife duo Gavin and Tara Lambert conquered the epic Man vs Lakes race on Saturday.
The adventure run is held in the Lake District and starts with a crossing of the quicksands of Morecambe Bay, before heading through mountainous countryside. Participants then head into the Lake itself, tackling short wades, swims, slides, jumps and a floating assault course.
Participants also have to carry the mandatory kit, which weighs more than 5kg. The race is advertised as 26.2 miles — a standard marathon distance — but due to a change in the finish point and shifting sands in Morecambe Bay, it ended up being just over 30 miles.
“I decided to enter the race to ‘celebrate’ turning 40 this year,” said Gavin, who is originally from Morecambe.
“The race started by crossing Morecambe Bay when the tide was out. Then there was a river to be waded through, which was pretty scary as the current was fast and the water came up mid-thigh.
“Then the real fun began with the vertical kilometre and another 23 miles running across the Lake District and running or staggering to the top of several mountain peaks.
“To top that off, there were four lakes to swim across and three of them had floating obstacle assault courses to overcome. These were awesome and made the race.
“One kilometre before the finish, there was a kayaking stage with a fifth lake to be kayaked around.”
Tara finished in 198th place in 7.57.01. Due to a GPS tracking malfunction, Gavin’s time is not yet official but is understood to be about 8.02.00.
The race was won by Ben Opie in 4.50.26. Katie Joyce was the first woman to finish, placing fourth overall in 5.01.01. 449 competitors finished the race.