The Fall from Grace ......Part 2

When it comes to the BIG news stories within the HuRTS camp no one does it better than our own Enda Stankard, and so it was on Saturday at the Striders 10k that Enda brought what Mikey described as the best ever in the history of HuRTS.

My pain of the days racing quickly disappeared for what transpired over the course of the next 20 minutes really had to be seen to be believed (and I’ll be hard pressed to do it justice in just writing). 

As the clock was ticking away over 40 minutes and we first saw Birchy, and then Elle (with her impressive 48 mins) we all wondered (and perhaps even worried) on Enda’s whereabouts? Still with the Bacon & Sausage BBQ in full swing we knew where our priorities lay as we stuffed our faces full of pig.

Things were then starting to get serious then when Elle’s father (60 year old) came through in 55 minutes and still no sign, as a search party was just about to be sent back out, a forlorn figure cut around the home turn.

With shirt off and staggering like a drunken Tom Highnam on a HuRTS night out, Enda was to reemerge out of the darkness to stop the clock in 57.44 with cut and bruises on arms & legs and his face beaten and torn.

….And this is where the story starts,

It seems with a little over a kilometre to run Enda started to get a little delusional and veered of the road straight into another pathway (???) and before he realized the error of his ways was deep in the scrub before he lost all consciousness taking a fall and lay ‘sparko’ for the next 15 minutes whilst the rest of the field run by without realizing?

*** Well I did say that I thought I heard a snake in the grass?

It wasn’t till some morning walker with her dog came to his aid and stuck him back on the right road for home, as he then had the battle to get back to the finish line in the cut off time of 60 minutes.

Upon returning Enda was still banging on about not getting HuRTS POTY or Spirit Award and said he thought of another way to try to get some votes in the Ultra Award as he was told all you had to do to win such an award was to go off road, have a sleep and you were in with a  chance? So here was his opportunity.

So they say 12 months is a long time in running? This race last year Enda was the reigning champion (that he never lets us forget) running 34 minutes , and now he only just beat the clock and Frankie Dearn to a career low of 57.44

He also reminds me that the ‘Under Achiever Award’ should always go to the person that is so far away from their potential time. So I think if that’s the case you’ll be hard to find anyone running some 23 minutes outside their  best 10k pace over the past year within the team.

Think we may need to change some of the votes in this category.

Enda take a bow son…… You’ll go down in HuRTS folklore for that one, Mikey still had tears in his eyes 5 hours after the story was told to him.

Somehow all I could think about all day was Spike Milligan and his tombstone that read ‘I told you I was ill’ ….. very Enda like

Cheers

BTW – Yes I am claiming my 2 minute winning bet from his as well.

What a way to end the year - you are looking at surely the Under Achiever Award recipient for 2014 ?

"Ok then Tom, maybe the HuRTS Performance & Spirit Award are gone but surely after that effort today I'm a chance to challenge Tuckey for the Ultra? Bush treking and a little snooze.... easy"


Cheers