Not much to say - I had to withdraw after only about 30 - 40kms into the race due to illness.
It was certainly disappointing, after such a great winter of training without any serious illness or injury and I felt confident of getting top result. The days leading into the race I did feel a little tired and a slightly sore throat, but I put it down to being nervous and overly worried about how I was feeling.
Gran Canaria is a great island, perfect for cycling and running. Warm weather all year round with great roads and trails everywhere. Not to mention it being also a great place to relax in the sun. I think the average age of tourist was probably around the 60 mark. The race got underway at 11pm at night with the first few kms along the beach and boardwalk in front of cafes and restaurants. After the gun went off I found myself towards the front in the top ten, keeping a good, yet slightly fast pace of sub 4min kms. As the race proceeded and we started to hit the climbs, I kept my effort in check and went through km15 in 15th place, still feeling good. I didn't try to take on the front runners, which consisted of basically the top 5 - 10 ultra runners in the world but they were still relatively not far in front. Between km 20 and 30 I started to get sharp cramps in my stomach and I was forced to have a few bathroom stops. I felt wrecked all over and just physically drained. I went through a check point at about the 30km mark and decided to try and get back into the race from there but soon found myself unable to go faster then walking pace.
More than likely I had an underlying virus which, when pushed, affected me.
Still plenty of races in the season.
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