WHARFEDALE & AIREDALE OBSERVER

Thursday 25 March 2010

Chris Carver of Otley Athletic Club has recently been selected to represent UK at the World 24 hour Championships which take place in Brive, France on 13/14 May this year.

The 46 year old runner, originally from Bradford, took up the sport after watching the Munich Olympic Games on television as an 8 year old boy. After representing his school in cross country races he turned his attention to the roads where he notched up reasonable performances in many local races ranging in distance from 5k to half marathon. In 2006, in need of a new challenge (mainly because of persistent injuries), he decided to try ultra distance racing and was surprised to find that he had eventually found his forte - 34 years after taking up the sport.

The 24 hr event (covering the greatest possible distance in a single day) is one of the oldest established athletic events being over 200 years old. The first recognised 24 hour race took place on the Newmarket to London road in 1806. Now the 24 hr race is probably the most gruelling world championship event in any sport.

This will be his first full international vest although he did represent England at the inaugural Commonwealth Ultra Distance Championships in Keswick last September. In that event he also took part in the 24 hour race and finished in fifth position covering a distance of 231 km/143 miles. He also won a team silver medal and was the leading Englishman.

After taking advice from some of the world's leading ultra distance runners and coaches he is now aiming to cover 10k more in Brive. This won't be an easy task but he knows he can achieve that distance given the right conditions. In a race of this length the smallest error of judgement - pacing, eating, drinking, clothing, etc - is magnified many times and can easily result in many miles lost from the overall distance covered. An example would be chaffed nipples: many runners know how painful this can be during a marathon - imagine that for six marathons. Non stop.

Another example would be nutrition - unlike marathon runners all ultra distance runners face a knife edge between consuming too little and too much while running the race. Too much is likely to result in illness at the side of the course and too little is likely to mean that they cannot maintain their speed and/or endurance. This is made more complicated by the fact that running uses about 100 kcal per mile (about 600-700 kcal per hour) but humans can only metabolise about 300-350 kcal every hour. For a few hours this isn't a problem but over a whole day it can easily become a serious issue.

Last year Chris raised over £2200 for Orchid (a cancer charity which exists to save mens' lives from testicular, prostate and penile cancers through pioneering research and promoting awareness). To do this he ran non stop from his home town of Otley (near Leeds) to London and covered the 218 miles in 46 hours. Chris' feat was all the more remarkable when one considers that he had testicular cancer himself and later lost half his right lung to cancer.

Chris would like to thank the following for essential help, advice and supplies: Steve Raven at Assist Creative Resources Ltd for the Shotz Sports Nutrition; Adam Smith at www.fitnessfootwear.com for shoes; Alan Young at Dion Networks for lots of practical help and advice; William Sichel for help, advice, friendship and inspiration. And not forgetting his wife and family for the love, encouragement and perseverance.