ULTRA specialist Damian Hall opted to end his season with a ‘shorter’ work-out in the Loch Ness Marathon – and ran himself into second in the Wiltshire rankings.
The 39-year-old member of Corsham Running Club completed the 26.2 mile challenge in a time of 2hrs 40mins 28secs to carve three minutes off the time he ran in London earlier this year.
That lifted him to 28th in the South West rankings and second quickest in the county behind Salisbury’s Stuart Holloway (2:38.31), and was a fitting way to end his serious competition for 2015.
“It has definitely been my best ever year,” said Hall, who lives in Box.
“I had already done three big ultra races finishing third in the Spine event among the Pennine Way, fifth in the Dragon’s Back across Wales and then most recently 32nd and third Brit in the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc).
“I did not target the Loch Ness marathon in particular but it was something to do at the end of the season and it was good to run a personal best.”
Hall will take a well-earned break now and resume training for cross country races in 2016 with the aim of returning to Chamonix for the UTMB and also look at some other big ultra events.
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