Hall adds new record to tally
ULTRA distance trail specialist Damian Hall has capped a recordbreaking year by adding another outstanding achievement to his CV.
The Box-based runner just beat the Wales lockdown to set a new record time of 14 hours 13 minutes for the 72-miles South Wales Traverse – by just a slender margin of five minutes.
That is virtually a dip finish in ultra running terms but Hall was happy to take it as he ended the year much as he started it when he shaved seven minutes off the Paddy Buckley Winter Round, also in Wales but in the north half of the country, before then smashing the iconic Pennine Way during the summer.
“The South Wales Traverse, in which you have to tag 31 summits, was short compared to my other records so felt like 14 hours of stress,” said Hall.
“I could not afford to slacken off the pace at all and it just felt really attritional mentally as I never felt I was comfortably ahead of the record time.
“Indeed, even in the last two to three hours of running it was 50/50 whether I would do it. It was only when I came towards the end and looked down on the lights in the village of Llanthony that I knew I had a good chance.
“But even then I had to really run hard downhill to just beat the time by five minutes. It felt horrible, to be honest, but it was worth it.”
Hall, who is an ambassador to trail running specialist inov-8, had to climb over 18,000 feet in tackling the 31 summits that lie between one side of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the other.
Runners can plot their own course with the only proviso that they must reach every summit and Hall revealed that careful planning and route reconnoitring gave him a vital edge in his record-breaking success.
“The record was held by Dan Doherty who as well as a good friend of mine is also a better runner than me going uphill, downhill and on the flat so I studied his route and then worked out through research on line and four trips to the Brecons the best possible route for me,” added Hall.
“Dan was faster than me on the route but I saved a lot of time in my planning and also I am probably a better ‘eater’ so kept up my levels of energy to the end.
“I found it really tough and had to dig deep. It was thanks to the small team around me that I was able to get the record.”
The success was Hall’s sixth significant ultra running record, though he has subsequently lost two of those – the South West Coast Path run and the Paddy Buckley summer round – to rivals.
That has given him plenty to think about for 2021 but at present Hall is keeping his plans under wraps – and taking a well earned rest.
ELENI Francis took full advantage of the end-of-season Mark Cawte Memorial meeting at Swindon to clock a personal best in the 200m.
The Team Bath AC teenager, who recently switched coaches from Colin Baross to Paul Weston, dipped under 27 seconds for the first time with a time of 26.72secs.
That clipped a substantial 0.42secs off her previous best set in Yeovil the previous month and, with a following wind of just 0.3mps, was also a legal best.
It also lifts Francis to tenth in the South West Rankings for under-17 women along with 12th place in the 100m (13.12secs).
In addition, Francis also won the long jump with a leap of 5.28m, which was just eight centimetres off her PB set at the same track a few weeks ago.
Francis wasn’t the only Team Bath athlete to enjoy the autumnal conditions at Swindon with further PBS for Gemma Baker, Toby Baker, Zachary Walpole and Clara Gavin.
Racing the distance for the first time, Baker won heat 4 of the women’s 400m in a time of 64.43secs while Toby Baker clipped almost three seconds off his 1,500m best with 4mins 33.22secs.
In a top class under-15 girls’ high jump, won by UK No 1 Gracie Wall with 1.66m, Galvin added five centimetres to her PB with 1.50m to finish fourth just behind clubmate Alannah Heneghan (1.55m).
Finally Walpole, jumping for only the third time this summer, smashed his PB by six centimetres to win the event with 1.61m.
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