I fownd it in my dictionary

revellent? wot sort of word is that?

All the cd's have been sent to the revellent people, should be on the web site soon Elton.

Still waiting for Steve Clark's photos ...

Just a thank you to all the orgainsers and Volenteers for a excellent event . This was my first 100 after many years of marathon running . I thought I was fit I was wrong . Did finish but disappointed with my time

Owned by a great ambassador for our organisation .......

Great photos Chris, I like #58 with the black Ford Fiesta, registration L100 DWA parked outside Farnborough CP. I wonder who owns that?

Marvellous pictures, Chris. Very well composed. They brought back memories and showed me views I never got to see at the time.

I know it's all been said before but I have to say it too. Thank you so much to all the organisers, marshals, volunteers, caterers, etc. for making all this possible. It must have been a logistical nightmare at times but it all worked flawlessly as far as I could tell. The unique memories are still buzzing around my head.

Merrian, that's a nice patriotic image through the chain link fence. ;-)

Thanks everyone for your photograph posts. The ones I took when it wasn't raining are here.

Photos from Mottingham.

Just to echo the many previous heartfelt thanks to everyone involved with this year's hundred.
It was my first attempt at the distance, so I had no expectations whatsoever. My best memories are of the people I met along the way, who chatted and encouraged and made the time go by alot easier than if I had been alone.

I'm sorry if I didn't acknowledge the round of applause at the finish, but it was all I could to hand my tally in to be recorded.
I did say never, ever again, but we shall see.

Sarah Colbert

Photos here, mainly from Saturday and with nothing between Old Woking and the finish (sorry).

This was my first 100 and i had been told by many wiser than i that if i could do the "Fellsman" then the 100 would be easier - Stongly Disagree.
I don't know if it was the inclement weather that made it so but i thought it was tougher than getting a "yes or no" out of a politician.
I managed to finish with walking companion Geoff (unfortunately our other team member Pete retired at 50) both of us vowing never to do another again.
The last section on the roads (we missed the park) was a real killer, thank goodness for the angels in flourescent jackets guiding us as our ability to read maps and instructions and our sense of humour had deserted us.
My wife Jacquie met us at the finish and made sure we got our kit/certs/badges and a taxi back to the hotel.
Apparently i fell asleep in the bath while Jacquie was talking to me and tipped the pot of tea i was trying to drink into the bath, what memories if i could remember them!
My companion Geoff had been told by the first aider at the breakfast stop that he should retire because of the state of his blistered feet, they just don't understand, do they?
By Tuesday morning Geoff and i were texting each other discussing the next 100, what is this strange disease we've caught?
I still seem to be rambling (forgive the punn) so before i go i must echo a very big thank you to all involved in organising such a well run event - thank you from the bottom of my soles!

PS - we hope the guy who we had to wake up on Windsor platform to get on the train and then wake up at Slough to get off managed to make it home .He had completed the100 and was dead on his feet.

Ian Crawford - I can't find the words to express my true and deep delight that you finished. Well done. You did well, and you're a fine man to walk through heavy rain and do a tough night section with. It was pleasure. We worked well as a navigational team, didn't we? You saved me from massive errors more than once.

By 5am I was not capable of going any more and had I done so would have surely been a problem for the marshalls (who had enough on their plates without me making things worse). I was all wobbly and shaky and by the time I had sat down long enough to recover I was out of time. Yes that night section in the deep mud and rain was really tough, and had the first night of mud and rain been easier I would have been strong enough to go on at dawn on the last morning. But it wasn't, and I wasn't, so there we are. I have to live with that. Life goes on. But 90 miles is not bad for an old fat bloke, so I'm pretty happy. Last year I finished with 30 seconds to spare, so obviously the Hundred is right at the limit of my capabilities.

I have tape on only three blisters now, and am only limping a bit from a damaged tendon on the left leg. So recovery is going well.

Would I have entered if I had known I'd have to suffer a long night of torrential rain, and a second night of rain and deep mud for mile after mile - only to suffer large blisters, a damaged tendon pack in at 90 miles? Of course I would. It was simply bloody awesome.

Tony, you need to get out more.

The results confirm that this was a tough one - no surprise there. I have kept a statistical analysis of the last ten years Hundreds since I started doing these damned things.

Only 5.9% of the field finished in under 30 hours (Range 4.8% to 19.2%). At 36 hours 31.8% of walkers had finished (range 26.5% to 52.6%).

A remarkable 58 walkers, 11.9% of the field, finished in the last two hours (range 3.8% to 11.9%). This confirmed our observations while driving along the A30 from Sunningdale in the body wagon. There seemed to be a steady line of head torches appearing out of the rain.

Finally, Hundred entrants seem to be a tough lot this year. There were only 105 retirements (21.5% of starters) despite the weather and under foot conditions. The ten year range is 17.4% to 29.3%

Statistically, the three most recent Hundreds have been distinctly the toughest out of the last ten. Can we have an "easy" one next year?

Mike,

You did a great job on my feet at Chilworth and I would like to thank you for your help and kindness which is most appreciated. Furthermore thank you to the rest of the wonderful Dorset team for their very caring support and preparing us for the remaining 27 miles.

After Chilworth I teamed up at Clandon with a great guy (Martin Brice) for the overnight run which proved to be extremely painful and slow. It was only because of his navigational skills that I was able to finish. I would certainly not have made it through the night on my own. Martin, please accept my grateful thanks and your patience in putting up with me.

The organising committee did a really good job, and I know it wasn't easy for them. There are all kinds serious things that go wrong behind the scenes on the day, that the participants don't know about, and the organisers rose to the challenge every time. So- hats off to Neil and all his wonderful colleagues. 383 finishers is a remarkable total in such adverse conditions - and the best tribute to all the work that they put in to this unusual and interesting Hundred.

From the comfort of our cosy indoor CP 12 at Chilworth Village Hall, it looked tough, wet and very muddy out there. We had a pretty good taste of this on the Marshals Walk. but it may have been even more demanding on the main event.

I was astonished (and most impressed) by the fortitude and motivation of so many walkers, some of whom had obviously painful cases of trench foot, and who still managed carried on to the end. It will be interesting to find out in due course how many first timers succeeded.

And, if you didn't succeed this time, there is next year....

Evening

Suspect that a number of you are already ahead of the game here ......

The PROVISIONAL finish times (only) are now on the 100 website - full details to follow once all the times have been sense tested etc. If you do have any specific queries with what we are showing now, please e-mail results.2012@ldwa.org.uk (and NOT route.2012@....) as this is a new e-mail address set up after the page was set up.

Thanks for all your comments re the route and all the helpers etc, much appreciated, makes it feels almost worthwhile! Also we have received a similar number of comments coming thru direct to individual Committee Members (primarily to Norman, as he was the entries secretary), and these say roughly the same as on this discussion forum; I will, though, just share one of those sent to Norman, as follows:-

Just dropping you a line to thank you and everyone involved organising the 100, another great event. I just wish the queen lived in a semi with a normal sized drive.

No comments!

Games 100 Organising Committee

now feeling semi human again just like to say a special thankyou to surrey group for the excellent breakfast and also east lancs for the very nourishing and most welcome finishing meal, top marks to all

Further to all the grateful acknowlegements and compliments already posted on this thread, may I offer my admiration and thanks to the crew that manned the Staple Hill carpark CP. Working outside in the middle of nowhere in rubbish weather for over 24 hours and remaining cheerful - wow! Many thanks also to the folks running the Cornwall & Devon checkpoint, in my view you always put on the best food of any 100 checkpoint!

More big thanks to everyone involved in this years hundred........................memories of canary wharf being beseiged by anoraks.... revolving doors? ...the boats on the Thames getting ready for the flotilla...........of the busker in the foot tunnel singing 'crazy' as we stomped past on a mission to walk another 92miles making us all laugh n agree totally......... The lady putting mascara on her eyelashes in the toilet mirror while i beautified some chafting with vasaline elsewhere at the breakfast stop made it more random than ever!! The unrelenting rain saturday evening that we all knew was coming........... the climb up to the church............ the ever smiling encouragement and tlc from checkpoint marshalls-apoligises to D&C for not taking advantage of the buffet, the blister that exploded 300yds before your CP was foremost on my mind.......the walk through winsor park sunday teatime would of been lovely had the rain not been so very very wet!! but it eased off just before the statue and 'that view' although murky of the castle and the long walk was almost worth 98miles......... stiffness has gone now, just a few water filled ''bubbles of effort'' to contend with, luckily i can wear sandals to work!!
Thanks again
x

I can only echo what everyone else has said - a great event, massive thanks to everyone involved in making it so.

As a 100 novice, I was concerned about walking through (I hoped) 1 whole night, while I don't normally go too far in darkness on a 50. A second-timer told me on route that he learned a lot about himself going through the night last year. Coming down from Box Hill the rain was so heavy that I couldn't see the route instructions through the rain drops on the plastic wallet - not that it mattered, as my glasses were so steamed up with humidity, it was all I could do to feel my way down the steep gulleys with what were left of my feet. The rain then welded together my paperwork so that pulling out one sheet destroyed the two beneath! Thanks to whoever on Forum suggested taking a spare route description - it saved my dignity.

Did I learn anything about myself in the early hours on Box Hill? Nothing I'd want to admit to or feel very proud about (other than that I think that the pikelets - NOT CRUMPETS! - served at the CP were the best food I've ever been served on a walk). It's easy to take for granted the comments about organisers and helpers after walks on this web site, but superlatives aren't really sufficient. How could so many people be so selfless and supportive as to make what could have been a rather miserable experience so memorable? "Chapeau", as they say on Eurosport as another fruitless breakaway fails in the Tour de France!

What a great hundred, just right for the mixed-up year we've been having weatherwise (drought, flood, drought and now localised flooding again here in the East).

The early sections through the Tower Hamlets, Greenwich & Eltham were much more pleasant than I was expecting (OK, Hackney still looks a bit grim) and the whole section between Mottingham and Biggin Hill was just delightful - sunny parkland, pretty villages and even a visit from the RAF.

Alas, the predicted rain turned up on schedule and the ground conditions deteriorated with an alarming rapidity - the descent from Ockley Hill into Merstham was a horror all right, and the long string of partially submerged tracks and unstable mud gullies all the way to the breakfast stop was wearily familiar from previous Surrey challenge walks (though at least it was nowhere near as bad as the infamous 2008 Surrey Tops). Still, most folks seemed to take it in their stride and at least the temperature stayed up in double figures, keeping the hypothermia risk to a minimum.

The breakfast stop itself was nice, too - showers are always appreciated, and the food was great; big helpings of toast and cornflakes in a nice warm cafeteria.

Sunday was quite pleasant on the weather front (just intermittent light drizzle during daylight hours) and the route delightfully picturesque - St Martha's and Peaslake were familiar but Clandon House was a new one for me. The long section between Old Woking and Staple Hill had a decidedly surreal feel to it in the gathering twilight, mostly due the near total absence of other walkers - I passed one group of 3 entrants in the entire section, and the general public seemed to have deserted both Horsell and Chobham Commons as well. No doubt they were put off by the weather, but I wouldn't have been totally surprised to see Martians pop up on the former. :-)

Oh, and I LOVED being able to bypass Windsor Great Park - after 40 miles of gingerly picking my way through wet grass, mud slides and soaking knee-high grass the offer of 8 miles of good firm tarmac was irresistable, and indeed such a relief that I managed to complete the section at a shade over 4mph. Always nice to finish with a bang!

So many thanks to everyone involved in running the event, and in particular the early checkpoints. After the awful catering shambles last year it was a relief to see normal (i.e. excellent) service resumed on that front - no 30-miles-per-sandwich nonsense this time.

Brilliantly organised given the added complicated logistics of a linear route,and now on reflection now I am dry and warm, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Surprisingly tough,I think this was for several reasons-firstly the monsoon like rain which resulted in acute sense of humour failure particularly on sun afternoon,and secondly I thought it would be a lot easier than last year and it didn't feel any easier at all despite the absence of those shropshire hills.Thanks to everyone who made this a very unique, and enjoyable 100

Hi Rob, When I saw you and Cheryl coming in to Chilworth Village Hall we both said how hard its been,so to hear you could make good decisions however many hours it was beyond that I applaud you , you definately made the right decision,I think I was shot to pieces as just coming into sunningdale I saw a white rabbit dancing in a large puddle but by the time I got near him he had disappeared,enough said I think. see you on across wales if not before regardes Richard

Hi.
I would just like to add my thanks and congratulations to the organisers and marshals on this year’s 100.
Another very tough event for different reasons to last years! I found the amount of pavement very hard on the feet (like I suspect many others), however I still really enjoyed the majority of the event even with the rain trying to "dampen" my enthusiasm.
The route took me through parts of London I never imagined existed with very much more green spaces and parks etc.
The marshals where all very helpful encouraging and continually good humoured, I don’t know how they managed this as it must be a marathon of endurance just to stay awake let alone provide the support and encouragement that they do so well.
I do have one comment I would like to make re the route description, I have to disagree with some of the comments below. While it was very accurate and precise some times the amount and level of detail became confusing. (and I personally believe unnecessary) if you lost concentration for even a moment you could skip or miss lines, I know from my experience (and comments of some people I met this did lead to miss interpretation of the route at several points during the event (some worse than others).

With the completion of the Games 100 I have now obtained my 10 100's badge, which means I will not be attempting any more. I would like to put on record my thanks to all those who have been involved in arranging the hundreds since my first one in 1998. Special thanks are to Cyril, who helped me round the final sections, and whose skill with the GPS enabled us to rectify navigation errors promptly, and enabled me to complete in under 40 hrs. Also to Dave Sheldon who pointed me in the direction of Paul Beesley, who used my camera to video the presentation and the interview after I received the 10 100'd badge.
There will be two slideshow videos both on youtube channel catman2007. The longer is now uploaded, and includes some of the pre start comments: http://youtu.be/8AqAJEyatps .
JG

Richard, I was 2 hours behind you at Sunningdale and decided to wait until 3.30 for the park to open. Bearing in mind your comments, it sounds like a good decision. The toasted tea cakes and rhubarb and custard were much appreciated during the wait.The section between Old Woking and Staple Hill was torture in the darkness and driving rain and like Andrew I never want to go there again.
Thank you to everyone who manned the checkpoints, often for 24 hours and the committee for what must have been an extremely difficult event to organise.
PS. I really enjoyed seeing the Spitfire doing aerobatics over Biggin Hill, the sound of a Merlin never fails to raise ones spirits!

i only thought it rained in Manchester . Grateful for the support all the way thru , especially the lady who looked after my feet at a check point and every body who offered encouragement , thankyou .

I think a thank you is very much in order from me. However part of me thinks that if the volunteers didnt provide the great help they did then i would never have had to suffer!

I will remember the applause at the end. Cant comment about the views in the great park at the end (past caring).

I must thank the lone member operating a night-time escort service through Horsell Common.

However I plan NEVER to visit Stanners Hill again.

I am starting to get a bit jealous ,hearing and reading the storys of the windsor great park as it sounds as it was well worth seeing,our time at sunningdale would have meant a 3 hour wait it was raining constantly and had been for the previous 5 hours so a decision was made LETS GET IT DONE .the route alongside the road was HORRIBLE constantly raining so much that the cars that passed sprayed you .8 miles of punishing pavements ,rain ,a second night of blackness I was really glad to see the school and sit down knowing it was all over and as they say IN THE BAG.

I would just like to thank the organisers and all the helpers on this event.
I found going through London really interesting. The middle section at night in the pouring rain was awful, but one just had to get through it. The end section was really good, especially by the lakes at Ascot, and that mile at Windsor - with the lovely soft ground for blistered feet.
The route description was accurate and well done, and food was fine.
Altogether a well managed event
Jeremy Corke

And I forgot to mention the walk through Great Windsor Park was amazing. I had never been there before. Even though we were all footsore and exhausted we enjoyed the gardens and the lake views and the equeastrian statue of George 3rd on Snow Hill. The Park Warden met us as we came down from the statue and he mentioned that he was thoroughly pleased and humbled that we walked 100 miles but still had the decency and energy to climb up to the statue! Aw.. shame we had to be honest and tell him it was part of our route!

yes a very tough 100 with the conditions we had to endure. 2 nights of mud and rain made it my most difficult 100 so far.

And I never knew London had so many open spaces and parks! Seeing people out enjoying those places was nice to see. And good traffic free cycle paths as well! You Londoners are lucky to have such things. You may not have hills,moors or mountains (mind you I encountered a few steep parts!)but the open spaces and parks and cycle tracks make up for it.

It was wonderful to see the interesting tourist attractions at the start of the walk. What a unique100! thanks folks.

I also wish to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who supported this event; how did they keep those smiles and words of encouragement for so many hours?? Yes, the route description was very detailed but that meant no extra miles getting lost. Mud, rain, hills... we've experienced these all before or we couldn't have qualified! As a very sceptical starter I've changed my opinions. A big thank you once again.

firstly many thanks to the organisers-first class and the many helpers at the busy check points along the route who nourished and encouraged us in vast quantities really exceptional.route description comprehensive and accurate and needed to be as the weather did its worst,especially at night quite horendous. london was quieter than i expected and very interesting all the sites of olympic venues and normal well known landmarks time and distance passed by quickly,then it got much harder as tracks became streams and that slippery grey mud became all to familiar and energy consuming, i really had more than enough by old woking at 82 miles as the second night approached and darkness descended oh and i forgot the RAIN again.to the marshalls who on the latter stages kept appearing [i thought they were hallucinations]giving directions and well done folks,not far now ,was really welcome. we started out as two my companion and route finder bob and ended up three, we came across greg at box hill and nurchered him to the end to complete his first hundred [although his feet are still very sore]we enjoyed his company and hopefully gave him an insight into ldwa friendship enough for him to join the association and look forward to doing his second next year,the pain does deminish but the memories last

A few photos from CP14 and CP17a.

Thank you to all the organisers/marshals and volunteers for creating such a memorable weekend. This was my first 100 and although at the time I decided I would rather go through child birth than do it this again I am now starting to see why people go back for more!
I was amazed by the enthusiasm of the volunteers at the checkpoints and finish, they had obviously been working for hours, had very little sleep yet still welcomed us with a smile and encouraged us to keep going.

Agree with the comments already made. By the time I arrived home all the 'bad' bits about the event had almost faded away and I am left with wonderful memories of visiting places I would not have otherwise been to and of course the pleasure of meeting fellow walkers again and also meeting others for the first time.

A big thanks to all who 'made it happen'.

Totally agree! Thanks to everyone on the 100. The support you gave was amazing. It was my first (of many I hope...) and I was overwhelmed by the whole event. Absolutely fantastic!!

I don't want to navigate another chalk and flint-filled gulley in the dark in a rainstorm as long as I live! But a massive congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in organising this year's 100. It was a special event from its start on that grotty Hackney backstreet to its spectacular conclusion at the end of the aptly-named Long Walk at Windsor. The support and encouragement at every checkpoint (and often at places in between) was marvellous, as was the overall organisation and all the attention to all those unseen details. Thanks again.

Back home in the Lakes and a good nights sleep. Many many thanks to ALL who helped at this years event. The LDWA is an amazing organisation and the annual 100 is a magnificent event, may it continue for another 40 years. Well done the five groups who were involved this year and all the entrants who completed a tough 100. Devon and Cornwall next year!