Tour of Bradwell Sat 9th Aug

As mentioned in my previous post this event was a test for the new Salomon Fellraisers. All going well until about 3hrs in when they started to perform as all my new shoes do, the cursed foot pain. Once it starts, there's nothing I can do to make it go away (other than take shoe off!) all I can do is manage with it as best I can. I'll cope with it for about an hour if the end is in sight.

But in this race the end was a further 5hrs+ on. I made the rare (for me)decision to voluntarily retire at the 7th CP. Approximaley 13m of the 33m route done and was one of the closest points to the finish, meaning I only had to walk about a 2m back to the finish.

Now this is when it gets interesting. I did what every good retiree does as required by FRA rules. I informed the CP Marshall's, I returned to the finish area and spoke to two event officials one of which was operating the lap top for the results. My dibber was connected to the download control box, and the chap operating the lap top tells me I've only been to 7 controls. So as far as I was concerned, the computer has recorded my return to the finish.

So why is it at 17:50pm I get a phone call from someone from the race asking if I'm OK!!! Looking at the race's website there's mention of MRT being called out.

I've sent an email apologising, but genuinely believe I did everything that was required of me. Because I was one of the small minority using their own dibber, they obviously had no visible proof that I'd returned, aside from the fact that the car was gone (car reg details recorded on the list at registration when I arrived). It does however highlight a flaw in the checking system.

TF