A bloke on a stag do managed to win a half marathon despite racing off the back of ‘two very late nights’. Fair play.
Elite runner Ollie Garrod, from Surrey, said he dodged the booze during the stag weekend in Bournemouth, but still put in some long hours with his pals, revealing he’d had no more than five hours’ sleep the night before the race on Sunday (8 October).
He told the BBC: "I thought, well, why not? Even though I wasn't feeling particularly up for it, I may as well chuck myself in a race."
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Not sure this is where my thoughts would go after such a lack of sleep, but good for him, eh?
And not only did Garrod manage to tear himself out of bed and up to the starting line, but he went on to win the race with a very impressive time of 1:10:01, more than a minute faster than the man who came second.
He told the news outlet that he took the lead from runner up Jaymee Domoney after about eight miles, overtaking him on a ‘really horrible hill’.
"It was such a beautiful day, it seemed crazy not to go out and enjoy that,” he said.
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“And I needed to get a decent tempo hit in anyway.
"I managed to put my foot down a little bit there and sneak away.
"Then I had a bit of a nightmare... They have some gels and I thought that will be a great pick-me-up.
"I managed to drop two of them, had to go back and pick up another one and managed to drop that again, so... he came right back on my tail.
"It was tough by the end. I was working hard by about mile 10."
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Garrod is currently in training for the ultra-marathon world championships next month.
Sharing a snap of him holding his first place trophy on Instagram, he wrote: “Superb morning out on the south coast, in gloriously warm October sunshine!
“Huge thanks for all the support Bournemouth, and a massive thank you to @runbournemouth for putting on such a brilliant half marathon!
“Pleased to muster 1:10:01 for the win to top off a stag weekend!”
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As well as his impressive time at the weekend, Garrod is also the world record holder for the 40 mile distance at 3:45:07 - it made me feel tired just thinking about that.
Claire Reid