COOL RUNNING...for a little while!

Good luck today to participants in the Endurance Life Classic Quarter; a merry romp along the cliff tops from The Lizard to Lands End.

The Endurancelife Classic Quarter Ultra Marathon was first hosted in 2007 with great success. The idea for the event was originally conjured up by an enterprising Cornish businessman, surfer and ‘reluctant' endurance athlete one day whilst out on his regular local trail running route, around Lizard Point. From the point, he could just make out Lands End in the far distance, and he wondered.., he wondered whether he might be able to run there, in one day, non stop? He concluded that with some proper training and a good dose of bloody mindedness, it could be done. He also concluded that it would be a great way to raise some funds for a very worthy organisation, Cornwall Hospice Care. Endurancelife were asked to get the event off the ground and the 'Classic Quarter' was born.

The challenge is brutally simple. To run between dawn and dusk from the southern most point, to the western most tip of Cornwall (and of course England), along the legendary South West Coast Path! That translates to running a quarter of the compass from Lizard Point to Lands End non-stop, hence the name.

The course follows 44 miles of the mesmerising SW Coast Path with innumerable s teep climbs and descents. This is the ultimate trail runner’s rush, with spectacular exposure and challenging terrain, all a stones throw away from the gently lapping, or potentially pounding Atlantic swells. There is also the unpredictable weather to contend with along the way, every runner must be well prepared mentally and physically.

The Classic Quarter can be undertaken as a relay team of two or four, or as an epic solo effort by the intrepid and well prepared lone runner. Last year the atmosphere of keen and friendly rivalry was a highlight, with the relay category being contested right up the final couple of miles.

In the first year, 60 brave souls set off from Lizzard point in a howling westerly gale, it was an epic day and resulted in £3000 being raised for the Hospices. Over the years many thousands of pounds have been raised, and a record 205 runners signed up for the 2010 event.
 
We are happy to host a number of the runners here at Lower Treave and wish them well.....forecast for today, a dull misty start, but brightening by lunchtime to be warm and sunny!
 

.