Dan Ashcroft reports:
Yes, you are reading that right, the July the Turd Marathon took place in the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site on Sunday 2nd July. In a lap format race there are three distances to choose from, 7 mile, half marathon or full marathon.
All races start at the Coalport Village Hall and follow the Silkin Way, gradually climbing towards Telford for the first 2 miles.
At an old windmill, the marathoner runners get the added bonus of two half mile out and back efforts before rejoining the rest of the field. The route undulates at this point until a slight downhill to the viaduct at Coalbrookdale. It then rises and falls along a country lane into Ironbridge.
Once you have weaved through the tourists you get to cross the bridge itself, leaving two miles along trails back to the Village Hall.
In his 100 Marathon quest Dan Ashcroft ambled round slightly quicker than a Coalport porcelain figurine in a time of 3:56:24 which put him in 2nd place and in the top 20% of the field.
