Rat Race The Wall, 17th June 2023
The Wall is an annual ultra-marathon from Carlisle to Gateshead – a total distance of 70 miles with a mere 3,460 feet of climbing. Roberto Marzo was the latest Claremonter to tackle this incredibly tough challenge. The route initially follows the Hadrian’s Wall path before descending down to Hexham, from where it mostly follows the River Tyne, finally running along the Quayside, crossing the Millennium Bridge to finish in Baltic Square.
Thankfully it wasn’t quite as hot as it has been, which must have been a relief for the 400+ runners setting out from Carlisle Castle at 7am. Roberto’s family where there to see him off and a number of us planned to try to support him along the route and at the end.
He set off at an excellent pace and was in 3rd and 4th position early on, but we could see on the tracker that he was slowing down slightly as he hit the hills. Gill and I had made our way to The Sill to see him there, and I couldn’t help thinking that sitting eating a nice breakfast with beautiful views of Hadrian’s Wall was a far easier way of enjoying the Northumberland countryside!
At the checkpoint, he revealed that he had twisted his knee on a downhill section and was in some pain. He still had 40 miles to go, but was determined to continue, so set off on his way after a brief application of ibuprofen spray.
A number of us were tracking Roberto and there was some consternation as, somewhere near Fourstones, his number was showing as off-piste and heading in the wrong direction! We were still in the area, so went to try to find him, but a member of the public had helped him get back on track. Trust Robbie to add extra miles – as if 70 was not enough!
Meeting him at the Hexham checkpoint, we now discovered that he had a blister on his foot to add to his sore knee. But Roberto is a warrior and nothing was going to stop him now – after all, he only had to run another marathon and he would be finished!
At the next checkpoint in Newburn, despite the pain, Robbie’s main concern seemed to be that the runner behind might catch him and he didn’t stop long, saying that he was now on familiar running ground with just(!) 7 miles to go. I don’t think that anybody was close to catching him – in fact it struck me that the hardest thing in a run like this must be to keep yourself motivated when no other runner is in sight for most of the course. Robbie really was running it alone.
As he came along the Quayside and over to the finish, he had a large welcoming committee, not just of fellow Claremonters, but his family which had now been swelled by arrivals from Italy.
This was Roberto’s first ever ultra (and I think it could be his last!), so to finish in 9th place in a time of 12:11:34 is an amazing achievement. Very, very well done, Roberto.
