Not so easy for us in the middle of the field though!

I did the same as David and counted those faster than me, luckily I only had to go as far as 15 so didn't run out of fingers and toes !! Matt.

Thanks Excel boffins, that was really easy. Good to have both alternatives.

Roy - I calculated my position by counting the number of entrantswho finished before I did. But I suppose that's too easy for this hi-tech age
Dave

Thanks for the info guy's, i will give it a go & increase my "IT" skills at the same time.

Or just open the excel spreadsheet that's there. Highlight the lot by clicking in the top left hand box. Go to Data and then sort by Column T, the finish times. This will then rearrange in order of finish times.

Roy, if you copy the list of results and paste it into a spreadsheet, you can do this yourself! (Garfield)

Great the results are out so quickly & i know it's not a race. But does anyone else prefer to know what position you finished ?? Just gives that extra kick, after all the hard work.
Don't you think ??

Well that was another cracker! Whilst I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it at the time, the memories are getting sweeter by the day!

I was expecting problems with my feet given both the heat and the hard ground underfoot, but they were pretty good. I am putting this down to just generally getting tougher- so keep at it if you have had problems!

I was once again just bowled over by the scale of the organisation. It is such a big thing to take on - and worked really well. For me the food highlight was the mini pizzas at Sutton. But don't tell those who did the marshalls event as they were supposed to be there and didn't turn up! Thanks to all.

The results are now up on the Wessex 100 website. Well done the team for getting them processed so quickly! (Garfield)

Wessex 100 photos by Steve Clark, 'Official' Photographer, are now on the BBN Web Site.

Heart of Scotland 100, 29-31 May 2010, Start / Finish Dunkeld. Likely to be of a somewhat different nature from Wessex!

Thank you to all those who helped with the 100, a really well organised event. many thanks.

Does anyone know the date of next years Heart of Scotland 100 please?

My GPS recorded 13,000+ ft ascent and Tracklogs 11,300. I used the latter in my personal log. I have a Garmin wrist-mounted Foretrex, which is brilliant and accurate, and has been my friend on many events.
For the night section, however, I used ViewRanger software running on a Nokia phone. I have an old Nokia GPS module (still available at about £30) which bluetooths the position to the phone which then displays it on either 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 map. Excellent piece of software. (Garfield)

The distance, using the Tracklogs 1:25000 digital mapping system, is 101.3 miles.
Route Coordinator, Wessex100.

I too logged the whole route on my GPS which also saves a track log. It was also very useful to be able to follow the route track which I had loaded onto it – very comforting to know that I am on the route, especially at night. At the end it said 107 miles, but I had been aware of a couple of occasions on the way round when I saw the track log ‘scribbling’ as the GPS lost signal in some of the woodland sections. On editing the track log on the computer at home and deleting these stray points, the distance came down to about 102 miles, which is fine. What I found more curious was that the GPS logged only about 2900m of ascent – normally it over-records ascent as it adds up all the random fluctuations.

In my experience the only 100 with significantly too much distance was the Cleveland 1993, which I measured as 106 miles on the map – you could even add up the straight line distances between grid references in at least one section to get a distance greater than the official one. Obviously this was before GPS days but I would guess you might get 108-110 miles.

I’d also like to add my thanks to the organisers for an excellent event. The checkpoints were all most welcoming – and necessary respites from the hot conditions and hard tracks. The route took us through some great countryside. Personally I’d prefer a few more hills (or at least undulations), as I find it is the long, hard and flat sections that make my legs most tired – the ascent up the steps after the long road section through Bentworth was most refreshing! Still, the next two hundreds promise a few more hills, and hopefully softer (but not too soft I hope) ground.

My GPS measured 101.3 miles, Tracklogs was a bit shorter at 100.7. Have you checked the resultant track from your GPS? It can pick up distortions and reflections in woods and indoors. These can really skew your result as the GPS thinks it's somewhere else! Either trim these manually or sometimes the mapping software has a filter you can adjust.
One thing I'm certain of, it was NOT 111 miles - even though it felt like it!!!
(Garfield)

If the route really was 111 miles, I reckon the extra eleven were all after Upper Wield. On those rutted tracks I really started to believe I'd died and gone to hell. Th rest was brilliant,though. High point : a mug of cold,fizzy Cola in the middle of a hot afternoon at Beacon Hill CP. Many thanks to all concerned

Hi

We got it to 111m as well funnily enough! Interestingly we have done other events (such as the oxon 40 and ridgeway) and out GPS has agreed mile upon mile with the mileage on the RD but not this time! My legs are trying to convince me I've done 130 though!

This was my 3rd attempt at the hundred and at last I've completed it. The support was great as always and really kept me going.
My only concern was that by the end my GPS made the walk 111 miles! On some of the sections it was reading upto a mile and a half longer than stated! Surley a GPS can't be 11% inaccurate? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Did anyone else measure the distance with a GPS?

A few photos of the start and Heyshott CP. Well done everyone! :-)

http://gallery.me.com/hjazz1#100008&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=19

[Helen]

Can't express enough thanks for such a fabulous event. The stars of the show were the checkpointers and organisers who expressed such empathy and knew exactly what was needed at each time. I too suffered with extreme nausea at the breakfast stop - I think I pushed it too hard for the first 60m in the heat and paid the price, but despite a rucksack held together with a shoe lace and bandage went on to finish in (some sort) of style!!

I was sorry to hear some negative comments about the route - yes, there were an awful lot of stoney tracks and ruts and I too was fed up with them towards the end but that is the nature of the beast - there is no such thing as an easy hundred and this was surprisingly tough, but that is all part of the challenge. I for one was quite grateful for the tarmac, and personnally hate bleak moors (which there was rather a lot of in the previous 3 hundreds) as they say one mans rose is another ones thorn and I guess you can't please everyone, but thats the beauty of the 100 - they are all different and should ALL be treated with a great deal of respect.

Fantastic - thanks to everyones hard work in making this a success. Events like this make me so proud of the LDWA.

Photographs uploaded

Put one foot in front of the other, go on till the end, then stop. Brilliant, it works. Great 100, very well organised with superb support at every CP. A good route with something for everyone. The navigation was not too difficult, though the route description was obviously geared to the potential state of mind of the partcipants...."15.3....In 1.25 miles, reach a farmhouse on left...". I've read some adverse comments about the route in places, however the answer is in the title...its a Challenge Event....its not really supposed to be easy, is it?
The highlight for me was walking in to the school hall at 4.00am Monday morning and everybody applauding.Fantastic, it brought a tear to the eye. I felt similar emotions when returning to the hall after 4 hours sleep at 8.30 and joined in the applause as walkers arrived. A wonderful atmosphere.
It was my first 100, hopefully not the last by a long way.
My great thanks to all the organisers, volunteers manning CP's etc and to Graham with whom I walked the last 20 miles or so.
Roll on next year, Robert Barclay

Great photos, Garfield. They really give a good flavour of the event.

Like most people, I found the miles of hard, stony tracks pretty unpleasant, particularly on Sunday, but overcoming the CHALLENGE posed by the organisers is what it is about. These tracks were part of the challenge. I don't normally suffer from blisters and was too casual in preparing for an event that I should have realised was always going to be very tough on the feet. I hope i have learned the lesson.
I think comments like "Last 12ml of route were diabolical and should never have been included in any challenge event, never mind our flagship event." (anonymous comment on Fellrunner forum) are missing the point. I don't know the area but it seems to me likely that whatever route was chosen would have been hard and stony. The route has to go where checkpoint sites are available, and it should also be remembered that a large proportion of the field would have walked these last miles in the dark after 36+ hours. They needed an easy to follow route to the finish and this is what they got. The state my feet were in after 88 miles, it would have needed something pretty special in route selection to make me think of anything other than putting one foot in front of another!

I thought the checkpoint food this year was outstanding, plenty of variety and lots of it. The rhubarb and custard at Kilmeston just about gets the gold medal from me. The route description was also excellent - this must be the first Hundred where I have not lost a significant amount of time through navigation mistakes.

Three days on and my brain is already going into selective memory mode, forgetting the discomfort and remembering all the great things about the weekend. That Heart of Scotland route looks rather tasty - but aren't there a lot of stony tracks..............?

More photos !
http://gallery.me.com/garfield.southall#100089&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Great weekend and grateful thanks to the people who made it so - an event like this takes 3 - 4 years to organise and it is nice to see a successful outcome.Too many people to list,ran into hundreds.
Yet again I reacquainted myself with some old friends from all around the country and met many new people along the route.
I agree with Eileen's description of 'bemused' local residents.The looks of awe and wonder when I explained I would be walking continuously for anything up to 48 hours had to be seen to be believed.Several assumed charitable causes but none seemed to fully appreciate that it was something we wanted to do for its own sake.All wished us well and several I suspect then made enquiries with the local secure hospitals to ensure no absentees.
The atmosphere at the finish,the looks of joy and sheer relief on the faces of the completers affect the emotions of all who are there.
If you have never attempted a 100 miler,make a point of putting on your life 'to do' list - it really is something worth attempting at least once.Me,I've got the bug - I'll be back for my third 100 (all being well) in 2010.

Thankfully the combines had vanished by the time I passed by- maybe they had got bored reaping the walkers? But yes- a fantastic 100! I thought the South had flat hills? And what is with the villages with no street lights? How do they find their way to the pubs- maybe the folks use torches at night? And as for the thatched garages- they must be worth more than my house! It was another world in the villages of Hants! Marvellous- the residents all had bemused smiles- and one household had cold water for us- their daughter felt sorry for us all having to walk 100 miles in the heat so put out a table of cold water- how thoughtful!
Thanks to my friends at the Staffs checkpoint- those oatcakes fiiled with chees- yummy! Thanks to the members (Don, Chris and Margaret)of the London group who walked with me and well done to Margaret on her first 100 miler! Thanks to Terry and Beryl who picked me up on Sunday morning! I sleep walked through Sunday and just woke up to see the watercress fields with the herons- and then wa sawake for the night navigation of the The Rutted Path!

And the high light of the event? Oh- it must be the gym at the school! The Dawn Chorus of shapeless bodies! I just had to keep awake to listen to the variety of snores! Never ever again will I try to sleep at the finish- not with 300 miles to journey back!

But thank you to the organisers- wonderful!

Dodging the harvesters, which were really speeding around the field that the South Downs Way crossed, was like something out of a Hitchcock film!

"Thank You" just doesn't seem enough, but it's all I have to offer. At each checkpoint I was waited on by encouraging and friendly volunteers. Having been on their side numerous times I know how hard it is to keep going, stay awake and be helpful. Each oasis had a different menu, always inventive and definitely plentiful - I only dipped into my own rations once.
The route was very hard underfoot, but that's the Downs for you. But if I was to have caught a 4-wheel vehicle driver down one of those mutilated tracks I would have cheerfully wrung his neck!
The route was wonderfully scenic. Beautiful, chocolate-box villages, engaging patterns of crops in the fields, a cacophonous dawn-chorus. Even the steeper hills thankfully didn't go on too long.
I struggled after breakfast - I just can't seem to eat a meal at that point without feeling nauseous - but gradually got back into it and finished strongly.
So "Thanks" to everyone involved. And if any entrants fancy a change next year I suggest you do the Marshalls' walk and assist on the main event. (Garfield)

Ah, I seem to have escaped the camera eye at that point; just as well, really, as I had a dreadful night of it on Saturday - staggering around walking into fences, hallucinating(!) and eventually having to lay down for 30 minutes or so next to the race course. I must have looked a fright by the time I reached the checkpoint!

Still, whatever was in those hot dogs worked a treat; the Sunday was an absolute delight, I thought, with the highlights being the Queen Elizabeth Park & Old Winchester Hill (other "memorable" ones including dodging combine harvesters on Beacon Hill and the impromptu limbo dancing on the descent into Kilmeston).

So a great hundred, all in all - I couldn't fault the organisation anywhere and the lovely scenery (deservedly soon to be a National Park) and gorgeous sunny weather was really the icing on the cake. Bravo!

What a walk! Beautiful South Downs countryside, woodland, pretty villages, spring lambs in the fields, cows in the meadows. Excellent catering with a wide variety of food, smiles and encouraging words at all the checkpoints: the marshals couldn't do enough to help. Excellent route description, some nice long straights so as not to overtax the brain cells in the wee hours and the long hot afternoon. The sun was a killer, hammering down, especially on the second day. The usual LDWA courage was evidence: one walker, just beyond Kilmeston, bent over his poles like a C, but determined to finish, many hobbling, certainly most treading lightly because of bruised soles on the baked ground. Thank you to organisers, marshals and helpers, St. John's Ambulance and Raynet.

Our events are outstanding for the calibre of the walk, the route description and the quality and friendliness of checkpoint support. The Wessex 100 is up there with the best of them.

And we haven't mastered the BBCode to activate the link yet.

Take two - http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/grumper.green/StoughtonDownDorsetLDWA?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXEwqiL5_L-jAE&feat=email#

Some photos from CP8 which was at Stoughton Down. Still not sure how to promounce it - Stowton, Stawton, Storton, Stuffton.
[url]http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/grumper.green/StoughtonDownDorsetLDWA?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXEwqiL5_L-jAE&feat=email#[url]