Seán Nickell raced at Last One Standing in the beautiful surroundings of the Florence Court estate on Saturday 10th February. Unlike most other races where athletes race to cover a measured distance or cover the most miles within a set time, the athletes at Last One Standing line up at midday to run a 4.2 mile loop through the demesne. They return to the start line again at 1pm to start the second lap, and at 2pm to begin their third lap and so on. Tactics come into play as runners may complete the laps more slowly to conserve energy for the later stages or run faster to allow more time to take on food and drink, change kit, rest or use the toilet. The race continues until only one runner is left to complete the final lap within an hour to become the last one standing. Unfortunately, despite his strong performances at previous Last One Standing events stomach issues from lap 7 affected Seán’s race and he withdrew after 14 hours or almost 59 miles. The race continued into Monday morning where Armagh man Vincent McMath called it a day after 36 laps leaving the eventual winner, Peter Cromie of Limavady to complete the final 37th lap and win after covering more than 155 miles.
[Seán Nickell]
