Guernsey's first vertical km event tomorrow

Friday 10 August 2018

Island runners are set to gather on the South Coast cliffs tomorrow morning to take part in a vertical kilometre race.

The participants will be racing to be the first to scale 1,000m in vertical height - done by running on the cliffs - as opposed to running a usual distance. But they will still be running about nine miles along the way.

The racers have been asked to meet at the starting point of the Doyle Column at Petit Port for a 09:00 start on Saturday.

Michael Quittenden, a member of the Guernsey Long Distance Running Club who are organising the event, said: "We are organising the first VK in the Channel Islands. The v1000 is not about distance but about racing the height or "vert", they are usually run on mountains.

"Our race Director has been devising a course based around Petit Port and the Doyle Column - it starts on the beach, where the runners are required to run up to touch the base of Doyle Column, and from there choose one of several turn points."

A briefing will be given at 08:40 on the rules of the "short and steep" race.

There will be prizes for the first man and woman to cross the line and also a prize for best effort, along with all finishers getting medals.

Mr Quittenden said they were hoping to make the event an annual feature as VKs were becoming increasingly popular in the international running community.

The Guernsey Long Distance Running Club itself is a community focused club which is focused on offering free distance events to support the local long distance runners. It is aiming to compliment the athletics club and other organisers over here. 

More information can be found about the race tomorrow and also other races the club are hosting can be found on their Facebook page or on their website, distance.gg.