Athlete Race Recap: Great Bristol Run & Cotton Patch Challenge

This past weekend was a very busy one for Full Circle Endurance athletes. Three athletes raced at IRONMAN Maryland, one raced at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, and the final two raced at the two races featured in this race report: The Great Bristol Run and the Cotton Patch Challenge.

Cotton Patch Challenge - Greenville, Texas

On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Jacquie Cragget took on the 61-mile route of the Cotton Patch Challenge in Greenville, Texas!

Jacquie is preparing to race at IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis, and this event worked quite nicely with the final week of her Peak Training Phase for that event. We used the Cotton Patch Challenge as a supported training day and her final long Bike/Run Brick in preparation for IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis. Jacquie tested EVERYTHING that she plans to do/use at IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis out, to include her race kit, nutrition, hydration, and race plan (including stop time).

One of the great things about having a “test event” like this included as part of one’s training plan is that it gives the athlete time to fix anything that goes awry in time for their main goal race.  Jacquie’s use of this event as a supported training day allowed us to hone in on her final race day plan for IRONMAN 70.3 Memphis, which is (hopefully ;) ) going to give her a lot of confidence heading into that race day.

To top it off, Jacquie had a very strong ride, which bodes extremely well for the big event in just under two weeks!

Way to go, Jacquie!

Great Bristol Run - Bristol, United Kingdom

On Sunday, September 19, 2021, Rachel Andrew raced the half marathon at the Great Bristol Run in Bristol, United Kingdom. This race was especially appealing to Rachel because she could walk to and from the start/finish lines from her house!

This was the first in-person longer-distance running event that Rachel has done since the COVID-19 Pandemic started, which made it significant and important for her.  The United Kingdom has had very strict measures in place throughout the entire pandemic, so any opportunity that she gets to race is a very treasured one.

Rachel has been struggling with some nagging injuries, but I’m pleased to say that she completed all 13.1 of these miles without aggravating any of her injuries or causing any new ones to pop up!  This was a big success, and her time out on that run course gave her some time to think about her upcoming goals and what she wants to achieve, which is always a therapeutic thing.

As a nice bonus, Rachel was able to stop by the shop that sells gluten-free halloumi and chips* as she walked home from the finish! :)

Bravo, Rachel!

*For the Americans reading this: “Chips” actually means fries, but British ones. Rachel tells me that they are like a potato cut in three. :)