Grand Union Canal 145 Mile Race

The Grand Union Canal Race (GUCR) is an ultramarathon run from the centre of Birmingham to the centre of London along the Grand Union Canal. Competitors are required to complete the 145-mile (233 km) distance within a time limit of 45 hours. Resting for more than 40 minutes at a time is not permitted. The maximum number of competitors is 80 and is very quickly reached.

Race record is held by Pat Robbins who completed the course in 25h 37min in May 2011 and won the event for the fourth consecutive time.

Famous quotes containing the words grand, union, canal, mile and/or race:

    The grand principles of virtue and honor, however they may be distorted by arbitrary codes, are the same the world over: and where these principles are concerned, the right or wrong of any action appears the same to the uncultivated as to the enlightened mind.
    Herman Melville (1819–1891)

    She had brought love to the union and he had brought a longing after the flesh.
    Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)

    My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    Telephone poles were matchsticks, put there to be snapped off at a whim. Dogs trotting across the road were suddenly big trucks. Old ladies turned into moving—vans. Everything was too bright, but very funny and made for my delight. And about half a mile from my long liquid breakfast I turned carefully down a side street and parked, and sat beaming happily through the tannic fog for about an hour, remembering how witty we all had been, how handsome and talented ... [ellipsis in original]
    M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)

    And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men too, when they, at their birth, have grey hair on their temples.
    Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)