Ultra runner Elsey Davis has revealed she lost her GPS watch early on in the 50-mile Arc of Attrition race last week – but it didn’t stop her from setting a stunning new record on the course.
The British runner completed the Arc50 race, which follows the Cornish section of the South West Coast Path in England, in an astonishing seven hours, 55 minutes and 48 seconds, shaving more than 25 minutes off the previous record, but she shared on Instagram that her victory was not without a few obstacles.
At mile 10, Davis says her sleeve got stuck on a gate latch and it must have been then that she accidentally shed her watch.
“I only realised a mile later that my watch had got caught too and had fallen off.. so I ran 40 miles without a watch,” says the new mum, who reveals that during a race she uses her watch primarily for nutrition alerts and navigation.
Things could have gone horribly wrong, but Davis’ wealth of experience came into play – she explains she knows the route well and had plenty of running gels at her disposal.
“Thankfully the course is very familiar to me and I guessed when I needed to take a gel which worked out well – I ate 17 40g carb gels in the 8 hours! But sadly no Strava data.”
Other than the lack of Strava kudos, a “small puke” at the finish line and some gnarly toenails, Davis managed to clear the tech hurdle like the pro that she is in her North Face Vectiv Infinite IIs.
She didn’t reveal which watch she was running with, but she has been using a Coros watch for several years – perhaps she’s upgraded to the Pace Pro? Whichever model it is, she’s happily reunited with it thanks to a good Samaritan who turned it in after the race.
Davis is a medical doctor who has competed for Team GB multiple times as a cross-country runner. She has previously set records in the Bob Graham Round at the UTMB Nice Cote d’Azur 100k.
Over in the men’s race, Davis’ coach Tom Evans also set a new record, becoming the first runner to finish in under seven hours.
