Race Review - The Skeleton Run - 25th October 2013

Apparently I look like Tolstoy

I rocked up nice and early, due to a day of driving around a lot and having lots of time to kill. I parked up and grabbed my race number, then headed back to the car to get ready. This meant changing out of my suit into standard running gear then putting a cheap jester costumer over the top. Then came the fun part of making up my face and beard with white and grey face paints. This took a good 10 minutes, and I also discovered thick face paint makes a great beard and moustache wax!

Once I was made up and dressed up I wondered out to warm up and see if I could find anyone I knew, I couldn't recognise anyone so I just pottered around looking at the costumes and a few warm up jogs. It must have been about 90% fancy dress and 10% serious looking runners. The effort in the fancy dress costumes was incredible I recommend everyone to check out their Facebook site to see the photos. It wasn't long before we mustered at the start line and were given the safety briefing.

From the gun I didn't go out at my usual break neck sprint, and held back and tried to show some restraint. I was still towards the front of the pack and just taking it steady. I felt good and was running well, only losing a few places to whippets in vests and short shorts. As the course turned and started the first up hill the course was littered with HUGE highland cattle, with incredible horns and thick shaggy hair. I gave them a pretty wide birth, even though they were very docile I didn't fancy being stabbed by one of those horns! 

This first hill was hard work and once at the top it was a half mile downhill sprint. This is a great run when it's light and the path isn't covered with leaves and windfall sticks. As good as my head torch was it still only lit the path a few meters ahead so I was holding back a little in case of surprise branches, potholes or nocturnal animals. As we reached the half way point I developed a bit of a stitch and just couldn't shake it. On the second massive 1 mile climb I was starting to struggle, and lots a few more places, at one point I slowed to walk but was encouraged to run by a fellow runner which spurred me on again. Having ran this course quite a few times, I knew the exact point of "DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY". At this point I was determined not to loose any more places, and in fact I managed to pick off half a dozen other runners in this fast finale mile. I overtook a runner on the penultimate bend with 150 meters to go, this meant I really had to fight to keep ahead of him. But I was very happy to keep the lead. I didn't hang around after picking up my t-shirt and medal and just tootled off home.

A great night race, with a great atmosphere and the greatest closing mile of any trail race!

www.theskeletonrun.co.uk

Race Review - Derby Runner Cross Country League - Foremark - 20th October 2013

Having ran my first cross country race yesterday at Markeaton park, I knew what to expect when I arrived and spent the pre-race time pottering around, which a few stretchers and watching the other runners. Again I ran into a few fellow Team Derby Runner members and stood around chatting. As the runners began to muster at the start line people naturally found their correct starting position. As the health and safety I found my self standing behind a tree. Maybe not the best tactical move. When the 'Go' was shouted I found a nice clear path through the low hanging branches of the tree which my fellow runners were running around. I ended up about mid way in the pack and being dragged along at a pace which felt quite quick. My hamstrings were still very sore and tight from yesterday but I was moving so I hoped they would loosen up soon enough.

The first part of the course was pretty flat and open, but it didn't thin out a lot, we were still running at least 2 a breast after the first 10 minutes. Once into the wooded area the route became hillier and when we left the cover of the trees it became very steep and slippery, luckily the descent wasn't too slippery but i still took a very wide route at the bottom of the hill to avoid landing on my ass. After a another few minor ups and downs there was a long hard slog uphill. This slowed me to walk, but i managed to pick up the pace on the long flat drag back towards the start/finish area. Just before the finish line there was a great swooping downhill section that allowed you to carry heaps of speed through the finish line and the start pf the second lap.

The runners, were equally friendly here as they were yesterday at Markeaton, and I chatted with a few guys as they passed me or I passed them. The slippy hills killed me once again on the second lap and I lost a lot of places here. but on the long drag to the finishing swoop I managed to hold off all but one other runners and picked up the pace. I got into a decent rhythm along this path and the last female runner I overtook decided she wasn't going to make my life easy and stuck on my shoulder, I tried to push harder and shake her off, but I couldn't. As we left the flat long path and reached the final downhill swoop she received huge cheers from the crowd and overtook me on the descent. Turns out I'm not the charming, chivalrous man, that my mum thinks I am. I dropped the hammer with about 70 or 80 meters to go and retook the lead and kept it all the way to the line. I was decent enough to turn and thank the lady for pushing me hard in the last 300 meters.

Another great race, great atmosphere, and stunning course. The hardest thing was limping back to the car with incredibly sore legs.

http://www.derbyrunnerleague.co.uk/

Thanks to
http://www.derbyrunner.com/
http://www.nottinghamrunner.com/
for the photos and great support.

Race Review - North Midlands Cross Country League - Markeaton Park - 19th October 2013

This was my very first cross country race, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I didn't expect was the huge number of people racing, especially all the children. When I arrived on site  there was about a dozen marquees and tents with club banners flying and large pockets of runners all wearing matching vests. Everyone was very friendly and cheering on the children's races and the female races too. The wh
ole feel to the event was very family orientated, and a real festival of running.

Team Derby Runner

I soon spotted Team Derby Runner's marquee, as it was the biggest marquee and the only one selling shoes, spikes and everything else a runner could want. I registered with our team captain, and then went for a wonder round to watch the runners and do a little stretching. Before I start the review, i'm going to get some excuses in. My friend had organised a night out in Derby, for a ghost walk, darts and beers for the Friday night so I was feeling a little delicate after a few beers, kebab (I did go for chicken to be healthy) and a late (2:30am) bedtime. I was very happy today was a very civilized 1:55pm start!

I put my self at the back of pack and chatted with my fellow Team Derby Runner member, when the gun went I shuffled off and weaved through a few of the back markers, the running was steady but I was in no state to push hard from the 'go'. It didn't take long for the pack to thin into a single file and I was happyish trudging along. When the first hill hit it was bloody tough, and very slippery, maybe I should invest in some new cross country shoes and spikes? It was too late to be thinking of new shoes and the first lap was dealt with and I wasn't doing too bad. I did spot some guys from Parkrun ahead of me, that I know I've been faster than, at Parkrun, so I knew my pace wasn't great.

The second lap was all about mucus and snot. My second excuse of the day is have a crappy head cold which didn't help my breathing or focus. Running with a big beard, snotty nose, and phlegm filled throat leads to some absolutely disgusting coughs, gobs and farmer's handkerchief action. Running whilst de-glooping the face fuzz must have added to my overall time. The hill on the second lap seem higher steeper and even slippery. Pretty sure the guys from The Derby Runner where spraying the hills with water to make them slippier so that i will decide to definitely buy a pair of spikes.

Just at the base of the ever growing hill

I was still unsure if it was 2 or 3 laps as reached the finish point. But the man holding the tape indicated a 3rd lap was needed to finished the race. If lap one was 'steady', and lap two 'snotty', lap three was 'nauseous'. Last nights range of bottled largers, real ales, and nasty wee dram of cheap whisky was now mixing with the muesli breakfast and my crumpet lunch. I'm now just running stready and hoping I don't loose my lunch the hills are still getting steeper and greasier.

On the final climb with about a 1km to go a man in a bright yellow Harborough running vest passes me. At this point my race brain finally kicked in and I told myself 'No. Not today. You, my yellow chested friend, are not going to beat me.' So i picked up my knees and kept close to his shoulder, we started catching 2 other runners as we started the final descent. One of the two targets were being enthusiastically encouraged by teams mates who had finished and wondered back along the course to speed them on. I pulled up next to Mr Yellow and encouraged him that we should make sure we beat the two guys who were 50 meters out in front. he replied with a very Jolly 'Pick your knees and go get em' That's all I needed to put a decent bounce in my stride I pushed as hard I could and quickly caught the targets. But as I passed them we were about 300 meters away from the line and the crowds started to cheer which picked up their pace too. I'm normally pushing hard to overtake someone plodding to the line, this time I was in the lead of a group of four and HAD to hold them off. This was new to me, not having someone to focus on a beat was very hard. So it was 'hammer' time, 'empty the tank' time, 'throw-up on timing marshall's shoes if you need to' time. I passed the finish line ahead of the trio of targets, kept my stomach contents and felt like I had at least ran the last 1 km and the previous 9 km were just a warm up.

I had such a great day and XC Leagues are a really raw challenge, simply run off road, as fast as you can.

http://www.northmidsxcleague.co.uk/

Thanks to
http://www.derbyrunner.com/
http://www.nottinghamrunner.com/
for the photos and great support.

Race Review - Survival of the Fittest - Nottingham - 12th October 2013

My official review was written for Mudstacle.com
You can read the review here:
http://www.mudstacle.com/2013/10/survival-fittest-nottingham-review-surprisingly-rural-urban-adventure.html

Here are a couple of pics of me from the day:

Race Review - Tissington Half Marathon - 6th October 2013

My legs felt surprisingly okay after yesterdays Endurer Dash race, and after a breakfast of porridge and bananas, and a quick play on the foam roller, my sister picked me up and we were off to Ashbourne. It was pretty chilly and misty at 8am in Belper, so I put a tech t-shirt on, beneath my running vest, but when we arrived in Ashbourne it was a little warmer so I removed the t-shirt and went for Team Derby Runner vest and running shorts. It was a bit chilly but better to be a little too cold than too hot. Once in the sports hall i put my timing chip on and pinned my number to my vest. It was great catching up with fellow TDR members and chatting about races and running in general.

The coach trip from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay was great fun, it was like going on a school trip, everyone chatted and excited (and nervous) I was very happy to be sat next to Richard who just chatted away and and made the journey fly by, and didn't give me anytime to worry about my first half marathon. Even though i have ran a longer race, and ran over 13 miles in training, I was still intimidated by a half marathon, so it was great that my sister wanted me to run with her as she was equally apprehensive, and likes to chat while she runs.

From the start we set off at a very steady pace, and let streams of other runners pass us by. This was agonizing. My competitiveness hates it when anyone overtakes me but I soon settled and let them wash past without wishing the shoe eating fairies would strike them down. I was also distracted from fantasizing about the downfall of my fellow runners by the stunning scenery. Green fields and pockets of trees, alongside miles of Derbyshire's famous dry stone walls. The mile markers seemed to come an go pretty quickly and it wasn't too long before we had reached the 3 mile mark and the first of the water stations. A couple glasses of water while we walked through the drinking stations and it was back up to pace.

The second quarter of the course and we had hit a nice pace and the runners had thinned out and we swapped places with other runners at a similar pace. It was a little frustrating running at a slower pace than usual so I occasionally stopped to pickup litter or take a photo, and then would sprint to catch up up with Sheena. At the 6 mile (ish) water station I took advantage of a the fig rolls and washed them down with water. We're pretty much half way and the legs, lungs and spirit are still doing well. If was hard to get back into a run after walking through the water station but it only took 30 seconds to get back up to rhythm. The third quarter of the course was a bit of a slog but we managed to pass a few runners who had slowed to a walking pace.

At the 9 mile (ish) water station it was more about jelly babies. With only 4 miles to go we pressed on, safe in the knowledge we would finish and we would complete a half marathon. This felt great. with a couple of miles to go we had an energy gel each, and mine was really kicking in after about 5 minutes. My knee was starting to get sore, and I warned my sister I was going to leave her at mile 12 and stretch my legs out and go for a fast finish. A combination of jelly babies, energy gel, and a 12 mile warm up, made the giant vibrant yellow board with a simple "12 Mile" a very welcome sign. "See you at the fiiiiinnnnniiiisshhhhhhhh...."

I was off. Running as fast as I could, I even caught up with a couple on bikes and managed to pass them as they slowed to get round a barrier. This was great fun, the runners I passed gave me great encouragement, and support which just made me try and run harder, as I reached the 500 meter mark I saw a large crowd gathered and thought that was the finish line but they cheered and shouted, "not far to go". As i turned the final bend, I could see the finish. There was a lady in orange about 20 meters from the line, and I was about 80 meters away. Pah. I'll never overtake her. Fuck It. I'll give it a go. I broke into a full sprint which took even me by surprise. I managed to sneak past the lady in orange just before the timing mats. I suddenly realized that half marathon finish lines are a little short for sprint finishes and only just stopped in front of the marshals handing out medals and collecting timing chips. Tired and buzzing from the sprint I wondered back up the course to cheer my sister on and the runners who had spurred me on over the last 13.1 miles.

http://www.nice-work.org.uk/

Time 2:15:14

Race Review - Endurer Dash - 5th October 2013

Me and the big man from Mudstacle

Having had an incredibly bizarre evening in the company with Pete from Mudstacle in my local pub which involved; a sneaky beer, pork pie, watching an old man try, and make a spectacular fail of a one handed handstand in the pub and beating my posh mate at Chess. This wasn't your usual pre-race preparation. but Endurer isn't your usual 8km race either.

Pete and I rocked up, registered, chatted with a few other racers which I recognized from other races, and a those that recognized the beard, and came over to say hello. It was a very friendly start to the day and ran it to a great guy who I hadn't seen for a couple of years and was a great surprise to see him here. I missed the warm up as I was chatting too much and when the air horn went I was still milling about right at the back of the wave. I both love and hate the start of this race, the opening 500 meters is all up the steepest hill on the course, it is a real lung buster and leg burner, but such a great challenge.

Running hard at Endurer

This must be my 4th or 5th time running the Endurer Dash, and this year I was determined to RUN every step and not let the hills force me to walk, the first wasn't too much of an issue, and it thinned out the wave pretty well. After hills my 2nd biggest nemesis is log / sandbag carries. I can't do anymore than walk when carrying a sandbag (next time I'll RUN the sandbag carry). Once i had handed over the sandbag, it was the best part of the course, the ravine run, running through ferns and brambles down to a small stream and running through the stream before quick clamber out and over a series of horse fences.

It was then back in the bracken carpeted woods for stunning trail running and a rope assisted descent and ascent into and out of a steep valley, once out of the valley came the number 1 nemesis, a killer, steep hill which I have never had the legs or lungs to run up, but today was the day, I plodded on and chugged past a few walkers who cheered me on, and a couple of guys who advised to save my energy and walk. Those guys were probably right, but this was my goal, my mission and I was going to 'endure'. Towards the top of this cardiac hill the course is over slick wet grass but I knew the end was insight, and when I get to the tree line, we have a downhill trail run. When I made it to the trees, I was stoked, I pumped my fist and had conquered my nemesis. I was shattered and had only ran about 3km with another grueling 5km to go.

Clearing the tires at Endurer

The middle section of Endurer is an epic trail run through hilly marshland, hilly farmland, and hilly woodland, broken up with swamps a tunnel crawl, and some steep scrambles. The tire climb over wall marks the start of the final section where obstacles start to come thick and fast. I love the climbing wall a-frame, this is such a great twist on the classic a-frame obstacle. the wall is great too. The new position of the monkey bars was a killer. Climbing up giant steps to be presented with long ladder to monkey across was absolutely draining, i couldn't run when I landed, I could barely walk, it took 20 or 30 secs before I mustered, enough energy back to carry on running, before being hit with the pond.

Looking like Jesus, but still can't walk on water

The water dip was bloody freezing but as always, I took a running leap, safe in the knowledge the water is deep enough to be over enthusiastic. I quick swim and it was plodding up hills time again. I just couldn't run this hill, I just didn't have the energy or power for this one, I was slightly comforted by the fact that no one else was running this hill either. once at the top it was a the final half km of hay bales, one of the greatest water slides, steep, fast and covered in fairy liquid. I took a running leap and landed heavy on my hip but it was too much fun t worry about an extra bruise. once back on my feet it was a hard sprint to finish line.

An incredible race, I was slightly disappointing with my time. Forcing my self to run up the entire cardiac hill, was a pretty bad tactic, but I'm super stoked I managed to run it, and I know that next year, I can CHOOSE to walk or run it!

www.endurerevents.co.uk