GROUNDHOG RELAY
NORTHERN SIX STAGE ROAD RELAYS
I'm always happy to help out the team, but a return to racing on this contrived course from hell at Sportcity expanded my flexibility to it's limits. If running the inside and outside shape of a horseshoe around the Etihad Stadium, followed by an equally featureless journey around the outer expanses of a car park wasn't bad enough, I had to do two laps of it all. I was here two years ago for Blackburn Harriers - it was the most dull, flat, mundane, contrived course I had ever raced then, so with an extra 1.2 kilometres of it this time around, that did nothing to ease my fraught relationship with this place.
That said, and repeating sentiments expressed from that last trip here, it is a great venue from a logistical point of view. No traffic, no pedestrians or cyclists to dodge around, easy parking, good for spectating and a super base camp in the athletics arena. For the fast lads and road heads I dare say the course is ideal too, but for a lover of hills, greenery and vintage architecture, running around there as fast as I could was done for absolutely no other reason than a sheer primitive duty to my club.
Manchester City might be the best football team in the land right now and the stadium may look lush on the inside, but this concrete corner to the east of the city is a soulless spanse of clinical design. As a regular visitor to City's old ground at Maine Road in my teenage years, I guess the aesthetics, or should I say the distinct lack of them at this modern replacement and relocation, disappoints me even more. I just can't connect the two Man City's together. The name of the club hasn't changed but everything else has. My Dad was a Bolton fan and similarly, I was a regular visitor to Burnden Park. Now The Trotters trot out at a stadium on a retail park out of town. Sentiment probably clouds my vision on this subject to a degree, but soul and character is something modern football stadia just doesn't encapsulate in my opinion. At least not in Manchester City or Bolton - or should I say, East Manchester and Horwich.
Back to the racing then and for all my moaning and groaning about the course, these relays bring out plenty of great running talent from the North of England and it's a rare opportunity to see some of the best up against each other.
At Ribble Valley Harriers, on paper great things looked possible with our prospective line ups in the Ladies and Men's 'A' teams. But Katie Walshaw was bolted off her horse the night before and only deemed herself unfit to run just before the start. Prior to that, two potentially big players in the Men's 'A' team dropped out. Michael Cayton's calf strain didn't hamper his impressive training run the day before and suggested that a more than adequate shift could have been put in for the team. However it seems Michael brings nothing less than his A+ game to the race table and had disappointingly opted out. Unpredictable Josh Boyle went quiet on the days leading up to the race and when prompted, said he had a niggle. A gifted and talented young individual, but ultimately unreliable. For me, both guys a little void of spirit and ambition when it comes to team competition, which is crazy when one considers how good they are and how good this team could have been with them in it. The pair missed a fantastic opportunity to team up with fellow big hitters Chris Holdworth and Callum Davidson. They could have played a part in something special on the men's debut at this competition, but it wasn't to be. In contrast, Chris and Callum seem very team orientated and always at the ready the relish a challenge.
In the final reckoning though, the Ladies 'A' team held out for a fine 7th place and the patched up Men's 'A' did enough to qualify for the National's, so far from entirely disastrous in the end. The Team 'B's ended up all at sea though. To buffer the 'A' team, Ladies 'B' ran a lass short and finished incomplete, as did our men's who were also one short. We ended up as either an incomplete team, disqualified, or both. There was a rumour that Ste Hall ran twice, the second time under the disguise of a black cap. I mean, how ridiculous. What sort of an outfit would pull a stunt like that? To quote Arsene Wenger on this one, "I didn't see anything".
I ran the third leg and there really wasn't that much to report other than I passed a few and probably a good few less than actually went past me. If the course wasn't repetitive enough, then the continuous sight and sound of Clayton-le-Moors coach Phil Hall all over the course did nothing to reverse by ailing state of mental wellbeing.
I wasn't particularly pleased with my time and thought I was probably thirty seconds shy of what I can do at the moment. But road racing creases me up these days. After two miles or so of hard running on the hard stuff, it's one ache and pain piling on top of the other and eventually feels like every niggle I've ever had comes back to haunt me. On that second lap it was just bloody awful, grimly hanging on to pace in the hope something doesn't go permanently ping. Get me back running on those fells please. The day after, I did just that and thankfully all was forgotten and those pavement pounding pain points subsided slightly.
Sunday 23rd September 2018
NORTHERN SIX STAGE ROAD RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS
My Stats - Ribble Valley Harriers 'B' Leg 3 (6.7K) 23:58
Tuesday, 25 September 2018
Saturday, 15 September 2018
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
DAVID EAMANUEL COWM RESERVOIR 5K
The night races hadn't quite finished in fact. A remote fell race at Egremont initially pricked my ears and prodded my imagination. Wishing for an ideal world to just get over there and explore, a round journey of over four hours to Cumbria's most Western extremes just couldn't really be justified on a Thursday night. Fortunately that man Andy O'Sullivan came to the rescue with another Reservoir 5K on the calendar. So I headed over to Whitworth instead for the second Thursday in succession and to Cowm Reservoir in particular - a third visit this year - and a welcome test of speed on the flat.
The morning of race day though, I felt rough. Heavy head, puffy glands and slow metabolism. No amount of fresh air, purifying water and good coffee seemed to shift it. I was resigned to thinking there was no chance of racing for a good portion of the day and that was the case until late afternoon when I finally showed signs of life.
I still didn't feel full shilling but decided to give it a go. Encouraged by the words of Ben Fish still ringing in my ears from a couple of years ago and the David Moorcroft syndrome - if Moorcroft felt a bit crap on race day, he knew he was on for a good one - then that, along with another decent week of training, was the hope I was clinging on to.
Fear me not though, it didn't take much of a warm up to get things moving and realise I could probably end up running quite well... again? Could lightning strike twice? Lap one of two certainly didn't take anything out of me. Early on I shared the pace with club mate Helen Glover who went on to win the ladies contest easily. Then I nudged up to fifth spot having passed the Holcombe runner that I thought could be John Raho, but wasn't for believing it was him as I don't recall getting near him in a race before. Pace felt good and it was only in the last three quarters of a mile that I had to start working a bit harder to sustain it. I thought I'd shook off that Holcombe vest for good but could hear company closing in with maybe half a mile to go. As we turn towards the head of the reservoir for the last time I decided to try for an early break and stretch out a gap, but the Holcombe man matched my efforts and squared up with me on the drop towards the finish. With a hundred yards to go, he nudged ahead and I accidentally clipped his heels in a desperate attempt to stay with him before saving a surge for the final twenty strides. But, having thankfully stayed on his feet, he was clearly in command and responded again to pip me by a second. Turned out it was John Raho, probably not at his best, but I gave him a race. Turned out I'd knocked half a minute off my last appearance here and I didn't have to hang on so grimly either. Good signs and job satisfaction to reflect on for this now well worn journey back via East Lancashire gems like Bacup, Stacksteads, Brittania, Rawtenstall and the Grane Road which connnects the M65 to the wild West of home.
A final word then for organiser Andy O'Sullivan and the Andems Runners team, of whom I seem to be waxing literal about most frequently these days. But what a cracking guy. His organisation is impeccable, his races directly fund local causes and he does it for the love. He does it for us runners. What does he say to us at the end? ''Did you enjoy it lads?'' and you feel it's important to him that you did enjoy it. That's just it, our pleasure is his pleasure. As race organisers go, they just don't make many like this guy anymore. He was at the table doing registration, he was at the start to get us all off, he was on the course commentating on his loudspeaker after lap one - I even got a mention to treasure - ''...John from Ribble Valley coming through...'' - then he's down at the finish commentating on that too, then he's back doing the presentation at the pub... he was everywhere.
It's a bit of a bind getting over to Whitworth from my neck of the woods, but I'll be at it again next Spring for sure. I'd been absent from Andems races for a good few years, it's great to be back. In this era of ruthless profit making events companies bastardising running races as we knew them, we need the Andy O'Sullivan's of this world to keep amateur running honest, genuine and real. I heard he's been campaigning for the great Ron Hill to be knighted - the powers that be could do a lot worse than recognise Andy himself in the honours list as well.
Thursday 13th September 2018
DAVID EAMANUEL COWM RESERVOIR 5K Cowm Reservoir, Whitworth.
1st Man - Will Smith (Halifax Harriers) 16:29
1st Lady - Helen Glover (Ribble Valley Harriers) 18:13
My Stats - 17:39 6/85
A final word then for organiser Andy O'Sullivan and the Andems Runners team, of whom I seem to be waxing literal about most frequently these days. But what a cracking guy. His organisation is impeccable, his races directly fund local causes and he does it for the love. He does it for us runners. What does he say to us at the end? ''Did you enjoy it lads?'' and you feel it's important to him that you did enjoy it. That's just it, our pleasure is his pleasure. As race organisers go, they just don't make many like this guy anymore. He was at the table doing registration, he was at the start to get us all off, he was on the course commentating on his loudspeaker after lap one - I even got a mention to treasure - ''...John from Ribble Valley coming through...'' - then he's down at the finish commentating on that too, then he's back doing the presentation at the pub... he was everywhere.
It's a bit of a bind getting over to Whitworth from my neck of the woods, but I'll be at it again next Spring for sure. I'd been absent from Andems races for a good few years, it's great to be back. In this era of ruthless profit making events companies bastardising running races as we knew them, we need the Andy O'Sullivan's of this world to keep amateur running honest, genuine and real. I heard he's been campaigning for the great Ron Hill to be knighted - the powers that be could do a lot worse than recognise Andy himself in the honours list as well.
Thursday 13th September 2018
DAVID EAMANUEL COWM RESERVOIR 5K Cowm Reservoir, Whitworth.
1st Man - Will Smith (Halifax Harriers) 16:29
1st Lady - Helen Glover (Ribble Valley Harriers) 18:13
My Stats - 17:39 6/85
Saturday, 8 September 2018
...AND LIFT OFF
HADES HILL
Delusion it was not. This turned out to be my best outing of the year and a bloody long time in the making. Hardly a result to turn heads on the local running scene, but the rare satisfaction of giving a decent account of myself was finally savoured.
In all probability I expected to be the only one there representing my club, but it seems I'd been kept out of the loop as I immediately spot Chris Holdsworth galloping around, Matt Lalor in the loo, Ste Hall, Chris Barnes, then Helen Glover at the start... the army was here to sweep up.
The out and back Hades Hill race is generally the final evening fell race on the calendar and it's eight years since my last run here. For the last five of those years, Andy O'Sullivan's Andems Runners have taken over the organisation. As I will have mentioned before, Andy is a thoroughly top chap and, well, just a little bit eccentric - you couldn't have written the script that evening. With his trademark loudspeaker at full whack, he shepherds everyone along to the bottom of the road to get us all off on time. But then, to Andy's dismay, a bloke in a car rolls up waiting to pass through the swathe of over 150 runners. ''There's a car waitin'. We'll 'av to let him through. Move to t'side everyone, we'll have to let him through...... he's pulling his face.....'' Andy is still on loudspeaker!! It was comedy genius, real life Peter Kay material.
The present organiser then introduces the former Hades Hill race organiser of over thirty years, Derek Clutterbuck, (A proper Lancashire name) to get us started and hands over the loudspeaker telling him, ''Keep it short, we want to get 'em off, then just say go''.
Well Mr Clutterbuck doesn't use the loudspeaker, doesn't keep it that short and then asks, ''Should I say 3-2-1-go, or just go?". ''Just say go!'', stresses Andy. You had to chuckle.
Despite a missing runner at the start, we were finally off and soon enough the lass in question comes bounding down the road in the opposite direction to catch on to the back of the field. Holdsworth's off up the road like a man possessed, Lalor shifts up to high places, Hall and Barnes are always quick out of the traps and I get a biting tightness up my left adductor which is a cause for concern. I keep it fairly steady in the hope the pain fades, still find myself having a decent start. With no more twinges to report as we leave the top of the road for the open moor, directly ahead are Ste Hall, Chris Barnes and Dan Gilbert. Although I'm thinking these lads are going to beat me, I set out to try and see how close I can get. It turned out to be a tasty race for top ten positions. As I tried to keep ground on those just ahead, the very distinctive grunts of Ashley Holt were pressuring me from right behind. Finding myself in the most unusual place of just behind Ste after the first climb, whether or not he was on his full mettle that night, it was encouraging to be up there. With the final climb to the turnaround point in view, I briefly gained a place before losing one again seconds later. I pass the Grenfell lad of Rossendale, when another Rossendale vest of Ashley's surges past the pair of us. But I was set on staying with Ash as long as I could. Soon after levelling up with him with about a mile to go, his red diesel engine produced a bit extra and started to edge away from me. Ash then passes Barnes and he's dragged me in to closer contention with him, so I make the Barnes my final target. A ten second gap to shrink for a top ten spot - I got it down to three or four just before we hit the road near the finish, but I knew Chris would relish hitting the tarmac more than me and he restored his gap over that last quarter mile. So 11th it was, but less than half a minute behind Ste Hall in 7th who led a cluster of V40's that read Gilbert, Holt, Barnes, Sutton.
Holdworth won easily with another course record, Glover took the ladies race in a new record too and completed the sweep. Lalor was an impressive 3rd, then us three oldies made it five Ribble vests in the top eleven. It's been a familiar story at many races over the Summer. Invariably the incarnation of Ribble Valley Harriers is loved or hated, respected or resented, but it looks like the club is here to stay.
Thursday 6th September 2018
HADES HILL 5m/1200ft Whitworth, Nr Rochdale.
1st Man - Chris Holdsworth (Ribble Valley Harriers) 30:15
1st Lady - Helen Glover (Ribble Valley Harriers) 37:04
My Stats - 35:47 11/152
HADES HILL
Delusion it was not. This turned out to be my best outing of the year and a bloody long time in the making. Hardly a result to turn heads on the local running scene, but the rare satisfaction of giving a decent account of myself was finally savoured.
In all probability I expected to be the only one there representing my club, but it seems I'd been kept out of the loop as I immediately spot Chris Holdsworth galloping around, Matt Lalor in the loo, Ste Hall, Chris Barnes, then Helen Glover at the start... the army was here to sweep up.
The out and back Hades Hill race is generally the final evening fell race on the calendar and it's eight years since my last run here. For the last five of those years, Andy O'Sullivan's Andems Runners have taken over the organisation. As I will have mentioned before, Andy is a thoroughly top chap and, well, just a little bit eccentric - you couldn't have written the script that evening. With his trademark loudspeaker at full whack, he shepherds everyone along to the bottom of the road to get us all off on time. But then, to Andy's dismay, a bloke in a car rolls up waiting to pass through the swathe of over 150 runners. ''There's a car waitin'. We'll 'av to let him through. Move to t'side everyone, we'll have to let him through...... he's pulling his face.....'' Andy is still on loudspeaker!! It was comedy genius, real life Peter Kay material.
The present organiser then introduces the former Hades Hill race organiser of over thirty years, Derek Clutterbuck, (A proper Lancashire name) to get us started and hands over the loudspeaker telling him, ''Keep it short, we want to get 'em off, then just say go''.
Well Mr Clutterbuck doesn't use the loudspeaker, doesn't keep it that short and then asks, ''Should I say 3-2-1-go, or just go?". ''Just say go!'', stresses Andy. You had to chuckle.
Despite a missing runner at the start, we were finally off and soon enough the lass in question comes bounding down the road in the opposite direction to catch on to the back of the field. Holdsworth's off up the road like a man possessed, Lalor shifts up to high places, Hall and Barnes are always quick out of the traps and I get a biting tightness up my left adductor which is a cause for concern. I keep it fairly steady in the hope the pain fades, still find myself having a decent start. With no more twinges to report as we leave the top of the road for the open moor, directly ahead are Ste Hall, Chris Barnes and Dan Gilbert. Although I'm thinking these lads are going to beat me, I set out to try and see how close I can get. It turned out to be a tasty race for top ten positions. As I tried to keep ground on those just ahead, the very distinctive grunts of Ashley Holt were pressuring me from right behind. Finding myself in the most unusual place of just behind Ste after the first climb, whether or not he was on his full mettle that night, it was encouraging to be up there. With the final climb to the turnaround point in view, I briefly gained a place before losing one again seconds later. I pass the Grenfell lad of Rossendale, when another Rossendale vest of Ashley's surges past the pair of us. But I was set on staying with Ash as long as I could. Soon after levelling up with him with about a mile to go, his red diesel engine produced a bit extra and started to edge away from me. Ash then passes Barnes and he's dragged me in to closer contention with him, so I make the Barnes my final target. A ten second gap to shrink for a top ten spot - I got it down to three or four just before we hit the road near the finish, but I knew Chris would relish hitting the tarmac more than me and he restored his gap over that last quarter mile. So 11th it was, but less than half a minute behind Ste Hall in 7th who led a cluster of V40's that read Gilbert, Holt, Barnes, Sutton.
Holdworth won easily with another course record, Glover took the ladies race in a new record too and completed the sweep. Lalor was an impressive 3rd, then us three oldies made it five Ribble vests in the top eleven. It's been a familiar story at many races over the Summer. Invariably the incarnation of Ribble Valley Harriers is loved or hated, respected or resented, but it looks like the club is here to stay.
Thursday 6th September 2018
HADES HILL 5m/1200ft Whitworth, Nr Rochdale.
1st Man - Chris Holdsworth (Ribble Valley Harriers) 30:15
1st Lady - Helen Glover (Ribble Valley Harriers) 37:04
My Stats - 35:47 11/152
Sunday, 2 September 2018
TO PEAKS OR NOT TO PEAKS? THAT IS THE QUESTION
August was clearly the heaviest month of mileage for eighteen months and I dare say one of the best. Just a few weeks of genuinely good, solid training is all it takes to get the love back, but also to get a bit giddy and start thinking way ahead of myself... oh no, the Three Peaks Race has got inside my head again. I expected it would do at some point. I was never going to be able to part company with this epic race on a DNF. The Peaks may well be eight months in to the future unknown, but now is the time to provisionally plant a seed in my head if the shoots of redemption really are to be sewn. A provisional plantation of such a seed at this time is merely to intend, rather than commit just yet. But it means Autumn training must start slowly trending towards that eventual goal at the end of next April. Initially though, gearing up for The Tour of Pendle Race in November will be the telling factor. A long overdue return to this tough seventeen miler should tell me whether my legs are going to comply with my intentions. If there's no sign of promise at The Tour, then I won't waste Winter chasing the impossible and so forget Three Peaks and revert back to normal service.
Normal service lately has been promising. Plenty of hard work on the fells, effective speed sessions on my grass track on Worden Park and a toughness starting to build up. Recovery seems speedier and a capability to run half decent on battered legs has returned. I've been blaming the ageing process, when actually just a little more application, a few more miles and bit more bit between the teeth feels like it has made a real difference. Seizing this moment and not ruining it all by running myself in to an injury hole is now the trapeze wire which I carefully tread.
This week's race at Hades Hill is sadly the final evening race on the fells until next Spring. I really ought to bang out my best run of the year so far at this one. I'm actually really looking forward to the contest, without any hang ups that I may run completely crap or at best, below average. That's not going to happen. This can't be another case of desperate delusion, can it?
August was clearly the heaviest month of mileage for eighteen months and I dare say one of the best. Just a few weeks of genuinely good, solid training is all it takes to get the love back, but also to get a bit giddy and start thinking way ahead of myself... oh no, the Three Peaks Race has got inside my head again. I expected it would do at some point. I was never going to be able to part company with this epic race on a DNF. The Peaks may well be eight months in to the future unknown, but now is the time to provisionally plant a seed in my head if the shoots of redemption really are to be sewn. A provisional plantation of such a seed at this time is merely to intend, rather than commit just yet. But it means Autumn training must start slowly trending towards that eventual goal at the end of next April. Initially though, gearing up for The Tour of Pendle Race in November will be the telling factor. A long overdue return to this tough seventeen miler should tell me whether my legs are going to comply with my intentions. If there's no sign of promise at The Tour, then I won't waste Winter chasing the impossible and so forget Three Peaks and revert back to normal service.
Normal service lately has been promising. Plenty of hard work on the fells, effective speed sessions on my grass track on Worden Park and a toughness starting to build up. Recovery seems speedier and a capability to run half decent on battered legs has returned. I've been blaming the ageing process, when actually just a little more application, a few more miles and bit more bit between the teeth feels like it has made a real difference. Seizing this moment and not ruining it all by running myself in to an injury hole is now the trapeze wire which I carefully tread.
This week's race at Hades Hill is sadly the final evening race on the fells until next Spring. I really ought to bang out my best run of the year so far at this one. I'm actually really looking forward to the contest, without any hang ups that I may run completely crap or at best, below average. That's not going to happen. This can't be another case of desperate delusion, can it?
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