It's the end of the season and I signed up to do a couple of local races with Saddleworth Runners to finish what has been an eventful year. I've been training fairly well after the disappointment of the OMM (my partner went over on his ankle towards the end of Day 1 forcing us to retire) with AM Mayhem at school (hill reps, sprints, dragging tyres etc) keeping things ticking over whilst some decent night runs and weekend long jaunts have racked up a few miles.
So Tanky's seemed like a good idea. Much hyped amongst the Saddleworth lot the race is about 21 miles from Marsden to Edale. The route is up to you as long as you pass through a checkpoint at Crowden and the Snake Inn. Unprepared as ever, I rocked up on a wet and windy December morning having not properly recce'd the route - a bad idea according to Tanky's veterans! I had a good idea of the route to Crowden and I thought I could wing it over Kinder but the Bleaklow section would be pot luck on the navigation. Support from Swallow and Vangrove (cheers gents) from school at Wessenden was much appreciated as I settled into the race, not really straining myself until Crowden. I had initially thought I'd stick to the Pennine Way over Bleaklow but made a last minute call to go via Wild Boar Clough with Kev from Dark Peak Fell Runners. This turned out to be a good call (cheers Kev!) as we tailed Nicky Spinks all the way past Bleaklow head in fairly awful conditions. It was pretty cold with horizontal hail. It seems that this was the quicker option as most of the top runners had taken that route over the Torside option. The section down the Snake Pass to the Inn was unpleasant and the path over Kinder couldn't come quickly enough. After 18 or so miles the steep ascent over Kinder was tricky and the boggy path on the plateau was slow going. I'd lost Kev by this point and was freestyling the nav, quite enjoying some sunshine that had appeared from nowhere. I yomped down into Edale in 3hrs 53mins, 29th spot.
It was nice to be a part of a race with other Saddleworth Runners. Colin came 11th and was the first home, a good effort. I think next year I will have to make more effort with the preparation! On the positives, the Skins compression half-tights were excellent, my hams felt great during and after the race. Unlike my shins that took as dislike to that kind of pace down steep hills.
Anyway, I ignored the sore shins to run with Roy Gardner at the Calderdale Way relay for Saddleworth the following week. We were running leg 5 and Colin and Sean had set a fast pace - we were 3rd after leg 1. Good runs from Ray and Adam, the Bowden brothers and Howard and Andy left us in 17th at the start of our leg. Unfortunately we were a bit too keen and set off from the wrong point (apparently outside the changeover area - although I'm suspicious) and were given a 2minute time penalty. Unaware of this, Roy and I shot off with Todmorden and Keighley & Craven in our sights. Roy was struggling with a cold and I think I nearly finished him off with a 'keen' pace as we winged the nav and managed only to drop one place as we handed over to Chris and Adam for the final leg. In the end we came in a creditable 17th, which would have been 15th without the 2min penalty - sorry chaps! 7.5miles - not my cup of tea distance wise but enjoyable to part of a race like this.
So...2010...big plans. The Paris Marathon, The Grand Union Canal Race again and hopefully the Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc assuming the entry goes through okay. There will be the usual races and some new ones no doubt. Staying injury free whilst training harder than I have ever done before will be the challenge and I'll be posting race reports on here (is anyone actually reading?!)
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