Osmotherley Phoneix – 2nd July 2011

As expected we arrived in Osmotherley on Saturday morning under clear skies and even at 8:15am it was already getting a tad warm.  Pretty much all of the races I’ve run this year have been in good conditions with one notable exception – the Bob Graham.  I haven’t posted a blog entry about it in an effort to maintain a positive mindset, but in a nutshell I was thwarted by the weather on the 28th/29th May.  After over 10 hours of rain and high winds I decided that it was time to call it a day at High Raise.  I was about 45mins down on my 22hr schedule and feeling okay, but the weather was awful and the prospect of another 12 hours of it was enough for me to think that bagging the attempt and rescheduling for later in the summer (now confirmed as midnight on 12th August) was the sensible and safe option.  Other BGs that weekend had suffered a similar fate - in fact one supporter on another attempt ended up fracturing his skull descending Blencathra, maybe I should feel fortunate to be in one piece.  I usually like the weather rough but the BG route is particularly exposed and 22-24hrs is a long time!  Anyway, after a few weeks of feeling sorry for myself and suffering with colds and hayfever I was glad when, last Wednesday, my legs started to feel less heavy and I was able to breathe and see all at the same time!

Before the start with Rich (left) and Dad (middle)

So, preparation wasn’t the best for this fast 33mile trail route around the North York Moors but I was interested to see whether my BG training was still in my legs - I hoped it would be as mid-August isn’t too far away!  The event was a sell-out in advance (I think for the first time?) and there were hundreds of people milling about at the start struggling to hear a word of the pre-race briefing.  Based on my slack form/health since the BG, my plan was simply to run a steady race and finish around the same time as last year.  We set off up the road before following the rolling Cleveland Way.  I was nearly trodden into the ground by a herd of cows but otherwise the first few miles were pretty uneventful as I tried not to run too quickly.  There are 17 and 27mile runners all in the mix at this point and it’s tempting to chase them down only to find that they’re running half the distance!  I observed a few interesting kit choices considering the high temperature – long sleeved tops and tights on a hot day seemed a poor choice and sure enough I soon saw a few of the tops ditched in favour of a bare chest! I’d settled into a nice rhythm and felt I was running a sustainable pace – I gained on the climbs, sometimes passing runners with my ‘power hiking’ and kept up with everyone else on the flat.  There’s not much running on a BG so I needed to show this flat-ish course a bit of respect given my lack of pace.  From CP2 below Carlton Bank to CP3 after Cringle Moor I ran pretty much alone and was grateful for the climb up to the Trig point at CP4 where I was able to neck some flapjack and a salt tablet.  I was grateful for some cloud cover as I made the fast descent and then short road section to the Chop Gate car park (CP5).  No kit check here as there was last year and after a quick topping-off of my 2 water bottles I made my way up the climb back on to the moor.  At this point I was running alongside Jonathan Steele (organiser of the Hardmoors races) whom I would stay with until the finish.  

Chatting about races, training, kit and other geeky running-related stuff, plenty of miles passed without us really noticing.  I passed my sisters,  brother-in-law and Dad who were on the 17mile route as I approached the Wheat Beck CP just before I made the only navigational error of the day.  More concerned with avoiding the aggressive dogs in the farm yard I took us up the wrong path before realising my mistake and retracing my steps – 5mins lost but more importantly we had to run the gauntlet of the barking dogs again!  The next 6-10 miles seemed to breeze by (why was I feeling so good – surely a ‘bonk’ was on the cards?!) and the marshal at the Hawnby CP said we were in about 15th/16th spot.  The climb up to Black Hambleton was great and we ran a fair bit  before joining the Hardmoors 55 route back into Osmotherley.  At this point it was good running alongside Jonathan who would clearly know the route well!  I had a bit of stomach cramp descending off Black Hambleton after drinking too much but it soon cleared up as I made good progress back into the village.  It had taken 5hrs 38mins (a PB by 8mins) and I felt like my plan of a steady pace had been spot on.  It has given me a bit of confidence that I’ve still got it in my legs and the prospect of training over the next few weeks seems significantly more attractive knowing there is a solid base there.

Finishing alongside Jonathan Steele

Thanks as ever to Gerry, Julie and the Osmotherley marshalls for organising a cracking event.  I will be back in 2011...