Epic Mash

First up, a tip from someone who still thinks he's a student: whack a teaspoon of Marmite in your mashed potato (and carrot if you're me) with butter and dash of milk. It's epic.

Mmmmmm

Anyway, I digress.
The 2012 racing year got under way today, a nice, undulating 5.5mile 8.6km road/trail race from Hart near Hartlepool, Hartlepool Burn Road's Old Monks Race. There was a fair amount of road and a bit of trail, and 2 short steep muddy wooded descents, each followed by a short ascent.

A fast first km, with Kev Patterson (Alan Musgrove)

Two guys went off the front early on (fast downhill start) and I sat in 6/7th place. On the first downhill I put my descending skills to good use, gapping a group of guys to get on the shoulder of fellow BMHHer Gary. We pulled away on the trail after the uphill. I couldn't quite keep up once on the road but closed the gap on the next slippery path descent - but the paths were too narrow to get past Gary. I just about kept up on the next short climb but didn't have anything to motor onto the flat afterwards. Gary got away and another bloke ran through me.

Couple of clicks to go (Alan Musgrave)

Now it was just a case of dig in and not look behind to maintain 5th place. Every now and then I could hear someone behind, but once onto the last road stretch I managed to widen the gap to finish in just under 33 minutes. It was a good turn-out from BMHH, with 4 guys in the top 12 (alas there were no team prizes) and 34 runners out in total.

For the first race of the year and after a heavy training week I was quite pleased. However my performance on the climbs, even though they were very short, was pretty shocking, even more so for a supposed fell runner! More work (and less food in the long run) needed!

Next weekend: Fell Race. Followed by XC 3 hours after. Go Hard or Go Home