Earlier today I headed out for a walk with Mum to put our names in the August Calendar Box. After reading some accounts of long hunts at the location I was expecting to be out a while, but I somehow managed to walk straight to the box's hiding place after only 2 cursory glances in likely-looking holes - the thought that I might be channelling Neil is quite a formidable one, but thankfully I've not started BOO-ing or looking like a Monkey yet.
The Box is in here somewhere! (image from Fran Halsall)
This evening was the Barrel Inn race from Eyam, a Pennine Champs counter which, as it's looking likely that I'll be missing Grisedale Horseshoe at the weekend (another champs counter), I needed a good result at as I push to reach those with races in hand (6 races needed to count, I currently only have 4).
With a record set by Steve Vernon it was obvious that this would be a fast, not very technical course, and with Glyn, Jack Ross, Adam and Jonny on the start line, it looked like there'd be some good competition to be had. After the lap around the cricket field these 4 pulled ahead (Adam eventually) up the first hill, and I was in a class of my own, but maintaining the gap Jonny had on me to 30m as we passed the eponymous Barrel Inn and did a loop on Sir William Hill (possibly not of bookmaker fame). On the climb to the top of the hill I started to close a bit on Jonny, but couldn't keep the pace going and he pulled further ahead on the road past Mompesson's Well. The only bit of technical descending was through the dingy Hollow Brook woods at the end of the course, but I was too far behind to make any ground up and cruised the short final climb and run-in to finish 5th in 44:34. Glyn got his own back from previous races to beat Jack, although I don't know their times (around 42 I'd guess).
The Track on Sir William Hill. This could be considered 'very rough' for most of the race route! (from Flickr)
It was nice to see Tom Jackson (Glossopdale) back on the local scene after some time galevanting down under, although suggesting he looks up ShUOC for training when he moves to Hallam next month could result in him soon being able to kick my arse once again.
This result, whilst pleasing, was much the same as other results this summer. The way Adam and Jonny pulled away suggests I need to do a bit of work on races which are over 6km in length, and I need to develop another gear for fast running sections. I'm looking forward to putting in some quality winter training (I'm going to do some XC and track in the North East, and I might actually plan a rough training schedule! When did I get so dull and conventional? :S) and seeing what happens next year. But there's still plenty of races to be had this year, along with a new area to explore from later this week!
At the top of the first climb - photo courtesy of Lynne at globaltherapies
Some food for thought - just read this great article by Andrew Steele, very promising British 400m runner (edged under 45secs in 2008) and his battle with Epstein-Barr/Chronic Fatigue.
Last weekend was the Harvester Relays - a 7 (or 5) person night-day orienteering relay. ShUOC were hosting this year's race in Eccleshall Woods and Limb Valley, a major undertaking for such a small club, and I'm pleased to say that we managed to do it with some style! Here's a couple of our promotional videos:
Saturday started a bit grim but thankfully after hitting town for some last minute requirements, once we arrived at the assembly the weather had improved and it was a nice afternoon setting up the Ultrasprint maze and watching the competitors bombing around it. Once the ultrasprint was done I set up my controls for the Urban event I was planning in Dore the next morning, before heading to bed to try and get some kip as I was both helping and running in the early morning. Despite lying down for a couple of hours sleep was not forthcoming and I got out of bed to have a look at the GPS tracking (a first for the UK!) of the first leg before heading off to my road-crossing station, where I stood for 1 and a half hours with Kris.
Start of the Relay (pinched from Ralph's fb album).
I was running leg 5 (the first day leg) for the depleted ShUOC team - 10.1km with about 280m climb. The plan was to be clean and controlled, no need to push too hard as I'd then make mistakes. I managed this quite well to start with - a few blips but only losing 20 seconds here and there. However I then made a right doosie at control 17, losing 6-7minutes. Thankfully I had a bit of a cushion on the teams behind us, but it did allow Dickie Wren of EPOC to catch me up a few controls later. The rest of the course was quite controlled, if a bit frantic after my mistake.
My Garmin GPS trace quickroute.
Of course the best bit about my mistake was that I was being GPS tracked, so everyone back at the start/finish could see what I was getting up to - I'm the Green 'ShUOC' blob, my run starts at 4.17 on the clock, with my big mistake starting at 5.07 - enjoy!
SYO won overall by a mile, ShUOC's team of Treb, Dan, Daverams, BommyT, myself, Little Rob and Schorah finished in 4th and in doing so managed to retain the UK Relay League trophy.
Once finished (and being the recipient of some quality banter. Well, I did earn it!) I had a bit of a rest before heading into Dore to hang the controls for Sunday morning's urban race. By now I was knackered, a bit hacked off with my mistake in the relay and missing the culmination of the Harvester, so a bit frustrated. We managed to get everything sorted out just in time for the start and everyone seemed to enjoy the courses I'd planned on what, when I first saw it, was a pretty unexciting area for an urban race.
By the time everyone had finished and the controls had been collected I'd been awake for getting on 30 hours and was well ready for a bit of kip before driving home - never before has 40 mph felt like a perfectly legitimate speed on Snake!
