Cake Race, 10 miles, 1700ft ascent - May 4th
As The Cake Race was listed in the club's fell championship this year I decided to give it a go. I've not run it before and it is many years since I last entered a race in that neck of the woods, on the moors above Saddleworth. Many years ago we used to enter a few teams in the Cross Keys Relay. One year I think I actually doubled up and ran both the first and last legs, one fell and one road. However, that was probably 20 years ago.
It was very easy to persuade EYJ to also have a run out even though he'd done 10 on Friday. With a couple of route checks on the way we managed to get there in decent time and found a spot in the car park. The normal entry fee is reasonable at £4 but even better if you use your culinary skills and provide a cake. I'd made some chocolate muffins, nothing that would win a prize, but I knew they would be safely edible. EYJ decided he didn't want to poison anyone. I did notice the odd shop-bought cake in the room amongst some magnificent cakes.
I think the change from Arctic weather to near summer temperatures brought a few extra runners out as entries were double that of the previous year, causing the start to be delayed by 15 minutes. Had it started on time, we would have set off in a chilly shower but this had nicely cleared. A long drag uphill on bridleways before a stretch of the Pennine Way to Wessenden Reservoir, crossing at the head, then down the Kirklees Way, and some fast running along the side of Butterley Reservoir. EYJ had set off well in front of me. By the 7 mile point I had almost caught him up, just before the second climb started. This used to be where I would pull people back but that is no longer case, so I went from there being nobody between John and me to finish two minutes and 14 places adrift. I lost places both on the climb and the descent to the finish. It's hard to call it a proper fell race : it's a hard 10 mile trail race and with the late morning start and relatively fast speed, I suffered energy loss in the last couple of miles. I was certainly glad to finish with the prospect of carbo recovery on a glorious scale. It goes without saying that I ate a opious amount of cake, but none of my muffins - all six had been scoffed. I was quite happy with 1hr 45 mins for 10 miles with 1700ft of climb : I don't think I'd get 10 miles at 5.7mph on a normal Saturday UTUP, just needed to recover for Monday. I managed 166th out of 213 finishers. EYJ took his customer V70 prize and was 152nd overall. Below is the race route from my GPS.
Wray Caton Fell Race, 6.7 miles, 1300ft ascent - May 6th
Not sure how many times I've done this race but it must be well into double figures. No result for last year so I must have missed it then. In 2011 and 2010 I was much lighter and fitter and completing in around 60 minutes. Like the Cake Race, the organisers had difficulty coping with an increased entry, resulting in a 15 minute delay. Eventually we were off and the early fields were rock hard yet the further up the fells it was quite wet underfoot - presumably different type of rock for drainage. We had to contend with cows wanting to cross through the runners and a flock of sheep which found themselves in the midst of us. I reached the turnaround point in just under 40 minutes and amazingly had a net gain of 5 places on the descent, maybe this is because I no longer climb as well as I used to. 68:40 for 164th out of 213 finishers - almost identical to the Cake Race position although when I compare times against Doug Fleming, Gary Chadderton and Pete Ramsdale, all of whom also ran the Cake Race, I seemed to be between 2% and 4% quicker.
This Saturday it is Belmont Winter Hill so no UTUP for me. This is a race where I always lose numerous places on the descent. Maybe I should stay at the back! I expect to see most of you there.
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