Short and Curley's

A new series of three short, 5k, trail races from Curley's restaurant started last night. It wasn't a Horwich race but it was in Horwich and SWINW wanted to do it. Unfortunately she has a just had about 4 weeks off running due to a combination of hurting her back and bad asthma. But she decided to walk/run it, so we filled a car up from Settle and drove down on a sunny but chilly evening. The sun was quite problematic on the downhill start to Wallsuches and also in Wilderswood as it made seeing where you were running quite tricky. It was also muddy in places so I don't know how the many runners in road shoes got on.  The uphill finish was tough but soon over.
I was second of the Settle four, beaten by Jill and followed home by Roisin and Anne, and more amazingly, was 1st V60, my first ever category victory in an open race. It will probably never happen again and probably says more about the quality of the field more than my performance, but I will die a happy man!

Did You Know That Canaries Are Black?

Well, at least parts of them are.

Just back from a week on La Palma, which is an island in its own right, not to be confused with Las Palmas which is the main city on the island of Gran Canaria.

A few snaps:-

Typical mountain terrain, at about 3,000 ft on the flank of Mount Negra.

Looking down into the crater of Volcan San Antonio.

Whilst back at sea level:-

La Palma prides itself on having the most extreme height to surface area ratio of any island in the world. With a high point of 7,959ft on an area of only 273 square miles, that's almost believable - but do Scottish sea stacks not qualify as islands?

By the way, noted that our Salford friend has has treated herself to a personalised number plate, but it would seem that this has been financed by economising on the valeting:-

Pike Race

One of my ambitions for 2016 is to do as many Horwich races as possible, so yesterday I drove the 50 miles down from Settle along with Anne and my clubmate Richard who I had persuaded to also do the race.
The weather was not as nice as last year but from the runners point of view it turned out to be an unexpected bonus. After the usual pleasantries(??!!) had been exchanged we lined up on Lever Park Avenue read for the off. t'Y set off next to me but quickly dropped me before we reached the school. However, as soon as it ramped up I started passing people, partly thanks to being able to train on the steeper hills at home and partly because I was being blown by the wind. I got to the top in just under 17 mins and didn't lose any places on the steep part of the descent. But as soon as the upper quarry was passed my lack of leg speed came into play and I lost about half a dozen places before the finish. But I was over two minutes faster than last year, so I was well pleased.
TYC was first home from wfdbwgua in the excellent time of 21.35. A long way behind were my good self in 27.13, t'Y in 28.21, YJ (1st V75) in 31.56 and EtU in 36.15. (My apologies if I have missed anyone). My thanks to Horwich RMI for putting the race on, a  good day out .

I ran with the Ghurkas...

...and the Navy, the Air Force and the Army. The Fleet half marathon being situated so close to Aldershot naturally attracts many entries from the Services and as such is well supported by the community  as well as being a big attraction to myself  because of family connections with the area.

Last Sunday's race had 2574 finishers, including myself in 1079th place. After a disappointing result last year I had high hopes that improved training times linked to the speedwork the Parkruns provides would yield better results. 

 And they did. Gun time of 1.48.21 was 2mins  9secs better while the chip time knocked 1min 35secs off last year to put me first over 75 and third over 70.

Plane spotting

Item on the news tonight. Eddie Swift arrested in Kenya for plane spotting!

|Away days

At least two regulars will not be UTUPing on Saturday (19th).  I will be out of the county for the weekend competing in the Fleet half marathon and EtU will be out of the country running, or possibly sunning himself, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic.

Ran Hobble to plan - shame the plan was wrong again

Last year I had set off far too quickly and suffered later for my exuberance. This year I went through my mile splits from last year and set a schedule which was up to a minute per mile slower for the first few miles. It almost worked out exactly with my time being just two and a half minutes slower. But it could have been so much better. I think the moderate strength of the headwind for the first six miles meant I was working harder than I should have been so should have slowed by a further minute per mile. TM had an excellent run and I should have stopped to wait to run with her (I started further up the field due to arriving at the start line at the last minute - it was a good five minutes late starting due to the long queues at registration). At one point I was six minutes ahead of her but she caught me at the hot dog station where we joined the Calderdale Way. The next section along Stoney Lane was particularly wet underfoot and Christa moved ahead of me. It was a good job that I took ibuprofen at Mankinholes as just after Stoodley Pike me right knee became painful. The next descent was slow but after that the painkillers started to take effect I started to get back to my schedule (slightly quicker than last year for the second half). The schedule would have brought me home in 7:10, three and a half minutes faster than last year, but I had to settle for 7:16, still quicker than my first hobble, nearly thirty years ago. I was just out-sprinted crossing the road by the first F60 - no doubt there were numerous M60s in front of me.
Yesterday, we spent the morning on the Kieghley and Worth Valley Railway with just a little walking and by the time I had driven home I was as achy as I have ever been after a race. Hopefully I will have recovered sufficiently for Sunday's Two Crosses.

Black Combe Sat 12th March 2016 (Championship Fell Race)

I'll be the first to admit that preparation this year had lacked a little focus. The foot square weighing machine in the bathroom had been side-stepped every morning and the 'winter' work uniform was still in use past the first day of Spring.

So the beginning of the week saw me fretting about cut-off times, something I'd thought would be a few years away for this race. For the un-initiated, this race starts with a 150m dash across a farmer's field, jumping a 4ft wide ditch with the aim to be first through a 10ft wide gate. It's a bit of a crush with an average entry of 120, this year the entry was 700+! Even allowing for a 25% drop-out rate come race day, it was going to be 5x the number to squeeze through. Despite the weekly track sessions at Sport City, it'd be unlikely I'd be elbowing the likes of Rob Hope and Ian Holmes out of the way. At best guess it would be probably 10mins before I was out through the gate.

By Tuesday a rainbow had appeared over the gloom. The RO's instructions had arrived via email and the Ladies were being set off ahead of the Men. Chivalry prevails in the sport of Fell Running!

Race day arrived. After 6 years of practice the weather was perfect, wall to wall CLAG!! Vic Wilkinson of Bingley led us ladies off at 12:00pm, the men followed 10 mins later. Vic demonstrated a master class in fell running, leading from the front and running the whole route on her own, and finishing before the men. The leading male group ran round in a trio. Need I say anymore!!!

Further back, well given the weather you'd  expect a few tales of woe and as they say every picture paints a 1000 words. Below is a Strava trace of those brave enough to post.



For my part of the proceedings, it was interesting racing against the Blokes usually 10mins ahead. Amusing to be passed for a 2nd time by the same ones. Particularly glad of the Cow Bell calling us in to the last CP on the south summit of Black Combe (vis down to 20m). Twitchy on the final path descent (having fallen on similar terrain 1 months previously). Not so amusing to realise I'd created Mea Culpa by missing the turn off for the last bit, almost heading back to CP1, before correcting myself. I'd been running on the RHS of the path to avoid all the slippy/trippy stuff and hadn't realised the turn off was so easy to miss. Won't be doing that again. Thankfully it was only a slight detour and I didn't lose any places because of it.

For those who enjoy a few stats the results are now on the race website which can be found at www.blackcombe.fellrace.org.uk

Not quite a PW for me, but it was close, a matter of 16 secs. A slow, steady performance all things considered. Still ranking as my favourite race. Long may it continue (fitness permitting)

TF

Apologies

Due to circumstances beyond his control, The Lord of Brentford regrets to announce that he will not be UTUPing on Saturday after all. He hopes that this late change of plans has not inconvenienced any of his friends.

Saturday

The Lord of Brentford wishes to announce that he will be UTUPing this coming Saturday. He looks forward to enjoying the company of his wfdbwgua friends.

Stan Bradshaw Round

I missed this race last year due to injury and so was determined to get round this time. Anne had to drive me as I have damaged my scaphoid bone (again) and we got there in good time. We saw TF at registration but there was no sign of EtU. Just as we were being counted through the start, he appeared having clearly been taking lessons from t'Y on time keeping.
The start is an uphill drag of about a mile on road and then it is straight up Pendle. It was here we had our first taste of what was to come, snow, mud or a mixture of both. In places it was quicker to walk uphill because any attempts at running ended in sliding backwards. After the summit it was a long steady descent to the next two checkpoints, then a nasty little climb followed by a long slippy traverse. I had been looking forward to the next nit as it was a steady climb which I had enjoyed on the recce. However, today it was a mud slide and I had to walk the first bit. Over the top and then a diversion from the normal route, followed by a tricky descent through a wood (one unfortunate lady had a bad fall here and was taken to hospital) and then back down the road to the finish.
Tea, soup and then more tea with EtU and TF made a pleasant end to a great morning out. For the record the course was just over 9.5 miles and just under1600ft of ascent. I took 1hr 53m, TF 2hr 08mn and sadly EtU had to drop out but it didn't stop him enjoying his dead pig butty!

Saturday 5th March

I'm trying the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round, so won't be UTUPing. It's a sort of re-routed Half Tour. EOD £7, starts at 11:00 from Barley.

Lift/s offered if anyone fancies it.

Ask TF for route details.

Was last man home last year, so things can only get better - 'but what chance a DNF?' do I hear you ask?

White bear way

Would love to recce WBW but as I am planning  to run the Lostock 6 on Sunday this would be unwise. I will be available for a second recce in the next few weeks if anyone else is interested.

I will be UTUPing tomorrow for a couple of hours.

White Bear Way Recce tomorrow

I'm planning a long run tomorrow and thought I'd do the WBW route (21 miles), but starting either from home or at the barn depending on whether anyone wants to join me.

If you fancy it, let me know by the end of the day and I'll meet you at the UTUP. Otherwise, if I'm on my own, I might just have a lie in and run from home.

If you fancy it but don't want to run the whole distance, there are loads of places you can turn back to shorten it.

TM

Amble PW

Apologies for taking so long to add my thoughts on the Amble. Suffice to say I've had a busy week job-hunting, learning new skills through training courses and correcting sloppy reporting in the media. Hopefully the job-hunting effort will bear fruit this week with numerous interviews.

This was the first occasion that my better half and I had both entered an athletics event - I'll not call it a race as it is not, it is a challenge event, but you would be surprised how competitive walkers are in these events. Julie and fellow Macchu Piccu adventurer, Jackie, made their debut on the 16 mile challenge whilst I was on the 24 mile event, with a plan to run in under six hours.
I had run over Winter Hill and up to Darwen Tower on the previous Wednesday, nearly 18 miles at sub 12 minute mile pace so everything looked optimistic for a decent time as the conditions, although cold, represented no barriers to a reasonable performance.
The start as ever was somewhat chaoitic, but at least I wasn't late. It was obvious that numerous walkers were early with some possibly setting off as early as 7.30! I took it reasonably steady early on but by the time we got on the mast road found that I was walking part of it - unusual for me but it did not concern me as I was well ahead of schedule for 6 hours. First checkpoint done and then through the kissing gate to descend towards the San Marino. 200 metres from the gate I came to a halt. My ribs were in pain. I'd felt a bit of discomfort on the the previous Wednesday's run but this just stopped me and I thought my AA may be over. I supect this is a recurrence of the injury at Decathlon two years ago which prevented me starting the Haworth Hobble. I walked a little and had a few abortive attempts at running but thought that I will just have to walk the rest if that is all I can do. After 5 minutes TM (Temporarily Misplaced aka Christa) came whizzing passed me. After 10 minutes I was able to cope with slow paced running.

Chatting with a bloke from Chipping

Having crossed Belmont Road, I found myself chatting to a fellow runner as we followed the route which took us to the east of Belmont before heading for the Strawbury Duck. I didn't know him but he knew me, as he'd been sweeper on the Pendle Cloughs fell race in 2014. I'd been persuaded to do the race by Albert as training for my GRP. My relationship with Pendle is not great and ultimately I retired after running from the previous checkpoint with the sweeper. At least the hours of toil did benefit me in my build-up for the GRP. He also said that he knew Ed and YJ, having supported Ed on his BG (20 years ago?). We ran together for the next 15 minutes. Just after leaving the road near Belmont Reservoir he headed off a bit quicker than me whilst I toiled with the terrain. Navigating the mud, I finally reached and crossed the Bolton to Darwen Road.

The incident

A couple of girls had got in front of me and took the northern side of the gully/beck which heads towards the pylons : I decided the southern track was likely to be a little drier. After about 100 metres I glanced to the left and saw what I first thought was someone delving into their backpack. I then heard shouts the revealed a more serious situation. I crossed the beck and heard "Quick, help, he's dying". I think there was either one or two on the scene with a chap on the floor and I was instructed to take over CPR. There was no pulse, no breathing. We kept going. As other runners reached, we shared out the CPR and after a few seconds (it seemed a lot longer), there were signs of life and he started to breathe. However, it was intermittent and we kept losing him. Eventually, after about 10 minutes, he was breathing continuously but still of great concern. A young lad also arrived on the scene - later an article in the Manchester Evening News appeared which reads as if he single-handedly saved the man's life! He contributed in the same way that half a dozen of us did, but the critical work had been done by the time he arrived. If anyone needs singling out, it was a South African lady who organised us into sharing the workload. I now believe that she was a nurse or at least had a nursing background.
Meanwhile, the emergency services had been contacted (using Michelle Sunter's phone I think) and told we were just off the A666 so odd that Bolton MR went first to Belmont! As well as Michelle and Abigail, YJ and Kev arrived. Kev supplied a bivvy bag which was important in heat retention - I know YJ was feeling the cold. I think adenalin was keeping me warm. Kev headed to the road to aid the emergency services when they arrived. 15 minutes after the incident started (exact times taken from my gpx track), the paramedic arrived so YJ and I decided that we were no longer needed. I recognised the runner as being the guy from Chipping who I had been running with - we were able to see his number which confirmed this - he had also parked just behind us and I knew he was 150 to my 146 from our arrival at the previous checkpoint. One of us thought he said his name was Colin so he probably wondered why we kept calling him Colin when in fact I found it to be Keith (I now also know his surname). Following our departure, we could hear the helicopter arrive and he was airlifted to Wythenshawe Hospital where he is recovering.
Sorry that it is so detailed, but there was much misinformation with the MEN article so the truth needed clarifying.

Back to the event

I ran with a John for awhile but the rib pain returned. At Batridge CP I took some ibuprofen in the hope that the pain would ease off. A mix of walk and gentle run which I now realised would be the formula for the remainder of the day. On Darwen Moor I caught up with Michelle and Abigail. Michelle was walking due to knee problems. Darwen Tower came and went and I was able to run on the ridge heading for Slipper Lowe. I caught up with a group  heading up Great Hill and then at the final bit of ascent caught up with Julie and Jackie, who to their amazement were not last of the 16 mile walkers. After a chat I headed on and finally after White Coppice managed a steady 13 minute pace for the last three and a half miles to finish in 6hrs 45.
Whether I get to the Haworth Hobble will depend on the next couple of weeks. I ran four miles on Wednesday and 5 miles including 5k in 22:57 this morning without rib issues so my next long run will be the decider.
As for YJ's suggestion it was a good day out, I am not so sure. From a running viewpoint, it certainly was not for me, probably not for Ed, and I don't think our friend Keith would want another day like last Saturday.

Amble

Better weather than we could have hoped for on the Amble, given all the recent rain, but still some slippery and boggy sections.

The day was somewhat marred for a number of us caught up in the collapse of  one of the runners halfway between Belmont and The Strawbury Duck.  KLM was more involved providing a bivvy bag and legging it back to the road to await the arrival of the ambulance.  Other runners were torn between not wanting to rush off seeming incompassionate and at the same time not wanting to appear as spectators.  When the paramedics arrived and it was obvious we would not be needed we continued the run hoping that the outcome would be positive from the runner's point of view.

Up to that point I was hopeful of getting close to six hours, finding a comfortable pace. I knew that TM was ahead, T'Y just behind and KLM probably racing to catch up after his humanitarian duties.  Catch up he did just after Darwen Tower and then followed some tooing and froing . I was ahead over Great Hill He overtook me by  opting for the quicker quarry route   down to White Coppice,  By this time I was running short of energy and KLM was kind enough to shepherd me to the finish with encouraging words and picking  me up off the ground when I took a second, this time heavier, fall alongside the stream almost within sight of the finish.

We were credited with 6hrs 24mins from which I could deduct about 9 mins for the stoppage giving  me a  faster time than any of the last four years.  Back in the hall TM had been back about an hour and T'Y  followed about 20 mins later with EtU a couple or more hours after that.

For most of us it was good day out.

Muddy Shoes Race Sun 14th Feb 2016

I decided to choose a race with potential for a softer landing this week. I could have done KWL at Barbondale, but thought I'd opt for something closer to home and a bit longer.

The best on offer was the 'Muddy Shoes' race from Calder Vale Village (nr Garstang oppo side of M6). There was an option of 5m or 11m, you were to be given a map and a set of directions and the promise of getting very muddy.

The 11m route came on an A3 size of paper and at the 1:50000 scale. The start was part of the top loop heading in an easterly direction and then heading south to then follow the larger lower loop in an anticlockwise direction.

The numbers on the map refer to the numbers on the page with the written directions

So the first dilemma, which do I use for getting round the route? The black line depicting the route had obliterated most of the detail for the type of path you'd be running on. Was it a walled track, a track, a footpath or just a 'ROW'? Some of the road junctions and crossings weren't that clear either. Most of the other runners appeared to be opting just to have the written descriptions in their hand, little evidence of any maps. 

In the end I folded the map in half, and placed this in my A4 placcy bag with the first part of route visible with the written directions back to back so I could see both. It was going to have to be swapped over when I got to the fold. As an additional safety measure OL41 was put in my rucksack, folded so the section involving the route was evident.

So after all this preparation what happened? Well we all set off and because I was able to keep people in sight and it was well marshaled, I hardly had to refer to my map/directions at all.

It was muddy (as promised), but it was a nice route and made a pleasant change. My reward for finishing was a medal, a hat and pair of gloves, a bottle of water and a big bar of milk chocolate.

Not bad for just over 2hrs effort (?2hrs10 no published results yet).

The same organising team have a similar event on the 6th March from Bamber Bridge with a choice of a 15m or 7m run/walk. I guessing it'll take a similar format. 

TF

Mickleden Straddle Sun 7th Feb (23k/741m)

Thankfully the weather Sheffield way hadn't lived up to it's billing. Wind speeds had settled to a stiff breeze and there was even a glimpse of sunshine. If I got my skates on I'd be back before the rain hit.

New for this year was a cut-off time of 75mins at the first CP. Now that would seem a bit generous for just over 6k, but the closer you get to the CP, the wetter and rougher the path becomes. An added bonus of running into the wind too!

Denby Dale (host club) have taken the course map off their website so in lieu of this I've posted a link to a trace of the route http://www.raceroutes.co.uk/route/1261/1275/mickleden-straddle

The route looks like an upside down lollipop. The best and sweetest bit being the bottom loop. The 'stick' being the part that required the most concentration. I think I got my pacing about right to the first CP, leaving about 5 mins to spare. There was still plenty of running after this without starting out with an 'eyeballs out' effort. The loop returned to CP1 as CP5, I passed one runner just after leaving this first CP and then another just after the third and that was it for 17k. I could see other runners in the distance but they seemed too far away to make a serious attempt at trying to catch up and overtake.

A lapse of concentration on the final return leg lead to a damaged TF. Don't think I was the only casualty. I tripped and fell, landing with a small rock right in front of my face, part of which made contact with my front right upper incisor. Thankfully it was only a light tap, but I feared the worse. After stopping to have a feel round with finger and tongue, I was relieved to find it was likely to be just a minimal fracture off the corner of the tooth. But the sharp edge had caught my lower lip and this was bleeding.

I eased off the pace a little in the final couple of miles, primarily to make sure I didn't fall again to inflict further damage and secondly to avoid pumping too much blood out and coming in looking like the Rocky Horror Show.

Back at the car in 3hrs:16, I was able to inspect the damage fully. With most of the blood cleaned off, this was what I found.

With a bit diy with one of these this morning

The tooth is sorted, but the lip may take a few days yet though. I count myself very fortunate to have got off this lightly, I repair a lot worse on a regular basis on kids coming through the clinic

TF

Who is ambling?

Next Saturday is the Anglezarke Amble so I wonder who will be turning out for it? I shall be, but will need to set off cautiously, as I have yet to run any distance over 10 miles in recent months. My better half will also be there, walking the 17 mile route. I may get out and do a loop up to Slipper Lowe then back over Great Hill and White Coppice - either this afternoon or tomorrow morning (the company I work for went t!tz up last Tuesday, so I now have more time on my hands).
Looking further ahead, I need to enter t'Hobble (we have already booked accomodation for the Saturday night) and plan to run The Two Crosses Challenge in my build up for the Dorset 100 at the end of May.
TLoB is also talking about the Joss Naylor Challenge, so that is something else to consider. If I end up doing lots of tutoring in addition to returning to full-time work, that may be beyond me. Let's see what the coming weeks bring.

Saturday 6th Feb '16

The Bros plan to Parkrun, rather than UTUP. YJ is returning to Preston and yours truly will be making my third appearance at Haigh Hall.