Sent: 12 February 2010 12:05
Subject: V S Update - Alison Rose feedback, Tuesday training, Wadsworth
Trog & Open 5 reports, Best of the Fells
Alison Rose’s Drills Session
I asked in the last V S Update for some feedback from
the session that I could forward to Alison (I said wouldn’t publish any
names). But so far I’ve not received any comments.
Just a few words such as “educational” or “entertaining”
or “exhausting” would be great so that I could send a “thank you” from all of
the Striders. And, while it’s fresh in your memory, would you like
another session from Alison and her team in the Autumn?
Please reply!
Tuesday Training
Unfortunately the track on Tuesday was too icy for
running. We’ve run when it has been quite slippery on the top bend but
this time we’d have had difficulty staying on our feet on the whole track, even
the straight in front of the pavilion. For some reason the track seems to
have a microclimate about 3 degrees colder than the surrounding area.
Most of us went and did a hill session at
The consensus was that we should have an “extra” track
session on Tuesday 23 February and I’ve asked Carnegie whether I can book this
slot. Assume that this is ON unless you hear otherwise.
Tuesday evening start times seem to be slipping back
by a minute each week. The track is booked from 7pm but several people
were arriving at 5 past or 10 past. Similarly the Tuesday sessions at
Leos are supposed to start at 6:45 but many turn up later knowing that we are
“always” late.
From next Tuesday (at 6:45) we are going to do a few
warm-ups and drills at Leos before we set off. Arrive at 6:55 and you’ll
miss them!
NB if the weather gets worse, check on the website www.valleystriders.org.uk
for the status of training sessions.
Thursday 18 February
– meet LEOS 18:45 for steady run followed by showers followed by curry at
Ruchee.
National XC
Thank you! I have already had 7 people
volunteering for the 2:30 to 3:30 slot at the “National”. Thanks to Dave
Middlemas, Kathy & Ken Kaiser, Nat Crossland (& Ted), Paul Furness,
Paul Sanderson and Sara Goward for putting their names forward so quickly.
Anyone else not running is still welcome to
volunteer. Because we right in the middle of Soldiers Fields we should be
able to set up our “base” there, so it should be quite a sociable do, whatever
the weather.
For those running, are some of you able to get there
early? Either to do the 10:30 or 11:30 slots or even a little but earlier
to set up the course? I’ll forward names to Geoff and Sylvia as they’ll
know how many people are required at what time.
Wadsworth Trog - report from Xanthe Hannah
A good Striders turn out for the combined half and full Wadsworth Trog
on Saturday. 8 of us set off for the full and I’d rashly agreed to let Jonathon
run with me and take advantage of my navigation. My (our) goal was to beat
Geoff but this was quickly revised to merely meeting the cut-offs when we saw
Geoff sprint off into the distance at the start despite having declared that he
would be ‘starting slow’. The first mile or so was a loop round some fields to
spread the pack out and we caught sight of Geoff again when queuing to get over
a stile. By the time we reached the moor on the way to CP1 I was getting rather
irritating reports from Jonathon on a) how far in front Geoff was and b) how
many calories his watch said he’d used so far. Just before CP1 Geoff
inexplicably stopped and let us overtake him saying that he didn’t feel quite
right. At CP1 I stopped to re-tie my shoe and Geoff overtook us and disappeared
into the fog. CP2 was down a vertical hill which we then had to climb back up.
At this point Jonathon was beginning to look a little shocked as though he
hadn’t quite expected it to be so difficult. We lucked out on the run to CP3 as
the people we were following did some spot on navigation taking us directly to
CP3 where we caught up with Geoff. We got held up at the road crossing and yet
again Geoff disappeared into the fog like a sprightly mountain goat.
Just after CP 4 Rob came running past us having taken a little detour
between CP2 and CP3. We caught Geoff up again between CP4 & CP5 which is at
the top of a long steep hill. Seizing the moment we started running when most
others were still walking and managed to build up a small lead. Again we lucked
out in that the people we followed cut off a big corner on the way to CP6
meaning that as we were running back from CP6 we passed Geoff running towards
it. At this point Jonathon decided to stop for a picnic but told me to run on.
He was starting to look a bit peaky so I ran on and waited for him at CP7. This
delay saw all the runners in front of us disappear into the fog so from that
point on we were on our own for large sections. On the way to CP8 Jonathon
confessed that when I’d warned him that I’d be walking bits of the course he’d
taken this to mean it would be more of a hike than a race. By CP8 Jonathon was
(to put it kindly) being dragged along but decided that carrying his bum-bag
like a man-bag would help him in some unfathomable way. We plodded on to CP9
and picked up some company through CP10 who stayed with us until CP11 where I
kindly gave Jonathon a gel so that he could start acting human again. We
reached CP11 within the cut-off which was a relief and some random kind
gentleman was letting the runners sip his flask of tea which was nice.
CP11 onwards was where the real navigational effort began but we made it
to the stones by following a group in the distance. At the stones we lost sight
of them so from there to CP12 we were totally alone, in the fog with only the
vaguest idea of which way to go. We were walking at this point (somehow
thinking it’s safer to be walking when lost) and I was beginning to get quite
worried about ever finding our way to CP12. After about 20 minutes we saw a man
walking a dog and I ran a bit hysterically towards him to get directions. We
were actually only about 200m away from CP12 so shortly set off towards CP13;
another test of navigational prowess that was the undoing of many (cough cough
Geoff). Jonathon was still flagging and I kept looking back to make sure I
hadn’t lost him to the fog (he later told me that he couldn’t understand
anything I was saying by now as his little brain had shut down from the
exertion). I had recced the course with a local runner so had a great tip for a
shortcut from CP12 to CP13. Unfortunately the fog meant this was pretty useless
as visibility was down to about 50m but we veered off in the general direction
regardless. It seemed a little crazy at times as we ploughed though tussocks
and bogs but then, like a shining beacon in the distance I spotted the land
mark and thus we made it to CP13 safely; only to have a comedy moment when we
saw several runners approaching CP13 from the opposite direction. The rest of
the route was flagged and we struggled gamely on. The difference in our
finishing times is due to Jonathon stopping at the car on the way to the
finish.
To be fair(er) to Jonathon I struggled to keep up with him in the early
stages, he struggled to keep up with me in the middle and towards the end we
both struggled to move at all. I’ll definitely be returning next year to see
how much faster I can do it solo but I was definitely glad of the company when
seemingly lost on the moor.
Half results:
1 Lee Athersmith (K&C)
34 Keith Brewster
2:10:35
37
46 Sara
Dyer
2:44:32
55
started, 46 finished
Full results:
1 Tom Brunt Holmfirth H 3:00:24
28 Eirik
Stangnes 3:47:59
33 Steve Webb
3:54:53
60 Malcolm
Coles 4:24:55 (2nd
M60)
88 Stephen
98 Robert
Bumstead 4:37:31
109 Xanthe Hannah
4:49:47
110 Jonathon
Brownbill 4:51:45
126 started, 6 did not finish, 2 finished but missed
check points
Mp Geoff Webster – didn’t find Sheepstones
5:28:37
Bob
added: NB Some
posts on http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showthread.php?t=9871&page=33
including maybe the people that came to CP13 in the opposite direction!
Steve
Webb added:
Results
for Wadsworth Trog (VSFC) and Half Trog (just for fun) now available on CVFR
website. Presumably Anthony will work out some scores shortly. This
is a B Long which feels like an A Long. Eight Spiders tackled the
Full in thick mist which made navigation on the plateau very difficult, not
helped by the rubbish OS mapping in that particular area. Eirik kept
going much better than me in the final third and overtook en route to the
penultimate checkpoint for a good result. Malcolm Coles was 2nd
V60. Xanthe and Jonathan kept plugging away to beat the 5 hour
barrier. Geoff claims Sheepstones Trig point was stolen by thieves under
cover of the mist. Three Spiders were racing in the Half.
Everybody
is doubtless keen to get out again at Winter Hill near
Open 5 Adventure Race
at Haworth – report from Richard Adcock
I thought I'd send you a message
to let you know I'm still around but doing more biking and swimming
to save my knees.
I bumped into Anthony Fryer in
It was Cold, Drizzly and Foggy
with visibility down to 10 metres at times (it's a comforting feeling
whilst lost being able to hear other people even if you can't
see them) so perfect for spending the day running around the hills.
The race is set up to be just
possible to complete in the time by the best having their best day!
and as there is no set route you start by making a plan of where you
think you can get to.
My planned two hour run
turned into well over two and a half hours partly as
I extended my planned route and partly because my compass
thought it would be funny to keep moving North and watch me zigzag
around!!
Tired and hungry back into
transition, quick change for the bike, grab some food and then off
again.
I hoped to regain some time
and energy on the bike but a lot of the route was either too
muddy or too steep to ride so a lot of pushing going on, even
downhill at times thanks to two feet of snow!
Exhausted, Wet and Cold, it
was a great way to spend five hours.
I did learn two
things 1. My Waterproof socks aren't! and 2. Trust your
compass
I finished midfield in
39th of 66 Male(Solo) and 75th of 166 teams overall and Anthony was
up near the top in 11th and 19th respectively.
Next one is Sedbergh in
March, for more information visit http://www.openadventure.com/ and
for results http://www.openadventure.com/results/0910/pennines/index.html
Other Results
Tigger Tor
260
Malcolm Coles 1:50:36
292
Dave Jones 2:07:45
307
finished
Simon Vallance M40/11th
Andrew Thompson M40/13th
Messages
from Paul Holloway
Thanks
for the update. It's good to see more Striders at the Parkrun. I
can highly recommend the
from John Hallas
Came across Terry's blog which is good reading and
probably of interest to many Striders. http://terryrunningonempty.blogspot.com/
“The Best of the Fells”
Message
from Steve Webb: This is the book created from lots of reports by fell
runners - profits to go to mountain rescue. I mentioned it at the AGM a
couple of years ago because the author/compiler asked for permission to include
pieces by me and Mick Loftus.
Worth
publicising I think, log on lulu.com ("weeeeeeeee,eeeeeeeeee,eeeeeeee,eeeeeee,lllllllll,
you know you make me wanna shout!") to check the details.
The preface
to the book says:
The Best of
the Fells is a collection of fell race accounts, written by runners, and
featuring a wide range of races and challenges across the
Here’s the
email from the editor, Peter Hooper
Well,
the book is live at last! You can view/purchase it at the following
site: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-best-of-the-fells/8144940
Let me know if you have any problems accessing it. If you click on preview
that allows you to view the first few pages, including the contents page.
I'm sorry I can't give you all free copies but there are so many of you!
I am sending review copies out to selected individuals, organisations (FRA have
had an advance copy) and websites, but if you could help promote it (assuming
you like the look of it!) to your club or other organisations I'd be really
grateful. For those of you with blogs or websites, I do have some code
that will put a 'lulu' button on your site which will then take readers
straight to the page above - let me know if you would be interested in doing
this.
As best as I can calculate at the moment, the gross margin per book is £3.24.
I'll come back to you all in due course to let you know how we're doing and how
much is going to MRT. I'll also set up some form of independent audit so
that everyone is happy the right amounts are being paid to MRT. If you
have any queries or concerns then I'll be very happy to answer them.
Thanks again for all your support - and for your writing of course! I
hope you like the end product.