Snowdon Mountain Race - 17th July 2016
Report by Paul Spriggs
As Lee wanted breakfast it was an early start for a race that started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, as we headed out of Telford at 8:30 in the morning the weather was not looking good. As we got closer to Llanberis Darren let us know he had never been to this lovely area of Wales! It was a shame as we got closer to Snowdon the clouds were very low so you could hardly see any of what was to be the race route.
Numbers collected, breakfast eaten and we still had a couple of hours before the race start, it was still raining so there was a lot of debate around footwear and jackets.
2 o'clock soon came around and it we were off, the first 3 quarters of a mile were on road,this is no ordinary road most people were walking it as its very very steep. You then hit the mountain only 4 miles of climbing to the top at 3,500 feet, the track is rough in places and very uneven there were lots of marshals along the course all cheering you on.
As I hit the 3.5 mile point the front runners were already at the top, at this stage you start to climb the rock steps as I reached the top the front guys were on their way down, watching them fly down the hill is impressive they seem to have no regard for there own safety. Once you finish the steps and pass under the bridge the hard climbing really starts hands on knees and keep going. Before I got to the top Lee was already on his way down. When you get to the top its very busy with runners coming down and lots of walkers wondering what the hell's going on with all theses nutters in vest and shorts in the rain running to the top.
As Lee wanted breakfast it was an early start for a race that started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, as we headed out of Telford at 8:30 in the morning the weather was not looking good. As we got closer to Llanberis Darren let us know he had never been to this lovely area of Wales! It was a shame as we got closer to Snowdon the clouds were very low so you could hardly see any of what was to be the race route.
Numbers collected, breakfast eaten and we still had a couple of hours before the race start, it was still raining so there was a lot of debate around footwear and jackets.
2 o'clock soon came around and it we were off, the first 3 quarters of a mile were on road,this is no ordinary road most people were walking it as its very very steep. You then hit the mountain only 4 miles of climbing to the top at 3,500 feet, the track is rough in places and very uneven there were lots of marshals along the course all cheering you on.
As I hit the 3.5 mile point the front runners were already at the top, at this stage you start to climb the rock steps as I reached the top the front guys were on their way down, watching them fly down the hill is impressive they seem to have no regard for there own safety. Once you finish the steps and pass under the bridge the hard climbing really starts hands on knees and keep going. Before I got to the top Lee was already on his way down. When you get to the top its very busy with runners coming down and lots of walkers wondering what the hell's going on with all theses nutters in vest and shorts in the rain running to the top.
As I started to run down I saw Darren he said Lee is about 10 mins in front, I thought here we go I might catch him, how wrong could I be as I started to push faster down hill past the steps down past the Cafe, then bang smashed my foot straight into a rock. The last two miles were a painful shuffle, as I got to the road my legs were gone but still managed a bit of a sprint finish at the end.
Then straight in to the medical tent to have my foot looked at, after some time being tended to by the doctor and strapping my toes together and Lee have a good laugh at me expense it was time to cheer Darren in.
This race is the highlight of my running calendar its tough but great fun and a real challenge I am sure we will all be back next year.
Lee Rudd 1:38:37
Paul Spriggs 1:54:13
Darren Owen Jones 2:25:29
Then straight in to the medical tent to have my foot looked at, after some time being tended to by the doctor and strapping my toes together and Lee have a good laugh at me expense it was time to cheer Darren in.
This race is the highlight of my running calendar its tough but great fun and a real challenge I am sure we will all be back next year.
Lee Rudd 1:38:37
Paul Spriggs 1:54:13
Darren Owen Jones 2:25:29
The Tara Kinder Memorial 10k - 15th July 2016
Report by Kathy Ling
It was Friday night and we travelled up to Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire. It was a 3 lap 10k, and the weather was very hot and humid. About 500 took part and as I approached the end of the 1st lap the winners were passing me, giving me great encouragement. Then, on lap 2 I felt I was going down as it was so hot and humid. I thought "come on old girl get your little legs going" so I downed the water and seemed to pick up. The marshals were brilliant on the last lap, Cynthia & Al came to meet me which was great. When I got over the finishing line the marshal asked me how old I was and then took me over to the goodie stall and gave me 3 small bottles of wine and a bottle of beer for John!
My time was 1h.37m, I know this is slow but at least I finish it where a lot of people drop out on the second lap. And I was not last which makes a change. We also had a good T Shirt. Because I am a lot slower now I was thinking of not doing any more races but then I do love my running so you will have to put up with me a little bit longer and in two weeks time I would have been a member of this fantastic club for 16 years so a big thank you every one for all the support you have shown me.
It was Friday night and we travelled up to Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire. It was a 3 lap 10k, and the weather was very hot and humid. About 500 took part and as I approached the end of the 1st lap the winners were passing me, giving me great encouragement. Then, on lap 2 I felt I was going down as it was so hot and humid. I thought "come on old girl get your little legs going" so I downed the water and seemed to pick up. The marshals were brilliant on the last lap, Cynthia & Al came to meet me which was great. When I got over the finishing line the marshal asked me how old I was and then took me over to the goodie stall and gave me 3 small bottles of wine and a bottle of beer for John!
My time was 1h.37m, I know this is slow but at least I finish it where a lot of people drop out on the second lap. And I was not last which makes a change. We also had a good T Shirt. Because I am a lot slower now I was thinking of not doing any more races but then I do love my running so you will have to put up with me a little bit longer and in two weeks time I would have been a member of this fantastic club for 16 years so a big thank you every one for all the support you have shown me.
Great Donington 10 mile - 26th June 2016
Report by Amanda Ellis
Having run my first 10k at Market Drayton this year I wanted to build up my distance running with the intention of doing my first half marathon. I thought a 10 mile race would be a good intermediate step. There aren't many of those around but I am a bit of a girl racer so a motor racing themed run at Donington Park was an immediate attraction. Sure, I'd have preferred to zip around in my masterpiece of German engineering, but if that wasn't possible then why not run?
Part of the Great Run series, I expected this to be a well run event and it was, apart from the fact that my race number didn't arrive (and still hasn't...). I was able to get a replacement easily enough on the day, and I signed up to receive my race photos posted automatically to Facebook, which was a good feature of the event.
The weather was overcast with rain prior to the start. It did remain dry for the actual race and thankfully the sun only poked its rays through the clouds very briefly. So, pretty good for running.
The 10 mile course involved two "short laps" of the race track itself, followed by two "long laps". The long laps involved a detour down what seemed to be an access road near the main grandstand.
VIP for the event was Sonia Samuels who was the second woman in this year's London Marathon and is training for the Rio Olympics. Her husband is her pacer and runs just ahead of her then lets her overtake at the end, which seems like a bit of a raw deal for him!
There were 500 or so participants in the 10 mile race and we set off to the sound of revving engines and the Top Gear theme tune. On the first lap I focused on not running too quickly. I intended to stick to 6.30 to 7.00 minutes per kilometre. The race track itself was, as you would expect, super smooth. No need to watch for kerbs, pot holes or tree roots. Soon enough, I could see that the track was not as flat as it looks when cars or bikes are zooming round at high speed. There's a fairly gentle but relatively long incline followed a little way afterwards by a shorter one. I kept my head up, slowed down but did not stop to walk, unlike many of those around me. And then thought, "I've got to do this hill another 3 times...." which was a definite downside to this race.
Coming under the start gantry after 1 lap and approx 3k, I was lapped by Sonia Samuels. She was running approx twice my pace and seemed to just float on air as she came past. Soon afterwards the other elite runners were lapping me as well. I kept my eye on certain people ahead of me, eavesdropped on a few conversations, and concentrated on my breathing and maintaining a steady pace.
Lucozade Sport was also available in addition to water at the drink station. Not being able to eat within four hours of starting a run, I took advantage of the offer of Lucozade and sipped on a bottle from lap 2 to lap 3.
In stark contrast to the Market Drayton 10k, there were very few spectators as most of the racetrack is not accessible to spectators. The few that there were were clustered near the grandstand and start/finish area. Great Run marshals were very enthusiastic but few and far between as the only real place they were needed was when you left the main racetrack to do the extra bit on the long laps. This meant that for most of the course, there was not much distraction. I focused on staying with or catching up certain other runners and just kept on going. There was music playing in the area of the extra loop on laps 3 & 4 which all seemed to be 80's tracks so clearly aimed at my demographic.
As I neared the end I increased my pace a little, which was as much as I could manage, and ran past the chequered flag in 1:52:17. 10 mile finishers were offered a free 10 minute massage which was very welcome, but extremely painful!
Upsides of this race - novelty of running on a racetrack, wheel shaped medal, and the massage afterwards. Downsides - having to do 4 laps of the same track, and relatively boring landscape.
Part of the Great Run series, I expected this to be a well run event and it was, apart from the fact that my race number didn't arrive (and still hasn't...). I was able to get a replacement easily enough on the day, and I signed up to receive my race photos posted automatically to Facebook, which was a good feature of the event.
The weather was overcast with rain prior to the start. It did remain dry for the actual race and thankfully the sun only poked its rays through the clouds very briefly. So, pretty good for running.
The 10 mile course involved two "short laps" of the race track itself, followed by two "long laps". The long laps involved a detour down what seemed to be an access road near the main grandstand.
VIP for the event was Sonia Samuels who was the second woman in this year's London Marathon and is training for the Rio Olympics. Her husband is her pacer and runs just ahead of her then lets her overtake at the end, which seems like a bit of a raw deal for him!
There were 500 or so participants in the 10 mile race and we set off to the sound of revving engines and the Top Gear theme tune. On the first lap I focused on not running too quickly. I intended to stick to 6.30 to 7.00 minutes per kilometre. The race track itself was, as you would expect, super smooth. No need to watch for kerbs, pot holes or tree roots. Soon enough, I could see that the track was not as flat as it looks when cars or bikes are zooming round at high speed. There's a fairly gentle but relatively long incline followed a little way afterwards by a shorter one. I kept my head up, slowed down but did not stop to walk, unlike many of those around me. And then thought, "I've got to do this hill another 3 times...." which was a definite downside to this race.
Coming under the start gantry after 1 lap and approx 3k, I was lapped by Sonia Samuels. She was running approx twice my pace and seemed to just float on air as she came past. Soon afterwards the other elite runners were lapping me as well. I kept my eye on certain people ahead of me, eavesdropped on a few conversations, and concentrated on my breathing and maintaining a steady pace.
Lucozade Sport was also available in addition to water at the drink station. Not being able to eat within four hours of starting a run, I took advantage of the offer of Lucozade and sipped on a bottle from lap 2 to lap 3.
In stark contrast to the Market Drayton 10k, there were very few spectators as most of the racetrack is not accessible to spectators. The few that there were were clustered near the grandstand and start/finish area. Great Run marshals were very enthusiastic but few and far between as the only real place they were needed was when you left the main racetrack to do the extra bit on the long laps. This meant that for most of the course, there was not much distraction. I focused on staying with or catching up certain other runners and just kept on going. There was music playing in the area of the extra loop on laps 3 & 4 which all seemed to be 80's tracks so clearly aimed at my demographic.
As I neared the end I increased my pace a little, which was as much as I could manage, and ran past the chequered flag in 1:52:17. 10 mile finishers were offered a free 10 minute massage which was very welcome, but extremely painful!
Upsides of this race - novelty of running on a racetrack, wheel shaped medal, and the massage afterwards. Downsides - having to do 4 laps of the same track, and relatively boring landscape.
Shifnal Half Marathon Report Sunday June 26th 2016
Report by Johnathan Smart
Welcome to my first ever run report.
I first looked at this race when Kim Bennett highlighted it within the WRR Facebook group citing support for a local event. But during my semi usual Saturday Parkrun my running chum Robin Hartley asked if I fancied a steady 2 hour effort. It didn’t take much to convince me to be honest.
So race day routine, a decent runners breakfast of porridge, get my running kit on, sort liquids out, Sort Garmin out left me just enough time to then relax for 10 minutes with a bit of social media updates while waiting for Robin to arrive, Only to find via Facebook I get a reminder that it’s his birthday. So now with that information my Wife then sings happy birthday at Robin in a mouse onesie as he comes up the street, (Hope my Neighbours weren’t up!) so after that embarrassment we quickly jump in the car and after a few high 5’s from my son we make our way to Shifnal.
We arrived at Idsall school, ample parking for the event and we registered on the day which again was easy, once numbered up & after exchanging a few pleasantries with our running brethren we wandered down to the start where we got our fair share of road runner team photo’s and selfies in.
Once we got down to the start we all got down to our pre-race stretching routines at the start area which happened to be a small car park opposite the church, Little did I know this was going to be the start of one of the most eventful races I’ve done so far.
So the start, we were briefed well by the starter about traffic and where we were going, not to wear headphones etc all good then he sets us all off. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Robin” starts resonating from the collection of lads & lasses of Telford Harriers behind us, laughter ensued and I’m pretty sure Robin said something along the lines of “Well this was the best start to a race ever”.
For the first 4-5 miles we went off at a steady pace and seemed to have a bunch of our Road Runner team having a natter and shouting out in front for when vehicle’s were coming up and about, there were a few comments about how nice the weather was and being thankful that it hadn’t rained as much as some of the terrain leading into Ryton seemed to change every mile, this is the turning point of when events during the race all started to get a bit odd once we got down to the grange farm area of the course. We passed through a stile coming along the farm when Robin brought it to my attention that a sheep was hot on the heels of Sarah Green, for a good 20 yards all we could see was a bouncing woolly bully trying its best to catch up with Sarah, Of course this was hilarious & Robin wanted to chuck some friendly banter once we’d left the field, but the sheep attack seemed to light a fire under Sarah, this was the last we seen of Sarah till the end.
We carried on running into Ryton which we were then caught up by LRC’s own Amy Aldridge who then preceded to sing to Robin “happy birthday” again, but this was rudely broken up my myself being bitten by something after running through the long grass where the crazed sheep was, loud swearing and an immediate pull up slowed us down a bit while I doused my ankle in water to try alleviate the pain. I’m pretty sure Robin then took a mid race selfie at this point, which I didn’t look to impressed about and we soldiered on.
Beckbury was the next village along the route, plenty of hills here to negotiate but enjoyed this part of the course as some lovely gent had left a sprinkler spraying over his garden fence for the runners to run through, a nice touch to be honest as we were getting quite warm by now.
We took in the views and admired some of the posh houses and cars that were parked up along the way. We then headed out past Grindle up to the Kemberton area we didn’t encounter much view wise, although we literally had to do running repairs on a few of Robin’s blisters as soon as we hit Kemberton, Luckily St John’s Ambulance were stood by the water station, we patched up Robin and after a hug of the lass in green we made our way on the back leg of the course up to the finish at back towards Shifnal.
We picked up our pace a little now as we had intended to clock a 2 sub 2 hour half I had powered on a little as we had to go down a single track through a wooded area, Let this be a lesson to anyone reading this to remember to lift your sunglasses when running through dark wooded areas, not more than 10 metres after passing my good friend Richard from the Search and rescue team with his dog Gill I was sent flying my kicking a tree root, Robin being behind me said it’s the funniest thing he’s ever seen, (Yeah cheers mate!). According to Robin I got a 9.2 for my dive!
So after yet another crazy mishap we carried on the last few mile’s with what was left of my race number out of this wood along the road into Shifnal, Where we encountered a race photographer who has got a perfect picture of me looking like I’ve been dragged 13 miles let alone run it, but the fun still hadn’t ended! During our run in to the finish we encountered a young runner who was doing his first half, (I’m pretty sure he run for Newport Running Club) However, he was flagging a bit but asked us what times we had on our Garmins & what time we were looking to get, we told him 2 hours. “Really was his word’s” A smile hit his face, he then told us his mates had made some sort of bet, he was on for a free Nando’s which seemed to give him a major second wind & he trotted off.
We then got back into Shifnal, we knew that the pedestrian traffic light’s might make or break our 2 hour target, luckily today the motorist’s of Shifnal were in a forgiving mood today as they waited patiently for us to nip across even though they were on green, we made our way to the finish line cheered in by WRR’s own Kathy Ling, we were greeted by the race director shouting our names according to our race number’s as we came in, we heard “here comes number 78 Robin Hartley, and just behind number 18 Adam Hyde” from his PA system. My number was upside down from my fall & being held on by one pin, I quickly turned my number the right way up “Sorry its number 81 Johnathon Smart” My friend at the finish line has managed to take a few pictures of me running rather awkwardly as I’m holding the number with both hands across my belly.
The medal & banana was well earned and we have plenty of stories to tell to my club after, although I did have to explain my sorry looking state several times over. I Finished 1:58:49 which considering all the crazy events along the way a miracle. Still managed to smile about it though!
All in all it was a great local race, will look to give it a go again next year, it was really well marshalled, watered and all for a good cause.
I first looked at this race when Kim Bennett highlighted it within the WRR Facebook group citing support for a local event. But during my semi usual Saturday Parkrun my running chum Robin Hartley asked if I fancied a steady 2 hour effort. It didn’t take much to convince me to be honest.
So race day routine, a decent runners breakfast of porridge, get my running kit on, sort liquids out, Sort Garmin out left me just enough time to then relax for 10 minutes with a bit of social media updates while waiting for Robin to arrive, Only to find via Facebook I get a reminder that it’s his birthday. So now with that information my Wife then sings happy birthday at Robin in a mouse onesie as he comes up the street, (Hope my Neighbours weren’t up!) so after that embarrassment we quickly jump in the car and after a few high 5’s from my son we make our way to Shifnal.
We arrived at Idsall school, ample parking for the event and we registered on the day which again was easy, once numbered up & after exchanging a few pleasantries with our running brethren we wandered down to the start where we got our fair share of road runner team photo’s and selfies in.
Once we got down to the start we all got down to our pre-race stretching routines at the start area which happened to be a small car park opposite the church, Little did I know this was going to be the start of one of the most eventful races I’ve done so far.
So the start, we were briefed well by the starter about traffic and where we were going, not to wear headphones etc all good then he sets us all off. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Robin” starts resonating from the collection of lads & lasses of Telford Harriers behind us, laughter ensued and I’m pretty sure Robin said something along the lines of “Well this was the best start to a race ever”.
For the first 4-5 miles we went off at a steady pace and seemed to have a bunch of our Road Runner team having a natter and shouting out in front for when vehicle’s were coming up and about, there were a few comments about how nice the weather was and being thankful that it hadn’t rained as much as some of the terrain leading into Ryton seemed to change every mile, this is the turning point of when events during the race all started to get a bit odd once we got down to the grange farm area of the course. We passed through a stile coming along the farm when Robin brought it to my attention that a sheep was hot on the heels of Sarah Green, for a good 20 yards all we could see was a bouncing woolly bully trying its best to catch up with Sarah, Of course this was hilarious & Robin wanted to chuck some friendly banter once we’d left the field, but the sheep attack seemed to light a fire under Sarah, this was the last we seen of Sarah till the end.
We carried on running into Ryton which we were then caught up by LRC’s own Amy Aldridge who then preceded to sing to Robin “happy birthday” again, but this was rudely broken up my myself being bitten by something after running through the long grass where the crazed sheep was, loud swearing and an immediate pull up slowed us down a bit while I doused my ankle in water to try alleviate the pain. I’m pretty sure Robin then took a mid race selfie at this point, which I didn’t look to impressed about and we soldiered on.
Beckbury was the next village along the route, plenty of hills here to negotiate but enjoyed this part of the course as some lovely gent had left a sprinkler spraying over his garden fence for the runners to run through, a nice touch to be honest as we were getting quite warm by now.
We took in the views and admired some of the posh houses and cars that were parked up along the way. We then headed out past Grindle up to the Kemberton area we didn’t encounter much view wise, although we literally had to do running repairs on a few of Robin’s blisters as soon as we hit Kemberton, Luckily St John’s Ambulance were stood by the water station, we patched up Robin and after a hug of the lass in green we made our way on the back leg of the course up to the finish at back towards Shifnal.
We picked up our pace a little now as we had intended to clock a 2 sub 2 hour half I had powered on a little as we had to go down a single track through a wooded area, Let this be a lesson to anyone reading this to remember to lift your sunglasses when running through dark wooded areas, not more than 10 metres after passing my good friend Richard from the Search and rescue team with his dog Gill I was sent flying my kicking a tree root, Robin being behind me said it’s the funniest thing he’s ever seen, (Yeah cheers mate!). According to Robin I got a 9.2 for my dive!
So after yet another crazy mishap we carried on the last few mile’s with what was left of my race number out of this wood along the road into Shifnal, Where we encountered a race photographer who has got a perfect picture of me looking like I’ve been dragged 13 miles let alone run it, but the fun still hadn’t ended! During our run in to the finish we encountered a young runner who was doing his first half, (I’m pretty sure he run for Newport Running Club) However, he was flagging a bit but asked us what times we had on our Garmins & what time we were looking to get, we told him 2 hours. “Really was his word’s” A smile hit his face, he then told us his mates had made some sort of bet, he was on for a free Nando’s which seemed to give him a major second wind & he trotted off.
We then got back into Shifnal, we knew that the pedestrian traffic light’s might make or break our 2 hour target, luckily today the motorist’s of Shifnal were in a forgiving mood today as they waited patiently for us to nip across even though they were on green, we made our way to the finish line cheered in by WRR’s own Kathy Ling, we were greeted by the race director shouting our names according to our race number’s as we came in, we heard “here comes number 78 Robin Hartley, and just behind number 18 Adam Hyde” from his PA system. My number was upside down from my fall & being held on by one pin, I quickly turned my number the right way up “Sorry its number 81 Johnathon Smart” My friend at the finish line has managed to take a few pictures of me running rather awkwardly as I’m holding the number with both hands across my belly.
The medal & banana was well earned and we have plenty of stories to tell to my club after, although I did have to explain my sorry looking state several times over. I Finished 1:58:49 which considering all the crazy events along the way a miracle. Still managed to smile about it though!
All in all it was a great local race, will look to give it a go again next year, it was really well marshalled, watered and all for a good cause.