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Windmill Fell Race
Isn't it annoying when you find out that there is a race less than three miles from home, which has been going for the last two years but you never even knew it existed?
By a random click on Facebook I discovered the Windmill Fell Race, organised by West End Runners (based in Leicester) on a Wednesday evening in July since 2016. It's 5 miles with 950ft of climbing, on two laps of a route over Windmill Hill and Broombriggs Hill near Woodhouse Eaves, on paths which I sometimes use on my training runs. The two-lap route is presumably to get a reasonable distance without any road crossings.
They claim that it is the only Category B fell race in Leicestershire, but it doesn't appear to be registered with the FRA. However, there is good reason for all this secrecy: they impose an entry limit of 110, presumably because the paths through the woodland on Windmill Hill are so narrow. Anyway, I am going to keep an eye on their Facebook page for when entries for this year's race open.
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Hi Anthony.
As a relatively local guy (I live in Bedworth, just north of Coventry), I'd potentially be interested in this and would appreciate any further details as they arise.
With a busy May/June/July already planned, along with weeknight training, there's all likelihood it might be too much to fit in, but you never know...
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You will find all the information about the race on the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/windmillfel...6Daxuc&fref=nf , Travs. I think you need to be alert to when the entries open, the places fill up rather quickly.
A nice warm-up for Wasdale three days later, assuming it's in the same week as last year.
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Confined to spectating this race last night, due to calf injury. But it was a lovely evening, and much more fun than sitting in front of a screen watching 22 blokes kicking a ball around a field. They used the horse track around Broombriggs Hill rather than the footpath; rougher underfoot, but avoids the race becoming a test of kissing-gate swerve skill.
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Having wimped out of Warslow at the weekend due to my appalling current level of fitness, I will be going to this somewhat less demanding race tomorrow evening; the venue is less than 3 miles from home. I'm hoping for some really heavy rain over the next 24 hours, to soften the ground and slow down all those road runners.
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This went better than expected: I didn't have any real speed in my legs, but I kept running up all the hills and never felt like I was going to die. And the other three M60s on the entry list were even slower than me, so I went home with a bottle of Prosecco.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Llani Boy
Nice one AK
24 hours later and I've stiffened up. Like you, I am coming back after a calf injury, and it's not feeling good.
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Only 53 turned up for this race yesterday evening; less than half the numbers when I did it two years ago, even though it is now billed as the Leicestershire & Rutland Fell Running Championships (yes, they have registered it as such with the Leics & Rutland AA, even though it isn't registered with the FRA). I have been enjoying the rain over the last few days; it is so much nicer to run over soft ground than the dry conditions of two years ago.
The winner was Tim Hartley: yet another win in a local race for this M50. His time was actually about half a minute faster than the winner's time in 2019, although the course was slightly shorter, with the start in a wider part of the road to allow easier social distancing. I was about two and a half minutes slower, not too bad given the general deterioration in my fitness over the last two years. The fastest M60 (7 seconds slower than my 2019 time) was someone I knew from my days running cross-country with Charnwood AC, and he pointed out that this was the first time he had ever beaten me in a race.
It was interesting to see on the long drag up Broombriggs Hill on the first lap, that I was able to pass several people who were walking, but I was being passed by faster runners (which would never have happened uphill in my younger days!). On the second lap I actually walked some of it; there were big gaps in front of and behind me, so I didn't feel much race pressure.
I got a surprise on my way home: a tree had fallen across the track between Woodhouse and Loughborough. I was able to lift my bike over it; but this track is the only vehicular access to a rather upmarket residence https://www.onthemarket.com/details/6794438/ , and it might be more difficult for the residents to lift their SUV (or whatever they drive) over it!
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Well done Anthony.... surely a nice warm-up for saturday's Four Fans!!
I assume Charnwood are in the Leics or East Mids cross-country league? As i don't think i've come across them outside of Midlands Road Relays... I seem to recall they do pretty well at the junior age groups.