I'll be the one with the orange campervan and a very barky collie. You can't miss us! 😀
I'll be the one with the orange campervan and a very barky collie. You can't miss us! 😀
My first time at this race. Having studied the map and previous results, and looked at the fairly decent weather and underfoot conditions, decided this was a race where all out effort was required from the off, and set a target of 52 mins and top 30.
Turned out to be quite windy. Didn't get a full warmup, as when I made my way down the valley, the finish area got completely obliterated by the wind, so spent most of the time chasing the finish sign up the Fell, and helping some of the Mercia guys retrieve the finish tent from out of the stream, a good couple of hundred yards away from its intended location.
The race briefing was quite entertaining... along the lines of "the route may be marked if the markers haven't been blown away, in which case you're on your own...". And it was reassuring to hear that one or two had been turned away due to no kit requirements. It was certainly challenging in the second half of the race, and anyone becoming immobile without kit would have been very cold in a short space of time.
So went right at it from the off and was around the top 12-15 going up the first stiff climb. Once the race settled down I found myself around 16th, dropping a further place to be 17th at halfway. Then started to think about my rivals who I see every time in Shropshire races..... Mel Price, as always just out of reach, every time I crested a rise she was well down the following section. Mr Jeggo of Springfield Striders gave me another ding-dong battle, flogging each other to death on the second half, me getting the better of the climbs, but he pulled out an unassailable gap in the final descent.
That's the problem with being relatively high up the field (by no means challenging for honours, but in the top 15% or so)...... you can absolutely wreck yourself trying to build up a cushion, but then turn round and there's 10 runners chasing you down... hard.
As it was I reached the final half mile down the stony and uneven valley track with 3 runners within 10 seconds behind, but I hadn't worked hard all race to lose those positions without a fight, and I threw all my cross-country training into it and went hard for the finish. Managed to hold on for a very satisfying 18th in 50:29
Another fantastic Shropshire race. Stiff climbs and decents, apart from the steepness there was nothing overly technical... but there's no easy races in this part of the country, and I watched a few people collapse over the line after pushing very hard.
Hi PeteS and AnthonyKay, I didn't see you today but did notice you in the results.
Pete
Great result in those conditions, Pete.
I saw you briefly at the start - well a flash of red and yellow a way ahead of me anyway!
I struggled on the last 2 climbs due to the wind and lost a few places. Happy with result but know it could have been better.
Travs, I did notice a tallish bloke with a black baseball cap when we in the pen being counted before the start; obviously I didn't see you during the race!
My last FRA-listed race was as long ago as last July: Pen y Fan, where I actually felt that I handled the plunge from the summit down to Cwm Llwch rather well. But today my descending was even worse than usual; some of the people in the group near me at the top of Haddon Hill finished around two minutes before me.
Apart from that, I seemed to cope with the second half better than the first. On Cow Ridge, I was just starting to feel comfortable with the gradient when suddenly it stopped, and I had to start running again on the flat. But I got a good rhythm going on all the three sharp climbs in the second half; I think I overtook one bloke three times, once on each climb, only to be passed on the following descent.
Anyway, a great day out. I arrived in Church Stretton before 11am, so decided to go for a walk. I soon ground to a halt outside Mr Bun the Baker, and gazed at the cakes arrayed in the shop window. A couple of minutes later, my rucksack had two more cakes in it, and my pocket had two less pound coins in it. Why hasn't Loughborough, a much bigger place, got a bakery as good as this?
Anyway, I did have a pleasant, gently paced walk, up the Townbrook Valley, over the Burway Road and dropping down to Light Spout Hollow, although the waterfall wasn't very impressive after the recent dry weather. I suppose for many of the day-trippers on the Mynd today that would have been a good day's walk, not just filling in time before a race (and giving me the opportunity for unhurried enjoyment of the views)!
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Great stuff Anthony (and PeteS)
Yes it did strike me that after climbing one of the popular ridges out of the valley, and then a substantial circuit of the hills to the south of the valley, and then descending back into the valley, we'd only been out for around 25mins, and what would the spectating walkers make of that!?!
I also lost most time (if not actual positions) on the descents... on the first climb I actually thought the pace was too slow, and felt I was bought to a walk earlier than I would have liked. Perhaps I should have made more effort to overtake and tried to go off with the leaders for a while, but I was happy with my position in the chasing group at that stage.
My dad informed me that in the top 20 or so runners, I was comfortably the slowest on the first descent back to valley level. Interestingly I had nobody in sight in front, or behind. However I made a much better job of the final descent, when I was under severe pressure from behind... perhaps I need that focus to push myself to a speed I'm not necessarily comfortable with.
By the way, no-one has mentioned the tea and scones yet on this thread. Those scones . . .
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Just noticed it was a new women's race record yesterday. Amazing running given the weather. Surely could have taken a couple of minutes off that without the wind.
I cant do much nowadays other than reflect on past glories (probably to strong a phrase!!)But CMC was my last proper race before knees gave. 2014 and a time of 49 mins and something. I too watched Mel P pull away that day having been with her up to that steep climb alongside the fence at about 3 miles, and then to rub salt in, having led Paul J to the final decent he comes sprinting past me to beat me by about 8 seconds!! Mind you I was a V55 and still walked away with a bottle of plonk! ran well and loved it. £ weeks later and it was the fabled Donard Challenge in the rain and mist, and my knees just didn't like it! Nor have they done since. But I do like the CMC as one of my favourite all time races.Originally Posted by Travs
Paul J seems a top guy and i see him all over the place. He generally gets the upper-hand on me on shorter races, but i seem to be stronger on the longer races and pull away in the 2nd half (as happened at both Stretton Skyline and Brecon Beacons laat year).
At Brecon Beacons he ran in with blood pouring from his nose after a fall in the final few miles, and i always remember him from that point on.
Although looking at the numerous times he's won vet-categories in the Welsh champs makes me feel a little better when he beats me again...! Mind you i must be 15-20 years his junior!
Paul J runs for Springfield Striders, based in Chelmsford. As an Essex-born man myself, I'm wondering, does he still live there, since he is seen at so many races in Wales and the Marches? Or is he, like me, running for a club many miles from his present location?
Regarding Pete S's comment about the women's record: 3 women in the first 14 finishers! And it's unusual to see Mel Price so comprehensively beaten.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
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