Glad your trip was worthwhile, Martin also organises the Clwydian Summer Trots series in June/July, mid week thuogh which may make it difficult to travel over
Glad your trip was worthwhile, Martin also organises the Clwydian Summer Trots series in June/July, mid week thuogh which may make it difficult to travel over
Awesome race... loved every minute of it. Started strong on the technical steeper section but once it flattened out i was done for. :-) Anyway thanks for putting on such a superb race. Will be back again next year.
Do you put on any other downhill only races like the plunge maybe in the summer... i looked up an old thread with a mention of Clwydian runner holding a few but they are quite old. I think with a decent turnout like you had on boxing day there is definitely something there to be pursued. Hell i race a full season of downhill on bikes so why not running.
Cheers Chris (Atherton)
Chris - there used to be a series a few years back which all started on the the top of Moel famau as last weeks did and then each finished at a different Pub. The Jubilee Plunge emerged out of that series. The series of three only ever had less than 10 runners at each, though. Nothing compared to last weeks 53 runners so I think you might be right and there may be appetite out there for more.
The International Festival of Downhill Running took place in 2007
The Cannonball Run 28th December 2007 finished at the Colomendy Arms in Cadole
1 Neil Parry u/a Mold 24.07
2 Martin Cortvriend V50 Macclesfield Harriers 24.47
3 Chris Marshall Ellesmere Port 25.02
4 Chris Jones Clwydian Range Runners 26.17
5 Alistair Singleton V40 Pensby Runners 26.28
6 Yiannis Tridimas V60 Bowland Fellrunners 27.05
7 David Stephens V50 u/a Mold 28
8 John Keyworth V50 Pensby Runners 28.27
9 Ellie Salisbury F40 Eryri Harriers 30.31
10 Vic Belshaw V40 Eryri Harriers 30.32
11 Andy Worthington V50 Pensby Runners 31.35
12 Malcolm Parry V60 u/a Mold 31.59
13 Steve Tilby V40 Pensby Runners 36.11
14 Peter Norman V70 Wrexham AC 45.18
The Druid Drop 29th December 2007 finished at The Druid in Llanferres
1 Neil Parry u/a Mold 30.18
2 Chris Marshall Ellesmere Port 30.44
3 Martin Cortvriend V50 Macclesfield Harriers 32.03
4 Mary Gillie F Clwydian Range Runners 32.35
5 Vic Belshaw V40 Eryri Harriers 34.24
6 Yiannis Tridimas V60 Bowland Fellrunners 36.02
7 David Watkin Jones V50 u/a Abergele 43.42
8 Lyndall Lohman F Denbigh Harriers 48.01
9 Peter Norman V70 Wrexham AC 55.58
The Jubilee Plunge 30th December 2007 finished at the Goldie Llangynhafal
1 Martin Cortvriend V50 Macclesfield Harriers 12.48
2 Chris Marshall Ellesmere Port 12.5
3 Craig Jones WFRA 13.11
4 Steve Hammond V40 Tattenhall Runners 13.25
5 Mike Blake V50 Eryri Harriers 13.36
6 Nick Holmes V40 Tattenhall Runners 13.39
7 John Fowlie u/a Llangynhafal 14.3
8 Chris Jones Clwydian Range Runners 14.41
9 Vic Belshaw V40 Eryri Harriers 15.15
10 Dave Sykes V40 Tattenhall Runners 15.27
11 Ross Powell V50 Mercia 15.29
12 Rob Armstrong Eryri Harriers 16.27
13 Clare Page F Cheshre Fire Tri 16.33
14 Robert Williams u/a Llangynhafal 16.4
15 Tony Benton V40 u/a Gellifor 16.54
16 Sarah Hammond F40 Tattenhall Runners 17.12
17 David Watkin Jones V50 u/a Abergele 18.29
18 Dave Carnelly Tattenhall Runners 19.32
19 Peter Norman V70 Wrexham AC 21.33
20 Amanda Davies F Tattenhall Runners 21.35
21 Sheila Lloyd F50 Mercia 22.52
22 Wednesday Rytter FJ u/a Llangynhafal 26.2
23 Susie Williams FJ u/a Llangynhafal 26.21
24 Vicky Cortvriend F50 Denbigh Harriers 28.14
25 Osian Hughes u/a Llangynhafal 29.42
26 Clare Riley F u/a Llangynhafal 32.22
I love this mad dash downhill race, especially when treated with fantastic weather and views like we had this year. Many thanks to Martin and helpers.... All the best Martin with your trip around the world, you'll be missed on the fells. Good to see you showing your class winning the v60, top man. Fantastic run also by Helen (British/English joint fellrunning champ 2013) breaking the ladies course record.
Cheers, Darren...Chorley.
It's a great race. Nice chilled climb with fellow racers then a fun blast down for 10mins. Awesome stuff. Could believe how fast Ifan came past me on the first shoot down. Thought I was fairly handy downhill. Ha. Good running Darren you must be tired after that year. Well done Helen, superb downhilling. Hope the ankle gets better. Nice practical prize choice. :-)
Does anyone know if this one is taking place again this year? Can't seem to find any info about it, and really fancy giving it a go!
Final race of the year and something fairly unique... having a 45 minute uphill walk to the start line. This presented a couple of minor issues in itself... for one, I didn't know entirely where I was going, although uphill seemed to be the best bet... secondly, what to carry in order to stay warm at the summit before the race started.
As to the race, 2.2 miles, flat out downhill. A mixture of wide paths, a narrow muddy traverse path, steep and slippy grass, then a final road and field section.
A good turnout had assembled at the tower on the summit, my guess around 60, in thick mist. The very open summit soon narrows into the path which is about 10ft wide at this point, so a manic start to gain a good position, and when I'd finally regained control of my legs I was in 4th or 5th. There is a fork in the path here, and I elected to follow Mr Dark Peak to the left down the rockier steps... pretty much everyone else went the other way on the more gentle grassier option. When we converged I was certainly no longer in 5th... perhaps about 15th and the leaders were a good 30 seconds in front. Mistake no. 1 made...!
Managed to spot the tricky looking turn onto the correct path down, and now on a narrower path, but had worked my way through the field and now probably about 10th. Ran well and held position, until hitting the road. Unfortunately mistake no. 2 was to follow shortly.... I didn't quite know the optimum route back through the fields, so opted for the road route I had taken in ascent, joining the fields in the final half mile. Unfortunately this extra couple of hundred metres dropped me back through the pack, and I think finished around 20th.
A fantastic race, I don't know how 14mins of running can hurt so much. It is a must-do again for next year, with much unfinished business. Route errors probably only cost around 60-75secs, but I expect to see that they are the difference between a top 10 finish.
A beautiful part of the world. The drive over the Horseshoe Pass was glorious, and topped off with a bite to eat in Llangollen on the return journey. A great way to end the year.