Hi,
Ive searched about a bit on the net and cant find anywhere listing record times for the full Sandstone Trail. Anyone know what it is? Enquiring only out of interest, im certainly not fast enough at the moment. :wink:
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Hi,
Ive searched about a bit on the net and cant find anywhere listing record times for the full Sandstone Trail. Anyone know what it is? Enquiring only out of interest, im certainly not fast enough at the moment. :wink:
Male: 1:50:20 John Brown 2009
Female: 2.14.09 K. Parker 2005
I thought the full trail was 34 miles long? In which case, I'll have some of whatever they're on! (I guess those are the race records, rather than the Frodsham-Whitchurch times)
Yeah, sorry didnt explain that well. I meant the full trail from Whitchurch to Frodsham, my dad won the Deeside Orienteering Sandstone Race twice which is the race you are referring to I presume. Must be someone that has set a time for it all.
I'd guess not that many people have run Whitchurch to Frodsham centre. The Trail used to run from the Cheshire border at Grindley Brook to a car park above Frodsham, & it got extended a few years ago. There was an organised walk someone in the fire service used to put on, and I think some people ran that, but I'm pretty sure it was the old route before the extension. No idea whether anyone kept records of times for that one - the year I wanted to do it was the year it stopped running. I'm hoping to have a go myself some time this year if I can fit it in. Mind you that'll only be a record if nobody else has recorded a time! I'd suggest posting times on here if anyone does it, then there'll be an answer next time someone asks the question.
Tyke & I have just decided to run the Sandstone Trail tomorrow, so we'll at least put a marker down. I'll post our time on here (assuming we finish). It's been raining hard for a lot of the day today, so I expect it'll be pretty wet underfoot for the first few miles. One bit was up to our knees when I walked it with my daughter, but that was in winter.
Good luck. I did it 6 and a half hours a while ago, conviced I could do a better time.
We did it in 6:12, from the sandstone arch by the park in Whitchurch, to the monument by the Bear's Paw in Frodsham. We're both knackered, & now I'm going for a shower.
well done Splatcher
that's the benchmark then!
Nice one. Will be doing it again and in the direction you did it, from Whitchurch to Frodsham.
Sandstone Trail known completions
John Rowlands - 7:00 approx - S Cheshire Harriers (06/06/2010)
Chris Baynham-Hughes - 5:29 - Helsby RC (24/07/2010)
Andy Robinson - 6:12 - Helsby RC (14/08/2010)
Chris Vardy - 6:12 - Norfolk OC (14/08/2010)
Marshallini - 5:45 (date?)
Let me know if there any others & I'll add them. John: let me know if you want me to change the "7:00 approx". I've estimated half an hour for your walk from Grindley Brook to Whitchurch.
And don't forget Mario Foschi's 1994 record of 4:07 for the old fire service race route, which would have given him a time of around 4:20 for the current Trail. Just to clarify, the above times are for the whole Sandstone Trail as it is currently waymarked. The end points are the sandstone arch at the car park in Whitchurch (GR537416) and the sandstone pillar by the Bear's Paw at the traffic lights in Frodsham (GR517779).
I supect this will be a short lived moment of fame, but I'm enjoying it for now! :D
Cheers for pointing me to the forum Splatcher & congrats on finishing the trail
Is that you Chris? Superb effort. Didn't realise you were actually going to do it - my attempt was all talk - good job I didn't join you and deprive you of the fast time ;-)
...I shall count you as the temporary record holder Andy, whilst better data arrived.
Edit: Andy's done a nice write-up for our little club blog at http://helsbyrunningclub.wordpress.com/
Nice one Cheenis!
Cheers chaps! It was all talk for me too Idler until I got to the point it was going to be embarrassing that I hadn't done anything about it :) I reckon I could do a sub 5 if I trained, whilst Danny and Harrymoon could go much quicker. With Danny's training for the BG I reckon there could even be a sub 4 in him.
Nice to see you chaps on here!
Marshallini posted on my facebook he did it in 5.45 and thinks a sub 5 might be going some. Looks like you've laid down a gauntlet now Chris, very tempted with an attempt on the bank holiday weekend. Gonna wait till after the 5k on Wednesday night and prob do the Rhydycroesau Fell Run on Saturday
So, how much water did you carry.........?
Harry - have a word with Mario and Mike S. Mike's best is deeply impressive, Mario even more so. See http://helsbyrunningclub.wordpress.c...il-end-to-end/
:)
Hi Steve
Yeah had a good chat with Mario and Joe today. Joe managed 6hrs something at 63, brilliant!
Not sure Mario's can be touched though. Have the certificates for Mario and Joe if you need them scanned. Also a newspaper article. (Think the old race route was 31 miles)
Gonna give this a good go soon, will try and pace for sub5, and will see what happens.
Not enough! That's how much water I took. I ran with my fell bum bag so I took two 0.5 ltr water bottles, one with water & one with a home made isotonic drink. I filled up with another 0.5 ltr at the only cafe on the actual route (just before you get to Delamere) - beware though, I asked/ begged the lady there and she looked at me as if I had just insulted her mother. She couldn't have been less pleased about my request to fill up with tab water.
Sub 5 is definately possible; I have no doubt about that. I spent over 5 minutes taping my food (I wore new shoes!! how stupid was that!) after getting soaked in one of the fields and developing a hot spot. I spent a good 5 minutes, if not 10 getting the water from the cafe and I missed the route a couple of times and had to go back to correct. I also commenced the survival shuffle from an early distance as I'd not done the distance before, so it was mentally tough. I'm certain if I attempted it again I'd go sub 5, so you should have no issues Mr. Moon.
I could certainly be tempted into another run of it, but not this bank holiday. Good luck with it & if you've any questions on it give me a bell.
Wow!:w00t: Just seen Mario's time for the fire station race. Incredibly quick.
Just to clarify for anyone not familiar with the local geography, the fire station race route missed out about 3km at the Whitchurch end of the current Sandstone Trail, starting at Grindley Brook. It finished at almost the same place as the current end of the Trail, but took a different route down into Frodsham, going via the original end of the Trail at the Beacon Hill car park. Mario's 1994 time of 4:07, he estimates would have meant around 4:20 had he been running today's Trail route.
Go for it, harrymoon!
Harrymoon - did you give it a go on the weekend? How did you find it?
I was walking there on Monday and bumped into Robbie - I hope I'm banging out an hour long run for fun when I'm in my 70's! He was telling me that the trail was a lot rougher when Mario did it and some of the fields were just ploughed up so it was tough underfoot - put's mario's time into perspective! I definately need to have another go, just not sure when I'll go for it.
Hi Cheenis
Had a good run on Friday last, 3 hours 36 minutes so hopefully stands me in good stead for the distance, did the Helsby hill run to Frodsham then ran the Sandstone trail to Delamere, took some trails in Delamere then back to the club house, felt a little tired Sat/Sun so rested then drove to Whitchurch monday to do a recce again, got quite far but obviously had to turn back to get to the car, was out for 2 hours 40 monday. Rested again Tuesday and just drove to Bickerton tonight and scraped through another 2 hours although lost the light at the end so was a bit ropey.
Gonna make an attempt on Saturday, feel confident with the route now, should be setting off 9.30ish, at least that's the plan but getting a lift so we'll see. Parents will meet me at Beeston with some aftershave and a new tux for the 2nd half!
Will be doing the Deeside Multi-terrain friday night so hopefully that can be my warm up.
Will give you a text on sat if I complete!
Best
H
Give it some welly Adair - you've got a record to set. I'll be thinking of you on Saturday morning. Mind you, I'll have been running for 4 1/2 hours by the time you set off... At about half the speed you'll be doing mind you.Quote:
Originally Posted by harrymoon
Good luck Adair! You'll certainly be in a better position than I was, I hadn't run more than 10 miles for a long time and only 1 over 20 in the year so you've totally done the right thing. I'm thinking a sub 4:45, maybe even sub 4:30 judging by what you've done and the wise plan of support at Beeston. I was dehydrated for about a day and a half as I just thought I'd be able to fill up more along the way.
The first 10k is pretty brisk and there is a sandstone marker there; don't concentrate on the distance, but break it up into sections - I got into survival mode too early & I think breaking it down into sections in my mind would have helped. I'm thinking I will go for a winter attempt post sandstone trail race and maybe mid November. I'm really tempted to come out and meet you, but we've got friends coming to stay for the weekend, oh and I wouldn't be able to keep up!
Have a great run!
Cheers for the support!
Good luck with your run too Andy.
Have broken it down into three stages, basically the first section is to the start of the official Sandstone Race,
then i'll treat the second section as I would the race and try and push quite hard, then will grit my teeth once I am
at Delamere and go for broke............if things work out along the way..
Not sure what to expect but anything less than 5 hours i'll be really happy with so we'll see.
Longest I will have run so a personal achievement no matter what happens!
just thought for anybody outside of the area or anyone wishing to have a go themselves, there is a free pdf booklet of basic maps and guide available FREE from the council here
http://www.cheshirewestandchester.go...one_trail.aspx
Just download the PDF Booklet here
http://www.cheshirewestandchester.go...d68&version=-1
Cheers
Haven't been on the FRA forum in ages but just checked in to see if Harry had posted about his run today.
Updated list with my precise time and date.
John Rowlands - 7:00 approx - S Cheshire Harriers (06/06/2010)
Chris Baynham-Hughes - 5:29 - Helsby RC (24/07/2010)
Andy Robinson - 6:12 - Helsby RC (14/08/2010)
Chris Vardy - 6:12 - Norfolk OC (14/08/2010)
Chris Marshall - 5:44:27.61 - Ellesmere Port RC - (12/01/2008)
Link to my Runners World Forum post of my run.
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/...&cp=48&v=6&sp=
At the start, bloody freezing.
At the finish looking thoroughly miserable,dirty and knackered.
You got home ok then Marshallini, was good to see you today, sorry I was mincing rather than running at the end!
As for time, ended with 5.32.26
Cheenis, you are the man to beat! Not sure there was much else I could have done today really as had no legs after about 4 hours. Looking forward to another attempt now I know I can at least get round.
After doing that run, makes me realise how mightily impressive Mario's run was and people who can knock out those distances on a regular basis (Andy!!)
See you on the trail sometime people. Let's be careful out there :d
hm
The order of Merit
Chris Baynham-Hughes - 5:29 - Helsby RC (24/07/2010)
Adair Broughton - 5.32.26 - Helsby RC (04/09/2010)
Chris Marshall - 5:44:27.61 - Ellesmere Port RC - (12/01/2008)
Andy Robinson - 6:12 - Helsby RC (14/08/2010)
Chris Vardy - 6:12 - Norfolk OC (14/08/2010)
John Rowlands - 7:00 approx - S Cheshire Harriers (06/06/2010)
Good effort Adair! You'll have to have another go though. We can't let Chris get complacent can we? Come to that, I hope to have another go myself soon. I'm pretty sure I can get under 6 hours at least.
Well done Adair! :thumbup:
Our times are so close I wonder what would have happened if we were there to spur each other on! :w00t: I think it's easy to drift on such a long distance and dwell on the exhaustion - definately believe that the longer the distance, the more important the mindset. Totally agree that it should be easier now you know you can do it as I know I went into survival mode early, but in contrast I got a boost from passing delemere as I knew I had enough to finish then.
You are so right about Mario - just a spectacular time; Robbie reckons that the ground was a lot rougher then too, but they had more stiles than kissing gates. I too take my hat off to you Andy doing the long distances so regularly. I'm going to sign up to all your long distnace trail races next year though; my plan is to do them and the fells.
Have decided to put in a long weekend run again now in prep for my next sandstone trail attempt. This could be a great one to chip away at with a couple of attempts next year. Are there any rule about "support"? I did mine unsupported, although I did get half a litre of tap water from a cafe just before delemere... was that cheating? Are we saying it is ok to have a friend meet you with refills for water bottles?
Great run Adair!
Chris
PS - the seconds for my time were a rather rounded 30, so my time was 5:29:30 - when I saw it on my watch I thought nobody would believe me because of the suspiciously round figure:)
No need for rules for support in my opinion. I generally run these things unsupported unless it's an organised event, just because it's easier, but I've got no problems with supported running. And foraging for your own water is essential on longer unsupported runs - 2 litres got us along the Sandstone Trail, but I wouldn't want to carry more than that. So in hot weather or on longer runs you have to find water elsewhere. I'm hoping to have another go myself in November.
I'm starting to look into the possibility of reviving the full Sandstone Trail event for 2011, as a walkers' event supporting runners rather than a race (i.e. similar to the fire service event, but from Whitchurch). Probably nothing will come of it, but I'll post here if it looks a goer. I'll try to get in touch with the previous organisers, and I've sent off for the LDWA guidelines on organising events. I'll be talking to Geoff Shaw too, who organises the shorter Sandstone Trail races.
Sounds like a great idea to me Andy. I'm be more than willing to help organise - if we do it along the lines of the current sandstone trail races with a couple of water stations and a few signs in the less obvious places then I think it would be a goer. permission will be the interesting part.
Thanks Chris: I'll probably take you up on the offer. I think permission will probably be OK, since it will all be on a recognised route & it's been done before. It'll all need following up though. We'll have to find a hall or somewhere close to the traffic lights in Frodsham, which could be tricky. There'll be options within half a mile I should think, but really we want somewhere close to the traffic lights on the south side of the A56.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheenis
Why not use the Bear's Paw? Big beer garden and lots of room in the pub itself. They have some market stalls there every now and then & it is the end of the trail itself. We could discuss it with the land lord they might be really keen on it. Natrually we'd need to do it at the righ ttime of year so we have a chance of it not raining.
I thought of that originally but I don't think it's practical. Have you ever seen the Bear's Paw on a Saturday night? I think we're better keeping clear of Frodsham centre. I'm talking to Frodsham Community Centre in Fluin Lane, which should make a good place for the finish. A slight diversion from the Trail at the end but the same distance, & no need to cross the A56. How do 14th or 21st May sound?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheenis
I think it would be terrific if you got this off the ground. I was just revving up for a go at the Fire Service event when it disappeared. It's always been kind of on my horizon and I'm sure you'd get others interested. Cheshire West would give it a boost I'd assume - it's probably in their remit to promote use of the trail. What about the Church Hall on Church Street just back from the lights?
I reckon Chris and Adair should do a paired run ...and sprint it out at the end :)
Plenty more to come from both I think.
I to discovered the Fire Service event and started training for it only to find out the last running was the "last" running, So I ran a marathon pb instead, at least all training wasn't wasted :)
There is Frodsham Parish Hall on Church Street 150 m from the Bear's Paw next to Costa coffee and there is a Penn Griff Hall on Greenfield Lane behind the Bear's Paw, no idea what it is just found it with google?
14th or 21st May are ok with me.
LOL - How about we do a three legged race? I reckon there would be a genuine record in it for us:DQuote:
Originally Posted by idler
Dates are all good, lets make it happen! As a personal preference I'd say the Church Hall should be the final collection point. It would mean that we could actually run to the real finish and not have too far to walk back; but either end point sound good to me. Both are within a few hundred metres of my house so I'll not have far to walk afterwards :wink: