New AL race in Shropshire

I'm sure the RO won't mind me putting this on here....

there's a new AL race in Shropshire, the first running of which will be on Sunday 14th May. The South Mynd Tour and visits some parts of the Long Mynd not even Mercia Fell Runners have reached. It's a scenic 23km (14-ish miles) with 1270m of climb (4160-odd ft) and is a bit of a brute. Lots of it is very runnable and there is a degree of route choice, right from the start. Details and a map can be found here:
http://www.merciafellrunners.org.uk/node/2839
go, on treat yourself to another day out on the Long Mynd.....

Hi Dave, I should be at this one.

Very interesting start, I was at the campsite on Sunday for the Mynd Dragon, and was contemplating the initial ascent (I think via Ashes, reversing the LMV route, tough start but I won't go astray), and I dare not even contemplate CP1-CP2, think I'll make it up on the day!

Looks the makings of a great race.

MrRTS will be at this one. Beau dog and I will be out on the course somewhere shouting encouragement. Maybe will have to be on a CP as looking at the course they could come from blooming anywhere. Super looking race :-) Well done Mercia!

Ooh that looks like a fun day out - not sure I can make it though so hope its a success and on again next year.
CP1-2 will be a bit of a shock to the uninitiated but what a great run in from Pole Bank down Ashes Hollow (if you have anything left in the legs by then!)

Ashes Hollow is the slowest alternative to the finish, Pete :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave_Mole

Ashes Hollow is the slowest alternative to the finish, Pete :)

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Sshh - don't tell everyone! ;-)

message from the RO:

SOUTH MYND TOUR
10am Sunday.
Registration at the back of the Ragleth Inn.
Car park in a field immediately opposite the Minton back road. We'll sign it clearly.
Please use the Pubs Loos - do not use the camp site WC!
Presentations at the Ragleth Inn -held as soon as we get the results through after the race!

Looking forward to it... Plenty of variety and route choice...

What a fantastic race this was. Shropshire races are always great, and usually very tough. I can totally understand why runners based in the north don't often venture this far south, when they have such great hills on their doorsteps, but they really are missing out, and fair play to those that do come down.

A very interesting start, with the field splitting in two opposite directions, some taking the runnable line, and others, including myself, taking the direct route. I fairly hared up the first half of the climb, but on seeing the likes of Pete Vale only 30 yards or so in front, I decided I was going way too hard and settled into an easier rhythm.

Then came the major route choice of the race. Unfortunately I neither took the up-and-over route, nor the contouring route, and instead made up a haphazard zigzag across the valleys to the next checkpoint. Lesson learnt: make your route decision and stick to it.

The rest of the race up to the final checkpoint was either on a fixed route, or fairly obvious in terms of route choice, and I set about regaining the places I had lost on the previous section. Unfortunately I then let a few of them go again on the final section of route choice. Attempting a crafty contour round to the final steep descent, I went off memory rather than checking the map (which was actually in my hand), and made rather a pigs ear of it, then doubled back to the big path and resumed my trudge down the Stretton Skyline descent.

33rd. 2hrs44..... A pretty remarkable set of results. In comparative terms to the race winner, I had my best race since 2015, yet finished in the bottom half. I'm usually a good 5-10% further down on time, yet rarely finish out of the top half, so it was a fast race today.

Slightly disappointed that I made two route errors, probably costing between 5-10mins in total, but overall very happy with my running. Was fearing a complete breakdown on the long running section in the second half of the race, but held it together adequately. Ascending was once again my strong point, and apart from a very cautious first descent, I was fairly happy with my downhill running.

It's a great course, in terms of character, length and severity I think it fits midway between Long Mynd Valleys and the Stretton Skyline. If you're a "glass half full" you could say it's shorter than the Skyline, and the climbs are a bit less severe than LMV. If you're "glass half empty" you could say it's longer than the LMV and the climbs come at you quite thick and fast at the start.

Hello to DaveMole, Tindersticks, and Nigel RTS, good to chat briefly at the start.

Pete

Well done everyone! MrRTS said he had great fun. He said nice to meet you all. ........ & the blooming results are out already! Now that is 1st class. The hubby came in 15th (his 8th race of 50@50) so he was pretty chuffed with that. http://www.merciafellrunners.org.uk/node/2923

:-)

Looking forward to the 2nd running of this race on sunday. Could potentially be quite warm.

Quite relieved that they are running it in the same direction as last year. After the hash i made of some route choices last year, i didn't want to contemplate trying to do it in reverse!

Due to the aforementioned route cock-ups, and hopefully an improvement in performance, i'm hoping to knock some decent time off last year.... famous last words...

good luck!
I'll be up at Clough Head.

Good luck up in the lakes Dave!

Another fantastic day on the Shropshire Fells. I think anyone who was out and about today, or racing elsewhere, will know how tough conditions were today. It was like an oven.

I assume due to the English Champs clash, it was a smaller field of about 40 on the start line. In a change from last year, most of the speedsters took the runnable alternative up the first climb. I stuck with last year's steep route and was 2nd up going that way, and 6th overall at the top.

Managed to nail the navigation this year, and only a minor error dropping down to the next checkpoint, two Valleys over, and I was then in a battle for 8th/9th/10th, which is pretty much where I stayed until the finish.

The long run back past the glider club, down to the road and back up to Pole Bank, was real torture in the heat. One of the guys dropped off the back of us, but a Mercia guy was too strong for me and pulled away a short way down the final descent. I did see Athers of this parish bent double at the final checkpoint, a couple of minutes in front, and wondered if I could pick up another place, but he obviously recovered well as he finished 3 mins ahead, and to be honest I was relieved there was nobody near behind me as I was a spent force by then.

Finished 9th in 2:33..... had hoped to knock off more time than that (last year was 2:45), but given the conditions, and the fact that most people were slower today (winner Pete Vale was 7 mins slower and I was only about 20 mins behind him), I don't think I could have done much more today. But there's definitely still room for improvement, especially over the final section back from the glider club.

Great course, mix of hard-as-nails climbs, navigational choices, and some long runnable stretches.

Results...

https://www.merciafellrunners.org.uk/node/3047


Pete

Good running pete. Sounds like you had a good day on the Shropshire hills. It was glorious up there...when i managed to lift my tired head and look around me. i didnt really enjoy my trot around. I was a good 20 mins slower than the previous year which i think was down to a combination of racing Ras Y Moelwyn the day before and the temperatures but i kind of expected to be. I had actually planned to go easy but as always i struggle to hold back in a race situation and managed a good 10 mile along side Simon Adney but let go with a huge bang on the run/walk up the track to pole bank. I ran down Ashes Hollow towards home in complete auto pilot and happy to just finish in one piece really. Went straight through the finish and on to the pub, number still pinned to me and ordered a pint of cold cider. A drink had never tasted so good. Cheers and well done.

Thanks Athers....

Yes i was somewhat surprised to see you only a few mins in front. Admittedly I've improved in the last 6 months, and the last couple of months especially it seems to have come together for me, but i suspect on a normal day i'd never be that close to you... But your 'bad' day is still ahead of my 'best race ever'!

I may live to regret the effort as well... compare Jim Tinnion preparing for the C2C next week by walking the course in over 4 hours, with my preparation for UTS100 by hammering round as fast as i could, getting sunburnt and blistered... i think Jim's experience will win over my enthusiasm!

One thing i have learnt from being nearer 'the front end' in the last couple of races, you can't take the foot off the gas for even a minute or there's someone on to you... After the first descent on sunday i took it easy for a minute or so and let the first lady come past me on the narrow path (well i didn't exactly have a choice), and thought, no worries, i'll catch her back up in a minute. Not a chance, she was gone. Same thing happened the other week with Mel Price and a couple of blokes who came past me, i let a 100 yard gap develop and it was game over.

Back to the South Mynd Tour on a stunningly clear day, not quite as hot as last year, but I finished the race sunburnt, dripping with sweat, and my face/eyelashes/cap absolutely caked in salt...

The inter counties yesterday looked to have taken some of the potential contenders away... indeed 45 mins after I finished, the leading lady had still not come through the finish...

As usual, took the tougher but shorter route up the first climb... reached the top in about 4th, then made a bit of an error... I knew the optimum route to the next cp, two valleys over, but in my haste, I followed the leaders on a route I did not entirely know, and it certainly wasn’t optimum in my eyes... they probably have the ability to drop 3-4 minutes and then make it up again, but I certainly don’t... by the time I reached cp2 I was in 13th...

The only consolation being that I had taken a couple of guys with me.... one guy who dithered a little on the very steep descent, never to be seen again, and my arch-nemesis, Mr Jeggo from Springfield...

Myself and Mr J then set about pulling some positions back, which basically entailed absolutely hammering the climbs, and hanging on across the long easier sections... by the time we reached the furthest part of the course we were in a group of 4 in 8th-11th.... we soon dropped the other two, and I turned my thoughts to dropping him too... unfortunately this wasn’t easy.... I’m marginally stronger on the climbs, but he was the stronger runner... eventually he pulled out a good 45 seconds on me along by the glider club, and I couldn’t pull it back on the final climb, and I expect he beat me by a couple of minutes... 9th in the end, 2hrs30, a pb by 3 mins but should have been more, and more disappointingly I reckon my nav error probably cost me at least two or three places overall.

A great race... a real mix of nav work, steep climbs and some real long runnable sections... the constant drops from the hills down to valley/road level are tough mentally, but are required in order to achieve the AL status.

A must-race for me every year...

Pete

Just about to head across to Shropshire for the champs race at South Mynd Tour...

Don't recognise too many forum names on the start list... Tindersticks, myself, Athers... i know one or two others were in there but have pulled out for varying reasons.

Hoping to push close to 2:20

Think it will be a shock today, as last couple of years i've finished 9th in this race... which most definitely won't be happening today...!

I'd be very surprised if the record doesn't go.

When i left the West Midlands this morning it was chucking it down, but reaching Shropshire it was a lovely day, but worryingly warm. Nothing like the heat of the previous two editions of this race, but still uncomfortable.

This is a course that really suits me, lots of hard effort but not a huge amount of technical descending... and so it proved as i had a huge pb in terms of finishing position in a champs race... 52nd... and a pb by 10mins in the race itself. I knew i was around 55th after 10 miles or so, and a coveted top 50 place was in view, but was too much of a stretch in the end and fell short of the magic number by about 90 seconds. Will keep an eye out on the FRA website to see if i gain the glory of a real-life championship point once the ladies are categorised etc.

There's not many races where the start line sees runners heading off in completely opposite directions... nor finishing from opposite directions... which makes this race quite unique... was very interesting at the start, everybody looking at each other, and clearly a lot of people didn't know what to do for the best...

I'd planned to stick with what i know and go the more direct steep way up the first climb, but on seeing that the majority were heading that way, i made a last-minute decision to follow DanGilbert and a number of others up the more runnable and longer path... all things considered i think it worked well as there was plenty of space to settle early into a good rhythm.

Great to talk to Tindersticks as ever, and DanGilbert who picked up a fantastic result.

Don't think i spotted any other forumites running... GeoffB there with his good lady who finished well up in the ladies placings.

Pete

Nice one, Pete. I've had this race on my radar for a while. Not up to it this weekend but will be camping at Little Stretton next week so was planning to do some of the route then. CP1 would be the direct steep climb for me but there is plenty of route choice to CP2.
Likewise the run into the finish. I know few good trods in the south side of Ashes Hollow but was wondering if many preferred the North? It's probably further but some good easy running for most of it.

Well done Pete, good to chat. That was my first race in the area and I'll be making the effort to return. Might give Cardington Cracker a go later in the year.
The majority seemed to take the high level path south of Ashes Hollow and Grindle to the finish. Not sure what the alternatives are like but there's the opportunity for some fast running on pretty easy ground if you've still got the legs by then.

Yes i took the same route to the finish. Foolproof, and good easy running all the way down. Though looking at the splits, you knocked that bit off a bit quicker than me!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PeteS

Nice one, Pete. I've had this race on my radar for a while. Not up to it this weekend but will be camping at Little Stretton next week so was planning to do some of the route then. CP1 would be the direct steep climb for me but there is plenty of route choice to CP2.
Likewise the run into the finish. I know few good trods in the south side of Ashes Hollow but was wondering if many preferred the North? It's probably further but some good easy running for most of it.

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Some of the experienced heads at Mercia seem to think that the northern option, descending over the spur of Long Synalds, is quickest. But that appears to be a steep descent. I certainly prefer the good running to the south on the higher-level path.

The other northern option down the full length of Ashes Hollow isn't as good running as the southern option either.