Long Mynd Valleys

[Travs]

The drive across the M6 and M54 was pretty horrific this morning, and was viewing the skies with some trepidation, however it brightened up and was a sunny day, if a bit of a cold wind.

Once on the top of the Mynd it was hard to get going into the headwind, but eventually picked up the pace, and all the way round it felt like I was going well, by my own standards. Was 2hrs in with a shout? It quickly became apparent that it wasn't and I resolved to make my original 2:10 target. Despite a frantic final climb I came over the line in 2-11-something, I believe in 49th place. So a pb by 6 mins, seem to be consistently improving by 6mins each year... if I continue at that rate I'll win in 2024....

My New Zealand clubmate, running his first fellrace with the exception of the OMM, started off like a hare, and sounds like he ran well up until the penultimate climb, losing about 25 places and only finishing 5 mins in front of me in 39th. He did admit the torrid final few miles did leave him legless. But I'm sure now he knows the course, and if he hadn't knocked out a very impressive XC race yesterday, then he can go much faster in future.

Hi Dave Mole, nice to see you, and I hope you got a solid outing...

[Wheeze]

Great stuff Travs! And you were right, those last two climbs bit your mate on the ar$e...just like they're supposed to.
The Mynd really is fell running at its best IMHO. I miss it to death!

[Travs]

He did enjoy it, and it doesn't seem to have put him off... hopefully i can entice him with the Cardingmill Canter in a couple of weeks time.

He was quite amused to be handed a number which said "British Junior Championship 2016" on it, and was amused/bemused when checking his km splits on his watch to see that one km near the end took 21mins!

He did admit to being a bit down on hill-fitness. Living in Coventry and not using a treadmill does that to people. And he'd knocked out a 9km XC in 31mins the day before. I had warned him about the final few miles, but until you've done it yourself you don't really know how nasty they are.

One thing it may dispel is any lingering thoughts within our club from some of the 'pure' runners that fell-racing is an easy touch, or easy honours. Undoubtedly the talent-pool is lower than the road or XC, that's natural, but it's no easier to finish at the front end.

[Athers]

Finished a good 5 mins down on previous years and just scraped under 2hrs with 1.57 so hoping the wind up top and muddy conditions played a good part in slowing folk down a bit. Most guys at the sharp end were saying they were slower but who knows.
Still a cracking race. Felt strong all the way but yearlet (last climb) does seem to lose me a few spots as it does to many runners that dont give those last few miles the respect they deserve. I really should learn to climb someday!

[Travs]

Online entries for this cracking race are now open (sientries)

[PeteS]

Unfortunately I'm going to have to drop out of this year's LMV. Throat infection and calf strain are not a good combination for fell running.
Looks like Storm Ciara is going to make life fun - hold on to your buffs!

[Travs]

Sorry to hear that Pete. I ran it a couple of years ago with a dodgy calf and didn’t notice it on the steeper sections, but the long section over the top was tough.

I’m also a non-runner this year, having only resumed training this morning after a couple of weeks off. Although will be out on the course in several places (possibly unintentional places if the wind is as strong as forecast).

[PeteS]

Just had email from RO:
NOTICE – Race cancelled / postponed


In case you don't have an up to date phone number on SI (we have already tried to send SMS to all competitors), today's Longmynd Valleys race is postponed. We've assessed conditions on the hill this morning and it's difficult to make any forward progress into the wind – let alone, race. This combined with the forecast for imminent heavy rain (we've already had a lot) makes the risk to marshals unacceptable. If we had another incident like the broken ankle a few years ago we would really struggle to respond.

We have tried hard to avoid this decision knowing you are all hardy competitors but hope you will understand. All other outdoor events appear to have been abandoned.

We will look to put it on at some point in the next few weeks if possible, so will be in touch with all entrants by email over the next couple of days.

[Dave_Mole]

good call! It's not nice here at all.

[Travs]

The journey along the M6/M54 was rather dicey. Think it was the right decision.

At least I’ll hopefully be fit to run the rearranged race...!