31st July Brassed off in Brassington


To quote Tom, and by that I mean Tom Jones not 'TOM', it's not unusual for me not to be able to run up the hills on the various runs I enter. It is slightly less unusual that I struggle to actually run down some of the hills due to their steep and slippery nature. Welcome to the Brassington fell run, a brutally undulating little jolly that I just about completed before it got dark on Thursday night.

Almost 200 runners turned out for one of the first outings since restrictions stated to be lifted including one or two familiar faces that I recognised from previous events and with whom I have alternated either just beating or just finishing behind. Let's just say at the outset, the 'just beating' option was not an option in this event. 

The actually scenery of the run was gorgeous, as we headed up to Harboro' rocks, past the wind giant turbines in Carsington pasture, then dropping down towards Carsington Waters before the final up and down back into Brassington. Not that it was particularly easy to see through the blood, sweat and tears.

In the end I tagged along and ran the second half of the race with someone who had come over from Leek and as we sauntered back to the finish line we were greeted by a crowd of already finished runners gathered outside the local pub that were probably greater in number than those gathered in the Olympic stadium. But just like several members of the GB rowing team, I too 'just' missed out on the medals.

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