12th August Ricky's race report

 

 I am 'just' out of shot

Under an utterly cloudless blus sky and with the thermometer hitting heights of the low 30 degrees even at 7pm it was hardly the ideal climatic conditions to do a 4.5 mile fell run. Especially one with several killer hills includling one with a 1:3 gradient!! Still what is it they say about mad dogs, englishmen and runners?

Althought I have run this route before, and when I say run given the hills you'll all know that means power walk in certain places, I had never done the official race as it is always scheduled a mere 24hours before Hob Hursts fell run (organisers sort this out) which I have chosen to do in previous years. This year it was time for a change.

So along with 151 other deluded souls of all shapes and sizes, I stood on the start line fueled by the spirt of the Commonwealth Games ready to expolde out of the block on the B of the bang. And we were off, thankfully running in a shady area for 20 mins of uphill slog up what felt like a never ending trail that got steeper and steeper. 

But as we all know what goes up must come down and down we ran through the woods trying to avoid the gnarled roots and rocks, which one runner infront of me didnt manage to do but perfected a lovely parachute roll as she hit the ground thanksfully just shaken and stirred rather than broken. 

Another short sharp uphill and a quick check of the watch suggested I wasn't doing too bad but this was all still before the 1:3 climb to to the trig point and single tree at the summit of Oker Hill. All done in the full glare of the sun and with legs and lungs screaming to stop.

Thankfully it was almost all down hill to the finish but a 1:3 descent is no easy matter especially on Bambi like legs. Over and through a couple of stiles and then it was a final Chariots of Fire sprint across a field to the finish line. A tough but lovely run with all of my aims achieved.

I did not fall. I did not get lost. I did not finish in the bottom 10. And, and I have kept the best till last, at 59:32 seconds I ran a full 7 minutes quicker than when I had done the same route on my own. 

And here I am moving 'so fast' at the finish that the HD camera couldn't get me in focus