We set off from the club at 9am, the weather in sandbach was cold ,but dry, as we got closer to knutsford the rain started! It wasn’t torrential but enough to dampen spirits and remind me that I really must invest in a sandbach striders shirt and pack my vest away for summer use only.
It was a five minute walk to the start line ,which was the main gate to Tatton ,myself and paul worked our way nearer the front as there were a thousand runners. The chip timing started at the gate, once underway it took me a while to get going and get past people. I set off hoping for a pb, it took about 30 second to realise that this was not going to happen, it took me about 4km to get to a point where i didn’t feel boxed in or stuck. The course was more undulating than I expected, with most of it on grass and mud! (note to self- must buy trail shoes!), you seriously had to watch where you put your feet.
The rain did not let up, but that did not spoil the scenery, although at about 7k I thought about 400+ deer were going to stampede across the course, luckily they set off in a different direction.
Despite the conditions I was pleased with my performance, and I kept chipping away at the people in front of me, the last ¾ of a mile was on the road to the finish, and I was pleased to still have the energy to carry on chipping away at the opposition.
I won a spot prize for being the first santa hat across the line! That will do for me.
Support from the crowd was a bit lacking till the end, but the weather didn’t help there, would I run it again? Yes, it is a good challenge pre- Christmas.
Alan Pearson.
---I lined up with all the rest of the intrepid Santas, Reindeers, Elves, Striders and even Snow White today. The weather was a bit cold with a slight drizzle of fine rain so I thought the conditions were just right. How wrong could I be, a certain person at the club said the course was more like the Sandstone Trail but he neglected to say it was slightly off road, hilly and very muddy. Unfortunately, the fine drizzle turned to a constant downpour of rain with a cross wind.
This helped the course get even muddier and at some downhill sections you were literally slip sliding past other fellow runners. A few who actually ended falling. This is the first race where I was overtaking people from the very start and when I got to the sign that said “4” I thought at 24 minutes I was blistering with only 2 miles to go. Doh it was “K” markers. However, I worked out my calculations and put my best foot forward to try and catch Evonne who was in my sight, but alas the weather and mud got the better of me and I finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes. Would I do it again? Yeah but I’ll wear my trail shoes. Now to have that well earned vodka and lime.
Liz O'Keeffe
For more information, visit the Tatton Yuletide Yomp website
Runner
|
Chip time
|
Chip position
|
Alan Pearson
|
00:43:08
|
23
|
Paul Barnett
|
00:45:26
|
53
|
Heather Carter
|
00:47:34
|
97
|
Terry
Coppenhall
|
00:50:33
|
170
|
Perry Wyatt
|
00:51:30
|
206
|
Michael Escolme
|
00:52:18
|
236
|
Johanna Bulley
|
00:52:20
|
240
|
Tom Mayell
|
00:53:18
|
262
|
Evonne Foulkes
|
00:53:38
|
279
|
Paul Nicholls
|
00:55:46
|
352
|
Jennifer
Hockenhull
|
00:57:13
|
397
|
Liz O'Keeffe
|
01:01:19
|
518
|
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