"Please
Run Carefully. Do Not Fall Into The Canal. This Is A Fun Run Not A Race.
But if you come first there is a prize." said the race organiser. And I
heard a loud laugh beside me. I looked around and recognised the
laugher as an ex-work colleague, a member of Macc Harriers and veteran
of several SuperSix races with a best time of under 39 minutes. Well if
he wasn’t planning to take it too easily then neither would I!
The fun run is arranged in aid of CAFOD (Catholic Agency For Overseas Development) by St Albans church in Macclesfield. It’s got the three alternative routes (1½ mile, 3 mile & 4½ mile) all run along the Middlewood way footpath and the canal towpath beside it. It’s advertised as a fun run & most of the runners were obviously family fun runners, including one couple dressed as a loaf of bread and a fish, but there seemed to be quite a few serious runners at the start too.
The start area on the Middlewood Way viaduct is wide enough to avoid getting too crowded once the run has started. The first quarter mile is along a tarmac footpath, and I spent most of that overtaking a crowd of teenagers who had sprinted away from the start. The route then crosses a road which is closed for the event, and leads into Tinker’s Clough, a narrow off-road footpath with steep steps down into a wooded valley, crossing a footbridge over a stream and then back up the other side of the valley. I’d overtaken the last of the teenagers by this stage and was surprised to be out in front, so I had no crowds to worry about but could imagine the congestion there when the main bulk of the runners arrived. At the top of Tinkers Clough the route turns onto the canal towpath. This was quite muddy, but not too bad underfoot despite all the rain that we’d had for the previous two weeks. I kept an eye over my shoulder but the next runner, my friend from Macc Harriers, was about half a minute behind and stayed there for most of the next two miles along the canal. It’s all through open countryside and very scenic. There were enough marshals along the route to point out the exits for the three different distances, and a lead bike (I’d never seen one of those in a race before!) so I knew I wasn’t going wrong.
There were a few pedestrians & dog walkers about but nobody seemed to mind getting out of the way. At the turning point, where we went over a bridge and back onto the Middlewood way my lead was down to about 15 seconds so I had to start pushing myself a bit harder. At least the running conditions weren’t too bad, that section of the Middlewood way was a very muddy gravelled footpath. A mile or so later I started to overtake the last of the 3-mile runners & the Macc Harrier behind me definitely wasn’t getting any closer. It was a very nice feeling as the footpath came out onto the viaduct for the run in to the finish line. And my first ever race win (not counting club events), rewarded with a Cafod baseball cap and a bottle of Fairtrade red wine which went down very well the next evening. The loaf of bread came in 5th a few minutes later, a very fast time considering the number of narrow gaps he’d had to go through. Tea, coffee and biscuits were available in the church hall afterwards for a donation
Would I do it again? Well the race organiser has told me that he expects me back to defend the title next year! I doubt that I will manage it if the loaf of bread runs without his costume, but I’ll be there. It’s a good way to run off the Christmas dinner, and a cheap £5 entry fee which goes to a good cause.
For more information visit the website.
Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment