Race report: Telford Parkrun / Hardmoors Osmotherley Trail Marathon 16+17/02/2013

Telford Parkrun 16/02/2013

My weekend began with a trip down to Telford for their inaugural parkrun . I wouldn’t normally have travelled quite so far for a 5k but the chance of bagging both a new parkrun course and another inaugural event was to good to miss.

The event was located in the town park and consisted of a large lap of the central lake followed by a smaller lap. I parked at the free car park near the race finish which was a popular choice given the car parks near the race start were all pay and display.

As I walked towards the race start chatting to a local chap called Maurice who was hoping that a local parkrun was going to reignite his love of running we could hear a PA system. It turned out that the organisers had made the inaugural race something of a local spectacle. The MP was there, as was the mayor, a local “celebrity” (he once appeared on Come Dine With Me apparently) as well as plenty of representatives from the local press.

I ran into Denzil, organiser of the holly Challenge and Sunrise to Sunset marathons. Despite being a seasoned marathon and ultra marathon runner this was his first ever parkrun and the first 5k he’d run in years. He’d brought along his spaniel Meg who is herself a veteran of some 15 marathons.

After the speeches had finished, the dignitaries in true civic fashion cut a ribbon and then we were ready for the off. 178 runners lined up in total, a great showing for a debut event. The park provides a very scenic backdrop for the parkrun with a huge lake at its centre, it also boasts a huge Victorian chimney (a remnant of the town’s industrial past) and several huge fibre glass dinosaurs which roar at you as you pass.

The course had a few undulations but actually started higher than it finished, so potentially it could be quite a fast course. I was trying to take it reasonably easy having a marathon the following day but was still pleased to come in just under the 22 minute mark.

Hardmoors Osmortherley trail marathon 17/02/2013

After Telford I drove over to North Yorkshire in readiness for the Hardmoors trail marathon in the small, picturesque village of Osmotherley.  This event forms part of a series of trail marathons new for 2013 all of which take place amongst the North Yorkshire Moors and the Cleveland Hills. The organisers have a great deal of experience in running similar events including the Hardmoors 30, 55, 60 and 100 events.

The line-up at the start outside of the village hall, Osmotherley.

 The village of Osmotherley  has no real parking space and so competitors had been asked to use the grounds of a large wood mill on the outskirts of the village. This was about a mile or so from the village hall where the race HQ and number pick-up was located. In typical style I’d left my arrival until the last minute and had to improvise a parking spot in an already full up saw mill. A quick dash to the village hall got me my number just in time for the pre-race briefing at 8:45am.

Views over the Moors on such a clear day were, quite simply, stunning.

The event was billed as no navigation required, which initially surprised me given the nature of the terrain in this area. Giles and myself had run the Osmotherley Phoenix a few years earlier which was a 33 mile trip around much of the same area and navigation skills were very much needed on that event. This time , however, the trails were marked with pink ribbons at each turning point and the organiser assured us were impossible to miss.

What you don't see in this photo is the ice cold wind.

Sure enough as the 170 or so runners set off the path was indeed clearly marked and this proved to be the case for the whole marathon distance. Which, incidentally, following the tradition of events like this was longer than the usual marathon distance (I clocked 27.5 miles)

Me enjoying a flat runnable section of the course.

The route utilised much of the same paths and trails of the Osmotherley Phoenix which meant a lot of ups and downs and a lot of yomping though ice and mud. Although the weather on the day was beautiful with a bright clear blue sky, recent weather had not been good. Indeed weather on the Wednesday before the race had been so poor the organisers were fearing having to call the event off.

As much as it pains me to say it, being a Lancastrian, the scenery really is stunning in this part of the world.  The views from the tops of the moors really are something to behold especially when the air was this clear and crisp.

Despite the clement weather there were still plenty of icy and snow patches.

The refreshment points were stocked with mini doughnuts and cola amongst other such treats which helped keep my carb gel usage to just a single gel. I like cola during races, in fact I prefer drinking anything that isn't water, though I do wish they'd let the cola run flat. My knee was still hurting from a fall a couple of weeks earlier and as the race progressed the discomfort gradually increased, particularly on the steep downhill sections. But pain aside I had quite a strong finish, in the final few miles where the course was much more runnable I managed to reel in about 8-10 runners.

Eventually the route dipped back down into Osmotherley village where I managed a decent attempt at a sprint finish. There were a small group of vocal spectators cheering everyone in and it was nice to hear their applause after 5 hours 45 minutes of running. As is not unusual for these kinds of events the finish wasn’t a line as such, rather it was the desk inside the village hall. It was here I got my name ticked off the list for the final time and was presented with my medal.

I really enjoyed this event and I’m going to look at whether any of the other Hardmoors events fit into my race calendar. Although the terrain was tough, the lack of navigational necessity makes this a great introduction for anyone wanting to dip their toes into off-road marathon or ultra-marathon running.

The course profile.

One other interesting thing to come out of this race was my introduction to a "Chia Charge". These are a flapjack type energy bar made locally in north Yorkshire and were very nice indeed. They are made from oats and seeds and other healthy natural ingredients but also interestingly had specks of sea salt which gave them very interesting flavour hits throughout the bar and went some way towards satisfying my post-race craving for salty food. I’m not sure where sells these or what other products the company make but I’ll definitely be trying to hunt them down in future.

For more information about the race, visit the Hardmoors website.

Michael