This Race
Starts in Staveley in Kentmere and there are three races a 10k trail race, the
17k challenge and the 17k trail race which is the one that I ran.
I drove
up with one of my running friends called Fast Dave, yes the name says it all,
we set off at 09:00am up the M6 to Staveley in Kentmere we got there for about
12:30pm and went in to register, once we did that we had a walk round taking
some pics and soaking up the sun and atmosphere, then it was time to get change
into our shorts and watch the challenge event start at 1pm, the drums at the
start and the music was great it really got you pumping.then it was time for
the toilets which I must say were disgusting due to the volume of people
running today, then with a hour to spare I decided id got the munches so I
treated myself to a hog roast batch which I regret as I found myself chewing on
a pigs tooth ughh and an ice-cream much to the disgust of Fast Dave who was
taking this race seriously due to the fact we were racing each other and was
warming up and getting in the mood.
We line
up among some very athletic runners the drums give off there beat then we are
off, as normal people are racing off with no or little chance of sustaining the
pace all the way round so Fast Dave and myself ease into it at a nice 6:30 /
7:00 min/mile pace for the first mile which was flattish on road chatting to
each other.
Now at
this point I am very aware that Dave is very fast on trail and can do a 4
min/mile sprint finish where I am generally good on all types of terrain but a
little bit slower so when Dave pulls past me on the first hill I make an effort
to overtake him on the hill and keep him behind me if possible or at least to
try and pull him out to early so he gets tired.
This
seems to work well and in the process we are overtaking lots of people
especially Delamere Spartans as we started close to the back, I can now feel
myself waking up and the adrenalin starts to kick in so keeping up a good race
pace feels ok even in the blistering heat.
Now I had
made the decision not to carry any water for speed purposes and use the water
stations so the first water station comes and I grab a cup and have a few sips
not wasting any time then carry on running again normally I can run 10 – 13
miles happily without needing water but today with the heat I am aware I have
about a 4 mile window something to keep an eye on. We have already ran up some hills but nothing
too major but at about mile 6 we hit a monster of a hill that goes up and up I
really want to walk, everyone around me is but I know that there is one guy
behind me not walking in fact running up this hill very fast to catch me so it’s
now I know run up this hill or loose to fast Dave so I run and I don’t stop until
the top yes… all the hard runs I have done in the last 6 months are paying off
big time… so over different terrain I run over moorland up mountains over walls
through mud and down streams that want to snap your ankles then I go pass a
marshal who counts me in as number 58 so I think cool keep this up here and going
well but the tracks and hills are so exposed and I have no water then I hit the
water station and had two of the nicest cups of water I have ever had so needed that, now I have 3 mile to go
until the finish… and no sign of Dave go Mat go.
At the
end of this race they have added something called the sting, yes can’t be good
and there it is one more big steep climb to the top then a fast run down it to
the town to the finish so I get to the top then run fast all the way down for
about 2 miles to the finish where you run around the field to the finish line
someone tried to sprint finish and beat me on the field but no chance a quick
burst and iv finished in a time of 1 hour 32 mins for a 11.5 mile course not
17k like it said, position 58th / 177 with good trail runners including Fast Dave I
had done it.
I walk
pass the finish to get a drink only to see Fast Dave sprinting like a mad man
through the finish that was close my goodness one walk one slip he would have
had me… job done.
These are
truly great races that the Lakeland Trail People do http://www.lakelandtrails.org
I have
ran a couple of them now they are great and would recommend them a medal in the
goody bag would be nice for the cost you pay but hey it’s still worth it and
there is plenty of choice for all abilities throughout the year.
Mat
Simister
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