Race Report: The Wizard 5 10/07/2014

One of the best things about an evening race is that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to head off to the event. 

Heather just passing the first mile

You don't have to calculate exactly how early you have to heave yourself out of bed in order to eat exactly 3 hours before the race starts - or is it just me who does that?  The Wizard 5 is a smallish race, so plenty of room to park and no queue for the toilets

Working her way up the field, now past mile 2.

Paul N, George, Megan, Tony T, Karen and I headed up to Alderley Edge for the Wizard 5 mile.  It's never good to start a race on top of a hill, or edge in this case, and the Wizard is a challenging race for those of us more used to the Cheshire plains.  But it was a beautiful evening, if a bit warm for running, and the countryside there is lovely.  ]

At mile 4

The race starts on the level, following a track though the woods and looping back through the start, giving spectators an opportunity to see the runners again, it then heads down through fields and onto a quiet road which also winds down.  In fact there is quiet a lot of 'down'. Whilst enjoying the descent, because its the only easy bit, I couldn't stop thinking with every step that shortly we would be running back up that selfsame hill!  Sure enough, the later half of the race involved running over fields back up the hill, part of which was steep enough that I confess I walked a bit. The race finished on the same track through the woods, which was nice as you knew exactly how far you had left to go.

Mile 4 and a bit

This is a great race, quite low key, no water stops, no goody bags, no chip timing, but well marshalled and friendly - which is really all you need.  I personally really enjoyed the race and I think that once the hard running is just a memory the others will say the same!

At the finish - second in her category!

For more information about the Wizard visit the Wilmslow running club website.

There are loads more photos and videos of the race available on Bryan Dale's fantastic website.

Heather