The crack at the back - July 2011
Fiona Glen takes a light-hearted look at the race scene from a mid-field perspective once again this month, and fills us in on some news which we may have missed, oh and the ‘new nutrition’ of tea and Pringles!
Quote of the month goes to Helsby Running Club…
‘There’s nothing more spiritually fulfilling than tanking it downhill only to have to turn around and trudge back up to the path you should have been on’.
Referring to the pleasant sounding Green Green Grass of Home race, this popular midweek Moel Famau escapade saw some old and new Helsby Runners carting off classic prizes such as water pistols, umbrellas, garden chairs…. (ed – makes you wonder if they had been looting!). Well done to all.
Staying in Wales, I saw that the south Wales Machen Mountain race has been cancelled. This is a lovely race with a good field. Hopefully the organisers will manage to change the route and avoid the busy road.
On to England and forget your trendy gels and drinks. Tea and Pringles seem to be an effective fuel when doing long distance events. At least that is what Julie Clayton and Jane Hamp from Scarborough AC discovered when doing the Lyke Wake Walk Race 42m. Jane and Julie’s adventures continued at Borrowdale, where Julie managed to get round in a good time with 2 broken ribs! Well done to both of them.
While MST covered the faster ones on Snowdon, just a quick shout out to some great running from Doug Munroe and Bev Thompson from Clayton who completed their first Snowdon race in super times
Training on Ben Nevis certainly makes you tough. An article in the Highland News tells a story of Davey Rodgers from Lochaber Club who, having finished a training run on the Ben, then ran back up to rescue a walker’s lost Labrador. Apparently he then ran back to the youth hostel with the dog on his back!
Finally, for those who fancy some running abroad, have a look at Simon Allen’s Zegama-Aizkorri 2011 blog. Simon makes it sound easy and came away from the race as third Brit. Well done to him, more here
What a cracking month July has been for us fell running addicts. August brings the lovely gala races – get out there and throw yourself down those short but steep hills!
Remember; send me your news – [email protected].
Reactions so far
Steve R Aug 15, 11:54 AM
Thanks for the plug! All the Clwydian ‘Summer Trot’ series are well worth a go. Great courses, good runnable hills, good prizes :)
Simon Aug 15, 12:24 PM
ehum, should mention I was third from last too….