Several HPH members taking part in spring marathoners missed the last PECO cross country race to travel to Morecambe to take part in Trimpell 20 mile race.
With nearly a two hour journey either side of the race this
is a long day but worth the effort.
Starting on the track at Salt Ayre (in Lancashire not the
Yorkshire one) sports centre, you do a lap of the cycle track before picking up
a cycle path do a loop of some allotments enjoying the first chance to see the
leaders as they fly past in the opposite direction. The path then joins the river before crossing the Millennium foot bridge
(the Lancashire one not London) a little detour through an estate with a short
incline, normally this is the only
incline to speak off in the whole race! Under a bye pass and then you join a
well maintained path/cycle path along the river Lune.
This part of the race is an out and back and you get to
watch the leaders flying past and as i reached about mile 8 the first of the
leaders zoomed past me. I checked my watch to time the gap and then got a shock
as the next runner to fly past me was our very own Alan Deighan. However, Alan wasn’t wearing a number but had come along to support
and decided to take in a few miles while he waited.
Along the way the race organisers had pointed out upside
down trees and the view as we crossed the river Lune was inspiring. If David W had been running i feel sure
he would have stopped to take his camera out!
For those of us a little slower the return journey can be a
little lonely as the field splits out and you often cant see the person in
front of you, but regular water stations with friendly marshals meant you were
never far away from a cheery encouraging shout. The last mile and half sees you looping the cycle track then
a final lap of the track, before a lovely young man (i think his name was Zack) placed a medal round your neck
and an even lovelier lady handed you a mars bar!
To make the day perfect we were blessed with unexpected
sunshine and great company of the ERR.
I would recommend this race to anyone doing a spring
marathon or wanting to increase from a half marathon without taking on the full
distance.
Best part of the day came when the results were published
and we had a surprise HPH leader
Race report courtesy of Kay Jefferies, who has a training blog for London
Kay runs
I'm on my way - Don't stop me now
Trimpell 20, needs no thought at all. Glorious sunshine, a lovely course (flat, flattity-flat), and a huge boost to my confidence. After last week’s horrors, I needed it, and if ever I moved from misery to happiness, I did it today.
Partly, it was about the soundtrack. I’ve pretty much stopped running with music, as I’ve been trying to think more about my style, and develop some positive mental attitude. Today though, I was back on the iPod Shuffle, and it really did help.
I am a complete technoprat, and so I am unable to make up my own playlist. I’ve therefore copied from Chris’s iPod all the songs I sort of like, and it makes for interesting listening. His chosen version of Neil Young’s “Like a Hurricane” for instance, is the one with the huge self-indulgent instrumental bit in the middle, whilst I go for the altogether better (shorter and quieter) version. I start off liking his choice, but halfway through I just get cross and move on.
The problem with the Shuffle of course, is that you get the songs in the order the machine wishes. This is tricky, as I have to finish to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” at full blast. By sheer coincidence, this was playing when I finished my first-ever half-marathon in Sheffield , and it gave me such a fillip that whenever I do run to music, I have to cross the line with this. This means that I have to be on random until about half an hour out, when I have to leap onto any artist anywhere near “Q”, flick to alphabetical and then go back or forward to find the divine Mr M. Sometimes I find myself panicking that I’ll never get there, whilst other times I get ahead of myself and end up listening to it about four times.
Whatever, Craig and Charlie (P) gave way to Freddie (Q) at 2 miles out, and set me up for a blistering (for me) finish with a 9ish minute final mile. Given my 11.11 average over the 20, I was dead chuffed with this, and smirked all the way home.
Also, when I checked the old Polar, my total calorie consumption was less than for last week’s 18 miler. Whilst I don’t believe the absolute calorie figure, I do accept the relative values. I’m therefore taking this as proof that I got through today with less effort than last week, and am seeing this as progress.
Looks like I took a right turn.
Race report courtesy of Liz Jones
Liz is writing a blog for her VLM 2011 training, to have a further read of this click the link
Hope I get old before I die
Liz is writing a blog for her VLM 2011 training, to have a further read of this click the link
Hope I get old before I die
This race is excellent
preparation for a Spring marathon, it’s just a shame it clashed with the last
of the PECO series. It’s fast and
flat and for the second year in a row was run on a lovely sunny day. The race takes place around Lancaster
and is almost all run on cycle tracks.
There are plenty of marshals offering encouragement along the way and
plenty of opportunities for supporters to catch up with the runners. Big thanks to Alan Deighan for his
support and for Ian Watson and Andrew Thrippleton for their photographs. Special thanks to the Eccleshill Road
Runners who were out in force and helping us along.
1 01:52:13 Gethin
Butler MV40 Preston
Harriers
121 02:27:16 Chris Jones MV50
309 03:05:58 Sarah
Willis F
355 03:28:18 Kay Jefferies FV40
358 03:30:04 Nicky
Woodward FV35
373 03:38:51 Harp
Bhambra F
379 03:41:32 Liz Jones FV50
386 03:52:41 Geoff
Render M
A really well organised
event, but the commemorative T shirt was even worse than last year. Definitely one to warm up in at the
Spring marathon and ditch before the start.
Race report and results courtesy of Chris Jones.
To see the pictures of the day click on the below link.
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