Black Mountains Fell Race

How did I do? – Good result for me.
How did I feel I did? – A bit disappointed compared with the good race on the Stretton Skyline.
It was a glorious day, a bit chilly at first, tempting me to run in a long sleeved vest – a mistake. As soon as the race started the sun came out and the temperature went up. At the start I was surrounded by Chepstow Harriers. I think there were more than 20 of us form a total field of about 70. Id did feel a bit busy but I can’t say I was held up anywhere.
The first climb was steady. I went into a walk early on, aware that there were many more miles to go. I soon realised that I wasn’t on top form but hoped things would improve.
From Pen Cerrig Calch I kept a steady pace along the ridge. I was just behind Dick Finch at the diagonal descent to the stream from Pen Twyn Glas, and followed his line quite steeply down to get the sheep track close to the valley floor. This didn’t involve much extra climb and was quite good running.
I took a diagonal line for the wall corner and crossed the stream close to the obvious stream junction. The climb up Pen y Gadair Fawr (2nd highest in the Black Mountains) was a killer. This left hand side route had some better terrain, but the steepness near the top is really tough. I found I was suffering.
Running from the summit I felt nauseous and was suffering from some stomach pain (perhaps the Jelly Babies and the hot weather didn’t agree with me). The descent should be great, but for me was just a slow jog. It was on this section that I lost sight of Dick and Vanessa.
The climb up Chwarel y Fan was torture. I was surprised that I caught up Luke and Mark and just before the top, Andy Stott. It wasn’t only me who was suffering!
James was marshalling with his bad knee and he seemed to have adopted a dog? Just a few words to him then with Luke and Mark we jogged slowly along the ridge. I kept as staedy a pace as I could and somehow lost the two of them (Mark subsequently retired). The drop down from Bal Mawr was surprisingly well defined, except I arrived at the forest unsure as to which way to turn. My left turn decision worked and with perhaps too much caution I found the taped route down through the forest.
Up the other side I changed directly into as fast a walk as I could manage. I was then cought and overtaken by Lou, and soon after Luke reappeared. I reckon he had no real idea of the route so he stuck with me and we even managed to break into a jog for small sections.
Crug Mawr was very welcome. I expected only a couple of miles from here and at 3h40 I hoped to beat the 4 hour target. It was in fact 2.5miles and the extra length made all the difference. I ran almost every step on the descent, apart from the nasty climb at the end and finished in 4h 3m 37s. Not the last of the Harriers but beaten soundly by Matthew, Steve Caldwell, Mark English, Niki, Esther, Vanessa, Lou and Dick (apologies for any I have missed!).

Gerry finishing

Total distance according to the Garmin is 27.5km and 1630m.
Reviewing things the next day, I am happier with my run, but must do better!

Race Profile

Sugar Loaf

I know I should have been over in the Black Mountains perfecting my route for the race next weekend but went to Sugar Loaf instead. It was closer and shorter, and I had done a 2 hour run yesterday (The Monmouth 2 hills route, Buckholt and Kymin giving 500m climb and about 11 miles).
Sue is still suffering with her knee so we weren’t expecting a lung buster. Starting at the school / leisure centre we took the race route up over the Deri then up the ridge to the summit. The descent was down the adjacent ridge with a short road section back to the start. All in all, 11.6km and 600m climb.
We walked the steep parts of the climb and Sue managed a passable imitation of a run along the ridge. We also made good time on the descent. Total time 1h30m so not too bad!
A good jaunt followed by a short steep cycle ride when we got home.

Stretton Skyline Fell Race

I had been looking forward to this race as I was feeling reasonably fit, and had a good run at The Beast (see previous post). My preparation was, for me, quite thorough. I had decided what to wear the evening before (trail shoes and warm weather kit). I even prepared my Isostar and had my bag packed.
Sue unfortunately is still suffering with her knee / leg so was frustrated, but decided to come along and do some active spectating.
The day was warm but never really hot. There were a few times, mainly on the climbs where sweat in the eyes was a problem, and a few times where the weather was overcast giving in all a good running environment. The terrain was good, all runnable with no tricky bits that had any real impact.
I set off at a steady pace, determined to run my own race. My target was sub 4 hours (last year I did 4h 4m). The holiday in the Alps gave me confidence for the hills. As in all such events you quickly establish a few competitors in your view. One was a local guy who I chased down the first hill and finally overtook on the last descent. These runners give you a focus and target.
I took a full cup of water at each drinks station. There were 5 of these but a long gap – the last 10k with none. I carried a bottle of water round with me and used it on this last stretch, halfway up the last climb. This and 2 fruit pastilles per climb kept me on song.
I had enough energy to run the closing stages, though the last climb (incidentally the longest) was somewhat slower than the others.
I was surprised to see Andy Blackmore near the top of Lawley – he didn’t look like he was having a good day!. I tracked him down, overtaking him just before the road crossing. He finished a few minutes after me, collapsing in a heap. I didn’t see Matthew – he was 9th overall – a great performance. Colin Prosser & Dick Finch ran round together and seemed in good shape approaching Lawley.
My time was sub 3h 40m. I was well pleased! It’s not often you can cut 24minutes of a race time!
Picture of me. Many thanks to the photographer.
Link to race website. Many thanks to the organisers.
Next big one to worry about is the Black Mountains in 2 weeks time.

Chariman’s Challenge Orienteering

Today was an NGOC score event, standard format with mass start and 1 hour to score up to 600 points. With a long fell race the next day I was determined to focus on navigation rather than speed. My initial route choice was worrying, me being on my own for most of the first 30 minutes – I never got into a hunting pack. My tactics seemed to be reasonably successful as I lost little time in the detail and managed to keep a steady pace.
Gaining a higher score than others who obviously were running harder does give me some satisfaction.78th highest score and 9th handicap place out of 74 was a good result.
I ought to do more of this!

The Beast – Poole ac

Today I was back to running with a good tough race down in Dorset, from Corfe Castle. The race was one of the Chepstow Harriers club championship events but either the nature of the beast (sorry!) or the distance put many people off. There were only 11 there so good points for those chasing glory.
The event was run by Poole Athletic Club and is obviously a popular event with 501 finishers. The downside to the popularity was the long wait at a number of stiles. I timed perhaps the worst with me stationary for 56 seconds.
The course was great. An initial loop – I guess essential to try to ease congestion on the stiles, then a trog up and down towards the coast. Once you got to the sea the views were superb.
The tough bits, the claim to fame, were 2 climbs on the coast path with lots of steps. The first of these also had a steep descent as an introduction.
With my alpine training and too little running I found the climbs a welcome interlude (it still hurt!) but felt slow on the flat running. The steep descent was good for me with a narrow strip of grass allowing me to overtake at least 20 people.
I was very pleased with my run. It took me 1h 57m 31s for what the Garmin clocked as 12.3 miles and 500m climb. (The Garmin reports me stationary for 6 minutes but I don’t think it was that bad)
I was beaten by Dick, Lou and Niki, but was ahead of Andy C, Neil and Vanessa.
Definitely happy with the result and worth the effort.
See also the Chepstow Blog