The “that was Spring, I hope you enjoyed it” weekend report

That was the Spring, that was. Whatever happened to summer? I hear you cry. Ah – it was that lovely evening we had last week, just before autumn happened again, and now winter is on the way. Sleet and snow on ‘tops this week (so they say) so wrap up in your best vest and shorts and show them city-like folk how to suffer.

Yoof raid on Lyme

This weekend though, a fair amount of stuff was going on. I’m going to have to start with

the junior raid on Lyme Park for the Parkrun. Adam Crompton recorded a great time for his first run at Lyme Park and Josie and Caitlin Swan are proving the worth of consistent training and recovery as they both laid down new PBs. Superb running from a few of the up and coming Yoof section. I suspect with their recovery strategies, it won’t be long before they’re having to wait up for their respective elderly family representatives at the finish line…

 

Wolfs Pit Fell Race

On sunday a few of the Blue and Orange were over at Wolfs Pit – venturing into the delightful weather on that side of the hill. (I do believe there was even report of blue sky, though that may have been drug induced). In terms of racing, there was a fair amount of argy-bargy in the mud on the way around. Mary Jeal was first Glossopdale lady home, with her mud spattered vest just about showing which club she was in as she gracefully slid across the finish line. As far as the blokes were concerned, they got involved in the mud and the grimness, with the ever youthful Andy Fox coming in as first V60. (He really is one of those people that you see going up to get the V60 prize and everyone goes … Nah – he’s never 60)…  Paul Skuse and Matt Crompton also enjoyed the vast quantities of Peak district sludge, barrelling their way around the course, taking out all and sundry with, I’m sure. equally impressive times. Probably due to the fact that they release the Wolf after a specified period of time and anyone who isn’t finished is fair game….

Heptonstall fell race

Ah – Heptonstall. It’s a long one. Its a steep one, and it’s a bit of a bugger. There were a number of intrepid souls heading over to Hebden for this classic in the making today. Having merely run around the area, and not actually raced the route itself, allow me to quote John Stephenson from his experience today….

my stream of consciousness – By JS:
Sermon at the start in the rain, cobbles, rain, hill, rain, hill, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, tussocky swamp filled with mud, yeay trig point, mud, mud, glorious mud, more mud, incredibly slippery mud in a forest, hill, mud. Oh you probably get the idea by now. And then there were the never ending nearly vertical (muddy) steps near the end.

There you go. Feel like you’ve run it? I certainly do. The conditions appear to have been on the challenging side, bordering on the ridiculous. This will almost certainly be corroborated by Lins, Tim C and Alice Willson when they finally get home and shake themselves out of the shellshock. Matt Hux also mentioned that it was “Brutal” and the weather was colloquially described as “****ing awful from start to finish”. Brilliant. It’d be rubbish if it were easy.

Finishing order was, by all accounts, Hux, Culshaw, Hewitt, Alice, Lins, John.

Oldham Way Ultra

Jason Hart was over at Oldham, doing the Oldham Way Ultra. A lot of miles, a lot of up, a lot of weather (seems to be the theme for the weekend, hey). Looks like it was 65km, and Jason shot round in just over 8 hours, describing it as “The Grim, Muddy, Windy, Rainy sufferfest”. Not a whole lot I can add to that. A lovely descriptive title for a Strava run.

Andy Burnett doubled up over the weekend, beginning with a cheeky little shufty around the Buxton AC 5k Race on Saturday in 21:50 ,coming 12th out of 85.

He then went on to join a few of our number on the “somewhat less muddy than other races but with equally rubbish weather Wilmslow Half”. The weather certainly hasn’t put anyone off getting out and about and racing, on the fell, or indeed on the road – Rob Sheldon was first over the line for GDH, with a chasing Tony Hillier just a few minutes behind. Andy “miles in the legs” Burnett just missed out on the 3rd place in a sprint finish to Simon Haworth. Cheryl was comfortably first female GDH home. Jon Matthews, getting back to the “shorter distances” enjoyed his day out in the rain, as did Jayne Moreton, just managing to squeeze in sub 2. Emma Powell was a mere minute over the 2 hour mark on her first attempt at this distance, and Marie Williamson delighted in running through all the puddles on her way to a 2:13.

Rob sheldon – 1:36:39
Tony Hillier (masquerading as Hyde) 1:39 ish
Simon Hawath 1:41:36
Andy Burnett 1:41:44
Cheryl Stitt 1:44:08
Jon Matthews 1:44:58
Jayne Moreton 1:59:25
Emma Powell 2:01
Marie Williamson 2:13:39

Wigan Half

That was not the only Half going on this weekend. The inaugural Wigan Half was also run. Adele Metcalfe went back to the home country to enjoy the somewhat more hilly landscape than she remembered as a youngster. The wrinkly landscape proved to be a bit of a draw for a number of runners, and Adele ran a post Baby Personal best of 2:00:21. Ah, those pesky seconds….

Parkrun

I believe that a certain Miss Peters smashed her 5k PB by a minute at Hull parkrun this

Saturday. What can I say? Maybe it was the necessity of getting back to the car before the hubcaps got nicked… or the simple act of the faster you get around the faster you get to leave? No – Im sure it was something along the lines of the faster you run, the sooner you get to experience this year’s city of culture. Or some such.

 

Well done Emma!

Consolidated report here

 

That’s it for the moment. Enjoy the Sleet and Snow this week. Normal service has indeed resumed. As ever, if I’ve missed anything, let me know.

Looking forward to having to write an awful lot about Edale Skyline next week. In fact, I might just start making it up now.