Snow day!

In racing terms, not a lot happened, to be honest. The main reason for this was the impending Snowmageddon that was forecast. And yes, snow did indeed fall. It wasn’t quite as bad as it was forecast, but there has still been a fair amount of the white stuff falling out of the sky, there are places where permafrost (or at least, semi-permafrost) has gripped Glossop, and the spiked shoes have most certainly been deployed.

Across the country a number of fellraces were indeed cancelled because of bad weather, icy roads and general panic. But not here. No. Steve was looking for excuses to cancel the Shittern Santa Saunter, but basically, we wouldn’t let him. Unfortunately it was a bit snowy and blowy on tops, and we quite like our marshals, so it turned into the….

Shortened Shittern Santa Saunter

When I checked out the course with Lucy and Jules this morning, the most dangerous bit was the path along Mossy Lea – bullet hard ice. Nice to know that no-one actually came a cropper there. As it was, there was a fair amount of argy-bargy along the way, but everyone made it safely out of the gates and onto the hill. Snow was still pelting down, and the wind was blowing in strongly from the East making the running uphill particularly cold even though the majority of the pack was working hard. Out of Shittern clough there was a clear pack of 4 leaders with the rest baying behind them. The most amusing part of the whole race was going to be the fact that it was now a shortened race- and it was an out and back…. on pretty much a single track. Personally I was unsure how it was going to work in terms of etiquette, but everyone seemed to take it in their stride. I don’t actually have a list of runners in front of me, so the best I can do is try to remember who ran and who won what.

Perhaps it is also worth mentioning that the team prize went to the first team with 3 runners home including at least 1 person of either sex- it eventually went to Alehouse – had we done it the other way – first 3 men and first 3 women, Glossopdale would have won both prizes.

At the end of the day, it was Matt Huxford who was first Glossopdale home, just a bit ahead of photo-darling Jamie Helmer. Zoe Barton was on good form on the hill, coming in as first V40 overall, and it was superb to see Frank Fielding sporting the local vest and winning his age category as well. Great to see Claire Campbell up from the Isle of Wight, partaking of a race in proper northern weather. I believe that she even put on a hat for the occasion.

There were some excellent costumes, which John Hewitt would have voiced approval of, were he at the brewery to see, with Al Cowell taking a turn as Joseph and El Duckworth taking on the role of the festive Grouse. There are unsubstantiated reports of whisky being smuggled onto the hill for the race, but if there was…. you know where to look. Andy Burnett and Ian Oates were in marked attendance, and made a concerted effort to put a dint into the amount of beer being served at the end – sterling work there, gentlemen.

I’m pretty sure there was quite a battle going on between Kasia and Immy up on the hill – even if they might not necessarily know each other. They came in pretty close together at the end. Dez Mitchell– fresh from his nav education with John Stephenson on thursday put his new found knowledge to the test in the snow and certainly came out smiling.

I also saw Rob Sheldon foisting his kids off to his missus in order to get a snowy run on the hill himself, so kudos there. Newly arrived/moved member Greg Wasinsky excelled himself this morning, being one of the faster ones back in the GDH entourage. It may have been something to do with getting some inside info from his other half Lucy, who was out checking the course with me and Jules earlier on in the morning.

Skusey. My word Skusey – he got out and “won” the nav thing last thursday and it all seems to have gone to his head… he had a storming run today and ended up at the top end of the field, despite taking faaar too much stuff on the hill (as normal). Young Mark Harrison was out and up there on the front end of the field, not only did his lose his gloves at the top of the hill, he then had a bit of a mishap with his ankle as he flew down the slope into Shittern Clough on the way back home. A twisted ankle put paid to any hopes of finishing in any style, so he opted for limping back to the brewery for a pint of skittles.

Will Mather put in a sterling effort with some remarkable ears on his hat (we were a little suspicious of these as they could have been used as sails on the way back…. the committee are looking into “assisted running” as a no no for next year). Emma Rettig was putting her cross country speed to good use, but unfortunately the course is a little more than just XC. She, like everyone else is going to have to get back used to proper hills come the new season… Ian Crutchley sneaked in just in front of Rob and Dez in a superbly timed breakaway somewhere around the trig on the way down.

And not forgetting our lovely tail runner who got many, many, many well meant, but thoroughly patronising “well done”s as he trudged his way up the hill in ostensible last place – Daz Clarke. Thanks for the photos too Daz, and well done for not getting lost once you went beyond your normal stop point – the trig.

Thanks to the marshals, and all that made this event happen, to Steve Pepper for putting his name to the “organisation” of the whole thing, Stu and Em at Howard Town Brewery for hosting us all, and to Glossop Mountain Rescue Team for marshals and safety etc.

Final results:

5th Matt Huxford 39:01
11th Jamie Helmer 40:32
16th Paul Skuse 44:05
21st Greg Wasinski(y?) 44:36
26th Immy Trinder 46:41
29th Frank Fielding 48:22 (1st V65)
30th Kasia Osipowicz 48:27
32nd Ian Oates 48:49
34th Zoe Barton 49:49 (1st FV40)
37th Ian Crutchley 50:30
41st Rob Sheldon 51:44
42nd Dez Mitchell 51:47
56th Andy Burnett 55:57
60th Emma Rettig 59:22
63rd Eleanor Duckworth 1:00:41
64th Al Cowell 1:00:42
65th Claire Campbell 1:01:14
69th Will Mather 1:01:55

Parkrun

There was no Glossop parkrun this weekend due to ice on the ground, though there was a junior parkrun over at marple and a load of people went out playing in other places instead. Consolidated report is here. 

– And as a side note, if you want your Glossopdale Parkrun best time put in to the road champs this year, MESSAGE ME WITH IT before this Tuesday or it won’t get put in the spreadsheet and it won’t get counted. If you come and ask me after that and try to plead innocence, I ain’t having it. You’ve had fair warning.

Other Youth Stuff

I hear that young Ollie Riddell was out representing his school at XC the other day as well. He had a fine run, getting as muddy as humanely possible and came in with the best possible result. 42nd! Ah – the answer to Life. The Universe. And, indeed, Everything.

Other non-youth stuff

Tony Hiller was astonished (though others really were not) when he won the “Martyn Hett Hyde Sportsperson trophy” during the week. I know it isn’t exactly Glossop news, but as it is just over the hill (as it were), I thought it certainly worth mentioning here, and putting out a good shout to Tony “pressups” Hillier. Nice one Tony.

Other shenanigans

Thursday was the club pub run – with a minor twist. I organised a 1 hour street-o event from the Prince of Wales, and barring a couple of minor mishaps and misunderstandings I think everyone enjoyed it. We certainly enjoyed a convivial beer and shared some chocolate brownie in the warm afterwards as well.

results looked a bit like this…

240pts in 57mins Dan S and Paul Sk
210pts in 56mins John S and Des
190pts 56mins Cat and Em
180pts in 55mins Zoe and Matt C
150pts in 59mins Hoggy and and Jeroen
130pts (190-60) in 63 mins Jude and Becky S
80pts in 51mins Lucy W (and Illy)
80pts in 53mins Ali and Becky A

There have been a fair amount of people heading onto the hills in the snow this weekend, and I suspect that will be the case in the next week or so. Be safe. Take a torch and tell someone when you expect to be back, and overall, if it all hits the fan, don’t be afraid to call out Mountain rescue.

Next Sunday is the Glossopdale Christmas do – a run in the morning and food and drink in the afternoon, along with presentations – details will be posted on facebook during the week. I look foward to seeing you all there. 

In case you were wondering, no, I won’t be doing a club report in the evening. I will be continuing to imbibe as much beer as I possibly can while not taking up any challenge that involves running up a hill everyday for a year.