The sun has been shining and with it, the times have been tumbling!

Well Spring is officially here and with it a return to some lovely warm-ish sunshine! For those of us who don’t brave the shorts all year round, now might be the time we can ditch those long running tights!

So last week certainly saw a pretty full on race calendar and although there wasn’t quite as many races it seems this week, there were still a load of you out racing the roads, trails and fells on foot, (and on 2 wheels!).  Quote of the week should probably go to Chris Jackson, who on having descended Win Hill summit some 15 odd miles into the Edale Skyline, commented he was surprised how much running there was in this race J Funny that when u enter a running race eh 😉

If you aren’t already, then grab a pew, put your feet up and have a read, cos seeing what this lot have been up to has worn me out just looking at it…

Mid week 5k madness

Not a race as such, but a handful of GDHers decided a trip to Rochdale mid week would be fun. Turns out there was a timed track 5k, which was a good reason for people to see how that winter-spring training is going, and whether Jeroen’s sessions really do make you quicker. Now I know more of you did it than this (Alex C and Immy), but we can’t see your times, so post them in the comments on FB if you want a shout out J Sorry!

Dan Stinton – 19.24

Mark Davenport – 20.08

Nice work you guys. If anyone else fancies a go at this, put a shout out as I’m sure Alex mentioned there were more taking place over the summer? There won’t be any quibbling on the track about the 5k unlike Glossop parkrun 😉

Edale Skyline

Seems like the Skyline was a great option for some spectating today and there were as many of us watching the blue and orange as there were racing!

Thanks to Matt C for sending in this:

Every now and again, colleagues ask me about fell running and fell races. Even the ones that run don’t really understand what it’s all about, and why anyone would spend their Sundays struggling up hills, and hurtling back down them. 

So I explain what I love about the sport. The fact that it takes you to some of the most beautiful parts of the country, and with some great teammates. That races are organised by people who do it just for the love of the sport. And that you usually end up somewhere afterwards chatting with people you have never met before, at least not till you slogged up some unforgiving slope together, and that the post run chat usually takes place in some field, or village hall, or local pub, sometimes over some homemade food, such as pie, peas and gravy. I make sure I tell them that you’re never quite sure where the start line or finish line is, but that’s absolutely fine.

This was definitely one of those races. Brilliant!

Seven runners from Glossopdale lined up at the bottom of the Nab (including two new members, yey!) ready for the 21ish miles ahead. 

The weather was good, dry but breezy on the tops.

The race headed up Ringing Roger, and then anti-clockwise towards Grindsbook Knoll, then on to Brown Knoll, Rushup Edge, Lose Hill, Win Hill and back to Kinder. Apparently this isn’t the usual direction.

Thanks to all of the of the groups of GDH supporters that were out today, just before Grindsbrook, near to Edale Cross and on Win Hill. I know all the runners hugely appreciated it.

GDH results are below

Rich White             3.55.17    135th
Matt Crompton         3.55.38   138th
Sarah Andrew           3.58.11     150th
Robin Hoffman         4.04.32     164th
Rob Murphy              4.21.12      205th
Nick Ham                  4.33.30     239th
286 finished

Unfortunately Ian Crutchley had to take the sensible decision of retiring just after the Lose Hill descent suffering from a dodgy knee and stomach cramps. But it did mean he managed to experience his first ever hitchhiking!

(*Ian, we’ve all been there whether racing or just out running, there’s always next year to get your revenge! Last summer out on a long run with a pal in the heat, we ended up bailing at Hathersage but needed to get to Fiddlers Elbow car park – was surprised how easy it was to hitch a ride round these parts, there are a lot of climber, biker, runner folk out who I reckon see a kindred spirit in their moment of need!)

Now he wasn’t wearing a GDH vest, but Chris Jackson was also out doing the skyline today and sped round in 3h 17ish – reckon it must have been the jelly babies that did it Chris 😉

Congrats to you all, having gone out for a run with the dog and tried to keep up with the back of the pack last year I can definitely say, this ain’t an easy race!

Derwent Duathlon

Meanwhile over the hill – today was also the Derwent Duathlon, which explained why the layby and car parks were absolutely heaving by the time we neared Ladybower today! This involved a 4.5km fell run, an 18mile bike, and a 6.5k road run (or apparently the opposite way if you prefer!).  Nick Lord was out showing folk how it was done and cruised round both the run and bike legs to finish 9^th overall! Not sure what’s more impressive, the overall placing or the fact his T1 transition was 22s! Clearly not one to faff 😉

Wilmslow Half Marathon

Those of you who hadn’t headed over to Edale/Derwent races had headed off from some pacey half marathon fun in Wilmslow. Turns out one man’s undulating or hilly race, is not the same for others, and you can end up re-adjusting your expectations as Emma R said – “having run this before I kept waiting for the hills/lumps……it felt pretty much pancake flat after 2.5 years of training in Glossop!”  See, so don’t be put off by races you might think aren’t your cup of tea, once you’ve done the Glossop hills, a “hilly” road race is a piece of cake!

Big thanks to both Chris Webb and Emma Rettig for both sending in reports. It is great reading different takes on the race and hearing who was battling out with who!

Here is what Chris had to say:

Some fast running went down in Wilmslow for the half marathon. Here’s a brief extract from my own little mid-pack battle: A breezy day didn’t seem to affect the pace and Stevie Knowles went out hard in the first mile or two leaving me and Paul Booth (is he Glossopdale?) trailing in his wake. We were running alongside the 1:20 pacers who seemed to be going far too fast but we were fresh so we all followed anyway! The three of us eventually grouped up though and worked together for a few miles before the pace told and my legs started to give up! Steve’s marathon training paid dividends and he held it together well, finishing 54th (5th V45) in 1:18:32. Paul wasn’t far behind in 1:18:56 (59th) and I dragged my sorry backside home in 1:20:28 (67th).  There were other GDHs beating the tarmac too, well done to everyone who ran: 204th: James Knapper (1:27:20) 74th (14th V40): Emma Rettig (1:39:27) 721st (146th V40): Alex Critcher (1:42:32) 1093rd: Rob Murphy (1:49:50) 394th: Kaylea Haynes (1:56:57) 603rd: Rebecca Coward (2:05:59) 807th (150th V40): Clare Higgins (2:18:37) There was a 10k runner too and he had a screamer! 73rd (2nd V65!): John Pollard (00:50:44)   And this came in from the super speedy Emma Rettig:

A fine contingent of GDH’s turned out for the Wilmslow Half Marathon. Unfortunately the race HQ was rather chaotic as a 10km race has also been added to the festivities so it was rather difficult to find other blue and orange vests for a team photo. 

Swarms of runners and an overwhelming smell of DeepHeat aside, the day brought great running conditions and I lined up slightly ahead of the 1:40 pacers. An ambitious target but I knew (on the quiet) I wanted to give it a shot. I started well and Alex Critcher and I kept a steady pace for the first half of the race. We were eventually overtaken by the 1:40 group around mile 8 and Alex began to drop back (I’m happy to report he refound his form with the help of a significant amounts of sweets!). I was also blowing hard by this point but decided, do or die, got my head down and just kept running. 

The last few miles were tough and while I was on for a PB, I thought sub 1:40 was nothing but a dream. However I kept plugging away and suddenly the 13 mile marker appeared. A swift look at my watch confirmed it was on so I gave it all I had to cross the line in a chip time of 1:39:27. Whoop, whoop – sound the PB bell. Marathon training is totally paying off. 

A massive shout out goes to Steve Knowles who stormed around in an eye watering PB time of 1:18:32 and was the first GDH home. James Knapper came in well under 1:30 which I believe was his target time and despite tired marathon training legs Kaylea Hayes still ran well under 2 hours. 

Full results are on the link below 

https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events

Brilliant efforts all round!

Thanks both for these reports, some absolutely astonishing times from you all, and massive congrats Emma and Steve on a mighty impressive half marathon PB! Ding ding the PB bell!

Gin Pit Village Marathon

Marie Williamson has been off doing this event– it sounds amazing right, a pit full of gin? What could possibly be better!? Turns out there might be some running involved though and you have to run 2 marathons in 2 days over the same course! Takes some doing I bet. Nice one Marie!

Heaton Park

Kate Bees first GDH at the 10km at Heaton park. She broke the sub 60 by a whopping margin (54:37)!

In other news

Sale Sizzler entries have opened (champs race) so get your entry in nice and early for this fine, fast summer 5k spectacular!

Coach J’s sessions continue to attract a hefty number of runners which is ace, the speed folk were flying round Hurst Crescent last week they’ll need to re-tarmac soon. Talking of which, lots of runners means Jeroen needs to be in about 10 different places at once, now we could clone him, but that is a scary thought 😉 (and hopefully just reserved for Dolly the sheep). So, GDH needs you! Are you interested in getting involved in some coaching? No previous experience necessary, just an interest in running and a desire to learn more about coaching and drills, techniques and the like to help people improve! Sound good? Wanna know more? Get in touch with Jeroen, or comment on FB, or send an email to GDHweeklyreports@gmail.com and we’ll pass it on.

That’s all for this week! Don’t forget, clocks change next week – unless your name is Guy, then reckon we can nearly put those headtorches away! (Also, because i’ve made this mistake before, just a heads up…next week is Mother’s Day, not always the best plan to have a race that day 😉