May Bank Holiday, Take One! Weekend report.

Well, it’s Bank Holiday Monday and a LOAD of people have sent in various reports from all over the place. Thanks so much to Els, Paul Skuse, Dan S, Ian Crutchley, Jamie H, John Pollard, Alex Critcher and Zoe for the knowledge this week, and to Lynne for reading out the results to me. . I’ve been through Strava to see if there has been anything else, but to be honest, there was so much on the club feed that it all kind of blurred into one.

May is the time things really start hotting up in terms of race season on the fells as well as on the roads. Ask Paul Skuse about midweek racing season, he is generally a bit of an instigator (or should that be facilitator?) Awesome to see so many people out and about, and even better to have you lot writing in to let us know what you’ve been up to.

Trunce

Monday was the 2nd instalment of the 2019 trunce series. Phil “responsible adult” Swan, Caitlin “actual responsible person” Swan and Adam “more responsible than Phil” Crompton headed over the hill for some Monday evening racing. Caitlin was 1st girl, Adam had a great race after a slight racing lull and Phil finished mid pack hampered somewhat by a pre-race lemonade. (by lemonade, I’m unsure if Els means actual lemonade, or “lemonade”)

Buxworth 5

Spare Buxworth 5 report from The Skus-inator:

Another belter of a race. Conditions were perfect. If you dont know this race, its 2 miles up (good, fast tarmac climbs), 2 miles down (still slapping tarmac and grinding knees) and 1 mile flat (a proper lung buster all set in picturesque Buxworth. Im writing this on Sunday and have no idea who was there all those many days ago. Lucy “4inns” Wasinski got a round in -much appreciated. Lance(armstrong?) Hamilton-Griffiths had a meal with his mum. Crutches was almost the same time as his previous efforts, much to his chagrin. Crossman was Crossman – he still gives me the fear. Rich “getaway” Martin sprinted to his car and drove away at the end. Nick “the ultra” Ham got out of his car and raced this year (nice one Nick). Rob “look at my legs” Sheldon seems to think GDH colours are blue, orange and day-glo green. Frank “the daddy” Fielding made the most of his chance to don the illustrious colours and wore them top to toe. Rebecca “smiles per mile” Smith looked far too happy from start to finish, Luke “out where you’re going” Holme came into the finish extra sweaty but happy (never hug him after a race) and Tracy “cecils slave” Robinson  liked the downhills and Rachel “where’s my” Walton seems to be making her way into as many races in a week as possible. Who cares about times – we all came home with a smile on our faces (obviously the excludes Crossman)

11 – Paul Skuse 32:15
17 – Steve Crossman 33:02
25 – Lucy Wasinski 34:45
37 – Rob Sheldon 36:03
43 – Ian Crutchley 36:46
45- Rich Martin 36:48
75- Frank Fielding 39:19
101- Rebecca Smith 42:02
106- Nick Ham 42:14
125- Tracey Robinson 44:27
137- Rachel Walton 45:30

Belfast marathon

Joe “radar? what radar?” Gavin did 4.26.11 at Belfast marathon. Google tells me the organisers cocked up the cone placing, the lead car diverting from the route, leaving it 0.3 miles longer than official. Apparently they are “adjusting” runners times to reflect the correct distance.

Bollington 3 peaks

Thanks to Jamie “hill repper” Helmer for this report from the Champs race this week…
Hi who ever reads these. (me) I’ve done a brief (I think) report from the Bollington 3 peaks fell race today. Hope that’s useful…..

A handful of Harriers made the trip to Bollington but I was surprised not to see more bearing in mind it was a champs race and started and finished at a brewery!The course was mostly on good trails and well marked putting it somewhere between a trail and a fell race although more trail I’d say.
The flat first mile meant a fast start and Sean “the speedy side of the street” Phillips was quick off the mark mixing it with the leaders (at least it looked that way from where I was) as we charged from the start line on top of the viaduct.The first hill is the longest climb and runnable all the way but also gets the majority of ascent done early. The descent was a short steep affair although the dry weather meant footing was good and we were soon on to the shorter gradual climb to peak number 2. Another short steep descent led to quick trails and the bottom of the final climb. Gradual at first but kicking up near the end, as we rounded the summit cairn I had clawed my way to within a few yards of Sean but I couldn’t keep up on the final descent through grassy fields and in the final stretch on the canal path. Rob “that’s a terrible thing to do to your suunto” Sheldon was next in followed by Nick “the ultra” Ham and Rachel “this racing lark is easy” Walton, at least that’s the order I saw them back at the brewery where we enjoyed the free pint and chilli.
I know some people tried to get in last minute so it’s a shame it was full but it’s a good course, free food and drink and organised by a brewery so make a note for next year as it’s sure to sell out again.

12 Sean Phillips 43:33
13th Jamie 43:40
79th Rob Sheldon 51:03
167 Nick Ham 58:05
192 Rachel Walton 1:01:17

Tigers Trail

Pete “is it Pete? Is it Will?” Wallroth sent in this marvellous missive:
A midweek trip over to the edge of Yorkshire for Luke “the navigator” Holme and I to join in Totley ACs Tigers Trail. Naturally I was only too delighted to have to go to a rugby club for a race. A combination of my two favourite things.
In a little skullduggery I tried to bench the flying back that is Luke Holme in an attempt to be first harrier….but he got up too eager to play and wouldn’t do as he was told.
A poignant start to the race as members of Totley AC marked the recent passing of one of their stalwarts, the previous organiser of this very race.
We set off at some pace in the road section before a sharp turn into the linn valley before going up onto the back edges of Burbage.Downhill and a long road section back to the start, where we were greeted with the welcome offer of Sossage (their spelling) or bacon butties and a viewing of Barcelona playing a team that didn’t seem to turn up.A good jaunt out on an enjoyable route but one for the trail runners as this is definitely no fell race.
Luke finished in 43:06
Pete in 45:56

Piece of Cake 10k

John “I will not be stopped” Pollard was doubly knocked back this week – but still managed to get a race in….:

I was hoping to do a fell race honest guv, but the Bollington 3 Peaks was closed by the time I found it, and then the Cake Race at Diggle slammed shut in my face as Alex Critcher beat me to the last place grrr…so in search of competition I went to another cake race..the Boggart Hole Clough ‘Piece of cake 10k’ round the park there…hardly as taxing as 10miles of moors but these eyeball out concrete-based races have their own challenge. Hmmm.
Still couldn’t quite bust 50 mins due to the incline they call Angel Hill, all of 35m elevation x3. Wow. To hear road racers talk about the rise you’d think crampons were in order.

Cake Race

Report from Alex “snatching the last place in the race ace” Critcher.

Charmaine “still wants to swim and cycle first” , Joanne “race packs mean more cakes” Brack, me, Frank “sprints are my forte” Fielding, Clive “Sprints are not my forte” and Mary The photographer” Jeal turned up for this, the trail race with the fell race elevation, with type 2 diabetes Inducing cakes at the end. Times aren’t online yet but:
Alex 1:35 ish
Frank and Clive 1.32 seperated by 1 second in a sprint finish.
Joanne and charmaine 1:53 ish I think
Gorgeous weather, 168 steps (up) at 10k were particularly hunger inducing.

Should definitely be a champs race again next season, chance for the road and fell boys to meet on neutral ground. Hope this is OK.

Since receiving the report- I’ve found the results….
76 Frank Fielding 1:32:21 (running in Away colours)
77 Clive Hope – 1:32:23
96 Alex Critcher 1:35:28
127 Mary Jeal 1:44:00
151 Jo Brack 1:52:08
152 Charmayne Brierley 1:52:29

Coniston

Thanks to Zoe “the spy” Barton for this sneaky report… Hi. New members Sarah “modesty” Andrew and Robin “humility” Hoffman were at Coniston race in the Lakes. They are too modest to say anything about it and the results have not yet been published. I imagine they both had a cracking run.

Aha – I have it – Robin finished in 1:44:27 and Sarah in 1:44:57. Good running.

Welsh 3ks

Thanks to Dan “I just like typing things” Stinton for a bit of an epic reportage…. When Immy (“pixie of doom” Trinder) asked me if I was interested in the Welsh 3000s, I don’t think I was entirely sure what it was but I agreed anyway.  After a couple of recce weekends I began to understand the magnitude of the challenge, not only the amount of climbing but also the difficult terrain.

Checking the weather forecast it was due to be sunny all day, although the forecast for the top of Snowdon was showing a little snow.  We were somewhat surprised to be heading up the Pyg track at around 5:30am in a flurry of snow, so it was a relief to see the clouds breaking around halfway up and it made the surrounding mountains look so much more beastly.

We set off from Snowdon summit at 7am and already had a few concerns about tackling Crib Goch in the snow, but without it we couldn’t really claim to have done the Welsh 3000s so given that it wasn’t windy we decided to take it on anyway.  Definitely not choosing the best line we made it to the peak although I had to have a quick climbing lesson from Immy to stop myself plunging to certain death, but we made it back to safe ground.

So it went on, ticking off summit after summit.  As we came off Glyder Fach you couldn’t ignore the monsterous Tryfan coming up next and Pen yr Ole Wen looming further on.  Suddenly, I spotted a strong, muscular dog bounding towards us – it was Twiglet “dog of destiny” with Kasia “how do you spell this?” Osipowicz not far behind!  It was a great boost to see them at this point and after some big hugs we set off on our way.

Immy’s dad and grandad met us at Ogwen and we had much needed spaghetti bolognese – it felt like a speed eating competition as we ravenously wolfed it down.  We pushed hard over the final seven summits and arrived at Foel Fras 11 hrs 08 mins since setting off from Snowdon.  After 13-14 hours on our feet it was far too late and cold to consider the optimistic beer and BBQ plans and we pretty much passed out.  An awesome route and challenge – what a fantastic day!

Joes Cup hill race

Thanks to Paul “the 6th spice girl” Skuse for this Race report for Joe’s Cup Hill Race. It was the inaugural race and it was a belter. Named after a local runner who kept a hidden cup near the peak by a spring, this was a fast blast to the hill, a fast climb up and a fast blast down. You may notice a theme developing here. Only 4 GDH, me, Ian “crutches” Crutchley, Pete “are you sure you’re not Will?” Wallroth and Lins “elevation? this isn’t elevation” Palmer. Perfect conditions, plenty of prizes( I won a torch in a raffle with my ticket picked out by Pete. Cheers Pete!) I’ll be coming back to this one. Highly recommended. Sorry, don’t know about results.

Impending 10in10

For those of you who are not aware, Marie “marathon lady” Williamson is off on a bit of an epic starting on Friday. She starts the 10 in 10 Brathay Challenge which is basically running 10 marathons in 10 days. That’s it really, nothing special.

Crikey.

So – if you want to know more about this, you can have a butchers at the website here,

and her fundraising page is here
Holy Heck. Good luck Marie!

Parkrun

This week at Glossop, Melissa “a PB every week, thankyou very much” Crutchley once again blasted parkrun with a 45 second PB in 25:26.  Big thanks to Caitlin “smash it out” Swan for running with us and providing huge confidence and encouragement. Melissa has knocked about 2mins her parkrun this year. Her Dad is rightfully getting worried about his parkrun pre-eminence in the family. Looks like Melissa was also joined by Lance “It’s my turn this week” Hamilton-Griffiths in the PB hunt in Glossop. From looking at Strava, I understand that Paul Peters might well have joined the Black T-shirt society with a 100th Parkrun this week, as well as coming in first at his chosen destination. And John Stephenson has quietly hit 200… not a cause for a t-shirt, indeed, not even cause for a cake as it seems like he is flying somewhat under the radar as well.

Stuff coming up..

Oh seriously… It’s May. EVERYTHING. As ever, if you have something to report, have done something exciting, or even just have a bit of a story to tell about your hill rep session, write it down, send it in. We love hearing from you.

gdhweeklyreports@gmail.com is the place to send it.

Oh -and if you have a photo that you want on insta, send it to me. (Tim) by whatsapp. I’ll try and sort out the necessary technological jiggery pokery.