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- Its the May Bank...
As our collective joints recover from being smashed to pieces by the flags from Mill Hill to Snake Summit, strap yourselves in for this weeks report. There’s a lot happened and even more going on! So much going on in fact, that in spite of the situation we’re still facing in terms of significant Covid restrictions, I personally feel like the opportunities for us to connect as a club, are as great as they’ve ever been!
Luke’s 100
You must have been living under a rock if you didn’t see or hear of the exploits of Luke Holme last weekend. Luke managed to run, walk and crawl 100 miles in aid of Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, in what can only be described as an epic day (and a half) out. Luke ran two 40 mile loops, one way then reversed, roughly tracing the perimeter of the Teams jurisdiction. He then embarked a separate 20 mile loop, with a grandstand finish in Manor Park.
Harriers were out in abundance on the day, with support runners and vehicles all around the course. It was a great team effort, but Luke was amazing. His determination was a thing to behold, and particularly during the second 40 mile loop, where he overcame struggles that the rest of us could never get near. Let’s hear from Luke himself…..
I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone for all your support. Believe or not but the donations are still coming through and it’s at £2600+. I couldn’t have done it without your help…great team work GDH with getting the increased donations
. I’m really overwhelmed with the nice comments and apologies if I’ve not replied. For the support runners who endured me moaning, carry my stuff, made me eat, consoled me, bought me McDonald’s, watched me struggle, looked up at the stars with me, watched me cuddle rocks, saw me vomiting, picked me up, eat 5 hula hoops every 15 mins, made surprise appearances, made me laugh and watched me finish I love you loads 
Definitely a memory and dream goal I’d never thought I would achieve.
That’s quite enough blowing smoke up his backside now, so I’ll round this section off with a paraphrased quote from the Glossop Chronicle, plus a couple of images…. Glossop Man Runs 100 Miles “Without Stopping”.
Tatton Half Marathon
A few Harriers were over at Tatton Park for the Half Marathon. Paul Peters had a point to prove, and boy, did he prove it!
I haven’t had the chance to send a report in over a year so this is gonna be a bumper edition to make up for it…
I entered this back in November on a whim, since it was the first time I’d qualified for elite entry (technically I was 11 seconds off, but a nicely worded email goes a long way) and I thought it’d be a fun day. I didn’t plan on training for the distance particularly, after 8 months of lockdowns I just wanted to race something. The first date in November got pushed to early Feb, so I just carried on training generally, still no intention of specific HM training. Then it got pushed back a second time to late March and I ran a time trial on the February date to replace it. After running about 72:30-73 I realised I was actually in good shape for it, so I decided to get those longer threshold sessions in and actually compete when race-day came.
By early march, the race got pushed back a 3rd time, to late April, which as you might have guessed actually took place. Since I was in good shape I decided I’d buy in to the hype and actually buy a pair of so-called “super shoes” (Saucony Endorphin Pro for those interested). I thought I was probably in shape to run about 71 minutes (3:22/km, 5:25/m) in a race scenario, so I rocked up to the start line on Sunday ready to rip it. I’d checked out the entry list a few days in advance, and saw a good number of lads in very good shape, some of which have recently run mid-14 minute 5k’s, and have HM PB’s under 70 minutes. I wasn’t sure if I could place on the podium, but I was going to set out around 71 min pace and see where that put me.
The race set off with staggered starts for covid regulations, so I was about 15 men back from the front. It started off pretty furious. 3 lads broke away decisively at the front, another pair a few metres behind them, and I settled in with a pack of about 6/7 for the first km. We weren’t hanging about for the first km, clocking about 3:15 from my watch, but as we hit 2/3km I could feel the pace lagging, so I pushed on hoping others would come with me. As it turned out no-one fancied that pace, so I prepared myself for a very lonely hour of racing. At about 4k we turned off a dirt path onto a mole-hill filled grass field. I caught one of the lads in front as we turned back on the tarmac, and for the second time he didn’t fancy coming with me. The next 30 minutes or so was quite uneventful. There was a few out-and-backs in the course, so I could see 3rd place fall off the front group. From 3rd to 6th, we were all solo (with me in 5th) and spread about 50m from each other. I wasn’t fresh as we finished lap 1, but I was still pushing on, both scared of the man behind me, and keen to catch the man in front. Fun fact: The man behind me was my rival from Manchester half 18 months ago, when we ran the first 12km together until I dropped off.
As we hit the open fields again on lap 2, at around 14km, I finally caught up to 4th place. I’d seen him flagging and I’d been patient in reeling him in. I sat behind him as a windbreaker for a few seconds, but I could tell he wasn’t in any mindset to come the pace, so once again I pushed on by myself into the unknown. As we hit the penultimate out-and-back (about 15km in) I saw 3rd place still about 100m ahead. We both knew I could catch him if he slacked off, but luckily he might not have known that I was pretty sore by this point. The next few km were the toughest stretch of the race. Running alone, at a very slight incline, with a bit of headwind and a body telling me it wants to stop. As we hit the 12 mile marker, I glanced at my watch to see where I was at. 1:05:35. Unless I had a herculean effort, sub-71 was gone, but I was still spurred on by the fact I had barely over 5 minutes of hard work left. I could keep ignoring the stitch for that long.
The last out-and-back turns round about 500m from the finish. A tantalising look at how close 3rd place might be if I could just hop over to the other side of the road… The only relief was seeing the same situation for the man behind me. I gritted my teeth as I turned the corner with about 200m to go, and bombed it down the dirt path to the finish line. As I approached the funnel I knew I’d left it all out there on the course and I let myself relax a little as I crossed the line for 71:37, about 3.5 mins off the old PB. On a faster course with less dirt trails and single-width paths, I think I might have run under 71 on the same day, but I’m not dwelling on it. I’ve been on a bit of a plateau for the past year or two, and this felt like the training/race I needed to make my next breakthrough. I’m looking forward to stepping the distance down again and getting some track work under the legs this summer.
5k splits were as follows – 16:47, 17:05 (33:52 at 10k), 16:39, 17:13 (33:52 2nd 10k)
Not sure if they’ve sent in their own reports, but it was PB’s all round for Harriers yesterday! Charlotte Bliss ran nearly a minute under her target for 1:39:02, and Wendy McMahon smashing her PB by a few minutes as well for 1:48:06, top running.
Sorry for the long read and congrats if you made it through, got a little carried away there…
Well done indeed Paul, and to both Charlotte and Wendy no less. Terrific efforts.
Derwentwater Dawdle
Lakesman John Pollard sent this in…
Knowing I could be back in the Lakes after April 12 I got a lucky late entry for the Derwentwater Dawdle, which a couple of friends from Tony Hillier’s Hyde Running Community told me they were doing. Kate Bowden has done it before too so it came recommended.
It’s 23 miles on trails, I hesitate to say race as it’s pretty relaxed with walkers and runners (and only two CPs!), more like a LDWA challenge than a trail race. But covidly-safe organisation by Jeff at Ascend events. So we set out to treat it as a social run, albeit the longest I’d done since maybe 2003. And the day didn’t disappoint with its blue skies and genial atmosphere.
An early ascent of Catbells was as tough as the climbs came with only about 4550 feet in all, though there were a couple of stiff ones on tired legs later as the route circled Derwentwater anti-clockwise. Stopping to take in the views it was a good six hours running en route but there are no prizes, no categories, so it’s pretty much doing it for the intrinsic challenge and enjoyment…which these days is why I run anyway. Oh there’s a medal😉
I like the concept of it, not as full-on and competitive as a fell race (which obviously have their place) and I’ll do another Ascend event, the Lakeland Four Passes in September.
Monthly Mashup – Multi Terrain Relays, 23rd May 2021
You have until 8th May to sign up for the next Monthly Mashup! Full details are below, but the deadline is necessary to make sure that we can organise things. This will give us two weeks to do the draw, release the routes and organise some recces. If you’re wanting to take part, please get your entry in as soon as possible. We are also looking for ideally four volunteers to help out on each heat. If you’re signing up, it would be great if you could also consider volunteering during the heat that you’re not running! (Anyone not participating who would be willing to help out is also very welcome!) Please contact Immy Trinder or Ian Crutchley if you would be willing to do this
It’s time to sign up for the next Monthly Mashup! The next event will be taking place on Sunday 23rd May! The next Mashup event will be a multi-terrain relay! In teams of 3, you will decide who is going to run a fell leg, trail leg and a road leg, all approximately 5km in length. To make things even more exciting, we’ll be allocating teams randomly, so all you need to do is sign yourself up if you’d like to take part !We’re hoping to run this as a race in 2-3 heats, to give it a race feel whilst still sticking to the Covid restrictions. If you’re able to be flexible around timings, that will make our lives a lot easier, but if you have a strong preference there will be space to indicate this on the sign-up form. Event rules: Juniors are welcome to take part, and must be accompanied by a responsible adult. This will mean that teams including juniors will have four members rather than three. If you run the fell leg, you must carry the required kit which will be confirmed via Facebook and email at least 24 hours prior to the event. Once your heat has been run, you will need to vacate the start/finish area to make space for the following heat. Runners on all legs are responsible for their own safety, and that of any juniors they are accompanying. Please take care at road crossings, and be respectful of other pedestrians. Sounds pretty exciting, right? So what are you waiting for?! Fill in the form below and get ready to RACE! https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx…
Virtual Champs
It was another fantastic month of champs action, as so many embraced the 3 Trigs route. By my count, I so far have results for 69 Harriers that took advantage of the super dry conditions up there, which meant you could pretty much do the route in road shoes! Thank you everyone for getting involved, and I’ll be totting up the results at some point this week. NOTE: If you haven’t submitted your times already please do so ASAP, otherwise they won’t count. Submit your time here! https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=5BVxpfBLsUmsG6ff0vsCtNfwKtYmrt9Eo7FVFL6V0gtUNllUMEJBQjFSWEZXS0Q5MEI4SFZBTTRVNi4u
Next up for May and we’re back on the road: THE GDH 10 Loop!! A pretty fast road route with a sting half way around as you hit Hadfield with a 2k steady climb, starting and finishing at the leisure centre. Can anyone get near Paul Peters record of 34:51, or the women’s record of 41:54 held by Sandra Cooper?
I have seen recces of the route already planned, so get involved if your not familiar with the route. If these dont suit, dont hesitate to shout up and I’m sure someone will be happy to run it with you. Alternatively, you can find the details here https://www.glossopdaleharriers.org.uk/…/gdh…
We’ve added the JustGiving link for Glossop MRT and it would be a fantastic gesture, if you could make a modest donation in lieu of what you may have paid in race fees in 2020/21. You are helping to support our fabulous Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, several members of whom are part of our wonderful club. They’ve done an extraordinarily job during a very testing period for everyone, and help safeguard us and our many visitors. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gdhchamps2021?fbclid=IwAR1Ob9P6Yd0YwPucKL55-axBRCk1Jw5mDT8GeJVHJgm02urf0t-gN9D8c0U
Harrier UK Club Support Programme
Excellent news this week from Immy Trinder….
A couple of weeks ago, Neal Bann and I put in an application to the Harrier UK Club Support Programme. They were really impressed, and I’m delighted to let you know that we have been selected! The Support Programme starts officially on 17th May, so watch this space for further updates.
In the meantime, please feel free to make use of our exclusive 10% club discount code to use on the Harrier website – this is GLOSSOP10 and is effective immediately 
You can find out more about the Support Programme here harrierrunfree.co.uk/pages/club-support-programme
Marple Junior Parkrun
Elanor Swan sent this in….
In line with the gradual easing of restrictions, Marple junior parkrun started up again last week (for u11 only for the time being). It was so nice to be back in the park watching small people do their running thing. Last week we had 82 runners and this week we had a whopping 103 runners. What made it even more special for the GDH contingent of the parkrun event crew this week was that we had 3 mini Harriers all of whom were doing their very first parkruns: much kudos to Alice (running with Sue), Fox (running with Zoe), and Thomas (running with Steve). We will be on again next Sunday at 9am in Brabyns Park if anyone else fancies coming along – we would love to see you!
Coach J’s Corner
Opening for registration on Sunday at 6 pm, this week has an unashamed focus on speed. But not speed for the sake of challenging Usain Bolt or improving your 200m PB. Running multiple intervals at speed develops 2 important aspects that are important for every endurance runner: efficiency and speed endurance. So, this week has a mixture of 400m reps that are run at an increasingly faster pace followed by 200m reps pretty fast. But do not forget, speed is relative. It means that you do not have to be the fastest runner in the club to benefit but benefits every runner as you will be working at your own, relative pace. To register, click on the link below:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/…/gh-coached-session-4-may…
Member Survey
A short survey has been created in line with the motion from the 2020 AGM and will provide the committee with useful information about the general direction of the club including specifics, which will help the committee to make decisions around communication, club runs, coaching and kit requirements in the future. It will only take a few minutes to complete and it would be really helpful if as many of you as possible could take the time to provide your answers and input.
The survey is anonymous and once the committee have analysed (and reported) the outcomes, all data collected will be deleted. The survey will be available to complete up until 5pm on Thursday 13 May 2021.
The link for the survey is: https://forms.gle/9gJibTPuNUE4DpbY9
Other Stuff
Thursday socials are back on, but as we’re restricted to 6 still, we really need to organise these in advance. The Facebook page is the best plaxce to do that, but reach out to your fellow members if you fancy a reun out.
We have 2 strength sessions going with both Chris Smith and Rob Anker, so look out for their shouts and get yourself down to the park. Matt Crompton has restarted the hill rep sessions in Wednesday night, and that always means “fun”!
Well, that’s about it for this week, but keep your eye on the GDH Facebook page and please, please keep posting what you’re up to, and we really like pictures too! Stay sensible and stay safe!