Sunburn, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, hypertranemia, yes, the temperature has gone into double figures. Weekend report

My word you lot have been busy. What with the race season really picking up, the sun coming out to play and everyone wanting to stretch their legs in good weather, there is a plethora of running related delights to report on. Where to start? Aha – with the first thing that came into my inbox…

Gold Rush/canicross

Yep – people running in all 4 corners of the world this weekend, first up – Wales…. Got this from Lucy “its too hot” Wasinski… So it seems GDH has a new strand – Cani cross! Greg and Illy took part in the 8.5 mile Goldrush Cani-cross in Coed y Brenin. On the start line, tensions were running high, the noise of barking was deafening , humans and dogs were feeling competitive… but illy was taking it all in her stride …and lying down on the floor waiting for the off. Was that a sign of things to come? No – Despite the heat and illy’s habitual lack of enthusiasm at dragging Greg up hills, they finished 4th man&dog and 6th overall! Awesome!

And a small idea of what it was like to be on the start line from Greg…

We had a thirty second count down for the canicross start. Total chaos with dogs barking, leaping, and snarling. Handlers yelling at their dogs and straining to stop them from setting off early. Except for one dog. Lying quietly on the floor snoozing away. I managed to get her to stand up at the 10 second stage, but did set the scene a bit for rest of the race…

For me… Far too warm and trying my best not to let my welsh nemesis beat me on  all time favourite trail route! Not to be, she cruised in well ahead of me but I managed to hang on for 2nd F and got back for the ice cream before they sold out 🙂

So there you go… too hot, and still comes 2nd. Amazing work there!

Herod Farm

The club race – Herod Farm was well attended this year. It was superb to see that it was

well staffed with club volunteers, and yet there were still a mass of GDH also running the race. Thanks to Sikobe for organising the race which went off pretty much without a hitch. It might only be 5miles, but the runners enjoyed a significant amount of up and down in the meantime. The guy that came first lost a sole on the first descent, meaning that our lovely Chris Webb, although he was 2nd, can at least console himself with the fact he was the first runner with 2 working shoes…..

Results to be posted later – but in the meantime, Alabama says: a sub hour, and most importantly for me ”I didn’t come last” I over took 4 Runners on the downhills, I was ninja 😊and sprinted faster towards, and over the finish line than I’ve ever done in any race ever. Jeroen Peters sessions are certainly paying off. 47.02 min.

Oldham Way Ultra

Postponed from a few weeks back when I had the blissful weekly report of saying “it snowed. No-one did anything… here are some pictures”. The Oldham Way Ultra happened this weekend, and although a few people who planned to do it on the original date ended up not being able to do it. Steve “I only run before everyone else gets up” Crossman was out debuting at Ultra distance. Lots of practice and training only gets you so far, conditions on the day do indeed play a part – but Steve has evidently been working out exactly what he needed and came in at 7:22 over the 40 miles, a somewhat spectacular 1st place. Superb effort from the Angrybloke. Will “1 race in a day just isn’t enough” Mather was out doing his double – a loop of the 40 miles in the hours leading up the race, and then the actual race. I don’t think he was looking to get a PB for the course… having said that, the official OWU twitter page has just said that he is the first finished of the Double – first lap in 10:05, second lap in 8:53… so 80 miles in 18:58… just squeezing under the 19 hour mark. Nicely done Will. Luke “on the quiet” Holme looks like he was also there, making his sprightly way around the 40 mile circuit. There are certainly photos out there to show that he is definitely smiling as he went through at least one of the checkpoints… well, it was either a smile, or he was gritting his teeth….  Dan “foldable” Stinton was also one of those who was not able to run the original (well, I guess no-one did when it was snowy). His Brompton riding miles have definitely been paying dividends as he cruised around the course (on 2 legs… not on a folding bike) in somewhere around 8:08. Top running you lot.

 

the Emma Peters corner

As some of you may or may not remember, Emma made a pact with the devil at the turn of the year that she would beat her Dad at some point in 2017. I don’t know what she had to give up/do, but on Saturday I got the email….. Tim I did it! Prudhoe parkrun today I ran an all time 5km PB of 21.16 and was also 1st lady. But most importantly, Jeroen ran 21.35. I have beaten him! Ah – family competitiveness… you just can’t beat it.

Parkrun

Longhorn Marathon

Marie Williamson was over with the Longhorns today with her second? marathon of the month… and a report has come in via… um… a Highland cow….?

Longhorn marathon for me today. 4 laps around Thorseby estate. Really warm..but some of the course was shaded. Walked lots of the final lap because I felt quite sick. Finished in 4hr 55 mins (I think!!) The medal is ace

and so it is.

Out and about…

Charlie Eaton and Ant Walker ran the route of one of the Glossop Fell races that used to be run in the mid 90s. It was a fair distance about 20miles with approx 1500mts climb. They took it at a leisurely pace due to the heat… Ant says…: We somehow managed to get separated in the Alport, me going low and Charlie a hundred mts above me 😂The highlight of the route was Blackden clough, just stunning in the sunshine, we had a paddle in one of the streams and chilled out in the sun (until Charlie realised he was sat on an Ants nest). The run ended with more sunbathing with a pint outside the Queens- rude not too!

Teenager with Altitude

The last of the Teenager races – as Steve Cliff sadly passed away at the beginning of the year. For those of you who don’t know – this is basically a race of 26km with approximately 30m of flat running in the whole thing. The ascents and descents are total beasts, the cut off is fairly stiff, and all in all, it is a superb day out in the Lakes.

This year we had the biggest turnout of GDH runners at the event than ever before – a massive 6 of us. Jude and Cheryl were a little concerned about the cut off, especially with the heat of the day… the day was clear and hot, which was great for navigation, but also not so good for dehydration. Chris “KOM” Webb stormed away from me at about the halfway point and went on to come in 7th, Tim “heat exhaustion” Budd ended up stumbling in 9 mins later with all kinds of exciting things happening due to semi-heat exhaustion in 14th, and Matt “the keyboard player” Huxford was 9 mins after me in 26th place. I’m afraid I don’t have any more specific results as I was too busy lying in the shade burbling incomprehensibly.

Quote of the day was from Immy “from mile 8, morale was low” Trinder, who eventually came in first GDH lady. Jude and Cheryl ran pretty much together for the whole thing, passing the cutoff comfortably with 15 mins to spare. They came in as a pair and certainly looked way better than I did, having had a fabulous day out in the hills. I wrote a more comprehensive report – if you want to read it, it’s here.

Kinder Downfall

52 Paul “GDH Gypsy” Skuse 1:27:27106 Mark “better’n’last year” Davenport 1:39:17
124 Clive “live in” Hope 1:43:10
159 Elanor “runs like a” Swan 1:48:44
169 Dez “this ain’t broadbottom” Mitchell 1:49:42
171 Heather “looks up how to spell” Jansevska 1:50:18
175 Nick “the ultra” Ham 1:51:00
202 John “act your shoe size” Stephenson 1:57:09
220 Andy “the jagster” Burnett 2:01:25I believe we even have the full results online and everything!

Debdale 5k

Other stuff

London Marathon

A fair number of Harriers made the pilgramage to that little outpost town of London for a fairly small and unrecognised event- the London Marathon. Training through the winter in cold conditions really sets you up to run 26.2 miles on the first really warm day of Spring. Matt Crompton was the “lucky” member of the club to get the marathon place given to GDH this year – his first ever marathon. Stevie K got in through good for age and there were a number of lucky recipients of the “you’ve got in” magazine.

This year it was hot, and I mean, ridiculously hot. All thoughts of PB’s were pretty much put aside in favour of survival. We watched the race unfold on the internet throughout the day, though these few hours don’t really bear testament to the amount of training everyone has put in over the past few months. Yes, the final time is always the goal, and that is what makes running so compelling as a sport. Things are never guaranteed. That is what brings us back again and again. With the best preparation, with the best will, sometimes circumstances conspire against us. Heat, food, stomach cramps, every little thing might go wrong. Even if you control the controllables, stuff you haven’t considered can still put a kybosh on you.

Emma Rettig ran supremely consistently, mowing through those in front of her to record the only sub4 GDH time, Matt Crompton was cruising well until the heat got the better of him. Stevie K started out like a shot and was heading for a ridiculously fast time until mile 6 where stomach cramps made an unwelcome appearance. He soldiered on, having to walk the final 8, and crossed the line at just shy of 4:20. Jayne Moreton, free of her Dragon costume found that this year it was exactly the same heat without the costume as last year in the costume, Wendy Trelease was very glad of all the dog walking and training she has been getting around the resers, Adrian Gent has just come in at 5:41 as I write this, flashing the Blue and Orange as he crossed the line, Mandy Beames has now finished (apologies for the weird time continuum thing there), putting in a sterling final couple of k, coming in at just a touch over 6 hours. Dan Ellingworth also started, I haven’t heard anything yet, but one can only assume that the heat simply became too much. Hope you’re ok Dan. Sarah Leah was also out on the course – bravely starting after being ill overnight, and impressively throwing up at miles 3,4 *and* 5 before deciding to call it a day… she just couldn’t hold fluids down. (have you tried throwing up every mile for 26 miles? It’s pretty hard work…)

Emma “hold fast” Rettig 3:51:28

Matt “how far was this one again?!” Crompton 4:06:56

Stevie “Rocker” Knowles 4:19:34

Jayne “dragon woman” moreton 4:32:31

Wendy “where’s my” Trelease 4:41:41

Adrian “the” Gent 5:41:21

Mandy “laser” Beames 6:00:45

Dan “I’ll sing Blue Moon” Ellingworth DNF

As I say… the prep is hard… and Matt C sent in this report from (one presumes) the pub at the end…
After the initial shock of getting the Club place for London, I set about making sure that I put in some serious training, and even embarked on a proper training plan. All of which was done in what felt like the coldest, wettest and longest winter on record, and none of which was done in blazing sunshine and roasting temperatures.

So to race day. The predicted hot conditions materialised. Even before the race started at 10, the hunt was on for shady patches in the start zone.

The first 25km went fairly much to plan, but the heat was really building. Dizzy spells hit in a fairly bad way. I took the decision to slow right down, take on proper fluids at water stations and get through the race in one piece. The remaining miles were tough! As various pacers went past, I knew I didn’t have it in my legs to keep up. My eventual time was 4hr 6mins. I have to say I was disappointed, but the heat really hit hard.

Anyway, once again, thanks for all at GDH for giving me the chance to run my first ever marathon and at London too. I really tried to do everyone proud in both the way I approached the training for the race, and the way a ran it today

Awesome work to all those who have trained hard for this, and indeed are training hard for other stuff. It isn’t all about the numbers at the end, it is the mindset as you train, as you run, as you race. It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.