The Non-relay weekend in October report

Chris Jackson, Lindsay Palmer and John Hewitt were out and about in Scotland for the Man or Mouse weekend…. Manor Water Hill Race (10 miles) followed by Pentland Skyline (16 miles). Chris was 6th and John was 22nd and Lindsay was 3rd Lady on the out and back Manor Water. As for the Skyline – well, for those of you who are unaware of it, its 16 miles with an altitude profile that looks a bit like a crocodiles lower jaw – you get the impression its going to be a good race when it starts from a ski centre….At this point in time I have no idea about positions. However, all three runners received some kind of single malt for finishing both races (there weren’t many who even attempted it). Chris was 2nd in the “double” and Lins won the “Mouse” trophy, being the fastest lady over both races.

Superb effort on a couple of right toughies. (the races, not Lins and Chris).

Matt Huxford, David Boundy and Ben Wolfarth were in the opposite end of the country with, running the RedBull Steeplechase. Originally held in and around Hope and Castleton, this year it was down in Devon. Matt got to the 3rd of 4 steeples and was 52nd, David Boundy got to the 2nd of the 4 in 143rd, and Ben Wolfarth got to the 1st of the 4 steeples in 217th. Unsurprisingly it was Ricky Lightfoot who eventually came out as the winner, doing all 4 steeples in 20 seconds slower than Matt finished the 3.

Again, in the south, Claire Campbell found herself swimming through acres of mud and water in the Brutal 10k in Hampshire. Claire, who is coming back from injury and illness managed a creditable 189/300 (and 13th Vet female) after bashing around the course with a couple of friends.

The Glossop Parkrun route was somewhat compromised this week as the recent light breeze from the East had taken down a particularly large branch on the first uphill section. The parkrun team are waiting for it to be chopped up and carted away by the park authorities, (but anyone else with a chainsaw, a balaclava and a penchant for free wood would do as well).

However, Glossopdale Harriers used the opportunity to do a bit of travelling, with Lizzy Leason ending up in Durham (coming in first lady, no less), Joe Travis and Emma Peters continued their travails at Newcastle, Paul Drury was out and about at Worsley Woods. Steven Rea and Kirsty Johnson were at Marple, with Kirsty again showing form as first lady home. Nick Ham was the sole representative at Lyme Park, David Chrystie-Lowe also tasted the loneliness of the Park Run harriers at Stretford, but there was a glut of Blue and Orange at Stamford, with Ben Tetler coming in top of the tree, Matt Crompton, Lawrence Fennelly, Wendy Trelease and Sikobe rounded out the rest of the GDH pack.

There wasn’t a whole lot else in terms of racing going on this weekend, but the Ladies HPM team (with honourary bloke) were out and about in the bogs of Kinder and Bleaklow, getting in some pre-training training before the late February bog bash – Milo was a bit knackered by the end of the run, as can be seen by the pic on the right. Kasia has been up in Assynt. Some other long range training runs were being done on Sunday as well (which included a 20 miler by Skusey, that apparently turned out to be a tiny insy wincy bit longer *cough26* than 20 miles), which all sounded rather good fun.

In other news – the Glossopdale Goodie Box is being taken in in the next 2 hours. It will be replenished and put back out in a different location later on this week – watch out on the facebook page for updates.

Oh – and just so you all know, there will be a position on Glossopdale Harriers Committee opening up at the AGM. Its for an “officer without portfolio”. No, it doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed a filofax, it simply means you get to sit on the committee meetings, put forth yours (and others) ideas and opinions, and other general stuff that goes on in committee meetings which I can’t really remember now.

More updates as and when I get told what else to write. If you’re interested, or even just interested in being interested, let John Hewitt know.

Next week we have the FRA relays – we have a Mens and a Mixed team entered, I have no idea what else is going on, but there is sure to be something. As ever, if you aren’t on the report and want to be, let me know what you’ve done… I’m basically going on facebook, strava and rumour mill for my information… (a bit like the BBC).