Monday, September 24, 2007
Event Report; The Crossdale 10k
Yesterday was the Crossdale 10k, at Keyworth, which is a small village in Nottinghamshire, fairly near to where I work, so didn't take that long to get to.
I knew the route went across fields and along tracks, but should have known what to expect when I passed signs for the Crossdale 'Trail Run' as I neared Keyworth. The even started and finished at Crossdale Primary School; in fact, the proceeds from the event went towards the school.
There were quite a few people there; I passed the t-shirt stall; there was a free t-shirt for completing the run, and they looked quite smart, black and white. I noticed that there was a huge pile of medium and large, but only a tiny pile of small ones, which was a bummer as I figured that by the time I got back, they'd be all gone and I'd be left with one I could only feasibly wear as a night shirt. I hung around the stall for a while until another runner came up and asked the women behind the stall if she could collect her t-shirt now. They gave her one and marked her race number, so I followed her example and secured a Small. (That gave me a bit of a boost actually as 3 years ago I would have been wondering whether a large would have hidden by body- that is, if I'd managed to run 6 miles at all!)
I was quite early so had a mooch around, passing several runners stretching, including one bizarrely doing a kind of yoga 'downwards facing dog' style. I noticed that the teachers had obviously got the kids involved in making a kind of Tibetan style wishing tree- whereby a ribbon is tied to a tree branch and a wish made. The kids had written their 'wishes', laminated them and hung them on, so I took the time to read a few. Among more predictable ones like 'I wish thatpeople didn't fight each other' and 'I wish that somebody could help all the people who are poor', one little lad had written 'I hope that my rat will be alright and that my Grandad will be alright'. Talk about getting his priorities right!
The start of the race was partway down a field, and was quite a steep downhill. Judging by the comments, it was suddenly dawning on folks that we would have to run back up it at the finish. I stayed near the back, just ahead of the fun runners massing for their start 10 minutes later.
At 10am we were off down the field; I realised I was at the back, but overtook a few folks. We passed under a railway bridge and through more fields, which were rather rutted so required more care. We turned off the field and onto an undulating track, passing under the railway again, before picking up a bridleway running along the field edge; I had to watch where I was putting my feet. The water point came at about 4k, but I only managed 3 gulps on the run. We turned down a tarmac track as part of a loop, and just before halfway the route turned back on itself before heading back round to the water point. My legs were starting to feel quite tired and my stomach was churning a bit; I actually felt a little queasy which worried me. The returning runners were passing us, and I turned at the turning point into the full force of the wind.
Another stretch of tarmac after a farm brought us to the road; we were directed along the grass verge back to the water point where I caught up with a lady and slowed to allow myself a few gulps. I must say, there were lots of marshalls and they were all very encouraging.
We were back on the same route we took out; I overtook the lady and headed down the bridleway. We were now going slightly downhill and I realised I felt much better. My legs were still rather tired but the queasiness had gone. I hit the track and immediately faced a climb. There were runners in front of me, but I couldn't catch them. Just after the 8k marker it was time to turn back through the rutted fields. A couple of blokes hared past, obviously putting a last minute spurt on, but I didn't feel capable of doing the same! All thoughts of a PB went out of the window as it was the toughest 10k I'd done.
Just after the 9k marker we passed under the bridge, and soon after were faced with the climb up to the finish. What a climb, I swear it's the toughest I've yet experienced on a run! It was horribly steep; I tried to keep a running motion, but probably wasn't moving faster than a walk. I was convinced I was going to throw up, and just hoped I could hold onto breakfast long enough to get me past the crowds of cheering kids.
It did actually taper off at the finish, and as I turned towards the line I realised with a shock that the clock was counting 58 minutes- no, that couldn't be right, my PB was 59 minutes something! I actually crossed the line in 58 minutes and 56 seconds- I PB'd over that course which was amazing. I must be getting a bit faster- maybe the treadmill strategy is paying off!
The other thing I was pleased about was the complete lack of Achilles trouble! In fact I came home and put in 50 minutes on my cross trainer! Looking at the results, I came 161st out of a field of 193, not too bad for me!
I have made a decision to enter the Turkey Trot rather than the 50 mile Round Rotherham. I think that it may be a mistake to up the distances to 50 miles this soon, especially when I am still building up the length of my runs after my Achilles problems. I think that what I will do, it to concentrate on maintaining the 26 mile in a day or so challenge walks and build up the running to half marathon.
Then next year I will up the mileage and get in some 50 mile events and hopefully be able to run/ walk them. This is my reasoning anyway... I'm not copping out!!
I knew the route went across fields and along tracks, but should have known what to expect when I passed signs for the Crossdale 'Trail Run' as I neared Keyworth. The even started and finished at Crossdale Primary School; in fact, the proceeds from the event went towards the school.
There were quite a few people there; I passed the t-shirt stall; there was a free t-shirt for completing the run, and they looked quite smart, black and white. I noticed that there was a huge pile of medium and large, but only a tiny pile of small ones, which was a bummer as I figured that by the time I got back, they'd be all gone and I'd be left with one I could only feasibly wear as a night shirt. I hung around the stall for a while until another runner came up and asked the women behind the stall if she could collect her t-shirt now. They gave her one and marked her race number, so I followed her example and secured a Small. (That gave me a bit of a boost actually as 3 years ago I would have been wondering whether a large would have hidden by body- that is, if I'd managed to run 6 miles at all!)
I was quite early so had a mooch around, passing several runners stretching, including one bizarrely doing a kind of yoga 'downwards facing dog' style. I noticed that the teachers had obviously got the kids involved in making a kind of Tibetan style wishing tree- whereby a ribbon is tied to a tree branch and a wish made. The kids had written their 'wishes', laminated them and hung them on, so I took the time to read a few. Among more predictable ones like 'I wish thatpeople didn't fight each other' and 'I wish that somebody could help all the people who are poor', one little lad had written 'I hope that my rat will be alright and that my Grandad will be alright'. Talk about getting his priorities right!
The start of the race was partway down a field, and was quite a steep downhill. Judging by the comments, it was suddenly dawning on folks that we would have to run back up it at the finish. I stayed near the back, just ahead of the fun runners massing for their start 10 minutes later.
At 10am we were off down the field; I realised I was at the back, but overtook a few folks. We passed under a railway bridge and through more fields, which were rather rutted so required more care. We turned off the field and onto an undulating track, passing under the railway again, before picking up a bridleway running along the field edge; I had to watch where I was putting my feet. The water point came at about 4k, but I only managed 3 gulps on the run. We turned down a tarmac track as part of a loop, and just before halfway the route turned back on itself before heading back round to the water point. My legs were starting to feel quite tired and my stomach was churning a bit; I actually felt a little queasy which worried me. The returning runners were passing us, and I turned at the turning point into the full force of the wind.
Another stretch of tarmac after a farm brought us to the road; we were directed along the grass verge back to the water point where I caught up with a lady and slowed to allow myself a few gulps. I must say, there were lots of marshalls and they were all very encouraging.
We were back on the same route we took out; I overtook the lady and headed down the bridleway. We were now going slightly downhill and I realised I felt much better. My legs were still rather tired but the queasiness had gone. I hit the track and immediately faced a climb. There were runners in front of me, but I couldn't catch them. Just after the 8k marker it was time to turn back through the rutted fields. A couple of blokes hared past, obviously putting a last minute spurt on, but I didn't feel capable of doing the same! All thoughts of a PB went out of the window as it was the toughest 10k I'd done.
Just after the 9k marker we passed under the bridge, and soon after were faced with the climb up to the finish. What a climb, I swear it's the toughest I've yet experienced on a run! It was horribly steep; I tried to keep a running motion, but probably wasn't moving faster than a walk. I was convinced I was going to throw up, and just hoped I could hold onto breakfast long enough to get me past the crowds of cheering kids.
It did actually taper off at the finish, and as I turned towards the line I realised with a shock that the clock was counting 58 minutes- no, that couldn't be right, my PB was 59 minutes something! I actually crossed the line in 58 minutes and 56 seconds- I PB'd over that course which was amazing. I must be getting a bit faster- maybe the treadmill strategy is paying off!
The other thing I was pleased about was the complete lack of Achilles trouble! In fact I came home and put in 50 minutes on my cross trainer! Looking at the results, I came 161st out of a field of 193, not too bad for me!
I have made a decision to enter the Turkey Trot rather than the 50 mile Round Rotherham. I think that it may be a mistake to up the distances to 50 miles this soon, especially when I am still building up the length of my runs after my Achilles problems. I think that what I will do, it to concentrate on maintaining the 26 mile in a day or so challenge walks and build up the running to half marathon.
Then next year I will up the mileage and get in some 50 mile events and hopefully be able to run/ walk them. This is my reasoning anyway... I'm not copping out!!
Labels: 10k, Crossdale 10k, Turkey Trot
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Cheers Lloyd, it's quite good when that happens isn't it! Your mileage is very impressive, puts me to shame!
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