Up Hill Down Dale - Llandegla Trail 10k/Half Marathon/CanyX.
So, I start this blog entry with an immense feeling of sadness. My Mum sadly passed away on Friday 2nd June and while we await the funeral on Tuesday the 13th June I have taken time off work to deal with it all and to reflect on the good times we had.
Due to being off work I was able to return to a trail event at Llandegla Forest and the One Planet Adventure centre on Sunday the 11th June. The event was put on by Up Hill Down Dale events, a cracking new events company who started up last year.
I ran the 24K event last year, but this year chose the 10k due to lack of training and the fact that I wanted this to be a no pressure run and more about being out in the glorious surroundings of Gods country in and around Wales a place my Mum truly loved, as do I.
The morning itself...
Today was an afternoon start so no early get up required, so I got up at 8.30am and had a small breakfast of peanut butter on toast and a black coffee, which has pretty much become my staple diet especially for runs.
Pick up at 9.30am was by a friendly fellow runner from my Run or Cake charity running group Cathy. We would be picking up another fellow caker Pat along the way in Crosby.
We had a few sets of directions between us and they all tallied so getting there was easy enough, and having been there before it was even easier.
 |
| Rita, myself and Cathy. |
We arrived fairly sharpish at around 11pm or so I would say, and it was fairly busy still with mountain bikers as it is a mountain biking haven. Luckily we got a car parking spot where a biker had recently left, so we where close to the One Planet Adventure centre which houses a good sized cafe with toilets and shop as well, and a good sized indoor and outdoor seating area.
The plan was we would get a bite to eat here after registering for the race to confirm we were there and to pick up our race number and race t-shirt. all done within minutes as there was no queues as is the benefit of arriving with plenty of time, which organized runners do.
On the way in we spotted fellow madhead Run or Cake member Derek aka Degsy, so we had a brief chat with him before going to get our refreshments and then sitting out with him again.
 |
| Derek, Pat and Cathy. |
I decided as it was early that I could test the 'Powered by cake' theory as my running group are all about running and eating cake or eating cake and running, as long as we earned it and are fundraising along the way.
I went for chocolate cake and a large cappuccino which was fab.....
Time passed and after a few toilet visits and plenty of chatting the race brief from the race director came around, so once we were all clued up it was time to get ready.
Race starts...
First off was the half marathon starters, and Degsy was one of them so we waved him off as they started 30 minutes before us.We quickly put our extra layers back in the car and got ready on the start line with the other 10k starters.
Off we went.... We started off down a trail behind the One Planet Centre and off to the forest etc..It was a bit narrow to start but it wasn't a big field so a bit of calm was required to wait for a spot to pass slower starters.
The first part was the same as the route last year so I was familiar with it and after passing a few people we hit the fire road and a good climb up a steep bit. It was a good spot to pass others as it was wide, but it was steep so the risk was puffing yourself out by going faster up the slope.
We got to the top of the top but to my amazement and horror we didn't take a right turn down the hill like last year, we instead veered left up another slope and climb. I was well and truly puffed out now as I wasn't expecting 2 back to back climbs and a few people were already walking up it.
Next was along a lake and past the race photographer After that we were on a part of the course we ran last year but it was at a later stage. We went again of in another direction and I was now in no doubt that being familiar with last years course was going to be of no benefit to me.
It was a great course and the changes made this a tough 10k, it had loads of climbs and we were all visibly huffing and puffing and in many cases slowing. I was fairly on my limit at the pace I was at for the earlier stages as I won't push too hard early on but I will push. I was slowly catching those in front that had steadily ran infront of me and I was happy with my progress as no one was passing me, yet I was gaining places which is always a bonus if you can hold on.
After a couple of miles in and on a continuous climb to what would be our highest point I started to get the onset of a stitch which I put down to my poor choice of pre run nutrition aka cappuccino and cake, followed by a black coffee an hour pre race. To be fair it will be the milk that was the problem, not so much the cake....well that's what I'm sticking with anyway :)
I tried all the usual breathing tricks to try and shake the stitch, I could hear people breathing down my neck but I wasn't prepared to slow so pushed on and tried to bear the pain. I won't lie, I asked God for help as I often do when the wheels start to fall off. If the stitch had got worse it would of meant a 5 minute stop to clear it. It thankfully slowly eased as I continued the long climb which was now hitting those in and around me.
I managed to gain a few more places on that climb and when we got to the water station at the top I could sail through it as I had my own drink with me, although I dare not drink it as it could restart my stitch if I drank too much, so I held off unless I really needed it later.
We ran off down through some cracking forest area's after that and then short sections of fire road, and then more decents down through forests. When I say through forests I'm not talking paths, I'm talking straight down through all the soft muddy, pine covered, root lined, hole laden forest floor. It was a serious challenge and necessitated a constant zig zagging run route to safely negotiate your way down safely.
The guy in front of me lost his shoe in the mud in front of me and had to turn round and go back for it, which was to my benefit to be honest, we both had a mutual laugh as we passed each other.
Onward we went and to be honest most of it was a blur after that, it was in forest, out off forest, on a fire rd, off a fire road, down a trail, up a trail..etc..etc..
I will tell you this though, they saved a shed load of nasty surprises for the closing stages as you turned corners a saw another steep section of trail to run up and then down abit and around a corner and then up again.
After a while I finally caught sight of another runner a 100 yards or so in front of me and I wasn't really gaining on him. When he ran a hill I had to run a hill or I would lose him altogether so it was a hard push.
I had no idea of distance at this point as my GPS hadn't tracked it and I had my watch on the wrong setting as well so I only had time I had run so far and elevation.
In the later stages we hit lots of scenic woodland and within it was the photographer again and a second photo opportunity. The first one he took here I was concentrating on not falling over the tree roots so looking down, I used that picture at the beginning of this blog as it showed also the soulful contemplation I felt a lot during the run as I thought about my Mum. Interspersed with that was the smiles when a camera appeared or a friendly face, as seen in the following picture...
In the final 2 miles I managed to slowly catch the guy in front on the climbs and another 3 guys at least where right behind me. We bunched up a bit in the final mile on a narrow section and the guy infront was now 2 guys as one had passed me I think and he was making a break for it so we followed. I passed the guy in front on the next climb and subsequently passed the next guy who had passed us. I now had 5 people at least right behind me on the final climb.
Thankfully I think they had knackered themselves out on the last couple of climbs and I pretty much knew the last little bit of the route so knew there was no big flat stretches so with twists and turns and a bit of a push I could stay ahead if I was lucky.
I managed to hold on to 33rd place out of 132 runners with a time of 59 minutes and 36 seconds.
After the finish...
I received a nice little medal at the finish line for finishing and said a few well done's to the guys that came in just behind me and I got myself a free banana and started on my drink I had been carrying but hadn't drank. Next was to go stand in the shade for 5 minutes as I was burning up heat wise.
Next was waiting for fellow caker friends to finish and to clap people in. There were a lot on runners with dogs as well coming in as well. They had started 15 minutes after us on their own cannicross event, but one had passed me on my final climb so I don't know if they had run really fast, or had a shorter course.
Cathy soon came in after a little wait, and then Rita. Derek was doing the half so would be a lot longer as he was running with another lady as well and helping her round.
We had another drinks break in the cafe area which was 2 big hot chocolates for the ladies and a large cappuccino for me and then we sat by the finish area again to watch people come in one by one.
Eventually we had to give up on Derek as we had to set off home to be back for teatime so we returned to the car. In typical Sods Law as we drove off we actually saw Derek at the finish area.
As we drove home through the lovely Welsh countryside with stunning views before us I remembered the many car journeys with my Mum and Dad and Brother as we travelled in and out of Wales for our family holidays and weekends away. My greatest memories of my Mum and the happiest ones are of our family holidays in Wales and the walks I used to take with my Mum every chance I could get, as my Mum loved nature and the countryside, and loved to walk among it. I always followed her on her walks as I loved the same things, and I still do. That is why I love trail running so much, and any chance to get to Wales to remember happy times is gratefully accepted.
I will be honest I hit a point on the course where I had yet another steep climb ahead and I wanted to quit and walk up it. I had to tell myself that my Mum would be watching me and wishing me on and I told myself that this was for Mum and I'm not walking and that I should push on to make her proud.
I know for a fact that in my remaining runs this year at events which are tough ones, that I will be calling on her for support as I am doing the 52 mile 6 day Tour of Merseyside in July and the Snowdonia Marathon in October in her name and in her memory, and after that I will more than likely be hanging up my tougher event shoes and just doing small runs for fun with friends.
I am however doing a year long cycling/running challenge of 2617 miles within a year from the 2nd June 2017- 2nd June 2108 as my overall fundraiser in memory of my Mum. I have set up a ongoing charity fundraising legacy in her honour called 'WWMD - What would Mum do?' The WWMD element is based on the well know WWJD What would Jesus do? and the lilac fish symbol is a combination of the Christian symbol for The Saviour and one of my Mums favourite colours Lilac.
This fundraising group mainly through myself will fundraise through various ongoing events and challenges and my intention is to get a few other people on board who want to do something in memory of passed Mum's or in honour of living Mums.
The group will also be a help focused group to help others because 'That is what Mum would do'. My Mum was a loving caring person who served the Lord faithfully through the majority of her life and looked after his flock wherever and whenever she could. I intend to carry this on to honour her and to continue to make her happy and proud. Myself being a believer was the one thing that made her the most proud and happy.
I am also using the What would Mum do? mantra as a way of thinking carefully about my situation in difficult times or even times of anger and aggression which can happen a lot, especially on social media etc. Thinking what would Mum do in this situation should remind me and others that our Mums are usually the caring loving calm ones who were not quick to speak out in anger like we often do.
Please follow my new fundraising group if you can on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/231508044007932/
Or donate to or follow our actual team/group fundraisng page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/teams/WWMD
Donations to my challenges can be made here:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/WWMD-LupusUK
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/WWMD-AnxietyUK
We are currently fundraising for Lupus UK and Anxiety UK, both conditions my Mum suffered from. I myself also suffer from Anxiety and my running and now cycling has helped me no end to try and deal with the condition. Please continue to follow my blogs as my adventures continue on through 2017 and beyond....
