Mad Bull Events - Yarrow Park Bluebell Trail 10k - 1st May 2016.
The ideal and then the honest event description...
Well I was looking forward to my visit to Yarrow Park near Chorley and it's tranquil bluebell woods. A picturesque country park set alongside the lovely looking Yarrow River...
Sounds lovely doesn't it? Well it is on a sunny Bank Holiday weekend in May, but sadly this is the UK and we don't do all the above, not at the same time anyway.
What I did get was rain all morning, cold temperatures and woodland paths that resembled something from a farmers well used cow field but without the smell of ****.
But that was what this event is all about, it's known to be tough, wet, muddy, slippy, fast, slow and extra wet when you visit the Yarrow River twice up close and personal.
Pre race.....
For me it was a 7am wake up call after only going to bed at 2am, as I work late shifts and didn't get home til near on midnight after a hard Bank Holiday Saturday night shift in a busy hotel.
I'm used to not sleeping much the night before a run event though so just some sleep was a bonus. I managed to awake feeling fairly refreshed and my legs felt OK which was the important bit as I'd only ran a 20 miler through the Sefton Dunes range 3 days before.
A got a lift of the ever friendly and helpful fellow 'caker' Catherine, who offered me a lift there and back, and today we were accompanied by Sophia.
Arrival was prompt and a parking space was found, and we were off to the registration/collection point in the 'Flaming Grill Pub'.
Number collection was quick as we were nice and early, so early the pub was barely open and the toilets weren't open at all. Much to the disgust of what was going to be hordes of runners who as per common sense and training teaches you had 'hydrated adequately'.
I took a seat inside to stay warm before the run, and Catherine and Sophia went in hunt of toilets and then back to the car.
I managed to catch a lot of fellow 'cakers' as they one by one filed in to collect their numbers. I managed to spot Sal & Darren, Derek, Cathy, Emma, Rita, Anne, Jane, Nicola, Mandy, Ian, Keith and a few other non cakers Mandy B, Stu H and it was good to see fellow Thunder Runner Paul G.
The race...
After a brief 5 min walk down the road from the pub and into the Yarrow Park itself we were almost at the race start. Well we would of been if it hadn't moved what seemed like half a mile further away than last year. We could see the finish line tents for drinks and t-shirts etc in pretty much the same area, but no start line. Eventually we were there and good to go, but the race had to be delayed as allegedly several women were still/had been waiting for the loo's and were delayed so we had a 10 minute delay.
So at 10.10am we were off and down the narrow at parts very muddy woodland path, it was actually a mudfest at points but I was expecting this after last year so had my shoes well and truly tightly laced up, as I didn't want to lose one in 6 inch mud!
It was now a game of start/stop, run/slip etc etc as you tried to get around runners whenever you could, but whilst trying to be very careful where you placed your feet and exactly what route you took from A to B which was often just 10 feet at a time as the conditions constantly changed, as did the terrain.
At times the route was alongside the river and often the best bit of the path to run on was right at the tip of the embankment for the same said river. This meant a dance with danger as you tried the less trodden but very slippy bits to gain speed and places, but also risked slipping straight down the embankment and into the river if you took one bad step, which in mud is pretty much going to happen.
Thankfully I stayed upright and as me and Paul G played cat and mouse we slowly passed fellow cakers who were nearer the start when the race started so were ahead of us for a fair while. It was a brief hello as I passed Catherine and Sophia, and I tried to sneak past the others unnoticed which I think I managed as I couldn't attempt to try and concentrate on chatting and running when the terrain was so muddy.
I was amazed at how slow the first mile passed, as Paul mentioned after loads of difficult bits and we were starting to puff a bit he said "It's not even a mile yet!" I hadn't even thought about it until he said it.
The run progressed and the runners spread out a little more as we went on, apart from when we came across stiles and bridges etc. This slowed everyone down as you could have a dozen people slowly progressing through the gate or over a stile or bridge.
This could be annoying if you are running for a time, but experience tells you to use it as a chance for a breather and a little recovery, you can take full advantage after the breather and sprint off a little to take some places back and a little time. This was especially helpful on hilly bits when a lot of people would walk up to recover, whereas I will run up if it's not too far and take a dozen places. This only really works if you know you are going to get a flat or downhill after so you can still maintain your pace even though you are now puffed from running up the bit of hill.
After about 3 miles or so I finally caught sight of a fellow caker Darren who again the same as last year was running well at this point as I had only just got him in sight, and I'd been pushing the pace a fair bit so far, so he had clearly run well.
I finally passed him with a friendly 'Hello' and he mentioned that Ian was only just ahead, this was interesting as Ian is a faster runner than me and a good adversary/nemesis at some events as I can try and catch him up as a target to keep my pace up and push.
I couldn't see him for the next mile at least and I doubted I ever would, just at that point I finally saw him and noticed he wasn't wearing the luminous yellow top I thought he was wearing. This may of been why I hadn't spotted him. We were now on another difficult stretch of the course as it was narrow, muddy, congested at times and had multiple narrow bridges and stiles, all of which I knew would slow him down and give me chance to catch up.
I finally caught up somewhere between mile 4-5 and then had the same problem that he had as in every bridge or stile I had to slow and hence he would catch up again. This meant at ever flattish section I really had to push the pace to try and get away a little.
I never looked back as I knew seeing him right behind me would be a bad idea and I'd probably slip on my **** as I looked back.
I was now concentrating on a sparse field of runners in front of me who were running pretty much my speed so it was hard to gain on them. The Yarrow River crossing was rapidly approaching and I knew that could create a back log/queue of runners so decided not to push on until at least the other side of the river.
As per usual the official photographer Mark Lysycia Photography was there ready to catch our distressed and contorted faces as we entered the River to get to the other side. It was up to my knees and I'm 6ft 3 so I'd hate to think what it was like for shorter people who were clearly going to be coming out the other side with 'wet pants!'.
Into the final mile now and my feet now had the wet wellies feeling as my shoes had filled with water and I was running in very soggy cold socks, not a nice feeling. After a couple of hundred yards or so the feeling goes as the water disperses out of your shoes if you are lucky.
Just when you think your shoes have lost the water you were carrying you come across Yarrow River crossing No.2! This one caught me out last year as I only thought there was one crossing, but thankfully this one was shin deep and runnable of sorts.
Now it was hang on time as you try and hold off those behind you, and try and take over those in front. I just about managed to get past a few more and was looking at my Garmin thinking I've got half a mile left so can push the pace a little and get past some more, but the finish practically came out of nowhere as it was actually at the 5.8 mile point and not 6.2 miles! slightly annoying, but I guess at least it was over sooner.
Finished...time to wait for friends.
Finish line crossed and onto the finishing tents to collect your medal and then t-shirt and a refreshing drink. My finishing time on my Garmin was 55min 35secs which was pretty much the same time as last year, and I'm glad to say Ian didn't overtake me again near the end, as I was expecting it.
Fellow caker Keith had finished way before me and the rest were behind me so I stayed on at the finish to say hello again to as many as I could. Ian was right behind me at the finish, and shortly after was Paul G and Darren. We had a good chat while we waited for others.
Derek was there soon after, and shortly after the ladies came in one by one or two by two at least, as the ladies do like to stick together on these runs, and talk of course, whilst most of us blokes get a tad competitive and chase our adversaries and nemesis's .
It was evident by now that it was cold, because as soon we stopped running we were getting cold quick and the rain had also decided to make a comeback. People were now making there way back to the pub to get changed and into a warmer environment i.e. the bar.
Once Catherine and Sal finished we set off back to the car to get changed as by now I was pretty cold and had realised I couldn't of gone back to pub after I finished to wait for the others as planned because my clean shoes were in the boot of the car and I wasn't going in the pub with muddy shoes. It was good to hang around though and see the others finish, but roll on Summer please so I can get a tan while I'm doing it.
Cakers reunited....
It was finally pub time after a quick change, but sadly not a very warm welcome from the pub who were doing their best not to be accommodating to the runners, who by now were already peed of with the poor welcome at registration because allegedly last year people in the pub had complained about all of us runners being around them while they were enjoying their 'quiet' breakfasts!
Needless to say most runners went home not willing to spend money over the bar, as we are the same as everyone else and 'talk with our feet' when we don't like poor service or even worse in some cases poor race provision. Not in this case though as Mad Bull Events do good events and they are not to blame for the pubs actions.
But the pub was officially a cakers meet up after this event and a chance to catch up on what every one is doing next run wise or what they are considering, or indeed talking about recent race experiences like London marathon etc..etc..
The main point of the meet ups is to welcome new members we haven't actually met before and to introduce ourselves casually whilst we have well earned drinks or food. It was good to finally meet new and newish members Anne, Cathy and Emma again who had been to the last do but at the time was new to the group so didn't really know everyone.
Final thoughts and thanks...
Well it was a great run, I thoroughly enjoyed it as expected, I felt great and injury free and felt like I could of gone around for another lap. It was good to catch up with lots of the cakers again as always. I am immensely proud of our group and all they have achieved fundraising wise , and indeed proud of their running efforts in general as the purpose of the group was to benefit them as well as the charities we run and raise money for.
Big thanks to Catherine for the lift there and back, helpful as always. Big thanks to those that ran and supported each other as fellow cakers, as they say 'no man left behind' and women as well obviously.
Big thanks to all the volunteer marshals as well for coming out in bad weather for several hours getting cold and wet.
Weirdest moment of the day? Getting in the shower when I got home to warm up and practically taking my muddy running shoes in with me so I could wash them at the same time!!
Next event..
My next event is the Claire House Excalibur marathon on the 21st May at Moel Famau in North Wales. A tough event with 5500ft of climb! I will be running it for the PSPA charity who are raising awareness of PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and helping fund important research into a currently incurable condition.
Please donate and support if you can, and please share my fundraising link to family and friends, at least to raise awareness.
The next cakers meet up is at the Crazy Cow 10k near Preston on the 22nd May. I will be supporting on this one as I can't possibly run after the Excalibur the day before, so I'll be taking pics if I can.
Thank you everyone and thank you for all your support. Please continue to read and share my blogs, I don't usually write blogs for 10k's and certainly not ones I've just done for fun, but this was a first as I had time after the run.
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Garmin route: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1149343543
Charity details: http://www.pspassociation.org.uk/
My fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/3ForPSP
Crazy Cow 10k entry: http://www.crazycow10k.co.uk/
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