The Exmoor Seaview presented an ideal opportunity for a weekend away......unfortunately the weather was not so ideal and spending a Saturday evening in Minehead in heavy rain is not an experience I'm keen to repeat any time soon. We did eventually find a pub which served something other than burgers, and then spent the evening trying to avoid eye contact with the hard cases who were drinking there, including one who we were convinced had an electronic tag on his wrist.
We had not booked a campsite but elected instead to drive up onto North Hill and park the van off road. By this time it was getting dark, misty and still, of course, pouring with rain. Due to the large quantity of beer that Martin had managed to consume I was driving so it was lucky that we managed to avoid the potholes and find a reasonable parking spot. It was quite spooky not being in a camp site and we were a bit anxious about being moved on by a National Park ranger, but we spent a peaceful night - apart from the rain and wind and it was worth it in the morning when we opened the van door to a beautiful sunny morning, an uninterrupted view of the sea and no-one in sight for miles around.
We had to be at Race HQ for 9.15 to get the bus across to Countisbury where the race starts. The bus trip up Porlock Hill is always a bit nerve wracking but at least we had a competent bus driver. The runners in the second bus were not so lucky and we were all kept entertained when he got the bus stuck in the car park at Countisbury. Good job Steve Eliott was there to sort him out!!!
We gathered for the obligatory group photo and the pre race speech from organiser Fred Hagan - and then we were off, a charge across the grass jostling for position on the narrow coastal path where running in single file is unavoidable. Martin and I had planned to run together but this first section is definitely a case of every man (or woman) for himself, so it wasn't until we turned inland up the first of many steep hills that we settled into a comfortable pace together. The sun had come out again now and it was beginning to get quite hot - my favourite kind of running weather but Martin (precious little flower) was already beginning to suffer from the heat and began whining quite early on about slowing down a bit now or a lot later. I did my best to ignore him and keep a reasonable pace going......
This is a beautiful section of coast - much more scenic and definitely easier going than the South Devon coast we recently experienced. I was feeling quite strong and enjoying myself, especially when we got to the first checkpoint and the marshall used my favoutire expression "Well done, you're first lady". Not what Martin wanted to hear, he knew there was far less chance of me slowing down if I was in with a chance of winning!
We turned inland to avoid a landslide - the diversion to last year's route added an extra 2 miles to the route and also threw in another very challenging hill. Martin and I ran together until we reached Porlock Weir but at this point I gradually started pulling ahead, despite Martin taking a very cheeky shortcut - and in full view of some other runners! By the time I reached the checkpoint at Bossington I could no longer see him behind me and I knew that I had now reached the toughest part of the course - the long climb up Hurlstone Point where you rise from about 90 feet above sea level to well over 900 feet in the course of a mile. I was very impressed by the two runners in front of me who managed to keep up a conversation almost the whole way. I was far too busy trying to drag some oxygen into my lungs to even think about talking!
Once you finally reach the top you know you have done all the hard work and just have 3 or 4 miles of fairly easy running to get back into Minehead. However, life is never that simple, and having overtaken one of the "talkers" in front of me, I couldn't stay with the other one and therefore had no-one to follow. The route isn't marked - you merely follow the acorns on the coastal path. What no-one told us was that as you approach Minehead you don't follow the coastal path - you keep straight on. I turned to follow a track clearly signposted "coastal path" and it wasn't long before I realised that this definitely wasn't the way I had come last year! I reached Minehead via the harbour - a detour which added some extra distance - but I wasn't the only person by any means to make the same mistake. (Martin did exactly the same thing as did many other runners)
I was tired now and also disappointed that I clearly wasn't going to beat last year's time. The worst part of the run was still ahead of me - along Minehead seafront, trying to dodge holiday makers who kept wandering across in front of me - and having made it safely across the moors and cliff path I managed to fall off the pavement at the only road crossing due to watching the traffic instead of where I was going. It was a relief to turn into the school and as there wasn't a cricket match on this year we got to short cut across the field instead of running all the way round it. I finished in 3.12.52, almost exactly 4 minutes slower than last year, but the GPS revealed that the new route was over 2 miles longer at just under 21 miles.
Martin came in soon after me in 3.22.45, followed by Richard, who was running with a 17lb back pack (ultra training - yes we've managed to convince him of the joys of the ultra event!) and Lesley finished in 4.04, looking as fresh as a daisy........and to think what a short time ago it was that she could regularly be heard saying "I DON'T do running".............
This is the best value race around - the £5 entry fee gets you the bus to the start, a fantastic run, excellent Race HQ, including showers, and last but certainly not least a fantastic spread of free sandwiches, cakes and drinks at the end. And they still make money out of the event for charity!
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8 comments:
Richard said:
Totally agree with Lin about the remarkable value of this event. The thought of the splendid selection of free cakes amongst all the other food is enough to keep any runner going. How Fred Hagan and Minehead manage all this is a mystery. I prefer this event to something like the Grizzly.
Just to be pedantic we ran up Hurlstone Combe not Hurlstone Point and I must admit my pack only weighed 12lbs! Lesley said to me “Ooh that Lin, she’s become so competitive! She even elevated a bog standard ‘water station’ to an official sounding ‘check point’! She must be in permanent Ultra mode. Poor old Martin, he merely did the equivalent of putting a foot over the line on a race track and she tried to have him hung, drawn and quartered for taking a short cut! God knows what would happen if she found our stash of performance-enhancing pills.”
Well done to all at Seaview, we had a great day.
As usual I deny all knowledge of the above etc.
Looking forward to your report on the Haselbury Trail Richard so that I can pick holes in your route description....
And what's all this nonsense about "Poor Martin"? He's a very lucky man, as I keep reminding him!
Weds saw the Westgates on a lovely sunny evening at the Haselbury Trail 10K, another race in the Somerset Series. This is a two-loop race almost entirely off road with one steepish hill up a field. There are many stiles and it is easy to lose a minute in bottlenecks. There was an interesting section along a narrow path through 6ft high sweet corn reminiscent of the recent Yeovil hash. It was good to see Paul Chadwick again- he is my age and we have generally run some close races over the years. In short he went ahead within a mile and put about 10 runners between us. Towards the end I was catching up but he finished strongly about 30 secs and 1 place in front. Dave Carnell did an excellent marshalling job keeping the frisky herd of cows at bay and also found time to become race photographer. Afterwards Lesley and I joined Martin and Lin and Yeovil for an excellent meal at the Manor Arms. Being on strike the next day made the evening all the more enjoyable.
Lesley said:
This was my first time at Haselbury and I was pleased to find it was less hilly than I expected. Was also pleased that it was only the second time I had finished under an hour for an off-road race (not counting Sherborne).
PS. Hello to London runner if you are reading this, (see you at the water station).
Poor Lin was a bit tired at Haselbury and had to resort to slamming the top bar of the stile in my face at the top of the last hill in a vain attempt to keep ahead of me. Unfortunately, another runner took the brunt of it, and I finished at least a second ahead of her, despite what the official results say. So only 14 minutes 59 seconds behind her now in races over the past three months.
It was really nice to go to the pub afterwards - for a meal and some chat, not just for the couple of pints of Yellowhammer. We rather surprised the bar staff there, because they know us well, it having been our local for a couple of years, and every other time we ordered halves so as to sample as many as possible of the brews on offer. But it is not good to be too predictable, so I'll stop now.
Poor Lin says that if Martin hadn't fallen so far behind coming up the last hill at Haselbury he would have held the bar open on the stile for me like a gentleman.
The only reason he caught me up was because I had to stop and administer sympathy and apologies to the runner who I accidentally clonked on the head with said bar. Well how long did he expect me to stand there holding it open for him?
It should read "Richard said" on the Haselbury review. My bit was just the bit at the end, so don't with-hold any abuse on my account.
I got side tracked into abusing Martin and forgot my threat to criticise Richard's race report.
a) the race has been binned from the Somerset Series.
b) the sweetcorn definitely wasn't 6 feet high, I could see over the top of it
c)fancy not being able to beat Paul Chadwick!!!
Have to agree that the pub was excellent though..........
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