Sorry Phil, Eric has beaten you to it!! Here is his excellent race report. Well done for another great Maiden Newton Running Club team effort...........Martin & I will save details of the Kamikaze adventure until you have all recovered from your exertions....................
Race Report
Parrett Trail Relay 2007 (<--- Click for results)
Leg 2 – Bridgwater Docks to Burrow Mump
7.9 Miles
Leg Start 10.00am
Tales From The Back Of The Grid
With a little help from Jimi Hendrix…
Well, Dan & I actually had four races today: our own respective legs plus the car journey to the start line of each our legs! We got to Bridgewater Docks with 5 minutes to spare – enough time for me to register and inadvertently insult Jackie!! (Oops!)
After having three Weetabix for breakfast and a can of Redbull in the car on the way I went to the start line feeling good. As I followed the small crowd to the start line I surveyed the runners looking for any old dodderers that I could potentially finish in front of. Sadly, the old dodderers that I did see were lithe and fit looking. Bummer! So feeling resigned to the prospect of being the “Tail-end Charlie” we set off.
Now, as I don’t use a watch or fancy GPS device that is so common amongst the running fraternity, I tend to time my races with my iPod! Today I raced with the esteemed company of Jimi Hendrix and this is how it went:
1. Foxy Lady 3.19
Started off at a sensible pace, ducking under bridges along the canal and quickly found a comfortable rhythm. It was a little misty, quite warm and humid with very little breeze. There were a few runners behind me so I was feeling good.
2. Purple Haze 2.57
I felt a pain in my chest and quickly realised that it was one of the safety pins! My left knee beginning to throb a little. (All those beers and weight-gain due to a running drought over the summer clouds my thoughts!) A purple haze began to brew in my head but as my pace settled down and I took in more oxygen I began to see again. I was still ahead of some runners and feeling good.
3. Wild Thing (Live) 3.31
Things went wild for the first time! Instead of going under one of the canal bridges, I went over the top, crossed the road and ended up on the wrong side of the canal! One runner followed me, so after establishing that neither of us had reckied the route, we doubled back and found the concealed path under the bridge. I am now the tail-end Charlie, so new target is to keep runner ahead in sight at all times-even though she knows as much as I do about the route!!! I’ll pay for that later on!
4. You Got Me Floating 2.47
Wish I was floating but sadly my bladder is beginning to shout at me – the RedBull coming into diuretic effect!
Wait Until Tomorrow 3.01
This is where I passed under the motorway. The two runners in front of me had organised their spouses to meet them there for a drinks break. The Yeovil runner is cunning and her partner runs beside her while she drinks, the other runner (who followed me into the wrong turn earlier) stops for refreshment – yippee!!! The race is back on! I could win this now! So I up my pace a little and feel a bounce in my step and my knee has stopped throbbing, although my bladder really starts to yell at me. Sadly before the song is over I am overtaken again!
Fire 3.43
But alas, all is not lost! I pull over to call time on my burning bladder and continue and try to narrow the huge gap that has been created
Little Wing 2.27
May This Be Love 3.11
Red House (Live) 11.07
Purple Haze (Live) 6.56
By the end of this selection of songs I have reduced the gap to the runner in front down to about 20 yards. Its still misty and there is no breeze at all. My legs feel good and the terrain here by the canal is fairly flat and dry. It is about halfway and I now try to navigate the road section knowing that the runner ahead hasn’t a clue. The Yeovil runner in front of her has disappeared completely from view – my heart sinks, all is not quite right!
Castles Made of Sand 2.47
All gong well I think – even if the Yeovil runner – my only navigational hope – has vanished. She couldn’t have picked up the pace that much? Could she? Anyway, I kept on going regardless trying to work out where I was on the map.
Hey Joe (Live) 4.49
I get carried away with this song as Jimi is so obviously bored of playing this hit that he decides to guitar acrobatics and treat the listener to lots of wailing feedback. Then I am jolted out of my skin by the rather loud horn of car wanting to pass me on this single track road. God knows how long they were behind me! There was a bit of a queue behind them though!!! So after being hassled by this motorist, I use the 30 or so seconds at standstill to check out the map. It’s not looking good.
Love Or Confusion 3.13
No, it was definitely confusion! Up ahead there is a woman on a bike checking out her own map. She beckons me over to tell me that I should have crossed a field back at the last left turn! But she points me right and seems to think that the distance is the same either way. It turns out in retrospect that the Yeovil runner had shouted to me when she noticed I had gone wrong but due to Hendrix blasting through my head it was in vain! By the end of this song I had rejoined the official route and could now understand the map!
Red House 3.44
I still had the runner in front pegged to about 15 yards and was weighing up how much I could push harder now or push when we got to the dreaded Mump – which according to the terrain printout given to me By Phil, looked like Everest! (I’m sure Richard & Lesley will put me right about this assumption!!!)
Red House had a good beat and I was able to pick up my pace a little and close the gap even more on the runner in front.
EXP 1.55
Foxy Lady (Live) 5.19
Back on the canal path and scanning the horizon for the Mump. Dan had said that Leg 2 is good, you just locate the Mump on the horizon and head straight for it. (???!!!!) You can’t see the Mump from Bridgwater Docks!!! However, my spirits were high, pace was good, I hadn’t stopped for a rest yet and had no intention of doing so – which surprised me as my last 2 runs had been lousy! There was a tractor mowing the canal bank and the grass was quite slippery under foot. Still no breeze and the mist was beginning to lift a little.
Hey Joe 3.30
Starting to get bored of the canal now, it seems to go on for ages!
51st Anniversary 3.16
This is a song about marriage. Marriage is beginning to seem a lot easier to deal with than running at this point! I began to build up a lot of body heat and there was no breeze at all to cool me down. The mist was quite oppressive with the warm ambient air temperature. Still looking/hoping for the Mump – no sign yet!
Remember 2.48
I see the Mump, I see the Mump! It’s bloody tiny!! And I had been expecting something like Glastonbury Tor combined with St Katherine’s Chapel in Abbotsbury!!! Instead it was this small mound – I can’t even remember what was on the top of it save for a group of people.
Tax Free 9.24
Back onto the road, there are traffic lights ahead, a horse and rider on my right and need to cross the road. If I time it right I can get ahead of the horse and across before the oncoming traffic – bingo!!! The horse felt a little too close though! Now where the hell do I go now?! The runner ahead has vanished!! Oh no!! No, wait, what’s this gate? A signpost for the Mump took me up some steps – there’s the runner – come on tail-end Charlie we can do it. At this point I thought of Richard and his Fell Running on the Isle of Wight – now the Himalayas – as I began my ascent. The runner ahead was walking – a gift, come on. It was no good, I had to walk too. “Come on Maiden Newton Runners!!” I heard someone shout, “Christ!” I thought, I had better start running. I got to the top, saw Di, I said something to her and her to me but what it was I’ve no idea! I over take the runner at the top and start the descent – it’s slippery, steep and full of potential embarrassment should I tumble. The runner overtakes me again and I have start bounding to avoid falling over near the bottom but it isn’t enough, I’m just pipped to the post and all is over! How nice it was to see Di, Phil, Jackie and Dan at the finish!! Thanks guys!
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