After a wet summer with less than 50% of average sunshine, Sunday was a brilliant day, blue sky and warm sun. The views were really spectacular and coming back from injury my slow pace gave me lots of time to look around. It was good to see the marshal with his tray of refreshing orange segments on the path again. (Also good to realise that the gorse bush wearing a yellow vest was not really a headless marshal – LW). The course was really dry and lacking in mud – no dirty shoes or legs – and the steep zigzag under the cliff railway was safe for a fast bit of downhill. My 90 mins or so was about 6 mins slower than last year but it felt really good just doing the run as opposed to really racing it. Lesley also enjoyed the run, so much so that she stopped to take several photos of the views much to the probable annoyance of fellow runners, one of whom got revenge by overtaking her on the line.
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Today 28th September saw us at the 10th and final Frank Elford Autumn Trail. Frank will not promote this race again and it will only take place next year if someone else takes up the reins. This is a really popular and well-attended off-roader crossing the Tory Brook four times. I was there to support Lesley and really enjoyed watching everything in the brilliant sunshine. The water crossings are all very close to the start/finish and it is easy to get good viewing points. The final water crossing was a tad deep and uneven causing many tired runners to plummet into the water. Surprisingly even the winner who was some two minutes clear fell in.
Before the start we were introduced to past winners and record holders male and female as they posed for a group photo. I missed seeing Lesley trundle off but saw her at the second water crossing; it looked like there was going to be a refusal but weight of numbers meant there was no turning back and like the proverbial wildebeest there was a mass entry. At the finish Lesley actually produced a bit of a spurt and held off a female challenger (unlike last week).
Lesley's bit: I really enjoyed this race, no stopping for photos today, and used some fellow runners to pace me from 3 to 7 miles. At this point the trail became very stony and downhill and my cautious pace left me behind. It was good seeing Richard supporting in several places. One of the highlights was seeing the runner in front of me with a pair of trainers that were literally falling apart, with the insoles at right angles to his feet! The finish is quite hard as there is a long stretch of field, with the finish in sight but ample opportunities for being overtaken. However thanks to loud shouting I threw myself at the line in best Olympic fashion and beat off the challenge. Richard thinks I did about 75 mins, forgot to stop the watch as usual, but it also took me 30 secs to cross the start line.
Today 28th September saw us at the 10th and final Frank Elford Autumn Trail. Frank will not promote this race again and it will only take place next year if someone else takes up the reins. This is a really popular and well-attended off-roader crossing the Tory Brook four times. I was there to support Lesley and really enjoyed watching everything in the brilliant sunshine. The water crossings are all very close to the start/finish and it is easy to get good viewing points. The final water crossing was a tad deep and uneven causing many tired runners to plummet into the water. Surprisingly even the winner who was some two minutes clear fell in.
Before the start we were introduced to past winners and record holders male and female as they posed for a group photo. I missed seeing Lesley trundle off but saw her at the second water crossing; it looked like there was going to be a refusal but weight of numbers meant there was no turning back and like the proverbial wildebeest there was a mass entry. At the finish Lesley actually produced a bit of a spurt and held off a female challenger (unlike last week).
Lesley's bit: I really enjoyed this race, no stopping for photos today, and used some fellow runners to pace me from 3 to 7 miles. At this point the trail became very stony and downhill and my cautious pace left me behind. It was good seeing Richard supporting in several places. One of the highlights was seeing the runner in front of me with a pair of trainers that were literally falling apart, with the insoles at right angles to his feet! The finish is quite hard as there is a long stretch of field, with the finish in sight but ample opportunities for being overtaken. However thanks to loud shouting I threw myself at the line in best Olympic fashion and beat off the challenge. Richard thinks I did about 75 mins, forgot to stop the watch as usual, but it also took me 30 secs to cross the start line.
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