Elan Valley 10 mile race

by Lesley

Last weekend found the Westgates back in Wales. We stayed in the same excellent B&B and were made most welcome after my glowing review on tripadvisor. But first we had to get there which we did via a day in Gloucester. Unfortunately my road map was 15 years old and the roads seemed to have changed considerably since then. But we still found the cheapest car park in town where Richard tried to nobble me by shutting the car boot lid on my head. In spite of being somewhat dazed we still spent the day looking at the sights including the waterways museum in which I was particularly impressed with the narrowboat/barge where the living accommodation was smaller than a camper van and whole families used to live on board. So we were quite late arriving, having eaten along the way.

Saturday was dry and mild, perfect for running, and after a leisurely breakfast we drove to the start and then around the race route. The hills weren’t as bad as I’d expected and are probably no more than undulations in Wales. The first mile was downhill all the way and I clocked mine at 7:11, Richard being a bit faster at: 6:08. After the initial sorting out of places I found myself behind a lady with long blond hair who stayed about 50 yards ahead for at least 7 miles. The roads were very quiet and only 2 cars and 2 tractors went past me. The second one was cutting the hedge and took up nearly all the width of the road, causing the blond lady to slow to a walk. Being used to that sort of thing round here I scooted past a bit quicker, and nearly caught up. A little while later she looked round and I realised that she was a bit older than I first thought, about my age in fact. So not knowing how many others were in front, I decided I had enough energy left to get past. There was only about half a mile left to go, so I hung on, counting paces until the finish line came in sight with me still ahead. She finished only 9 seconds behind, and sure enough, when I checked the results she was the same age. Even better – there were no other old crones ahead and I was 1st FV55 in a time of 1:25:23. (Just to put it in perspective, the same time last year, wouldn’t have even got me 3rd place in my age group.) So we stayed on for tea and cakes and prize-giving and I’m now the proud owner of a piece of Welsh Slate!!!

The day concluded with a walk round Rhayader and an evening meal in the Brasserie on the Pier at Aberystwyth, where I had the saltiest pizza I’ve ever eaten. OK, smoked salmon and anchovies do have a head start but I didn’t expect there to be so many of them.

A few words from Richard: I must admit that Lesley did manage to bash her head as I was shutting the boot lid. Soothing comments along the lines of “If you’d remembered to wear your hat it wouldn’t have hurt so much” weren’t received very well as she was still crumpled on her knees in the car park. However I think I managed to retrieve the situation as I offered to stem the flow of blood with an oily rag. Very pleased to say she was fully recovered next day for the race and won her age group. I think this was the fifth running of this race and they say some years it’s been under water so we were very happy with the mild, dry weather. Quite rural and scenic but less demanding than the Wellington Ten or the Humdinger. Reasonably happy with my time of 73:40.