View From the Back of the Pack(s)

The latest two articles from Dave Webb:

VIEW FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK – SEPTEMBER 2013

The annual Maiden NewTen Madness race means it is now a club tradition, on the 2^nd Saturday evening in August, for some of us to don hi-viz jackets and spend a couple of hours scattered around the local countryside. Our job is to encourage the runners and point them in the right direction, which can get a bit repetitive. There is a limit to how many ways you can say ‘Well done. Turn left’. Amongst this year’s runners we were pleased to see 2 of our newer recruits, the speedy-sounding Lesley Fox and Felicity Quick. All the competitors are spurred on by the prospect of cakes at the finish, but for the potential prize winners there was the extra incentive of one of Chrissy Ashley’s delicious lardy cakes. I’m sure that the medal winners at last year’s Olympics would have much preferred to receive one of Chrissy’s lardy cakes along with their medal, instead of the usual bunch of flowers. We would like to thank Chrissy and everyone who helped with the race.

In fact the question of race mementoes is important for both runners and race organisers. Runners in the Battle of Sedgemoor 10K at Langport have for years been presented with a bath towel. I last ran the race in 2009, and my co-runner in life’s race, Jackie, advised me that my towel needed refreshing, so I entered again this year. The route seemed to have developed several hills over the last 4 years, defying the usual speed of geological change, so by the finish I had worked up a sweat which called for a dab from the commemorative towel. Imagine my disappointment then to be presented instead with a bottle of water, a banana and a coaster. I consoled myself with the thought that the original protagonists of the Battle of Sedgemoor, in 1685, probably received neither the towel nor the coaster, nor even a lardy cake for their efforts. 

As well as the club’s summer Poundbury 5K series, there is now a ‘Park Run’ in Weymouth each Saturday morning. A total of 14 different members have run 5K races in the last month or so, prompting this month’s running question which asks how best to achieve a fast finish. The usual advice is to include some repeat sprint sessions in your training, and maybe to do a decent run first to get used to running fast when already tired. My co-panellist, Mr Les Knott-Bother, says that pacing yourself is crucial, ie start slow, don’t go too fast in the middle, and don’t speed up too soon. In other words, walk all the way and then fall over the finish line.

I have previously mentioned our forays into multi-sport events, like triathlons, duathlons and speed hairdressing. In August, at the club barbecue, we extended our repertoire by adding welly-wanging, rounders and a curious event in which competitors pick up a cereal box from the ground with their teeth, without their hands touching the floor, and with the height of the box being reduced each round until only the base of the box remains. This event showed that yoga practitioners and young people are the most supple, and that tall men can do themselves a mischief. Frank Poe won the welly-wanging with an impressive 39 metre throw, 1^st prize being a big courgette, while Jackie England and her team-mates surprised us by showing that rounders can be a contact sport, more akin to rugby.

Finally, I can report that the fastest hairdresser in the west, Charlie Spencer, was one of 5 club members who tackled ‘The Beast’, a notoriously challenging coastal course from Corfe Castle. Charlie was so chuffed and proud that, by the finish, she was also the most emotional hairdresser in the west, enjoying the feeling of personal achievement within a supportive team.

VIEW FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK

When people tell us ‘You couldn’t run a race’, it’s hard to know if they’re talking about our running or our organisational skills. On the race-organising front, August 10^th sees the 9^th edition of the ‘Maiden NewTen Madness’. The route is a mixture of roads and tracks, including some decent mud in Wraxall Lane and along the riverbank. Any visiting townies will know they have been in the countryside, though they may be consoled by the cakes at the finish.

We have also been organising a summer 5K series this year, on a 5-lap circuit in Poundbury. The advantage of a multi-lap course is that it is harder for people to get lost. The disadvantage is that it requires people to count to 5. On our practice event, in May, Charlie Spencer attempted to count the laps of the passing runners, which grows more complicated as the faster runners lap the slower ones. We discovered that, while she may be the fastest hairdresser in the west, she is not the fastest counter in the west, so we decided to make runners responsible for counting their own laps. The races have gone well, though it would be good to see more runners. The last of these races is on 28 August, at 7.30 from the new Poundbury Leisure Centre.

A hazard of summer running can be the overgrown footpaths, and particularly the proliferation of nettles and brambles. Apparently the Romans introduced stinging nettles to Britain, to keep their soldiers warm in these chilly Northern climes. Jackie Webb certainly seemed somewhat heated when she slipped in the mud, pirouetted gracefully through the air, and landed in a nettle patch.

The summer season prompts this month’s running question, which is whether to run while you’re on holiday. When I sought the views of my co-panellist, Mr Les Knott-Bother, I discovered that he himself had gone on his traditional annual holiday, a house swap with his brother, Will, in Dorchester. I can report, though, that Mr Will Knott-Bother does not plan to run anything except a bath while he is in our midst. For my part, I have enjoyed some fantastic runs on the Pembrokeshire coastal path and the Lakeland trails in recent years so I will definitely be packing my running shoes. Some club members have taken it further, and have organised holidays around training camps or overseas races. Visitors to Dorset also seem to be ready to run. During the summer holidays a number of ‘unlicensed’ runners have been spotted in the local lanes.

Some club members prefer not to race, but others have been busy pinning on their race numbers. 5 Maiden Newton Runners competed in the Durberville Dash at Wool, 8 members ran in the Haselbury Trail 10K, and 6 were at the Shaves Cross Mini-Marathon. Given our tradition of getting lost it is remarkable that 6 people succeeded in even finding Shaves Cross, in the depths of the Marshwood Vale. Others of us have managed to get lost closer to home. Dave ‘Wiggo’ Butt got off his bike to join me on a long Sunday morning run which involved us going round and round in circles in the long grass at Kingcombe, while a group of us could be found wandering aimlessly through woods near Chetnole on a Wednesday night run.

We are always looking for new members; someone with a decent sense of direction would be most welcome. We are also looking for a ‘larger’ runner to join us, since we have a spare XL vest that we are seeking to fill. Any local runner, no matter how large or small, or how slow or fast, would be welcome to join our happy band.

Dave Webb