Ash Town Tree Trail Race

by Dave Carnell

This event had its first running on Thursday 30th June, starting out from Ash Primary School (near Martock) at a billed time of 7.00pm.  The route was described as being about 7 miles, covering country lanes and a few fields on its way out to (and back from) the beautiful, hidden "Town Tree Nature Garden."

It was a lovely summer evening, so the gathered throng of nearly 60 eager runners weren’t too perturbed by a bit of delay in getting the start organised.  The race finally got going at about 7:15, with the start being at the top of Whitcombe Lane and looking north to the Levels.  At the top being particularly key as we immediately set off on a gloriously long downhill stretch of about 1km (part of the Ash Excellent Eight route).

Unfortunately I’d been egged on by friendly banter from some Crewkerne runners and my addiction to gravitational assistance was just too much of a temptation.  It’s a very rare thing to lead a race but for a short and heady moment that’s what happened as I tore up the tarmac in a spectacular fit of downhill madness – and then it flattened out!  Having shot my bolt, the rest of the race (ie most of it) was then very hard work despite being mostly flat, but I didn’t mind as the hidden "Town Tree Nature Garden" was an absolute delight.

This unique garden is the creation of just one man, Chris Burnett.  Over many years he has built a non-formal landscaped water garden that now takes up 22 out of 100 acres of the owner’s farm.  The race route weaved it’s way for about a mile and a half through the gardens on the same path that visitors would take – brilliant!  These gardens are open to the public for a modest £2-50 entrance fee and are a must for anyone that wants to see something a little different (for info visit www.towntreenaturegarden.co.uk).

One slightly unusual feature of the race was where, for a short distance the outbound route met the homebound route and runners were going in both directions.  For a moment I thought I was going the wrong way, but happily all was well and I got back OK to finish 17th overall.

BBQ, cakes and refreshments were helpfully on hand to complete a very pleasant evening, with proceeds from the event going towards the upkeep of the Town Tree Trail and Ash Primary School.  A relaxed low key event made all the more memorable by its little foibles and is a ‘must do’ for next year.

Charmouth Challenge

Last Saturday afternoon saw Team Maiden Newton - Charlie, Andy, Martin and myself - at Charmouth on a delightfully sunny afternoon for the Challenge, a race which lives up to its name with (according to the Garmin) 440 metres of climbing, including Golden Cap. This is one of our favourite races as can be told by the fact that this was our seventh visit.

We were extremely well prepared by the time the race started, mainly due to the fact that I had misread the race information and thought that it started at 2.30pm (fun run) when in fact it was, as usual, a 3pm start. You'd think I'd know that after all these years........

The race had a very prompt start, a sort of, hello, thanks for coming, go! type of thing and off we went scattering unsuspecting tourists in our wake. As usual I had been eyeing up the possible competition and had not spotted any known rivals but one girl went off very fast ahead of me. Martin's repeated warnings about starting too fast seem to finally be sinking in and I let her go and started at a pace which felt extremely comfortable. I had a feeling that she wouldn't be getting too far ahead of me.

As we started climbing Stonebarrow Lane I became aware of Yeovil's Richard Boulter and as he passed me on the hill decided to use him as my pace maker. The further up the hill we went the smaller the gap between me and my female rival became and as we left the stony car park and turned onto the coast path at about 2 miles I went past her and didn't see her again.

The route dropped sharply onto Muddyford Lane and then heads across a series of fields - some tactical sprinting got me ahead of the queues at the stiles here, one of the advantages of knowing the course so well, and then a short section along a muddy path through trees before the climb to Golden Cap began.

I had passed Richard some miles back and as I finally reached the top of Golden Cap I thought I had dropped him, but two things I've come to know about him, one is that he reads the Maiden Newton blog and the other is that he is annoyingly persistent!......and sure enough I became aware that he was still breathing down my neck. From that point on I was confidently expecting him to bomb past me on one of the downhill sections.

Coming down off Golden Cap is always a challenge, first a series of steps cunningly designed to trip a weary runner and then a very steep field which I tacked down in an attempt to stay upright. At this point in the race I was scanning ahead hoping to catch sight of Martin but there was no sign of him so I knew he must be having a good run and hoped that he would achieve his goal of being under an hour.

Running back along the coast to Charmouth is like being on a roller coaster, you're either hurtling downhill or panting up and over the years we've done it in rain, gale force wind and sunshine, happily today was the latter, one of the most pleasant outings we've had at Charmouth.

Finally reaching the top of the last hill I was looking forward to the downhill finish only to get an annoying stitch which hampered my breathing and slowed me down, but fortunately not quite enough for Richard to get past me and I managed to hold him off in the sprint to the line, finishing in 64.05, my fastest time here to date and retaining the ladies title.

Pleased as I was with this performance it was as nothing compared to Martin's race. He had finished in an amazing 57.51, nearly 4 minutes faster than last year and in 4th place overall, a fantastic achievement at a race of this standard. He modestly protested that the standard was lower this year but research later showed that in 2010 when the first 20 finishers were undoubtedly of a higher standard, he still would have been 6th with this time and as I always say, you have to be in it to win it, so well done to him. What a star!

We headed down to the sea for some cold water therapy to the legs and I still can't believe that I said this about the English sea - but it was actually too warm! It may not have been as beneficial as intended but it was certainly very pleasant and we just got back to the car in time to cheer a strongly finishing Charlie in - she had knocked an incredible 9 minutes off last year's time and then Andy finished struggling in with a nasty cough and a sore Achilles, either of which would have been a good excuse to drop out.

After an exceedingly good cream tea and collecting of awards - Martin was first vet 50 - we headed back to Sydling well pleased with our afternoons endeavours.

Burnham 25th Anniversary Triathlon

I’d been anxiously watching the forecast all week and had been bitterly disappointed to find rain was due all day on Sunday. I’d had visions of running along golden sands on a beautiful sunny day. However at least I was forewarned and borrowed a good sized plastic box from work in which I carefully packed all my kit. A woman just along from me had brought an open topped fabric shopping bag. Anyway, enough of the technical stuff, the other thing which had horrified me at first was the ungodly hour of my start time – 6.40am!!! This meant getting up at 4.30am – a time familiar to Richard but not to myself. However all went well and we arrived at the leisure centre and registered, collected chip and goody bag, dumped box next to bike and waited for the swim to start. The organiser asked us to give a rousing cheer to one of the swimmers just finishing his last length. He was a bit slow but when told he was 90 years old we were suitably impressed.

My swim went poorly – not sure why I can do Ok while training but it all goes to pieces on the day. Then out of the pool and into the outside world, which felt quite cold, but only light rain. I wasn’t taking any chances however and dressed in long-sleeved top plus coat and hood and gloves, long shorts and warm socks. All this took valuable transition time so it was a bonus to find that the T1 times hadn’t been recorded on the final results.

Off on the bike and a few cyclists soon went past. The course was quite flat, the only hills being a couple of railway crossings. Being used to the hills round here this was good, and perhaps I could have tried a bit harder. I did feel good though when I actually managed to overtake two other cyclist – and they both had racing bikes. The only people I have ever overtaken previously were either on the phone or smoking a fag!!! Before long the finish line approached and I was into T2 and off on the run. It was still damp rather than raining, but the wind was getting stronger. We got on to the beach and ran towards the lighthouse – a familiar sight to anyone who has done the Burnham beach race, and then followed a path up some slopes of soft sand and through the dunes before emerging back on to the beach. Now the hard work really started as I was running straight in to the wind back along the sand to the finish. It was head down with an occasional glance up to follow the road cones. It’s a strange thing with flat beach runs that you never seem to get closer to the destination. So I counted myself along the cones instead and finally the finish line was there. A few spectators were huddled under the sea wall including Richard, and the finish marshals were well wrapped up. My watch showed an approximate time of 1:45. I’d finished the whole event and it still wasn’t even 9am.

Back to the leisure centre for a good hot shower and it was absolute chaos in the changing room. It was one communal room with cubicles for changing and showers and there were kitbags everywhere, other competitors were arriving, departing, getting changed, queuing for toilets or showers or to be called poolside. We didn’t bother to wait for the prize-giving as it was still a few hours away. I later found out I was second in my age group (out of two)!!! But only by 3 minutes. Perhaps I ought to buy that racing bike after all.....................

Having arrived home in time for a late breakfast, Richard decided to catch up on his sleep. Being a hardier soul I spent the day thawing last year’s fruit from the freezer and making jam. And being glad that I couldn’t swim any faster (which would have given me a later start time and a much wetter day).

The London Marathon 2011:

by Olivia

After a forest of bananas, a novel worth of advice and enough water to flood the Thames I can finally say I have completed the London Marathon.

The 17^th of April came round in such a flash that the feeling of nerves only really set in on the Saturday on the way up to the Big Smoke. After dozens of good luck messages began to show up on my phone reality had set in that I was about to take on the biggest challenge of my life to date.

During the day on Saturday I continuously and very kindly reminded my darling mother that this year was in fact about me as at every marathon reminder (which is London is every second ) came her words “ ooo I so wish I was doing it this year”!!

After the biggest pasta dish of my life I then got my head down to conserve as much energy as I possibly could for the day to follow.

At about 4.00pm on Sunday the 17^th of April, medal in hand I had completed the London marathon. My only criticism of the day was the cruel process of walking what feels like another marathon to receive my kit bag and to find my family members in a sea of faces who after 26.2 miles all look the same !!

It struck me after I had finished that I had been in such a daze on the way round that I believe I missed many of London’s landmarks , but the images that will stick with me forever will be the fabulous attempts of runners who believed the challenge of just simply running wasn’t enough !

I want to first of all say a big thank you to all at Maiden Newton runners for all their help and support, and also my family who’s cheering kept me going when I truly believed my feet were to fall off . But my main thank you goes to my biggest inspiration – My mum, who through seeing her complete her first marathon last year inspired me to follow in her footsteps (literally). But will be letting her take the credit for next years marathon as never say never but just not for now.

Winchester to Brighton on the South Downs Way, incorporating Poole Park Run...... oh and the New Forest!

One might be forgiven for thinking that the first full weekend home after a hectic three week “holiday” in the US, including running a marathon and an additional 60 plus recreational miles, hiking approximately 50 miles, cycling at altitude and swimming, would be a good time to kick back and take it easy. Well maybe for sensible people that would be the case but not in our mad world.

We were in Poole at 9am on Saturday morning to race the Park Run (Martin was 5th overall in 18.14 and I was exactly a minute behind him in 13th place overall and first lady) before setting off on a weekend jaunt across the South Downs. First there was the small matter of driving the car to Hinton where Martin’s brother lives, leaving it there and then running 11 miles across the New Forest to Brockenhurst where we took the easy option of a train to Winchester.

What with one thing and another it was 2.30pm by the time we arrived at the station in Winchester and we were then slightly delayed by the distraction of stocking up on food and trying to find the start of the South Downs Way. It was, therefore, already gone 3pm by the time we “started”. After the bustle of shoppers and traffic in Winchester and crossing the busy M3 by means of a footbridge, it was a relief to get out into the countryside and experience some peace and quiet.

Unfortunately the forecast for the weekend had not been particularly favourable and it proved itself to be entirely accurate as we ran beneath overcast skies with a strong south westerly wind making it feel much colder than it actually was. After a couple of hours of steady running we arrived in the village of Exton where it was just late enough to justify a stop at the pub for some liquid refreshment and short break. Tempting though it would have been to remain in the pub with its friendly atmosphere, real ales and excellent menu, we knew we had to get several more miles under our belts if we were to reach our final destination by Monday.

Our next target was the village of Clanfield, just off the South Downs Way, but a necessary diversion in order to obtain food. Even we are only willing to take roughing it so far and there is a limit to how much food I can carry – which falls way short of how much food I can eat! The Rising Sun in Clanfield proved to have a decent menu, huge portions and very reasonable prices, all of which was very welcome as it took us much longer to get there than we had estimated and by the time we left again it was already almost dark.

The next challenge was to find a suitable place to camp and this also proved more difficult than we had hoped. A couple of miles after leaving the pub we crossed the busy A3 and rejoined the South Downs Way as it passed through the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. We knew that we would have to pass through this before we could stop but we had to go a lot further than expected and when we finally found a suitable spot to stop for the night it was about 11.30pm and we had completed 44 miles since setting out.

Shortly after getting the tent up we were dismayed to hear voices approaching and cowered inside not knowing what to expect – only to have a group of night walkers pass us by. Amazing that in the middle of nowhere, somewhere on the South Downs at nearly midnight, the only two groups of mad people with nothing better to do on a Saturday night should cross paths!

For once we had managed to find a relatively comfortable camping site and we managed to get a few hours of sleep. When we emerged on Sunday morning the sky was still overcast and it was a relief to get the tent stowed, repack our bags and get underway. It took a while to warm up and to loosen our stiff legs so we walked the first mile or so before breaking into a reluctant trot. The miles passed by swiftly and our early start was rewarded by sighting of deer and an adder and our peace was only disturbed by the occasional enthusiastic mountain biker whizzing past. Part of the route was familiar to us from various long runs we have previously done on the Downs, and this helped as we counted down the miles until we could replenish our food stocks meanwhile munching our way through various protein bars and bags of dried fruit and nuts. Anyone who knows me also knows that I need a constant supply of coffee, especially in the morning, and Martin got off surprisingly lightly considering that we covered 20 miles to Amberley before there was any chance of me obtaining a caffeine fix!

Typically, after twenty miles of deprivation there were two pubs, a bistro and a cafe in Amberley, all standing shoulder to shoulder! At this point also the sun came out and we enjoyed our lunch in the pub garden, which was probably a blessing for the other more elegantly attired and hygienic customers trying to enjoy their Sunday lunch without having two smelly runners sitting next to them and taking their shoes off to give their odorous feet a break!

A long uphill climb followed and as we reached the high point of the Downs all trace of sun disappeared and the wind became bitterly cold. We were headed for Devil’s Dyke now, the point at which we would leave the South Downs Way and head south for Brighton and the end of our travels. It was becoming increasingly hard to break back into a shuffling run each time we walked up a hill and our walking breaks became longer and longer as we headed further east.

Finally we arrived at Chanctonbury Rings and from there we had already covered the rest of the route to Devil’s Dyke during the Three Forts Marathon in 2009, albeit in reverse of the direction we were now taking. We passed through the village of Botolphs, crossed the busy A283 and started the final lengthy ascent which seemed endless. At this point Martin scented the beer and began the final push for the pub with me floundering along behind. My thoughts were not on beer but on sitting down and not moving for several hours!

On arrival at the pub we found comfortable chairs, took advantage of their facilities to make ourselves vaguely presentable and ordered something to eat....and it was at that point that the idea came to us that we could get the train home tonight instead of roughing it for another night. And once that thought had lodged in our minds we headed for Brighton, caught a train to New Milton and somehow managed to summon up the energy to walk the final 3 miles back to our car, arriving home in Sydling at 1.25am having covered just short of 90 miles.

Taunton Deane Triathlon - an idiot's guide

Having raced at such far-flung places as Banbury, London and Ponterwd (see previous blog), the Westgates decided to stay closer to home this weekend. Only one of us was racing but this time from choice. I (Lesley) had decided to have a go at the Taunton Deane Triathlon.

I had long been amazed by athletes who could do this event, and even more awe-struck by Phil’s achievements at the Ironman in Sherborne. But I never thought I’d actually become one of the competitors. However after a couple of sessions in the pool I timed 16 lengths and found it was a reasonable time, so a visit to the bike shop followed and the purchase of a bike. Now I didn’t mention my ambitions to the salesman so brought home a nice ladies hybrid with straight handlebars and a shopping rack. Then followed a traumatic few weeks while I tried to master the gears. Having not cycled for 40years, and then on a bike without gears this was a challenge, not made any easier by the gear-changer not working properly. After that was replaced I timed a couple of rides, and with some trepidation sent off my application. The event opens (and sells out) on the 2nd January so I had a few months to do some training. However I soon found out that without unlimited time, marathon and triathlon training are not really compatible, so had to take a chance on London with just one long run.

After another distraction in the Welsh hills the big day finally arrived. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year. Following a sleepless night I was up early and packed, with every combination of race clothes I could think of. We loaded the bike into the car and arrived in plenty of time to register and get my arm marked with my number. Now I really felt like one of the triathletes I’d seen so many times on TV. After a few more tips on how to fix the numbers to the race belt (stapler and pins) I was allowed into the transition area and carefully laid out everything on my towel in order. Anyone who knows me knows this includes the obligatory hat, hankie and drinks bottle. During more nervous wandering round I met Jonathon Gilling, known from past years doing the Somerset Series. I also carefully studied the route from pool to bike – apparently it’s easy to forget where it is among 100s of others – but a towel draped over the handlebars helps.

And then it was time to line up outside the pool and wait for my number to be called. I’d asked for a lane with steps, which I got, chose a hat and got in the water. Before I knew it, it was 3,2,1, GO. I took it fairly steadily as it’s easy to try too hard and swallow/inhale lots of water, but even so on the 3rd length I was really happy to overtake another competitor. (OK I forgot the foot-touching business) but with only 3 to a lane there was plenty of room. At 14 lengths a “2 lengths to go” paddle appeared and after that I hauled myself out, retrieved glasses and tried to look like I was running as I came out onto the tarmac of the car park. None of those nice blue mats here.

I hadn’t practised transitions, but had watched them so many times on TV I was hopeful I’d be OK. Another helpful tip: fold the towel so you can tweak it out and sit on it while putting on socks, shorts, shoes and drying self at the same time. Next the vest and helmet and race belt which in my haste I put on upside down and there it stayed for the rest of the race. I later found all this had taken less than 2 minutes!!!

So on to the bike, over the mats and leg 2 started. (Another thing that had induced me to enter this event was that the route passed through my village and started/finished in Wellington where I work, so all my training was on the same hills.) There were enough other competitors around to make it feel like a race although it was arranged like a handicap with the slower ones starting first. So I didn’t mind too much when several cyclists whizzed past. The route turns at Wivey roundabout and heads back to Wellington, a good moment as not only was there a long downhill ahead but I was now past halfway. Back through Milverton and as I struggled up a small hill standing on the pedals a bystander said I looked impressive. Everyone else seemed to manage it sitting down!!! Then up the steepest hill on the course counting revs instead of paces. Another few miles and the end of this leg was within sight. More cyclists shot past as I turned into the finish. Dismount in the box, sort of run to my place and rack the bike, grab running things and set off on leg 3.

This is a two lap course on roads, paths and an unmade track. My legs are really wobbly after the bike, but I tell myself it’s only 5K, grit my teeth and keep going. Some runners are finding it really hard and I’m able to pass at least five of them. Richard is at the start of the second lap with encouraging words. Legs are just about working by now and I pass another runner on the hill. Down the track again, turn right, over the bridge and there’s the finish. I’ve done it!!!

For the record this is my result:

Overall Position 248
Swim 00:11:10
Transition 1 00:01:59
Bike 00:59:54
Transition 2 00:00:49
Run 00:25:43
Total Time 01:39:33

There were 267 finishers – First in 1:01:49 Last in 1:55:39

Red Kite Challenge

Some people would do anything to get away from the Royal Wedding, even going as far as America. However the Westgates only went as far as Wales to take on the Red Kite Challenge. This is a 2 day event comprising an eleven mile race on Saturday and 18 miles on Sunday, both off-road. So we decided to have a short break and took the scenic route to an excellent B&B nearby: www.maesglasbandb.co.uk

On Saturday , after a full welsh breakfast and a visit to a hydro-electric power station, we made our way to the race HQ at the Red Kite Visitor Centre for the start of the race at 1pm. Descriptions of the course ranged from flat-ish to “a bit of a hill”, both totally inaccurate. There were quite a few hills and every time we emerged from the woods to cross yet another ridge the wind nearly swept us off our feet. If you can find the photos from the link on http://www.redkite-barcudcoch.org.uk/ the off the shoulder vest shows the effect of the wind. Richard had decided not to run with me, as I am very slow on the downhills whereas he likes to fly down them. Also, knowing I had the race on Sunday, I was taking it fairly easy and walking up the steepest hills. Even so I was pleased when a marshal said there was about 2 miles to go. I had estimated it would take about 2 hours and my finish time was 2:06:09. Richard had finished comfortably ahead in 1:44:57. We had plenty of time afterwards for a late lunch and lots of stretching before assembling for the presentations. These were not only late starting but painfully slow. They were also quite generous with the prizes having three in each 5 year age category. Even so I was pleasantly surprised to find I was 3rd FV55 although some way behind the first and second. Richard was only 4th in his age group but was in luck as his name was called for a spot prize – a bottle of red wine. After that the only thing to do was get some food and sleep ready for the next day.

Sunday also dawned sunny, cool and windy. This time the start was at 11am and at a different venue – a caravan park at Devil’s Bridge. Any survivors from yesterday were proudly wearing their T shirts to distinguish themselves from those just doing Sunday’s race!! However the whole field still only numbered about 50 and I realised that it was soon going to get quite spread out. Richard was running his own race again, and I found myself running with four ladies from a club in Shropshire. I was feeling quite fit and well after yesterday’s efforts, but decided I’d rather have the company than push on by myself, for what could be a pretty lonely race. The course was flatter than yesterday’s, though still with some hills, and was mostly stony trails reminiscent of the Neolithic marathon. There was the minor excitement of a huge tree completely blocking the path, which we negotiated twice. Another loop took us past a wind farm, passing right underneath the massive whooshing machines. After more than enough stony trails we were on a narrow path more reminiscent of the “Seaview”, and then round a corner and into a field, and suddenly it was the finish. Richard was there having finished some 30 minutes before me. (2:55:13) The buttered fruit cake went down a treat, and after a last photo and goodbyes we went to wait for the presentations. As these were not only for this race but also combined times for both races we waited with some trepidation wondering whether it would finish before nightfall. I think most of the category winners eventually got the prize due to them, but there were still several items left on the table, so the invite went out: “Everyone who hasn’t had a prize, please come and take something” so we did!!!

Richard maintained the disrepute tradition by being rather obnoxious, even more than usual. After the second race one of my new friends from Newton Running club brought us over some excellent homemade cake. A bit later as Richard got out of our car she asked him if he was a bit stiff. He of course replied along the lines “would you like to re-phrase that”. Anyway he reckons he recovered the situation without offence and proceeded with a normal conversation – well normal for him.

Richard did these races having done no training for 3 weeks and hardly much all this year. He reckons the highlights were seeing red kites and wind turbines and hearing a cuckoo.

Avenue of the Giants Marathon

May Day 2011. Our long-awaited scenic spring marathon finally arrived, without volcanos or BA strikes to stymie us this time. Having picked up numbers etc the day before, we made it to the race venue in the heart of the beautiful Humboldt Redwoods State Park over 90 minutes before the 8:00 start time.

Some nervous waiting, and a couple of trips to the Port-a-Potties later, and we were standing at the front of the crowd of maybe 600 listening to a spirited rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, then a short briefing, and countdown and we were off!

Down the road beside Bull Creek and within a minute we were running through stands of majestic Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), most over 300 feet tall and 1000 years old. The day before we had admired them up close, but now we were concentrating on running and the trees were somehow less substantial, although still a unique and powerful presence. Our goal was to run each mile of the race in 6:50. On many training runs this winter and spring, that would have seemed like a tough pace, but on this day it felt absolutely effortless, at least for the first few miles of the race.

Lin's was happy to let me set the pace, despite two younger women starting off ahead of us, and opening up a lead of over a hundred yards. They were either really fast, or had gone off too fast, and it would do no good to race them at this stage.

The course consists of two out and back sections in the woods of a half-marathon each. Soon we had reached the first turn-around point and met the leader on his way back, followed by a few other men, then the first lady, possibly ahead of us by a minute at this stage. We had already passed the other woman and Lin was second place in the ladies race, and we were about 20th overall. We were exactly 5 seconds behind our target pace, which was very good, since we were now at the highest point on the course.

The return half of the first leg was slightly downhill, so we regained that 5 seconds, and without meaning or trying to, about another 45 seconds more so we were 40 seconds up on our schedule by the half-way mark which we reached in 1:28:50. Support from the other runners was great, many calling out "Go Maiden Newton" as we passed them. Then we were on the second half, and the second out-and-back, with runners coming in the opposite direction doing the Half-marathon and some finishing the 10k race. They also gave us great support, with calls of "well done, second lady" to Lin. We had caught up and were running with a guy from local Six Rivers Running Club who was a great help because his pace was really even, and he also called out ahead to the many walkers strewn across the course to make way for the marathon runners. A feature of American races seems to be that many walkers take part along with the runners, which is great, but it can make it a little tricky when you are overtaking walkers doing less than half your pace, and also walking 2, 3 , 4 or even 5 abreast!

But we carried on, still on schedule, though I sensed that Lin was getting tired now. The sight of the first lady up ahead spurred her on though, and we were definitely gaining on her. About the 18 mile mark we caught her up, and lurked behind her for a minute or so until a shout of "go-ladies" tipped her off, and we overtook - Lin trying to appear fresh and strong to provide maximum demoralisation effect on the opposition. We needn't have worried, though, because after a brief attempt to stay in touch the early leader soon fell back, and by the 19.5 mile turn-around point was over a 100 yards back and clearly struggling. Unfortunately, by now Lin was also finding it really hard, and we gradually fell off pace until with 5k to go needed to run a sub-20 minute 5k to finish under 3 hours. That was not going to happen, but we managed to hang on to a respectable 7:30 pace and reached the finish line to cheers from our friends Sherry and Rich in a new PB for Lin of 3:03:17.

The race had been designated the Road Runners Club of America Championship race for California so Lin was now the 2011 RRCA California State Champion! I got a nice medal engraved beer glass and bottle of Lost Coast Brewery beer for first in 55-59 age-group. A very satisfying result, but even without the awards, it would have been well worth doing. An outstandingly scenic race, with superb organisation, and a friendly atmosphere - what more could you ask?

Well maybe to finish in under 3 hours. We'll have to do that next time...

Lin said: What an awesome experience (I've only been in the US for 4 days and I'm already speaking American, awesome indeed!) the Avenue of Giants marathon was. Naturally I'm very disappointed not to have broken the 3 hour mark but a new marathon PB (my first post broken hip "proper" PB) and being Californian State Champion was a pretty good consolation prize. Mainly I'm just so grateful that Martin stayed with me from the 20 mile mark, when I really began to struggle, and patiently coaxed me every step of the way. He was still feeling strong and would undoubtedly have got under 3 hours if he had gone on without me so a big thank you to him.

So now we have to keep our fingers crossed that we get into Abingdon and do all that training again, but harder...........................................but first there's the small matter of a holiday to enjoy.

No Kidding! – Poole 5k Park Run - Sat 23 Apr 11

A bit dazed, I waited outside Chalk and Cheese. Lin and Martin whizzed through the village in their new race-mobile, early doors to ensure our arrival in Poole before the 9 am start. I think Martin was a bit dazed too, when he needed reminding that the boot was wide open when driving off.

It was a warm day, a classic sunny Saturday, with that relaxed excitement that is the weekend has arrived. On arrival, other runners were appearing onto the park in a deceptively lazy fashion, and 70 or so assembled towards the pavilion and start line.

It was a fast start, and Martin and Lin pulled away steadily. There were markers at every 2k, which made peacemaking an easy job. Passing the 2k marker after 4minutes, I wondered if I could get to 4k on 8mins... this continued, as the body was coaxed around the lake, swans and prams, following the other runners and then I started to kid myself that a sub 20 was on the cards. The repeated positive mantra of ‘I’m feeling strong and I’m in contention’ did the trick, as I managed to kick to the line to record 19.59, a close run thing and another PB! Martin was in, on 18mins dead, and Lin just after 19mins as the first lady.

These Park Runs are great. They’re in most cities, and are free, and are a fantastic way to feel great for the rest of the day. So Lin, Martin and I rewarded ourselves with a cooked breakfast at Boscombe, to at least address the healthy balance!

Lin added:

I'm sure Richard won't mind me adding a few words to his report - I really just wanted to reiterate that Park runs are a really great concept. Absolutely the best thing about them is that they take place every Saturday throughout the year (some enthusiasts even turned out on Christmas and New Year's Day in 2010) - so instead of having to fit in with when a race is on you can chose to do it any weekend which suits you. Martin and I plan to do some more of these during the summer - probably pretty much as often as we don't have a race on the Sunday and are happy to car share if anyone else wants to participate. All you have to do is register on line up until Friday night ( http://www.parkrun.org.uk/poole/) print off your bar code and present it at the finish. Not only are the races great but the results and stats that they provide are also excellent and are usually on line the same day. And it's a really fun way to kick off the weekend.

A First in Yeovil – Half Marathon - Sun 27 Mar 11

With the onset of British Sumer Time (BST), a 09.00 start poses a significant challenge in itself!  However, it does mean that those runners rising earlier were able to watch the start of the Australia Grand Prix.

40 minutes later, I stepped out into a crisp cold village street, crowned with a brilliant blue sky.  Once on the ridgeway road towards Yeovil , three recognisable cars collected behind a lone lorry – all efforts to reduce the club’s carbon footprint on email had clearly failed!

The start was behind Yeovil Town’s football stadium.  Runners funnelled around the sides, to be greeted by a teenage heavy rock band, banging away at full volume – how the hell did they make it up so early?

 The start was well organised and relaxed, and before we knew it, we were off around the northern housing estates of Yeovil, waking up to summer.  Given the time, many were out on the streets in curiosity, if not support.  It was great, even though I felt anonymous.  I took the clapping and cheering as if a Yeovil Town club runner anyway.  2-3 miles in, running down Mudeford Road into Yeovil, I heard an old boy turn to his wife ‘Amazing, and to think it’s only 8.20 in the morning’!

Through the town centre, around the roads to Penmill, and back through the yellow path towards Ninesprings, the crowds collected again.  My body was starting to hurt now, and then suddenly cry from the crowd shouted my name – Olivia from the club encouraging me on!  Overjoyed, I felt an electric charge radiate out of the top of my head, and suddenly there was a spring in my step, and the next few miles breezed by.  I Made a mental note - "If you are not running a race, go along and support."  You cannot underestimate how much your support is appreciated by those you know running!

Back to the race; it an attractive and interesting course, with a few hills, which should not pose problems to the Maiden Newton Runner.  Phil did warn about keeping some in the tank for the last 2 miles, and boy, was that good advice.  I was very pleased to cross the line 1hr and 38 and half minutes later (an official PB!) and awarded a medal that had 1^st on it!

So to sum up, this was a great event and a bargain at £15 when the likes of Cardiff is £30 (and 130m short!!)

London Marathon 2011

Sunday 17th April saw the Westgates in London for THE Marathon, and as usual only one of them was racing. Due to lack of annual leave we had to cram all the travelling into the weekend, arriving at the Excel centre about 2pm. Not sure why they can’t just send the number etc. But a cynic might say there is the chance to make vast amounts of money in return for the most meagre pre-race goody bag containing a small can of beer (which I don’t drink) and a men’s deodorant. We set off in search of our vastly over-rated B&B (without breakfast), and later met son plus girlfriend for a meal in Wetherspoons. Might not be haute cuisine, but at least you know what to expect. Had forgotten how bad the traffic was in London, although that was one of the reasons for moving away. Was also surprised to find that almost every shop along a continuous 10 mile route was selling food – either supermarket, small ethnic shop or take-away.

On Sunday morning we had our porridge (DIY version) and set off for the start. At this hour – 7.30am it was reasonably cool, and I left Richard to find a parking space while I found the Green start. I also found the toilet queue and spent the next half hour or more there, so never got to see any of the celebrities. Richard had turned up outside the fence to see me off. And ONE minute after the gun I was across the start line. The first few miles were at a steady 8.5 min/mile pace, but I soon realised that I wasn’t going to last at that pace. Whether it was the lack of long training runs or the rapidly increasing temperature, but I decided not to kill myself and slowed down. Also had in mind various events coming up and wanted to be in a fit state for them. Was pleased and surprised to hear a shout in Tooley Street and there was Richard with my spare drinks bottle. I’d also been taking on water at most of the drinks stations and paid for this a few miles later when I needed the portaloo and had to queue to use it!! It was good seeing most of the leading men heading back in the opposite direction near Shadwell. It was also good to have support along virtually every yard of the route, and the one thing that stands out is the noise of the crowd, the bands, the pubs etc. Tower Bridge was passed, Canary wharf and the Isle of Dogs and soon I was going back past the Tower of London, under various bridges and along the embankment. It was getting really hard by now and I was using my usual tactic of counting paces, lamp posts, banners etc. The 25 mile mark was a welcome sight and before long the 800m to go sign appeared. Unfortunately there was an increasing number of casualties from here, almost within sight of the finish. With 200m to go I heard the name of Matthew Pinsent being called, I looked round but couldn’t see him and finally crossed the finish line. Chip removal, goody bag, kit bag and meetings soon followed and it was all over.

Many times during the race I though “that’s it, never again” and when somebody stumbled into me I thought if I’m injured I won’t have to finish, but some sort of stubborn determination kept me going, although whether more marathons are going to happen is yet to be decided. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I’d known the year so far was going to be so busy I probably wouldn’t have applied for this one, but having got the sub 4 hour time at the New Forest I thought it would be the only chance I’d get (for a guaranteed place on the green start). However it does show that training makes a difference.

Now that’s enough from me, perhaps Olivia would like to let us know about her much greater achievement of finishing her first marathon.

VIEW FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK – MARCH 2011

by Dave Webb

February was a quieter month on the racing front, but club members have been keeping busy in other ways. Some readers may remember that the club’s 2009 PR award for bringing the club into disrepute went to Jackie Webb, for her use of clear hand signals towards a runner who had slipstreamed her all the way then sprinted past just before the end of the race. Jackie felt that I should have warned her by shouting out ‘She’s behind you!’ Perhaps there was a pantomime performer lurking in there, for this year she made her debut in the Cattistock pantomime, slapping her thigh in the role of principal boy, to the entertainment of many of her clubmates. When she launched into the song ‘Give me some men, some stout-hearted men’ she was no doubt thinking of her running club colleagues.

Other club members have been concentrating on running, with Martin and Lin Lascelles doing what they like most, ie long cross-country runs involving lots of hills, no fixed route, map-reading and the chance to try out new pubs. So their race report for the ‘Blackdown Beast’, on the club’s blog page, began:

After thoroughly enjoying last year's inaugural 16 mile romp through the Somerset/Devon borderlands, (with 3 pubs and a Cornish Pasty/Mulled-cider stop), this event has been on our calendar for many months.  

If you are wondering what could possibly attract sane people to spend their weekends running through the mud, then you may be interested in a new feature for this column, where I attempt to answer some common questions about running.  This month’s question is ‘When is the best time of day to go running?’ Running magazines would probably quote all kinds of research studies into differential heart rates in the morning and evening, the influence of Circadian rhythms, and the need to replicate race conditions in your training schedule. For my part, I think the crucial issues are food and hygiene. If you don’t want to spend all day wondering if it’s long enough since your last meal to go running, and if you only want to have one shower per day, then I suggest you go running in the early morning, after  a reviving mug of tea. I sought an alternative answer from local sceptic and armchair critic, Mr Les Knott-Bother, who replied that there is no right time of day to go running, and it is best never to go above walking pace.

I now need to turn to the thorny question of unlicensed runners. There have been a number of recent sightings of people out running on the local lanes and tracks. I regret to say that some of these people are not known to Maiden Newton Runners and are therefore running without a licence!  Being more serious, we are a friendly group and welcome anyone who would like to come along to a meeting or to one of our social runs, on a Tuesday night at 7pm or on the 2^nd Thursday of each month for a run at 7pm and our meeting at 8pm. We now have a club email address (as well as our own website, facebook page and blogspot) which is maidennewtonrunner@hotmail.co.uk so anyone who is interested can email us for more information.

In the coming month there is a new race on the local calendar, the Yeovil Half-Marathon on 27 March. This event begins and ends at the Yeovil Town football stadium. Several hundred runners are expected to turn out (a record crowd for Yeovil Town?!), including a good representation from Maiden Newton Runners, provided we do not succumb to age, injury or infirmity beforehand.

Johnny Kipps

Another missed lie-in on Sunday morning as Martin and I headed over to Wynford Eagle at 9.15 to run round the course ahead of the race. Our marathon training called for a long run (20m) today so we were compromising by doing 12 miles, not racing but throwing in marathon target pace miles on the "flat" bits. The plan was to save plenty of energy for the first Yeovilton 5k on Wednesday evening.

The first lap was completed according to plan and we arrived back at Wynford Eagle to find a record attendance eagerly awaiting the start. It was absolutely fantastic to see so many people there, friends from Yeovil, neighbours desperate to curry support for the Sydling Fun Run (18th September - please be there or I'll be in trouble with Di!) not to mention a total of 14 Maiden Newton Runners.

Phil had decided to give the rest of us a chance and also to allow his knee to make a full recovery - after his briefing, Lord Wynford kindly started the race, after assuring us that he is still in touch with Johnny Kipps, who is delighted to know that the race named in his honour not only still takes place but is growing in popularity each year.

As Martin Chaffey had managed to resist stopping off at the car boot sale en route from Yeovil this year we were able to start promptly at 10.30am and as usual Dave Carnell set off at a breakneck pace with Dave Webb hot on his heels in pursuit whilst the rest of us adopted a more leisurely pace. Martin and I settled into our race plan and headed up the hill, running with Richard Blackmore initially, and discussing which of the Dave's we thought would be victorious.

Well the thing with race plans is that you never know how you're going to feel on the day and sometimes you just get carried away by the moment. It was one of those days for me and as we climbed steadily upward I decided that it was time to drop Richard so I upped the pace a little expecting Martin to come with me. By this time Dave Webb had taken the lead and as we continued to climb I found Dave Carnell coming back to me pretty quickly. Martin had obviously decided to stick with the plan so I was a bit worried about how much trouble I would be in later.

As I reached the top of the hill where Jacky was, as usual, kindly "manning" the water station I caught Dave up, so I thought I may as well see if I could psych him out by passing him - that seemed to work pretty well. I was suffering the odd pang of guilt about not sticking to Martin's race plan but then I thought the hell with it - there are 6 Yeovilton 5ks but only one Johnny Kipps, why save my energy?

I was expecting Dave to come back past me at any moment or for Martin to catch me but in the mean time I was enjoying myself so much I decided to stick with the pace. Phil and John were both out on their bikes and gave me some encouragement as they passed me. In fact Phil's detailed information about who was doing what behind me meant I didn't have to display any weakness by turning round to see for myself what was going on!

As I reached the downhill stretch Phil informed me that Martin was gaining on me and then zoomed off leaving me to it. I risked a quick glance or two back as I went down the steepest part, if Martin was going to catch me anywhere it would be here, but as the road levelled out he was still behind me and I sprinted to the line with Charlie's great support and encouragement spurring me on.

Martin finished pretty close behind me, followed by the two Daves, Dave Webb having won that battle, and gradually the rest of the field finished. It was great to see Richard Rider's strong sprint finish and Mike also had a very good run finishing just ahead of Pete. In total there were 29 competitors, even with several members missing due to injury or a certain prominent event next weekend. Results are up at: http://www.freewebs.com/maidennewtonrunningclub/results2011.htm

Poole Park Run

On Saturday morning Martin and I were up at the crack of dawn (well for us anyway) to drive over to Poole for the new Park run event which started last weekend. For those of you who don't know about Park Run, they are free timed 5k time trails which take place all over the country at 9am every Saturday morning (http://parkrun.com/home.aspx). We've done a few on our travels but were absolutely delighted to hear that finally we have one right on our doorstep.

It was a beautiful sparkly morning, and as we jogged around warming up people began to assemble in front of the cricket pavilion where the race was due to start. The race director gave a brief description of the course and promptly at 9am we set off.

The route consists of two anti clockwise laps of the lake with a final loop around the oval in front of the cricket pavilion at the end. Neither of us were feeling particularly sprightly after another week of hard marathon training but we set off with our usual optimism. I was a bit worried to find myself fairly close behind Martin for the first 1km - I can never judge my pace so I knew that either I was going too fast or he was having a bad run (it turned out to be the latter) neither of which was a good thing.

By the time we reached the far side of the lake he started to pull away from me and I also got overtaken by another female runner. As there was a junior ahead that dropped me into third place in the ladies race - and that was where I stayed. First lap was completed pretty much on target pace but the second lap started to take its toll on my legs and my pace dropped off slightly. I was gaining on the junior ahead of me who had gone out very fast and was obviously paying the price in the latter stages of the race. On another day, without Johnny Kipps and the first Yeovilton 5k ahead of me, I might have killed myself trying to overtake her but for today I was happy to cross the line in 19.23 and third place.

Martin had finished 7th overall but was very disappointed with his time of 18.46 - I reminded him that it was only 6 days after a hard half marathon, which was also going to be my excuse until we discovered that the winner today had finished in a little over 15 minutes and coincidentally had also won the Bournemouth Bay Half a week earlier in 1.12! With our excuses blown we decided to console ourselves by slinking off to the Reef Encounter in Boscombe for a well earned breakfast.

Bournemouth Bay Half Marathon and 10k

This was probably the biggest race around these parts that we have never got around to entering before, probably because it coincides with a couple of other very good races - the Exe to Axe, and the Taunton Marathon and half-Marathon.

Anyway, we finally did it, and showed up on the day extra early as a result of having lost track of which of the number/chips belonged to whom. We had visions of standing in giant queues for the information desk, and having to pin on numbers and attach timing chips as we ran to the back of the crowd at the start. As it turned out, it we needn't have worried, the race was extremely well-organised, and the well-staffed information desk took only seconds to check our numbers.

We then had plenty of time to explore the Pier area where most importantly, the main loos were situated. This was also where the races (all 4 of them ) were to start from. First to get under way was the 10k, in which new member Dave B had entered, so, after taking care of business, we went to the 10k start line to find Dave. His knee had been playing up, so there was some doubt whether he would be there, able to compete, but he was, although the knee was no better. He was gamely, some would say unwisely, racing, in the hope that the knee would at least hold up and not slow him down too much from his target 4k/minute pace. We wished him well, and returned to the car to get out of the cold, and rest a while before returning to the promenade for our warmup, and the rest of our pre-race routine.

The race start time approached, and we made our way to the start line, where we met Yeovil's star veteran runner, Paul Rose, who was doing a last sharpening race before the London Marathon. Then at 10:30 sharp, the race got under way, a fast start, along the promenade for half a klick, then sharp right up a surprisingly steep and long hill to the road that wound around the 3 Chines before a sharp drop back on to the promenade for a 6 mile dead flat

stretch.

Lin was focused on the female competition which as far as we could see consisted of an extremely slender and fit looking young woman in black, and a strong-but less svelte one in a white top. The latter sped off at a rapid pace which we could not have hoped to maintain ourselves, so we let her pull away, and Lin concentrated on keeping pace with the slim girl. I was focussed on maintaining a dead even pace, and also finding the straightest possible path around the Chines, up pavements and grass-verges, using all the available road to cover the least distance and save the maximum energy that I knew I would need later to keep up with Lin.

After we returned to the promenade we were running with whatever slight wind there was behind us, as was the early ladies leader. We were exactly on my target pace of 6:30/mile, however Lin could not resist racing the other girl, so, not wanting to risk blowing up I let them both go, slowly opening up a gap of 40 yards or so before I saw Lin pull away into a clear lead. I then started gaining on the second lady and caught her up at about 5 miles. I ran with her for a mile or so, as Lin continue to pull away from both of us, but then saw that the pace had dropped to 6:40, so I decided to take a chance, and put my foot down a bit along the remaining mile or so of flatness before the route came up from the beach and into the residential streets of Southbourne.

I put in a 6:25 mile, and almost caught up with Lin before we came up off the beach, then did catch up at the first of several sharp bends around the housing estate. We both looked back as we made the turn, to see the woman in black too close for comfort. But I sensed that Lin was struggling, although she kept up with me for a couple of miles until we returned to the coast at which point I gradually dropped her along the cliff-top road that led back to Boscombe. This is definitely the most testing part of the race, into the prevailing wind, and although visually flat, rising imperceptibly so the pace slowed and I was starting to feel pretty tired, and finding it hard to maintain the concentration without which the pace would drop even more. However once I reached the end of the cliff road, just before the steep drop to the beach, I looked back and saw Lin only 100 yards back, with the other girl no closer to her than before, and felt that I could stop worrying about her, and concentrate on catching up a few of the men in the race, and hopefully get ahead of any MV50s still in front of me.

A swoop down past Boscombe Pier, then on to the seafront for a final 2k. I was gaining on a pair of guys, one of whom looked like he might be over 50. I pulled even with about a mile to go, then bided my time until a kilometer to go when I made my final push for the line, and beat him by over 10 seconds. Unfortunately the first MV50 ws a further 7 seconds ahead of me! Maybe I could have caught him too, but I didn't think he looked old enough to be in my age-group. Looking young is a useful trait if you want to win age group prizes. A better one is to actually be a faster runner than all the other old guys!

However, I was happy with my performance, finishing in a respectable 1:25:42. And of course I was happier still to look back and see Lin crossing the line, less than a minute behind me, and winner of the ladies race, albeit a scant 15 seconds ahead of her young challenger. Her third win in a row, four if you count her first overall age-graded at the Grizzly!

Dave had finished the 10k in a disappointing 41:40, having struggled with his knee problem, hopefully it will respond to a bit of rest, but he is gamely planning to do the Johnny Kipps next week, you can't keep a good runner down!

After our race, we tried out the post-race massage which was probably the reason why our legs feel so good the following day. Then we repaired to our favourite Bournemouth area restaurant (Cafe Boscanova in Boscombe) for a celebratory lunch before we made out way through the maze of roads that is Bourmemouth and back to West Dorset.

Once home, the results were soon available online. There were about 1400 entrants in each of the main races, its easy to see why it is so popular. To summarise, a good race, well organised, with good facilities, and plenty of atmosphere. Also in aid of a very good cause, the British Heart

Foundation.

Banbury - 15 miles and 5000years

Last weekend the Westgates thought they’d been working too hard and decided to have a few days away. At least that’s how Richard saw it. In truth I had been planning accommodation, route and things to see and do for months. And one of those was the Banbury 15 mile road race. Before we got to that however there were a few thousand years of history to investigate starting with the 5000 year old white horse at Uffington. ( By strange coincidence the scene of a current murder enquiry). Thanks to the rain it was quite deserted when we were there. Then we moved on to a 3000 year old hill fort (similar to Maiden Castle). After that we found ourselves in Witney (David Cameron country) and also famous for manufacture of blankets in the past few centuries. Luckily for DC they have now all closed, or burned down providing a neat solution to infill housing problems.
Next day after an excellent breakfast in an equally good guest house we decided to stretch our legs in the direction of Blenheim Palace (18th century) following the Wychwood trail. This should only have taken a morning, but some people walk slower than others and with frequent stops we weren’t back until mid afternoon, so a bit too much time on feet. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking for a suitable and affordable place to eat; picturesque country pubs being hugely expensive. This took us past yet more ruins – 15th century this time.
The next day – Sunday was cloudy and cool, but warmed up later – excellent running weather. Richard had already decided he was going to continue with this year’s plan and run with me. That is, a few yards ahead so conveniently out of reach for conversation. The start and finish was in the park opposite Banbury leisure centre, and the route went in a northerly direction out of town, so after a couple of miles it was on pleasant country lanes, crossing over the Oxford canal at times. A few hills, including one that really sapped the energy from the legs at 11 miles. Then a return to town via the outward route and finally the welcome sight of the finish line. Here we were passed by a couple of runners wearing flip-flops. Apparently they always run in them although on this occasion one was suffering from a bleeding foot as well as damage to the footwear. After showers we checked the results and were relieved to find I was only 3rd in my age group (by quite a margin) and so didn’t have to wait for presentations. Of course we had to continue the historical quest and find Banbury Cross and a statue of a lady on a horse. Banbury doesn’t have a lot else going for it, couldn’t even find a shop open on Sunday selling Banbury cakes. May be the race organisers should give them out instead of fudge bars.
Another reason for choosing this race/location was that my ancestors were from this area, so on Monday we went searching for hovel type dwellings likely to have been inhabited by agricultural labourers, and to get to the villages went on the old Roman Road of Akeman Street. (I did say there was a lot of history). In Leafield a small village of 600+, we came across a church designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who in his spare time also designed the Grand Hotel at St Pancras and the Albert Memorial. Richard likes looking round old churches and I was pleased to find the names of some relatives on the gravestones and one on the WW1 memorial. After all that you’ll be pleased/relieved to find we drove straight home for a rest.

Grizzly 2011 - Valley of the Bogs

The weather was absolutely perfect on Sunday for the 24^th running of Axe Valley’s biggest and best event of the year, the infamous Grizzly.  It only seems like a moment ago that I ran my first Grizzly, thinking that I had to do it at least once to see what all the fuss was about.  This year was my 8^th Grizzly and sadly may be the last, at least in its current format, as Race Director, Garry Perratt, has said that unless someone else takes on the organisation in future, he will be scaling it down. 

A total of 1687 runners crossed the line in times varying from a little over two and a half hours to in excess of six but I think everyone would agree that they got their money’s worth.  As usual the organisation was superb, a great and varied course with several new sections, cheery and helpful marshals leaving no doubt as to the direction to take, fantastic support and entertainment along the way and a selection of goodies to reward you when finally crossing the line.  Not to mention the distinctive t-shirt, proudly worn by all Grizzly survivors.

As usual the race began with a loop along the beach, a strength sapping mile on the shingle which leaves you wondering how on earth your legs will cope with another 19 miles or so of fun – but it’s always a boost to run back over the start line before heading out onto the course “proper” with the shouts of the enthusiastic spectators to spur you on your way.

Martin and I started running together but as usual I got a bit carried away and found myself a little ahead of him as we headed across to Beer and up the hill to the coast path.  A lovely flat section across the cliffs towards Branscombe and then a steep descent to Branscombe Mouth and the traditional river crossing, disappointingly only knee deep this year, but still breathtakingly cold.

After passing through the village of Branscombe we moved into uncharted territory for me as the route headed much further north than usual, and although parts seemed vaguely familiar, I had no idea where we were.  I managed to pull away from a girl who had overtaken me at alarming speed on the downhill stretch to Branscombe and was delighted to find myself in second place in the ladies race, as confirmed by numerous friendly marshals along the way.  I was confidently expecting Martin to charge pass me at any time but I resisted the temptation to look back in case it was interpreted as weakness on my part.

At about 9 and a half miles on a very rough, narrow downhill path disaster struck as I caught my right foot in a root and went over on my ankle.  This was the same ankle which I sprained badly last year and it brought me back to a painful hobble.  I semi-seriously contemplated stopping but I managed to convince myself that it was only pain and kept going – gradually the pain subsided but for the next couple of miles I slowed down a little and had to place my foot very carefully.

This gave Martin the opportunity to catch me, much to my disappointment as I thought I had dropped him, but although I was aware of him behind me at about 13 miles he didn’t pass me and I didn’t see him again. 

The route seemed to loop round and round, the bogs came and went - not up to the usual standard of gloop, it has obviously been too dry recently – and I kept looking at the Garmin, seeing the miles racking up and wondering why we hadn’t got back to the Fountain Head pub yet, the point at which you know you are headed for home.   I just couldn’t get my bearings and it was with immense relief that I finally reached the familiar track down to the pub – where the support is tremendous and the crowd and music give tired legs a huge boost.  I think everyone, no matter the level of suffering, ran through there with a huge grin on their faces.

A steep and muddy climb followed up to the coast path and then a turn in the right direction, east back towards Seaton and the long downhill swoop into Branscombe, all morale boosting if you only didn’t know what still lay ahead.  The half mile or so along the beach didn’t seem too bad this year and I passed several runners and caught a large bunch running together ahead of me before reaching the end and turning onto the Stairway to Heaven. 

About halfway up I was overtaken by Claire, the Wells City Harrier who also beat me into third place at the Loch Ness marathon.  She passed me very strongly and my legs just didn’t have anything left to make a contest of it.  By the time I emerged onto the cliff top she was already a couple hundred yards ahead and as if that wasn’t bad enough the route then turned away from Seaton to do a loop inland before passing through the camp site and back down into Beer. 

The remainder of the route is so familiar I think I could run it blindfold which was just as well as I had reached the stage where it was mind over matter to keep the legs turning over, the last stretch along the beach was a killer, I really just wanted to stop and lie down.  Fortunately I managed not to give into that impulse and even wound up to a bit of a sprint finish, crossing the line in just under 3 hours and 3 minutes.

Martin had to put up with some heckling from Jon Perratt on the PA who greeted him into the finishing funnel by saying “I’m sorry to tell you that the wife has beaten you today” but he took it in good spirit as usual.  The traditional dip in the sea followed to remove at least some of the mud and then we enjoyed strolling around in the sunshine and cheering many of our friends across the line. 

The results appeared on the website this morning and I was delighted to find that I finished in the top 50 (49^th) and much to my amazement I was first overall age graded!  Martin finished in 68^th place and 16^th age graded, just under 4 minutes behind me.  Not bad for a pair of oldies.  My ankle is nicely swollen but I think will recover in time for the next race......................................

Bideford Half Marathon

Sunday 6th March saw the Westgates at Bideford for the half marathon. I (LW) had been looking forward to this as perusal of previous results showed a strange anomaly that I had run more marathons than halfs, so to put this right we confidently entered a few at the beginning of the year. Sadly in what is almost becoming a tradition Richard fell victim to ill-health in the weeks before the race and was recently only able to run round Hestercombe with me (rather than race it). This time he wasn’t even able to run at all, but enjoyed having the time to read his book for an hour before leaving the car to watch the winners cross the line.

My training hadn’t gone particularly well with only a few longer training runs so it was with some trepidation I found myself on the start line. Or, I should say several yards back from the start line as it took nearly a minute to get to it. The first half of the race is on a main road and follows the river inland for 7 miles and was undulating. A bit surprising as I thought rivers flowed downhill. After the 7 mile marker we crossed the river and turned on to the Tarka Trail. This tarmac path follows the line of a disused railway and is totally flat. Ideal for cyclists and runners who like fast times, but the terrain did look the same for the next 5 miles, broken only by a few bridges giving a change from one river bank to the other. After a long tunnel, another mile or so brought us within sight of the town of Bideford and not long then to the 12 mile marker. For most of the race I had been keeping in front or a Torbay runner who I thought might be in my age group. Having narrowly beaten the 2nd FV55 by TWO seconds at Hestercombe, I didn’t want the tables turned this time. Finally we reached the point where we left the Tarka trail and went back on the road, with countdown markers every 100m for the last 800m. A good way to get to the end of a race. It also took us across the old stone bridge and along the river front with lots of crowd support including RW with camera.

For those who like the stats, having finished in a chip time of 1:48:33 this was a PB for me, my last PB being 1:54 approx at Taunton in 2007. Sadly I needn’t have worried about beating fellow runners as I was 6th FV55 with prizes for the first 3 in each category.

Hestercombe Humdinger

This was our first visit to the Hestercombe Humdinger and although not our favoured off road terrain it was an enjoyable experience.  Maiden Newton Runners were not exactly out in force, but there were enough of us there to be described as a group.

The race starts in front of Hestercombe House, a lovely setting and heads up the drive and through lanes at the foot of the Quantocks.  Martin said afterwards that he clocked the first mile in 5.50 which he felt meant that he had gone off a little too fast.  It's a good job he didn't glance back because I clocked my first mile in 5.53 which was not a little too fast but totally insane!  After that we both settled down to a slightly more sensible and infinitely more sustainable pace.

This part of the race was a bit of a blast from the past for me - when I first began running again after the post school slothful years, my running friend lived just down the road from Hestercombe House and we often ran circuits from her house around these same lanes.  In fact the Humdinger route passed by where she lived, although she has long since moved on (moved to France, mainly I think to avoid having to run with me any more, as my enthusiam for running increased her's dwindled.  I still think it was a bit drastic emigrating, she could have just said "I don't want to run with you any more".  I would have been a bit upset but I would have understood. Anyway back to the race..........)

A three mile loop took us back to Hestercombe House, where we once again ran up the drive but this time turning right.  Lots of support here from spectators and the PA system before we tackled the first of the challenging climbs.  I had managed to drop one of the girsl who caused my ridiculous cavalry charge of the first mile, but the other one had gained about 50 yards on me and remained stubbornly at that distance ahead for the rest of the race.  I kept thinking I was gaining on her but each time it proved an optical illusion and in reality I just couldn't close the gap.  At about 3 and a half miles I caught and overtook the one other female runner ahead of me, but at the same time was myself caught and overtaken by the girl who narrowly beat me at the Loch Ness marathon, and so I remained in 3rd place for the entire race.  I could still see Martin up ahead and was hopeful that  his legs had not recovered from last week's tough Four Trigs and that I may be able to catch him, but my last glimpse of him was at 5 miles and after that he disappeared from view.

A sharp downhill section into Kingston St Mary followed and then a left turn and another telling climb up "Humdinger" Hill - still tailing my female rival by the same distance and still working hard in the fruitless attempt to close the gap. The figure of 8 route around unfamiliar lanes had left me completely disorientated and I felt as if I was heading in the wrong direction now but summiting the last climb brought me back to Vollis Hill which we had climbed on our way out and which we could now swoop down knowing that the end was near.  As I turned into the house and summoned up my remaining energy for the sprint down the drive I could see Martin waiting at the line - he finished in an execellent 15th place overall and a full 2 minutes ahead of me today.  I crossed the line in 1.05.55, overall position 23rd.

We collected our t-shirts and then jogged back down the drive to meet the others - firstly Lesley, being paced by Richard today, and not far behind them, Charlie who we then ran in with - and a storming finish she had too, charging down the hill passing several other runners as she headed for the line, well ahead of Andy in a reversal of their finishing positions last time they both did this race.

It was a good day for MNR - picking up 1st MV55, 1stFV45, 1st FV55 and 3rd lady trophies - I was also reunited with my trail shoes which I had left behind at the Four Trigs last week and I'm pleased to report that even with a visit to my parents in nearby Wellington thrown in I managed to get home with all my possessions intact, nothing left anywhere it shouldn't have been, a small miracle indeed based on my recent form!

Blackdown Beast

After thoroughly enjoying last year's inaugural 16 mile romp through the Somerset/Devon borderlands, (with 3 pubs and a Cornish Pasty/Mulled-cider stop), this event has been on our calendar for many months. We set off at 8:30 sharp, theoretically only an hours drive away and starting at 10:00am, but expecting to need the extra half an hour to find our way to Dunkeswell from the nearest main road - even though it's less than 4 miles as the crow flies. We needed most of that time because despite having done the run last year, our memories of the route were vague, and the roads very windy, and potholy. We found some of the few roads that we missed trying to find the place last year, but unfortunately none of them led to our destination, so we ended up driving round to the far side of the village and approaching from the west. Next year we'll remember the map.

We finally arrived only 10 minutes before 10, just in time for the meeting briefing, or brief meeting before the start where we were told to expect mud, ice, rocks, and more mud, but thankfully not the herd of cows in a farmyard which we had to negotiate last year.

The other important information was that there were only 10 vegetarian pasties, which would have lent some urgency to our pace over the first leg of the course, except that because we were running with Garry (AKA LMRB), we were automatically at the head of the field. Luckily Garry was only "pootling" around so we were able to keep up - just, thanks to him opening most of the gates, and doing the map-reading. A local runner, Tony was running with us too, he is more used to chasing blobs of flour rather than drawing pins, but didn't seem to have much trouble keeping up, and maintaining a conversation.

The first leg was over 6 miles and the short break at Smeatharpe for pasty & mulled-cider was extremely welcome, especially inside a warm village hall where the temperature was several tens of degrees warmer, so the shock when we set off for the pub at Upottery was substantial. It took us a mile or two to really get going again, luckily not as hilly or muddy as the first section with several easy downhill tracks where we could relax a bit, and where Lin relaxed so much that she caught her toe on a stone and went flying. No serious damage, fortunately, she is pretty good at falling over!

The Sidmouth Arms gave us a warm welcome, although the landlady's first words were "you are all quite mad"!!! We couldn't really argue about that, she's right. Forced to choose between the Otter Ale, and Otter Bitter, I had a half of each. In a blind taste test I could just about tell the difference between them (by peeking), they are both good. Lin had a cup of coffee - oh well, it takes all sorts.

The next group of runners were hot on our heels, so we didn't stay long, although it was tempting to stay and enjoy the warmth, and maybe another drink, but the Luppitt Inn was beckoning, only 2.8 miles away, but separated from Upottery by a rather large hill.

I wish I had taken a picture of the fantastic view from the top of the hill above Luppitt, but I was too tired and cold to even try to get the camera out, and we weren't hanging about. It was down the precipice to the road, then halfway up one of the steeper hills in this part of Devon to definitely the smallest pub in the west country. We barely had time to down a half of Otter before the chasing group pitched up, and with still less than 10 runners in the bar, the place was full, and we left to make room for the others.

As we set off to enjoy the second and much steeper half of the hill, we were joined by renowned Honiton athlete, Heather Foundling-Hawker - having a nice easy morning's running as a break from her ultra training. She had just qualified for the GB 24 hour squad in an amazing effort where she had to run well over 200 miles in 4 days after her first attempt had failed due to adverse weather. (Link) She had some interesting stories to tell of the Ultra circuit which helped to make the last couple of miles back to Dunkeswell pass more easily. Soon we were running down into the village, and then up the final steepish hill to the Royal Oak (second most popular pub name in England).

Game over, but still some enjoyment to be had with a nice drink and a hearty meal of fish and chips in front of the fire, chatting with friends as they arrived back. A low key event, not a race, just great company and countryside - running at its best.

Many thanks to Nick, John, and the rest of the organising crew. We'll be back in 12 months for more mud and Mulled Cider.

Oh, and a plug for the Honiton Hippo. It be a good'un! Similar terrain, but a race, not a pub run. http://www.honitonrc.com/races/hippo/hippo.htm We would be doing it if we didn't have the Johnny Kipps on the same day. Its the old complaint, too many races, too little time.