It has certainly been a long time since I actually ran a race, and this one certainly counts. My recollection might not be the best, simply because it was a couple of weeks ago and there simply hasn't been time for me to write stuff down, (I don't have much time here today either, but here goes anyway).
Leg 4- as, it seems, is always the case for me. Never ran any of the other legs, but to be honest, I love this leg anyway, so don't really mind. The main problem is knowing when you're going to be needed for the leg and being in the right place at the right time. Somewhat geekily I have a spreadsheet with the times of previous relays detailing who ran and the times it took, in order to get a handle as to how long each leg might take, and when we might be expected to need to be at Sykeside campsite for the handover.
The worst case scenario would be not being there when our guys came in- a bit of an embarrasing predicament to be in- so we generally tend to go on the cautious side of when to be there.
Based on our estimations we probably wouldn't need to be at Sykeside until about 12:45 or so, so Chris and I saw off the guys on Leg 1 and then wandered off to the Pavillion to grab a cup of tea. Most importantly, we also bought some cake. The biggest mistake of the last relays we went to was seeing all the cake at the beginning and thinking "yep.... looking foward to that" and then coming in at the end of the last leg, and being faced with the dregs of the table rather than the riches we'd seen at the beginning... (word to the wise there...).
The weather was pretty crappy, so we sat around outside the pavillion under the shelter, chatting with Judith J and passing the time of day... oooh! the Paris-Roubaix had started, and Chris has some decent signal- so we scurried across to the car inbetween showers and settled in to watch an hour or so of cyclists getting ever more mud splattered and exhausted. The rain came and went. And came and went. etc. Rainbows, blue sky and squalls were obviously the mark of the day.
Eventually it got to midday and we had a bit of lunch, got changed and started a warm up plod over to the Campsite. It's about 4-5km away, so a nice easy half hour or so trot. Don't want to get there too early because otherwise you're standing around in the cold for an age. There isn't a whole lot of mobile signal around this area (unless your name is Chris, it seems) so getting updates as to how fast your team is going is very hit and miss. The original team was somewhat kyboshed by various impressive injuries, so we weren't expecting to be somewhere up in the placings today- it was just going to be a good day out in the hills for everyone- and a re-introduction to the racing scene.
On the jog over to the campsite there was a steady stream of the fast ladies and lads from the teams who had already completed their Leg3 and sent Leg4 on their way. Chris commented that there were no other people running the same direction as us, but hey, that wasn't a problem.
Got to the Campsite/transition at about 1240 and had a chat with the Ladies from thr Mixed Pennine team who had just finished 3- (I think the team went on to win the Mixed prize) and then stood around, chewing the fat and waiting. John Pollard, the Glossopdale taxi driver (as it were) turned up to tell us when Immy and Mark had left on Leg 3, which gave us some idea of how long we had to wait, and Wioleta also came along, having done her stuff on Leg 1.
We stood and waited, watching team after team come in and transition (mostly relatively seamlessly...) and at 1305 the call came- "5 minutes to the mass start!". Crikey. I've never been in a mass start before. That could be interesting... and a couple of short minutes later a pair of familiar figures came bombing down the track... 1208! "oooh - that's pretty close to the mass start" said one of the officials.... "We've got 2 damn minutes" was the reply.
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| Enough time to do a rendition of "Im a little teapot" .. "Oh no- Im a sugar bowl..." |
Transition!
Off we go. I know Chris is fitter than me at the moment (ok, not just at the moment... period), so today was mostly going to be an exercise in telling him to slow down on the ups and try to make him hurt on the downs. Pass the dibber to him and we hare off down the track toward Checkpoint 1- just by the bridge. We can already see a team ahead of us. Dib at the bridge and then the slog up begins. Up through the ferns and mud, taking great gasps of air as we attempt to warm our systems up. The rain seems to have stopped for the time being and neither of us are wearing waterproofs. First team gets overtaken just at the next bridge and we break into a run up the path... 3 more teams ahead of us on the path are just in sight- so something to aim for.
Previously we chatted about the route up to checkpoint 2- Hart Crag- shall we do the same as ever and go up the path before hanging right after the steps, or shall we go right early and try the offroad path? The answer was stick with what we know. I got overtaken on the steps by Tom Brunt one year. If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me.
As we head towards the steps about 4 or 5 teams can be seen on the offroad version over to our right, but we stick to what we know, up and up. The rain comes in- hard. Neither of us bothers to put on a jacket- it'll be past in a few minutes and we're not intending to be out for too long. The 3 teams on the path are picked off one by one- the final pair right at the top, just before it flattens out momentarily. Yes- over to the right we can still see a number of teams making their way up the hillside. We can see the summit, and so now hang a right and drop from the path.
I'd love to say that "in short order we were at the top of the hill", but seem to recall that it was a bit more of a struggle than that... however, we'd certainly made up some decent time thus far. Chris dibbed at the top and I set off across the slippy stones trying not to do any damage to myself. We slightly cocked up the route to the descent, losing maybe half a minute or so, but were swiftly on the right path, and down into the col before the next ascent, another few teams ahead of us.
Chris led the ascent up and over to Fairfield with me dragging along behind- not really able to tell him to slow down through my ragged gasps, but somehow I managed to stay in touch. We took a slight detour round a lump which I had never done before, no idea if it saved any time whatsoever, then across to the descent off Fairfield to Cofa Pike- my favourite part of the whole route.
Yes, there are a number of teams who drop right down below the pike and along under the scree, but a) I dont know that route and b) the bit over Cofa is downright fun.
A blat down the scree before the Pike took another 2 teams, and then another just as we hit the scrambly bit. This is the only part where I know I can happily go as hard as I like and Chris will just about manage to keep in touch with me (I suffer for the other 90% of the route) and so jsut enjoy myself for the rocky scrambling over the Pike. On the downhill I manage to stuff a gel down my neck in anticipation of the ascent to St, Sunday and the inevitable suffering that Chris is going to rain down on me.
Another couple of pairs are passed, and we head up St. Sunday. Chris jogging easily. Me... really not. Not my finest time up that particular hill- having to walk much more than in previous years, but we topped out eventually- knowing there was yet another team who had done so just a bit before us- the chance to get a final extra place on the way down, perhaps?
From the Checkpoint we aimed slightly right, down across some boulders and grass and hit the trod- yes, a team below us- so we opened up and gleefully descended down the hill- it's pretty much downhill all the way from here. Down and down to a slight col before the traverse around Birks. We caught up and overtook that team just before the col, and continued on... goodness... ANOTHER team ahead of us in the distance... Chris say YES- we'll get them, I'm thinking well, we're a bit close to the end now, I'm not totally sure- we might be in a sprint out at the end... but we give chase.
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| End |
Fast feet down the steps .. there are a lot more than you think they are. A slight pause for Chris who got caugt up between the other pair, and we clatter off down the hill. Remember which side each of the gates open, so you don't waste time looking for a latch at the hinge end, and onto the road for the final section. Although it's downhill- which I love, it's road and non-technical and Chris stretches out ahead. Trying to keep up, I know we're within 400 metres of the end, and I'm very much in danger of being sick... just hold on til the end. Round a couple of corners and a final sprint in to the end.
Done.
1:20ish. Not the fastest we've ever done (and I know Chris could have gone faster), but we started in 57th place and ended in 40th. Pretty happy with that.
(Granddayout Photography have got some excellent pics of Leg 4- Chris and I are on page 26 - https://www.granddayoutphotography.co.uk/portfolio524456p26.html )
And now I need to get on with a dissertation.
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