If I'm being completely honest, I didn't really quite know what I had signed myself up for, having never taken part in any trail races previously. But I had figured that it couldn't be too dissimilar to crosscountry, and loving that event as I do I was pretty confident that I would enjoy the challenge. So much so that during the week, as other runners had been forced to drop out, I volunteered myself to run an extra leg for one of our other teams. At just over 2.35 miles each leg, how hard could it be?
On my first team, I would take the first leg before tagging on to James Mulvany on our second leg, with David Taylor bringing us home on the third and final leg.
Arriving in plenty of time, I borrowed a pair of fell shoes off one of the other club members (I'm glad I didn't try running it in my road shoes!) and set about on a reccie of the course, with about half an hour to go before the race start. I'm glad I did, as it prepared me fully for what was ahead of me, the only problem being that a wrong turn meant that I ended up doing a longer 3 mile warm up and having to hurry up a bit on the last mile in order to get back to the start in time!
It was only once at the start that I realised just how many teams Wesham had entered into he competition, with some 16 of the 120 teams participating being Wesham blue! Being on leg one meant that my leg for the 'A' team was pretty much just a normal race, however as opposed to many races on the road, I didn't recognise many of the front runners, with the exception of Chris Singleton of Barlick. This meant I wasn't sure what to expect pace-wise or how the race would unfold.
I decided that the best course of action was to try and grab the race by the scruff of the neck and run the first half of the race hard, in an attempt to get to the summit in first, with the idea being that it was all downhill from there...
...easier said than done! The first quarter of a mile is fairly flat, across field and up onto the trail path which began to wind its way through the woodland. I had successfully managed to get myself into the lead by the time we entered the woods and began the incline. The first half of the incline was fairly gradual, and aside from having to be aware of branches and roots and the uneven nature of the underfoot conditions, it was very much runnable.
This section of the race also saw you have to pass through two gates, but that was made simple as the marshals had opened them by the time the runners approached. At the top of the first section of the incline, we passed under a little tunnel and into the upper woodland area, where the hill began to get steadily steeper. A hundred yards or so after the tunnel, you had to take a sharp turn back almost upon yourself and straight up and onto the toughest climb of the course. It is difficult to know how far exactly this climb went on for, but according to my watch readings the total elevation on the whole run was 488ft and my first mile was down at 7:30 pace.
I managed to reach the summit just about in first place, but by this stage I was really blowing - I like hills, but this was more than I am used to! - and I didn't take the best approach to climbing over a tree stump that was led across the path near the top (I didn't notice the gap that was runnable between them!) and lost some time and momentum manoeuvring my legs over it.
Almost immediately as we reached the top, Chris Holdsworth of Clayton-le-moors Harriers - who went on to win the leg in the fastest time of the day, surged past me. I tried my hardest to keep him within range throughout the descent, as we plummeted back down the other side of the hill. In trying to keep myself in with a shout of first place I probably cost myself both energy and momentum as we came through the fields and into the final section of the race. I struggled with my foot placing as we negotiated a tricky section of a dozen or so wide steps, and at the bottom of those I was quickly passed by two Barlick Fell runners, despite finishing fairly quickly (my last 0.35 miles were recorded at 4:50 pace), I was unable to reign them back in and as such I found myself finishing the leg in fourth position.
I passed on to James Mulvany, who had an excellent leg and managed to gain the team a position as Wesham found themselves in and among the top three after leg 2, a position that David Taylor very nearly maintained as he was passed agonisingly on the finish line as we got pipped for a place on the podium and finished up in fourth place. It was an excellent showing and a great result for us, up against some of the top fell teams and teams much more used to this type of event and race. For Wesham to be up there competing with the likes of Clayton, Barlick and Blackburn on their own patch was fantastic. I loved being a part of a team in a relay environment again, having missed out on the 12 stage earlier on this season.
For my second leg, I learned from my first lap and took it a little easier up hill and had a bit more energy left for the down hill section. I decided not to bust too much of a gut second time around and to try and enjoy it, which I managed to - using those in front of me as motivation to keep on going throughout. I gained some 25-30 places for the team and recorded the 8th fastest leg of the night on my second attempt, despite being nearly a minute slower than my first lap.
Overall I loved the experience and would love to take part again next year - and this has shown me how good hill work is, I really need to find a big hill near me to practice on! My calves were in bits for a couple of days afterwards though, and knew that they had been in a real workout!
The rest of the week saw me do a steady 11.5 miles on Monday, a 2 x 2 mile tempo on the Tuesday (at 5:09 average pace) finished off with 4 x 200 metre strides at 30 seconds a piece. Wednesday I got out for an hour and ran 9 miles at a comfortable pace, Friday I went out early before work and plodded out 4 miles to try and get some of the lactic out of my legs from the previous evening. Saturday was a rest day and Sunday saw me do a long run at 6:15 pace for 17 miles with Rob Affleck, with a mile cool down giving us 18 miles in total.
Total mileage for the week: 62
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:40
Total mileage for June: 254
Total mileage so far this month (July): 22
Total mileage so far 2016: 1776
Average miles per day 2016: 9.70
