Thankfully, having 2 young children means that going out and getting hammered on New Years Eve isn't an option any more, which is pretty lucky, as the Hardmoors 30 is on New Years Day. Not a race I would like to do through the haze of a hangover.
It was a long drive up, leaving at 5:40am, watching the skies turn slowly from clear to cloudy,and watching the thermometer drop from 4 down to 2 degrees, hoping that the wind wouldn't be too bad, and that the kit I had brought to race in wouldn't be too minimal. Made it to Ravenscar at 8:10ish, got out and discovered it was a bit cold. And windy. And cold,did I mention that? I grabbed all of my kit, headed off to registration. Number grabbed, pinned to the pack then into the toilet queue for a bit.
At 8:45 there was a hilarious, and slightly confusing race briefing giving details of the course and a few other bits and pieces, before we were ushered out onto the road for the start. Garmin on to search for satellites, then to figure out exactly what my race plan was, as I had a bit of a head cold. Only a snotty nose, so I figured I would go for it and see what happened. Also, decided to wear my Hoka Rapa-Nui shoes because a) there was a load of cinder track to run on, and b) with my mudclaws dying at the Tour de Helvellyn I had nothing else to wear.
9am, we're off. As usual, I get a crap start and have to fight my way through a bit, and sneak up into about 6th or 7th place by the time we hit the Cleveland Way. about 100m up the Cleveland Way, some fairly slow runners join us from what can only be described as a short-cut, the cheating so-and-so's. The Cleveland Way follows the coast, and is nice and grassy, and muddy. One thing the Hokas are not good for is mud. I either had to run right next to the fence, or on the grassy strip between the muddy path and the cliffs. Fun times. Along here I move up into 3rd, in a bunch with the leading 2. We stayed like this for a few miles, until the descent into Hayburn Wyke, which was too muddy for me to risk keeping up with them (they were in x-talons).
Made it past the photographer at the bottom without embarrassing myself, and headed up the other side, then finally onto the cinder track. This follows a disused railway line all the way to Whitby, with a couple of breaks in between. I could see the lead 2 a bit ahead, and set out to catch them but with some curves, I couldn't keep them in view, and dropped off the pace slightly, as it was a slight incline for the next few miles. Just before Ravenscar we leave the cinder track, back to the Village Hall for checkpoint 2. The support is amazing, but 4th and 5th are very close behind, one of which was the first lady.
I use my usual checkpoint tactics, in, register, out, then head off down the road, being chased. The next little part would be great in shoes with grip - a nice, steep, grassy, muddy descent down and back onto the cinder track. I half slid, half skiied and almost fell the whole way down, then settled into a rhythm. After a bit, the pair behind me caught up, and slowly passed me. This gave me a bit of a kick up the pants and got me running a bit faster, to keep them within sight.
I managed this all the way to Whitby, where I downed a cup of coke and carried on, through the packed streets, trying my best not to just put the shoulder down and knock some over. Up the 199 steps to the Abbey (walking) then back onto the Cleveland Way which we follow to the finish. Back into the headwind! I was just behind 2nd and 3rd place, catching them slowly up and down the hills, finally dropping the bloke (who by all accounts was only keeping up because he didn't know the way!) and then passing the lady. Not for long though, as the mud started, and my Hokas, whilst perfect for the cinder track, were terrible on the mud. we stayed like that until the final checkpoint just before the amusingly named Boggle Hole.
Still not far behind her, but then some serious mud started, and I had to drop my pace even more just to stay upright. A couple of 15 mile runners passed me,so I tried to keep with them, throwing a bit of caution to the wind - so I fell over, on my backside. Unfortunately, I put both hands down to break my fall, and got cramp in both triceps simultaneously. Ever tried to run through slippery mud, in shoes with no grip without using your arms for balance? hilarious to look at, but hard to do. Managed finally uncramp my arms but I was a bit ginger after that, until onto some harder ground. Back up the hill (the worst hill finish I have found so far) and along a bit of road to the finish. 3rd place, 2nd male, in 4:12 - 8 minutes faster than the previous record. Winner was Jayson Cavill (in much grippier shoes) in 3:52, and 1st lady, 2nd over all was Jo Zakrzewski, fastest runner in Team GB's Ultra-Trail team! No wonder she was bloody quick!
Strava link: http://www.strava.com/activities/103261076
Thanks TORQ for fuelling my race!
Saturday 4th Jan - Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire XC at Shipley Park. It was muddy, worse than the Cleveland Way muddy, 9.9km of mud. Also, forgot my Garmin, so I didn't know how far or fast I was, and didn't check how many laps, so I didn't know how far. So I just ran. Then my legs ran out of juice after the first lap, the second lap was longer, so I hung on (while people I should normally beat easily passed me) only to find out there was a 3rd lap. Boo. Finished in around 40 minutes somewhere. Just happy to get around. Roll on next week's XC.
Also, starting my Highland Fling training plan Tuesday night, Should be fun.
