Because of working in London I missed the Saltwell Harriers fell race this year which I have ran for the past 2 years and is the only fell race I have participated in. I have walked the Chevy Chase 3 times but never ran it so I was excited, but nervous as to how the race would go.
I had been suffering from a chesty cough for a number of weeks and didn't feel in great shape so had made a decision to use the race as a learning experience and take it easy.
It had been raining heavily in the week leading up to the race and there had been talk of it being called off, but as race day arrived it was still on so I headed up to Wooler.
When I got there my brother Alan told me that because of the weather they had shortened the course to truncate The Cheviot and Hedgehope with a total distance of 12 miles instead of 20. To be honest given the shape I was in this was welcome news and totally changed my fueling strategy - I felt confident I could get round that distance with no fuel, but packed a bottle of Lucozade just on case.
After setting Alan off in the walk I returned to Wooler YH where I talked to Jim from the Saltwell Harriers for a bit- sadly he was missing this years race through injury.
As the race set off I settled into a steady pace and tried to enjoy it the best I could. Throughout the race visibility was never more than about 50 metres and rain was also a constant factor.
The first few miles went past relatively easy, apart from being almost instantly soaked from the rain and splashback from surface water. Luckily it wasn't too cold so t-shirt and shorts were order of the day.
As we reached Cheviot Knee the terrain started to become steeper and more boggy making it increasingly more difficult to run. At one point I went arse over tit into the middle of a huge peat bog, much to the amusement of some passing walkers. We were diverted before the climb up to the Cheviot which gave some welcome downhill running, although I twice slipped on this section and twisted my right ankle pretty badly.
At the bottom of the hill I passed both Alan and Jim who both gave some encouraging words. Then it was another steep ascent up towards Langley crags and a dead sheep at one of the checkpoints.
The next section is relatively flat with some good running along well marked tracks. I became a little complacent at this stage and took a wrong turn, even though it was my 4th time along the route. I really should have known better but the combination of the mist, running instead of walking and not having my map as handy as I should have had meant I wasted a few minutes getting my bearings before meeting up with a few other runners and finding the right way.
By this time it had became apparent that the route was significantly more than 12 miles and I was glad that I had decided to bring a bottle of Lucozade for an energy boost.
Although the race wasn't as long as a marathon (the final distance was 16 miles) with the nature of the terrain it is probably comparable. The biggest difference is that most marathons are flat road races where's its easier to run at a constant pace, but you generally don't stop running the whole time. Because some of the terrain on the Chevy is so steep it makes sense to walk these parts which breaks the run up and makes it a bit more mentally easier to handle (although it certainly isn't physically easier).
When I reached the aptly named Hell Path I was really starting to struggle, but being familiar with the route I knew that it was pretty much downhill from that point. Once I reached the last mile on Tarmac I put in a kick that helped me overtake a few people and reach the finish line where I got hosed down and picked up my goodie bag. Final time was 2:37:35 and I came 41st out of 142 finishers.
Whilst it was disappointing not to take on hedgehope and the cheviot I still really enjoyed the race and will defo be returning next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment