Firstly a Fundraiser reminder from Betty.
Static Bike Fundraiser
At Tesco’s Helsby – Sept 24th 6AM to Midnight
It would be great if the green army could get a block of time
We can also raise more by having more than one person riding
in the 1/2 hour – so instead of one rider at £40, 2 riders ar £80
There will be a kids bike as well!!!!
Parkrun
Full, consolidated results for Helsby members at last weeks parkruns are below:
http://tinyurl.com/kvq2x25
Colin Thompson sent in this report from a brutal sounding Halewood 5K on Saturday.
I was all on my lonesome for the Halewood 5k on Saturday but managed to put in pretty decent run in torrential conditions. The standard was very high, the top 3 all under 16 minutes, I managed to get my fastest time of the year with 17.18 in 12th place so very pleased with that one!
Full results can be found here
http://tinyurl.com/hd2szuv
Neil Finegan sent in this report of his win at the Clwydian 15 trail race
Not so much a race report as a recommendation for next year. The Clwydian series has been running for a few years offering 5, 15 or 30 mile options in this vertically challenging part of the world. They are relatively small and low key events offering excellent value for money.
The start point is the Golden Lion Inn Llangynhafal, familiar to anyone who has ran the green green grass fell race and the routes take in Penycloddiau, Offas Dyke path, Moel Arthur then Gronfoel . The 15 mile route that I did had 1145 metres of climbing over its 24k. The course was petty well marked (and a map was provided at the start) with feed points (cake, water and coke) and tag watches provided at the start allowed you to assess your splits after the race and let the organisers keep track of the runners. It was a real mix of terrain – from the typical fell running steep slopes to stone gully climbs, through to some decent farmers trails where you could pick up some speed. Some of the climbs were tough but the views at the top of Moel Arthur were amazing.
For someone like myself who has taken part in a lot of the shorter fell races the 15 gave the opportunity to push on a bit further and take in the stunning scenery. I honestly can’t recommend it enough for anyone looking to push their limits.
As for the race itself, well no one wanted to take the lead at the start faced with a near 300m climb in the first 3 kilometres, so after a few minutes of slow shuffling I just went for it and spent the rest of the race thinking I was being chased down. I struggled on to the end (extra km due to wrong turns) only to find that I was nearly 15 minutes ahead of the guy in second and set a new course record.
Neil also took the overall 1st prize in the Deeside Multi Terrain series earlier in the week so a cracking few days running from him.
Next up, 2 reports from Shelf Moor fell race. The first from Steve Riley, the second for Laura BH.
Steve….
Fast becoming a favourite race, Shelf Moor saw a small but perfectly formed Helsby turnout with 5 green vests toeing the line near Glossop. The local rifle club was unable to to strike fear into the heart of our brave warriors …that came a mile in when the gentle incline of the stream valley abruptly swung left to take in the brutal climb of James Thorn. Topping out at just over 2000′ the climbing was all done in pretty much one big pull.
Ben was not to be seen after the start, coming home in a very respectable top 20 finish (always a stiffer standard in these Peak District races) and knocking a few mins off last year’s time. Laura and Steve swapped places for a close tussle to the end, Janet coming in soon after. Phil came in some time later with a smile on his face after some navigation practise. We ran a good mile or two in the mist and despite a well flagged route, it was easy to go off piste (note to curious fell runners – this hardly ever happens, we usually come back with the same number we set off with). Good work Phil pulling it back. Tea and cakes to finish naturally.
Thanks also to CBH, James and Rhys for high quality cheering at a couple of places on the course.
Laura
Sunday saw the next race in the Fell series and 5 green vests made the trip east to Old Glossop for the Shelf Moor fell race. This is a cracking race with a bit of everything. I have decided I need more practice running across bogs – was not very good at taking the racing line! No official results yet but Ben Fletcher was first home for Helsby men followed by Steve R. I finished first for the Helsby ladies (after Steve) and then Janet. Mr Gillard illustrated why they require you to carry a map and compass and was last back after a bit of a detour (it got a bit misty on the tops). Luckily unlike me he can actually use a map and compass! Great running everyone.
This race was also part of the interclub competition. There were a few out for Spectrum, not sure if final results are out yet – will post them once they have been announced!
Chris Bayham-Hughes’ report from the epic UTMB Trail Race including some absolutely amazing photographs.
It’s done. Mission accomplished. The iconic trail race that has captured my imagination for the past 4 years (and has beaten me once) has been completed. For those that don’t know of it, UTMB is to ultra distance trail running what London is to Marathons. Starting and finishing in Chamonix competitors run 105 miles through 3 countries with over 10k of ascent (and 10k of descent). It’s a beast.
I’ve just started writing a list of magic moments and I totalled over 20, they were generalised, long and spanned pages. So I realise I need to cut this down for consumption. I’ll post up a full blog with photos on my blog site: www.baynham-hughes.comn/Blog in due course and I’ll also continue to try to get this back on line and up to date…. My mum will want to read it at least ?
In short:
It was very hot again – 32 C @ 1000m
Incredible atmosphere throughout, from whole towns out with “allez, allez allez” & cow bells, to a young lady flasher, to getting to run with personal friends
I loved almost every inch of the course (the final descent is just cruel if your feet have gone)
I stuck to my race plan and cooled my entire body at every water source and aid station
I left Champex Lac with a smile on my face (I got the bus of shame back from here last year)
Totally shredded my feet – steamed them to trench foot and then the blistered everywhere; also a good 0.5 cm deep gashes through both of them due to the trench foot
Breath-taking views throughout
Incredible personal support and thanks for all the texts!
Amazing support for my fundraising – truly humbling!
One thing that left a lasting impression was the thunderstorm directly over head whilst I was on the climb out of Champex. I love a storm, but being on a mountain side next to people with poles and it literally feeling like the lightening was missing us by inches was a good lesson in how quick mountain weather can change. I developed a need to get off the mountain very quickly and was keen to stay clear of anybody with poles, a large number of fillings or that was unusually tall!
In the end I took just over 34 hours (I’d have broken 34 if my feet hadn’t been agony) and placed 184th out of 2300 runners (over 40% of the field dropped out). I thoroughly enjoyed it, but not sure staying 100 vertical metres was a great idea (it was as it was with friends, but it did take ~ an hour for Laura to push me up the hill as I kept losing my balance and falling backwards due to the pain in my feet).
Well worth the 4+ year obsession.
My webcams:
My own go pro footage to follow.
Lastly, Fitzy has turned to the darkside and tried his hand at a triathlon. Heres his report….
Ok so it’s not a report fully focusing on running, but thought I’d let you know how I got on in my first Triathlon.
8 weeks ago I decided to take the plunge, and enter a sprint distance, 400m pool swim, 20k bike and 5k run. I know it doesn’t sound a lot but for me who could not swim very well at all, the swim part of this was always my worry, but a few lessons off my daughters swimming teacher soon sorted out my breathing technique, and 8 weeks of a few hours in the pool each week, got me to the start line raring to go, and I’m glad to say I probably enjoyed the swim more than the bike and run.
There is definitely room for improvement on the swim, the bike was pretty good and I was 2nd fastest on the run, and came 9th overall which I was over the moon about.
70% of participants were first timers, so this created a really friendly atmosphere, the organisation and facilities was brilliant and the marshals were some of the best I’ve seen encouraging people all the time. For a starter event this was great value at £20. I need to now man up a bit and go for an open water Tri, although that won’t be until next spring as the winter approaches.
My message to you all, if you really don’t fancy doing something like I have for years with swimming, it’s always put me off, then have a go, you might just surprise yourself and get a proper good kick out of it just like I have this weekend.
Helsby Tri club anyone?
Full results below
http://tinyurl.com/z7l8ank
Oh, and Ste Roach was there too.
Thanks for all the reports sent in. As usual please send them to
helsby-race-reports@outlook.com
Cheers
Gaz
