Hello Green Army
2 weeks for the price of 1 this week, luckily for you all you didn’t miss anything last week as there was nothing to report on. Few notices to start of with.
Club counter season is well under way, so Tim has reminded us whats coming up over the next month or so
- Borders League Race 6: Buckley RC Sun 31/03/2019 11:00
- Chester Spring 5 Wed 10/04/2019 19:00
- Borders League Race 7 + Presentation Night : Prestatyn RC Wed 24/04/2019 19:30
- Mid Cheshire – 5K Spring Fri 26/04/2019 19:00
- Llangynhafal Loop (AS) 7.6km/4.7m 533m/1749ft Sat 27/04/2019 13:00
- Ysgol Dinas Bran (AS) 6.9k/4.3M 350m/1150ft Wed 08/05/2019 19:15
- Fairfield Horseshoe (AM) 14.5km/9M 914m/2999ft Sat 18/05/2019 12:00
- Chester Half Marathon Sun 19/05/2019 09:00
A quick message from myself about this Sundays Border League race 6 in Buckley
A rally cry to all, it’s mothers day this Sunday and i’m expecting numbers to be affected but if you can, please please come and race. We have had some cracking turn outs this season and it’s got the mens and ladies teams into the position they are in now because of these fantastic turn outs. I would hate to see any of our teams get penalty points at this late stage.
It’s also Helsby V’s Felsby leg 1, so i’m expecting as per usual a great turn out from the Felsby crew. Hopefully see you all on Sunday.
Thanks ….Fitzy
Over to the Captain for our first report – Cheshire 10k – Arley Hall
Our second road counter of the year and we had 12 Helsby vests toeing the line at Arley Hall ready to do battle on a cool but still morning, race conditions were perfect. The Cheshire 10k is one of the flattest and fastest 10k races in the Northwest and is a good gauge of your fitness early on in the year before the summer racing season begins.
We had some fantastic running on the day and its congratulations once again to Fitzy who is in the form of his life taking a whopping 1.30 minutes off his PB coming home in 33.55 and first back for Helsby. Months of hard marathon training has certainly paid off and he set one of the fastest 10k times by a Helsby runner for quite some time so be sure to congratulate Fitzy when you next see him.
Coming home first for the ladies with an outstanding run was Carol Shaw who is one of the most consistent runners in the club, well done Carol! Helen Owens was close on her heels and scored a new PB with a superb run and is getting back to her best after months of consistent training and mileage. It’s also congratulations to Janet Shaw who won her age group and we had some fantastic results from the rest of the troops who all put in a fine display of running. Well done everyone!
Please see the Helsby results below:
Trevor Lewis is next up
“I had heard a little about Wrexham‘s Run festival from a friend who runs for Mersey-Tri. I normally run Wilmslow half marathon in late March but am unable to do so this year so I decided to try to find a fairly local half marathon earlier on in the month .
Wrexham Run Festival appears to have been running since 2015. It combines a full marathon, a 20–mile race and, in addition to these, a half marathon. There is also a short fun run for children & families.
The Full marathon and 20-mile runners set off at 9am; the fun-run at 9.30 and the half marathon 10:30am all from the same point which stands opposite Wrexham’s Waterworld Centre. The three competitive groups run three diverging courses and then all merge and run together for the final 5 miles.
When I initially read the description of how the race was organised my immediate thought was “That sounds like total carnage” and pictured some poor fun runner taking a wrong turn and ending up having to run 26.2 miles.
As it transpired there was nothing at all to worry about; it was all very well-organised and the marshals were absolutely brilliant in not only cheering you on but also maintaining that you ran in the correct direction. The course website suggested that personal bests were achievable so, I thought “Ok, great, it must be a flat course then”
Well, it’s not.
After a mile of running through a residential area you enter mainly rural settings. For anyone who knows Wrexham the route took in Clays golf course, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Bowling Bank and Marchwiel as a loop that takes you back through to finish at the start point at Waterworld.
There’s a beast of a hill at around mile 5-6 and lots of undulations after that.
Very much like Helsby’s Four Villages Half Marathon there is a lengthy downhill stretch at mile 11-12 that gives your legs a breather and allows you to pick up some time before the final push. The final mile is similar to that of Chester Half Marathon i.e. mostly a moderate uphill with crowds & Sunday shoppers cheering you on.
The weather conditions were not ideal; there was a really strong, swirling wind, some hail and a lot of standing water (or small lakes – whichever description you prefer) on the country roads.
Helen Owen ran the 20-mile race and we agreed that there was so much water on the course it was a fair shout to classify the race as a run/swim biathlon.
Having said that; that’s winter running for you and the weather won’t be that challenging every year.
I noticed that a lot of us half-marathon runners did pass the full marathoners during the final 5 miles some of whom were, understandably, struggling.
I offered encouragement to those that I passed but I couldn’t help thinking it could be a bit demoralising being overtaken by runners that were only completing half of your distance. Under those circumstances it wouldn’t be my personal choice for a marathon though you could spin the argument it on its head and assert that the half marathon group could potentially pace the other runners along in those final miles.
The half-Marathon field amounted to only about 200 runners so there was little or no jostling for position and it was easy to get into your stride and even when the 3 races converged it didn’t feel particularly congested. There were, however, a number of sharp turns on the course where you lost a little bit of momentum.
Parking at Waterworld amounted to a few hundred spaces which filled up by about 8am due to the influx of runners competing over the longer distances. I arrived early and nabbed a space but I did see half-marathoners, who arrived later, circling around trying to find somewhere to park. The Sunday parking rate at Waterworld was only £2:00 for 24hrs and it was very easy to get off the car park at the end.
I managed to shave a few minutes off my PB which seems to justify the organiser’s claims of it being a fast course. Another positive for Helsby runners is it is only a 30 minute drive from the club.
There were no Welsh cakes handed-out at the finish as was the case at the Wrexham Village Bakery Half last month – but I suppose you could always buy some locally!
In summary- a decent Half Marathon race either for the first of the year or as a follow on from The Four Villages or Village Bakery runs. The 20-mile race could potentially be used as a competitive run in training for the London or other April Marathons.
I would definitely consider running this half marathon again in the future.
Trevor Lewis”
Cheers Trevor, i’ve seen the pictures and it looked more like a swim run event than half marathon.
After Hayley’s successful bingo night down at the sports club (i’ve seen a different side to Chris “two little ducks quack quack Igoe), she’s back to the serious business of training for the London Marathon, have a read of her blog.
Pick Yourself Up & Start Again
Parkrun
Well done everyone who participated in a Parkrun see our full consolidated report is HERE
Last but not least on Friday 26th April, after the mid Cheshire 5k which is a club counter, we are going for the annual curry in Frodsham and a pint or 5. Approx 9pm start, email me if you want to come along or let me know on social media
That’s all for this week
Fitzy