Tag Archives: Vegan Runners

Watlington Skyline XC 2013

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Having enjoyed  the Watlington XC 10k last December I thought I’d have a go at the inaugural Watlington Skyline 10 mile XC  organised by the same team. At less than a fiver to enter and with the clear warning that this was a self-navigated race with marshalling only at major junctions it sounded like an adventure.

I managed to get a copy of the route off a fellow parkrunner and traced it onto my Tracklogs mapping software to reveal 2 sizeable lumps and the potential for great views and some hillwalking. I can do 10 slow, hilly, off-road miles without undue suffering now but not at all fast so set myself the unambitious target of finishing in 1 hour 50 minutes, possibly right at the back.

The forecast got a bit worrying as the 27th November approached with ‘the worst storm since 1987’ ominously predicted to arrive the following day. It looked like we might stay dry though if I didn’t drag it out too long and at 11am a rather small band of runners took off from the start half-way up a track near Pyrton, the chap who started us off also running in a style reminiscent of a good old bare bones Audax ride.

Having made clear to a fellow back of pack runner that I may be depriving her of the wooden spoon a small group of us unhurried trotted along to join the Ridgeway path then turn left to start the first long climb. Not a mile done and I managed to go a bit off route, retracing when I hit a dead end and rejoining the race now right at the back. I’d planned to walk some of this hill to preserve energy but the gradient was quite even so I kept going passing maybe 5 runners in the process.

We topped out on the road near Christmas Common at about 2 miles where we were marshalled left then right to join a long and lovely descent through the woods. Tassles of red and white tape had been tied to trees to mark the route. It was dry, not too cold, not too muddy, the sun even snuck through on occasion. A chap with number 14 on his shirt was just in front, a lady from Abingdon Amblers and another chap just behind. This was fun!

We briefly followed bridleways along the bottom before our path began to gently rise in more open landscape allowing us to see the size of the lump up ahead. There were various kissing gates and stiles along the route.  Abingdon & Co set a good, steady pace and I joined them for a while but having studied the profile knew we were in for over a mile of climbing and I’d be wise to walk some of it. So, as the climb steepened around mile 6, I settled into my 50 paces walk, 50 paces run, strategy for a bit. Mr 14 was also taking it easy and I had passed him by the time we reached the road at the top and were marshalled over the bridge at the top of the Stokenchurch Gap where we could see the M40 down below.

Some confusing navigation now, at this time of year there are so many leaves on the ground it’s not always clear that the way you are taking through the woods is actually a path at all, then I emerged by the little car park for Beacon Hill viewpoint where a marshall fortunately appeared to point me the right way. Some muddled math suggested of 5 or so behind me 2 had passed and I’d passed 1 so maybe 5th from the back. I had my Garmin set to show just the time of day but it did flash up each mile time and I reckoned my sub 1:50 was in the bag.

A bit more up then along following a very windswept, narrow, path along the side of that big grass-covered hill you see on the left driving up the Stokenchurch Cut. A marshall took a photo then told me to go left to start descending. Through a gate then a choice of paths, momentary confusion resolved when a couple walking their dogs pointed me left and soon enough I spotted my red and white tape. Below I saw team Abingdon and realised I might yet catch them. Down an old grassy sunken track then a hairpin and more down, looking up above I spotted a runner several minutes back. I was a bit knackered now so not making full use of the descent, through a kissing gate with a box of Aston Rowant nature reserve leaflets and turn left back onto the Ridgeway.

I knew we were going to face a strong headwind heading back west along the Ridgeway but suddenly things got really tough. You could have used the tunnel under the motorway for testing aerodynamics! Despite being nearly flat and no particular bits of me hurting I was back to taking walking breaks. The Garmin buzzing the 9th mile completed felt like ‘on no how can I do another mile’. I thought the organiser had said we would finish on the Ridgeway and not have to run the extra couple of hundred metres back to the start, I really hoped this was true. In retrospect I had good old-fashioned bonk and should have taken an energy gel with me but you never do recognise it when it’s happening.

The finish was beautifully low-key. A lad and a girl sat on stones at the turn-off from the Ridgeway with paper and iPad recording times. A couple of people clapped while someone gave me a bottle of water. My rival for the metaphorical wooden spoon was a little upset that some of them had accidently gone under distance, they had recorded a bit over 9.5 miles while I got the whole 10.1, I think someone had had a go at them for getting in front. It began to rain and I set off back to the car chatting with one of the organising club and spotted number 14 walking ahead of me when surely he should be behind somewhere.

So, with at least 3 accidental under-distances getting past me, maybe I was 2nd last? I was a little bit miffed that runner I’d spotted behind earlier hadn’t passed me when I was walking – I mean who wants to be 2nd last when you can be last-last? In fact the results showed me 39th of 42 with a time of 1:45:04 so 5 minutes ahead of target. The journey home was made interesting by an unexpected outburst of pins and needles in both hands and lower arms rendering me too clumsy to work the CD but fortunately ok to drive – I reckon the knackered nerves in my dysfunctional shoulders had decided to make their opinion of my efforts understood.

An excellent event and I’ve now put my entry in for the Watlington XC December 10k 🙂

Marshalling at the Abingdon Marathon

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Having given up on any hope of being marathon fit several months ago I had transferred my place in this years Abingdon Marathon to VRUK member Shelley and volunteered myself for marshalling instead. I’d no real idea what my duties would be or how long I’d be needed for till just before the event so as the weather forecast got increasingly ominous I was beginning to wonder what I’d let myself in for.

Come 20th October I dragged myself out of bed in time for a good breakfast and drove out to the rendezvous at Draycott where I was 15 minutes early so parked up and waited in the car listening to the rain hammering down. A wet cyclist appeared then disappeared and I had a look round thinking she may be another marshall but she’d obviously gone off to shelter somewhere. A car pulled up beside me and Lucy from Abingdon parkrun emerged from it and, noticing the rain seem to be stopping, I got out and said hello. We spotted the others gathering over the road from the pub and joined them where Nigel very efficiently handed out our various positions and duties along with emergency contact numbers etc.

I was to go to Milton and try and get runners to use the pavement rather than run on the road at a section where the road was already narrowed by parked cars. Despite running this marathon twice I’d managed to forget there were 2 laps of a big loop making up much of it so runners would be passing my station at about miles 9 and again at mile 18. This spot had been a bit of a potential problem in previous years as it was not previously marshalled and there was a pub over the road which increased traffic come lunchtime. As it happened the Admiral Benbow was closed for refurbishment so I wouldn’t have to worry about this.

Dry now I nibbled a 9bar sitting in the car while waiting for 9:25 when my instructions said I should be in position. This proved a bit optimistic and it was nearer 9:45 when the lead bike, escorting 3 fast runners well ahead of the rest, came past. From then on it was pretty well a non-stop stream of runners for 3 hours. The rain returned for about 30 minutes about 10:30 and everyone looked pretty wet but then it gradually cleared and there was even a bit of sunshine. I shouted encouragement and clapped for so long I susequently found I’d upset my frozen shoulder and it took a day to stop aching again.

VRUKs Shelley and Alex came past running strong. Various local faces came and went but most were unfamiliar with a good spread of club vests near the front reflecting Abingdon Marathon’s reputation as a fast and well organised race. A couple of marshalls on bikes passed me several times. The fast guys came back round before the last of the slower runners had completed their first lap, still looking strong and determined. After a while some were showing the strain of the second lap, some taking walking breaks, some wearing determined expressions despite the lopsided gait of sore legs. A few chucked me their energy gel wrappers to dispose of. No one looked in danger of collapse. I clapped and cheered shouting out ‘please run on the pavement through the village’ when appropriate. There were several shouts of ‘thanks marshall’ and very few miserable faces despite the gloom and pain of bad patches some must have been struggling through.

Eventually the field thinned out and the bail-out minibus pulled up with no passengers on board. I was told there were 3 more runners that were almost with me and were expected to continue despite rather pushing the 5 hour overall time limit. Way behind them were 3 more who would continue but unofficially. The fact that both the last official runner and one of the out of time group were wearing their 100 Marathon Club shirts suggested they knew all very well what they were doing. About 12:45 I handed my yellow marshall tabard to the minibus officials and drove back home, a bit tired but not half as much as the runners. A very a rewarding experience and highly recommended!

Meanwhile – a couple of weeks back now – I completed my 50th parkrun timed to coincide with Oxford parkrun number 100 so I should be getting my red running shirt soon. I guess that counts as an achievement clocked up for this otherwise rather inactive year.

Headington Road Runners 5 Mile 2013

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It’s been a couple of years since the Headington Road Runners 10k round a flat old airfield at Worminghall disappeared from the calender so I was pleased to see they were organising a new race to celebrate their 25th anniversary. I got an entry in, the start at Oxrad was only a couple miles from home, though I wasn’t expecting to be up to much.

Meanwhile, over the last few weeks, there has been some progress with this blooming frozen shoulder. It is still somewhat stuck – I can now raise it a few more inches, level with the top of my head at a push – but I’m not going to be reaching stuff from the top shelf with it any time soon. But it has got less painful, I can get through the night without painkillers (to say I can actually sleep through the night would be a bit of an exaggeration). Sometimes I manage to forget it’s there for an hour or so then feel unwarranted disappointment when it starts aching again. Most importantly I’ve felt able to go out and run as fast as I can a few times, it hurts the shoulder but only for a short while – not like before when any real effort left it really sore for a couple of days. I even managed a sub-25 parkrun a couple of weeks back – my best for ages. So progress at last!

Back to the race though, I was knackered that morning and the shoulder was having a (now less common) moan. I stuffed a couple of ibuprofen and cycled down to Marston anyway and it was great to see lots of local faces on what was a good morning for running, cool and fresh for a change. We wandered over a couple of playing fields to the start area and I checked out the start and finish, we were to go through old Marston then out onto the bypass cycleway then back through Cutteslowe and the paths behind Summertown to follow the Marston Ferry cycle-track then under the subway and on to the finish.

Chip timing so I placed myself right at the back with a hope of 43 minutes and definitely wanting under 45, not very ambitious I know! Off we went with me only pushing the start on my Garmin after the lack of tell tale beep wrongly suggested it was gun-to-chip not chip-to-chip. I settled into comfortable pace and passed a few runners as we ran through Marston, I was surprised to see a bunch of what looked like fast guys appear out a road on our right and join the race. We unexpectedly appeared at what I think of as ‘the hole in the hedge’ where we were efficiently marshalled through onto the cycleway – I had expected us to emerge from Elsfield Road.

The first mile clicked over in 8:07 which I was happy with, not quite up to 8 minute miles again yet but this was good enough and sustainable. We passed the ‘2 mile’ sign at about 1.4 miles – oh dear! A chap next to me had a grumble and I speculated that they had needed to change the route at the last minute, maybe due to problems on the road. Perhaps they’d add a bit on later.

I was feeling pretty good – always a boost starting right at the back as you’re bound to pass a few – just a matter of keeping the pace up and I was good for that. We turned off the cycleway and were very well marshalled through the Cutteslowe estate and down the narrow footpaths that they try and pretend are now a cycle route. Under the first subway, along the Marston Ferry proper cycle track – then under the 2nd subway where a couple of runners cut the corner despite being well marshalled. ‘Half mile to the finish’ a marshall shouted out – so we weren’t going to get our under-distance back. I passed someone having a walk just before the finish straight then heard her coming up behind so pushed over the line.

A lovely new race and really enjoyed it, a mug for a memento was nice as I’ve far too many shirts and don’t usually bother picking them up any more. It turned out that the race had indeed taken a wrong turn near the start and even a small mistake is impossible to correct when nearly 200 runners are charging along. Otherwise the organisation and support were great and I’m looking forward to next year already. 35:28 for 4.4 miles 123rd of 187 runners.

HRR 5 Mile Mug

British Ultra Fest 2013

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Let me just make this clear – I did not run in the British Ultra Fest, these people take running so far a marathon starts to look like a pre-breakfast jog.

The 2013 British Ultra Fest comprises 3 races – a 6 day, a 48 hour and a 24 hour. The participants run or walk round a 400 metre track completing as many laps as they can in the allotted time, they change direction every 6 hours. Time spent sleeping or stopping to eat is time lost on the track so kept to a minimum while ensuring you can complete. It was happening just down the road from me at Radley School and Greek vegan runner Mitso (Demetrios) Kehayioglou was taking part in the 6 day so I thought I’d cycle down there to see what it was all about and offer support to Mitso.

This being the start of the 6th day I was sort of expecting something resembling the zombie apocalypse with 6 day runners stumbling about while the 24 hour guys, who were only just starting, charged past them. Mostly though they seemed happily walking round, chatting in some cases, eating in others, still running quite a bit, pain and discomfort hardly registering on their faces. I positioned myself to take a few photos, there were not many spectators so I could pick my place by the track, I spotted Mitso and called his name.

Mitso

Mitso at the start of day 6 (the green number runners are doing the 24 hour)

Runners are only supposed to leave and regain the track at a particular point and they mustn’t accept pace from others so I took a few photos then went to the refreshment area where Mitso met me and we chatted for a few minutes. His knee was swollen and sore, making every track corner difficult, so he was slowing a bit to make sure he’d finish. I asked if he needed anything, I’d thrown some stuff in the pannier including eats and dry socks, but he had it all planned with assistance from his partner and a tent. I guess you have to get all the preparation spot on with this sort of thing. The official caters were Veggies, a vegan group from Nottingham, so no issues with getting good food.

VeggiesI let Mitso carry on, one more mile then time for a rest he said which turned out to be fortuitous I think as it started raining when I was on my way home 15 minutes later. I took a few more photos, spotted Paul Brackett amongst the 24 hour runners and gave him a shout. The 6 day people would walk off the course, grab sustenance from their support crews or the table by Veggies, then carry on round often spooning food into their mouths as they went. Christian Ritella from Sweden appeared to be refuelling with a bottle of beer – and why not!

Christian RitellaHaving just set out back home, almost at the point where the entrance track through the woods meets the road, I met an American 6 day competitor who I later identified as Bill Heldenbrand who had just set a new 48 hour record for his M65 category. I gave him a nod, he smiled and said he was a bit bored of going round and round the track so thought he’d take a walk and see what the countryside was like. These people are quite special, they seemed to have achieved contentment with their repetitive efforts. Nothing like the soggy, undisciplined, wrecks we must have appeared after nearly 4 days at the back end of the wet 2007 Paris Brest Paris.

More photos on Flickr here. The winner, Frenchman Didier Sessegolo, totalled 533.6 miles. Mitso did 367.9. I hope they are all recovering well and enjoying a rest!

BUF 6 Day Results

 

 

Adderbury ‘Three Spires’ 10k 2013

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I’ve fancied running the Adderbury Three Spires trail half for a few years now but after suffering a lot of arm pain during the back end of Otmoor I think 13 miles is just too long for comfort at the moment, however slow I run it. So spotting that fellow VRUK member Sarah had entered the 10k version I submitted a late entry and 9am Saturday morning was to be found driving down a farm track to the allocated parking on what promised to be another blazing hot day. I was knackered as usual with maybe five hours sleep if you add the bits up and an extra dose of ibuprofen to shut my arm up so I could enjoy the run – nothing new there then 🙁

The farmer asked that we line the cars up in just half the field so there was plenty of room left for the sheep we were sharing with, I notice he’d left them the shady half – good man. We cut through down the side of a house and then crossed the road to follow signs to the start. I kept my eyes on the couple up ahead which maybe wasn’t the best idea as we ended up somewhat lost. After a bit, guided by the sound of race preparations, four of us followed a narrow path over a disused railway embankment and found ourselves at the wrong end of the start field. Youth races were already in motion and already warm runners queuing to collect their numbers, I grabbed mine then sat about on the grass till I caught sight of another Vegan Runners vest and introduced myself to Sarah. As we were chatting one of the half marathoners came and said hello – also vegan but running for Witney Road Runners.

Sarah said she hoped to get under the hour, I made the usual excuses about bad arm, lack of sleep, lack of training and lined up right near the back. We all set off together with the half runners doing a lap of the field but us lot heading straight for the exit at the other end of the field. I positioned myself right near the back so I wouldn’t get dragged along in the heat.

Adderbury 10k start As usual I’d done my homework and checked the route profile based on a route gpx I’d downloaded so was expecting small hill at 1.5 miles, bigger bump at 2.5 then another small one about 5. Unfortunately the route had been changed rather late in proceedings due to some other event so instead we had gently rolling on farm and field tracks after we’d left Adderbury with a visit to Bloxham about halfway. It was nice but I’d no idea where I was going 🙂

It was really, very hot. I was glad it was a morning event and even gladder I wasn’t attempting the half marathon. I passed a few early on and was passed by many of the half marathoners as they caught us. What with stiles and gates and narrow paths it was never going to be a fast course which suited me fine. There was water after a couple of kilometres and I made sure a full cup went down, more water at Bodicote by which time some around me were noticeably wilting and I was quite glad I was obliged to take it easy. We joked with the marshals that the queue to cross a stile was really just an excuse to have a walk in the shade. Glancing at my Garmin showing time of day only it seemed from the distance markers that I was 10 minute miling or thereabouts which was fine by me.

Adderbury 10k meAround mile 5 I took a short walk in the shade as I was beginning to feel just a little faint and sick. I was yoyoing with a couple of walk/run guys and I think we were all keeping our eye out for each other in case there was any serious heat problems. Fortunately I didn’t see any. I wasn’t expecting more water but really appreciated it when it arrived near where we split from the half marathoners. Nearly done and glad of it we passed a gang armed with powerful water guns and three good squirts left me dripping and in much better condition for a not too slow finish.

Back through Adderbury, no idea where I was heading, it did seem to be going on a bit. Then a marshal says next left and your on the finish field. I heard footsteps behind and felt an unusual urge to speed up a bit and hang onto my position. A bottle of water handed to me as soon as I crossed the line, a medal (which I had to untangle from the bunch as the young lad was struggling to separate them). I was pointed to the goodie bags which contained more water, a welcome banana and an interesting water bag type thing. I’d enjoyed myself and didn’t feel too overheated as I sat and drank my water. Someone asked me what distance I made it and I realised I’d not bother to check the Garmin so saved the run and the data suggested a bit over 6.6 miles in agreement with other runners so we’d had a bit extra at no additional cost. Got lost trying to find my way back to the car afterwards but it was a nice day for an extra tour of Adderbury.

I was surprised to find my 1:04:07 had got me 33rd of 76 runners, I think this probably reflected my coping with the exceptional heat better than some as I’m not able to run flat out. Sarah was much more impressive, 4th lady and 10th overall. I must return and run the half marathon sometime – a great local event and very impressed with how well Adderbury Running Club kept us comfortable in that heat!