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Colin France and I ran the Birmingham & Black Country Half today, so as we're the first Feet to have done this one, I thought I'd write a race report. The entire route is along a canal towpath, starting at Wolverhampton train station and ending at Brindley Place in the centre of Birmingham, with bag transport provided. It's therefore entirely flat, apart from a dozen or so bridges; the main feature being the quarter mile Coseley Tunnel at about 4 miles, with lighting provided for the race. It was very wet underfoot after the rain of the last few days, but on the whole the surface is pretty good to run on, certainly better than the canals we train on around Kiddy. To avoid bunching the 600 or so field started in waves of 8, one minute apart (timing chips provided), which made it an odd race as there were few others to actually race against. The proceeds go to various charities, so don't enter if the goody bag is important to you (I kept the carrier bag and binned the contents), but I'll be back next year so it would be good to see a few more of you there!

Just to let you know Mark Bailey and I completed the Moel Eilio British Championship round fell race today. It was the toughest thing I have ever done with 3000 feet of ascent. The race started with 1900 feet of climb - at the top I looked round to see only 6 or 7 people behind me. I recovered a bit to finish 227th out of 254. Mark finished 206th. It was the strongest field of runners I have ever run with. The views were fantastic, clear skies, no rain and warm. I'm off now to run Eastnor Castle with Craig Bone.

I did my first marathon yesterday at Stratford and was pleased with my result despite hitting the wall at 19 miles which hit me with groin and calf cramps big time. With over 4 stops it took precious minutes off my finishing time but my goal was to get over the finish line at that stage. This is a PB for me and I believe a new club record. 

My first ever duathlon - very hard work. It was a beautiful venue at Carsington Water with an undulating first 12km run followed by a hilly bike 40km, then a flat 4 km run to finish off with. I had dreadful cramp in both quads after getting off the bike, but was determined to finish, so hobbled along for 2 kms until the cramp eased off. I also had to put my chain back on after changing  down too quickly on a sharp bend. All in all good training for Vancouver. My position was 126th overall, and 3rd F40, in a time of 2.53.54.(1.01.16,1.34.25,18.11 ).

BLACK MOUNTAIN ROUNDABOUT/SHAKESPEARE MARATHON, April 26th/27th from SHAW PYE

Just a quick summary of this weekends running. Yesterday I went to Brecon Beacons to take part in the Black Mountain Roundabout event with Matt Giles. Great weather, amazing views and killer fells !!  The race measured 26 miles with 7,394 feet of ascent - ouch !! It took us 4 hours 44 minutes of non stop hard running (and crawling up the hills).

Today (27th) a crowd of Amazing Feet runners headed to Shakespeare County for what turned out to be a scorcher of a day. What happened to the heavy rain they forecast ? I paced Steven Hawkes until 17 miles and then I pushed on when he started walking.

I did the Llanbedr-Blaenavon category A fell race on Saturday 05 April. 15 miles 4,500 feet climbing. I finished in 3hrs 37mins which is 16 minutes better than last year, so I am encouraged if nackered. The winner was Rhodri Buffet in 2hrs 12mins, but he is young and runs for Britain.

As close to the race as Friday morning, I still wasn't sure that I was up to this - a lingering cold and a severe lack of training added up to tell me it was a disaster waiting to happen. Two training runs of 90 minutes plus on Tuesday and Thursday was basically all I had done, so to turn up and run every step of the undulating (that means hilly) 14 miles around Coniston Water gave a real sense of achievement. And to finish only 6 minutes slower than in 2007 just goes to prove the point - all this training is so over rated !!!!!  For the uninitiated, this fantastic road race follows the lanes around the lake, veering inland between two and four miles, then cutting across the outlet from the lake and back around the eastern side of the lake with stunning views of Coniston Old Man and the lake itself. Killer hills at 11 to 12 miles (I was passing loads of youngsters walking) lead to a fast downhill 13th mile and a flat run through the village back to the finish. Fantastic - where were you all ?

KIPLING KAPER/EDALE SKYLINE, March 29th/30th from SHAW PYE

a Quick report from this weekend. I hear Tthe Scenic 6 was a great success today and AFRC picked up some well earned prizes. 

My weekend consisted of 10,710ft of ascent and 49.66miles of running. It started yesterday at 9am with the Kipling Kaper LDWA event starting in Meerbrook just north of Leek. There were the options of 20, 26 and 28mile runs or walks. Me being me opted for the 28mile mile which turned into 28.9mile due to making a major error in navigation. As always with these types of events the friendliness is most welcoming and the food on route and at finish would be fit for any king. Running down the road after 14 miles eating a hot oatcake was a new experience. I finished first after leaving the rest of the runners after 7 miles. 28.91 mile and 5873ft of ascent in total time of 4h51m47s over the beautiful White Peak area. 

This morning I headed a little further north to the High Peak area to take part in the Edale Skyline 21m fell race which is an event I have wanted to take part in for the last few years but never fits in with spring marathon training. The blue sky blessed us the entire of the race which made the views amazing. The downside was that I was severely overdressed, didn’t take drink with me on the race, sweated buckets and ended up getting dehydrated in the last 3-4 miles which wasn’t pleasant. Lost vision, balance and felt like death which made running on the terrain very scary. Lesson learnt and won’t make the same mistake again. I climbed 4837ft of ascent today over the fells and bog land (mud up to my knees). Steve Clarke also took part and wasn’t far behind me.

After waking up to a snow covered car, this well organised event from Massey Ferguson RC actually started in sunshine, though a cold biting wind kept temperatures down. A traffic-free first mile through the University grounds led to a gentle off-road section around the outside of fields before returning to the road for a second lap. Some slippery mud but nothing too bad, and a tee shirt for finishing in what proved to be a better than expected run for me despite a heavy cold. Note to race organisers : please DON'T lecture us in the cold and wind about not running with I-pods !!! Health & safety gone bonkers !

Well I said that I would run this weekend and run I did . My first race for twelve months. In muddy conditions with a rope climb thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed myself. Covered in mud soaked  and tired but I did it. A good benchmark for me. I know that I can run just over six miles in ankle high mud so I will now work on my times.

Chris C and I ran at Liverpool this Sunday on a rather wild and windy but sunny day. It was a brilliant run through Sefton Park and Princess Park. Chris definitely did a PB and I think I did too. I was 1:35:33 chip time and 2nd F45. Saw myself + Ian Hall in a picture of Not the Roman 1X  in this months Runners World. Quite spooky to turn the page and see us!

I think my weekends running has certainly challenged or maybe bettered that of Pete and Yourself.

Saturday morning started at 3am for me to get fed and packed ready to pick Matt Giles up at 4am. Once picked him up we travelled up to Threshfield in Yorkshire to take part in the Trollers Trot 24.9
(distance varies dependant on how lost you get) mile off road event across some great terrain and scenery. Consisting of trail, road, bridleways, moorland, fell, running through streams etc etc ...... We started 5 mins late but still managed to reach the lead group by 4-5 miles. The event involved navigating using course notes which were 90% accurate. I finished the event in 3rd place in a time of 3h 23m.

Today I travelled down to Gloucester for the 20 mile event not knowing what to expect regarding my bodies ability. I started off fast with the 2nd group and managed to hold on until 3 miles when I decided that I would crash and burn if I didn't slow down. I dropped off the pace and waited for the group behind to run with which was a slightly slower pace. I pushed as hard as I could today as I'm training myself to run on tired legs after doing the previous days events. I managed to do even pacing throughout the race and had a very strong finish which has pleased me. My finish time 2h07m38s smashes my previous PB and also beats the club record!! Overall a great weekends running combined with 103 miles in the last 7 days.

The first really cold race this season for me. So I allowed myself a thermal base layer and gloves. More importantly I didn't strip off any layers until very close to the start of the race. The course thankfully is quite well protected and the weather didn't deteriorate till towards the end when sleet and snow began to fall. The coffee hut provided welcome refuge after the race and it was good to see Ian Hall back from injury. Judith Hardwick and I were able to help a Worcester runner who collapsed due to hypothermia. Richard Warder (from Kidderminster & Stourport AC) had a blanket to hand and thankfully after 15 minutes he began to recover. A lesson to all of us, not to stand around in the cold after a race without plenty of layers on.

This was my first time doing this and one word to sum it up would be 'eventful'. I had a number given to me many weeks ago by Sarah on here (RW Forum) and my dad managed to get a number from registration 20 minutes before the start today. The start of the race seemed to be slow and very sedate and I nestled in with the lead group but unfortunately that was a little too quick for me. Coming up to 2 miles I had to ease off and let them go which resulted in me losing concentration, falling over at the cattle grid cutting both knees and arm. From this point on my running went to pot due to blood pouring down my leg and I wasn’t really in the mood. I fell in the stream 'twice' and got caught by the guy behind me which was a blessing as I had been running on my own for the last 3 miles. We encouraged each other and I got focused again and regained my stride and concentration. So much so that at 7 miles I managed to pull away from him and re-take my good lead on him. The last bog/stream was in good condition still when I arrived which meant I was able to run through instead of wade. The 'subway' finish was a bit of a contrast to the rest of the race but at least it wasn’t littered by yobs. Shame about the time cock up with the results. Someone must have been too eager with the stop watch. The times they put up on the wall were a lot slower than people’s watches, but the website results seem to be an amended and correct version.

My brother persuaded me to enter this race. We formed a team of three with one of his squash club friends. It is about 8 miles around a farm in pleasant countryside near Olney, Bucks - woods (without footpaths), streams, old railway track, no roads. However there are added obstructions. I have never been so wet in a race - two ponds with water above my waist, stream crossings , long sections running in the stream including one in a tunnel & a sheep dip where you are power hosed at the end. Other obstructions include bales of hay & a quarry. Some competitors seemed to delight in getting as muddy as possible or were in quaint attire such as pyjamas. My brother said one lady was screaming she was agoraphobic going through the dark wet tunnel & another twisted his ankle on the stones in the quarry. I think they could do without the sheep dip - far too smelly, whereas I do not mind the ordinary mud. It is a good race, very enjoyable. They are planning another called Double Bypass which will be 2 laps ! I finished in 1 hour 3min 42 secs in 44th place. First runner home was in 51 minutes & there were 269 finishers. Our Document Genetics (my brother's company) team was 13th out of 23.

After 26 years of running, I learnt something today. If you feel really sick before a race, it is probably best not to run. I did - decided to continue with the second lap because there didn't seem to be many finishers after the first lap (I would have been 6th in fact) then spent the rest of the day feeling absolutely awful until I was finally sick at twenty to ten at night. What was a great shame about this was that the newly re-instated Wellcombe Wobbler was a fabulous event - run over fields high above Stratford with hills to die for, some superb scenery and a small but perfectly formed entry. We received a tee-shirt for entering, Helen Parish finished as second lady and the sun shone out of a blue sky. Shame my sickness spoiled it for me. Next year !

A beautiful day for a race. It was very well organised and friendly, with enough people to create a good atmosphere, but not too many to stop you running at your own pace. Chris and I were both pleased with our times. Neither of us did a pb but I improved over Lake Vrynwy, so getting there. I was 10th lady over 45.

What can I possibly say about this gem that doesn't sound false ? Fantastic scenery. Brilliant organisation. Wonderful atmosphere. Blue skies and bright sunshine. This was my first trail race, and knowing the course took us high into Coniston through the Coppermines Valley, round the Pudding Stone, then down to the Walna Scar Road, on to Torver and back along the lakeside. I was unbelievably nervous at the start. I started off too fast, walked after 2.5 kms with everyone else, ran in a new pair of Puma Trailfox shoes which gave me a blister, and thoroughly ENJOYED IT ! Great tee shirt to pose in at Malvern and Pattingham - this one is a must for next year. All of you !

This was the first Enville 10km, organised by the football club, and hopefully it will be the last. This was a two lap race, all off-road within the grounds of Enville Hall, and to be honest had some fantastic scenery. However, the climb after 2kms meant that this should really have been a fell race, in which case I would have avoided it anyway. Just before the worst of the climb we were faced with marauding sheep trying to get through the same gateway as we were, who fortunately veered away from the line of runners and waited for a gap. Unlike the group of 50 or 60 cows in a later field, who galloped across and through the runners twice, at huge risk of death or injury to all of us. Worst of all was the ninety degree right hand turn after 3km, which was not marshalled, and not marked. Fortunately, I was with a young lady from D-KRC who spotted the error, and we went the right way - 60 percent of the field didn't. It did mean that Lucy Cambridge and myself were actually leading the race just after 3km, along with Paul Rogers, before we were engulfed by returning faster runners who had gone way off course. Add to that the ONE toilet for us fellas, no km markers anywhere, and a fairly hefty £5 entry for NO reward, and I suspect entry numbers will be well down in 2008.

HAWKESBURY UPTON MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING, July 22nd from SHAW PYE

On Sunday I travelled down to Hawkesbury Upton just south of Dursley to take part in a mountain bike orienteering event today seeing as I still can’t run. I wanted to do something competitive to keep the adrenaline pumping. First time I have done orienteering since school and it showed. Got lost several times and tried to be a bit too clever with my route planning which backfired. At least I know what needs to be ironed out in case I do another one. I covered 30.7mile and 5800ft ascent in total and was out for 4hours and 20mins. 

Some tracks were streams, cow pats like I have never seen before and bridleways which looked as if they hadn’t been used since the 50’s. All in all a good day.

Results 

Winner - Nick Calkin, 14 controls visited, 480 gross score, -4 penalty for being late, 476 final score

 18^th – Shaw Pye, 10 controls visited, 280 gross score, -80 penalty for being late, 200 final score

Last 24^th – Jim Potter, 10 controls visited, 250 gross score, -250 penalty or being late, 0 final score

This is part of a Pentarathon series run by Oswestry Olympians (the Club who put on Vyrnwy Half), but the main draw is that it runs right past my parents house.  The floods and diversions we had to drive through on the way did make me think I was slightly mad for even attempting to start this.  The route is undulating and this year took place in torrential rain and through several ankle deep "water hazards".  The highlight was seeing my children in pyjamas and waterproofs cheering me past before they went to bed

I have just come back from holiday in the Lakes and am just giving you my race results for the Puma Trailfox Garburn trail race I completed on June 3rd. It was a half marathon and my first fell race and to be honest nearly killed me  . . . I think next time I decide to tackle something like that I should do some hill training first (like running up and down the Malverns). It was really hard and I maybe should have entered a smaller race first but to be fair I am glad I have done it and will most likely enter again next year as it was definitely a big challenge for me . . . . . I was 334 out of 359 and ran it in 2 . 39 . 58 .   I should have liked my time to be better but there is no way I could have done better ! Next year though, with some training, who knows????

This was quite simply the best weekend ever. My first marathon since 2000 when I retired from such silly things, and having entered this race in April 2006 I had the pleasure of wearing race number 1. This was also my 20th marathon, and by a little bit of cheating last weekend, my 900th race. The weather was superb, with blue skies, sunshine, and a cool breeze, and the scenery for 26.2 miles was breathtaking. Mind you, so were the hills !  Organisation was of the highest standard with more marshals than I have ever seen before, and the finish was just perfect, crossing the finish line with Lake Windermere in view across the field. Shaw Pye and Simon Gregg also ran, with Greggy knocking 35 minutes off his PB. Mind you, 21 years after the last Windermere marathon that I finished in 4:02, I was only 10 minutes slower this year. And I was 10 minutes FASTER than that last marathon in 2000. The strange thing ? 24 hours later I feel absolutely fine and could happily run again. Bring on the next one.

I competed in my first triathlon this season on a fabulous day with perfect weather at Tewkesbury, with a flat bike ride and a fast run. I would really recommend it for any first timers. It was 400m swim, 24k bike and 5k run. I was third lady overall and first super vet ! (I'm not so sure about being a s-vet !) My times were 8.02,44.28,18.56 with a total time of 1:11.26.

Not quite sure where to pitch this one - Shobdon Wood is out in the middle of nowhere, and this 6 miler was on forest tracks & paths. Hardly saw another living soul in the woods apart from marshals and runners, and the hills were better known as mountains ! Two going up, and one coming down. The views at the top were magnificent, and the last mile through the bluebell woods was flat and fabulous, like running across a blue carpet. Medal ? No ! T-shirt ? No ! We got a jam doughnut with our cup of water ~ fantastic !  Small friendly field and a brilliant way to spend London Marathon morning.

I was just e-mailing you to let you know that myself and my dog Mackay ran in the Cani X today at Cheltenham. The Cani X are races that you can only enter in if you run with one or more dogs. Anyway we did a 5.4km run (says 5km on web site but is 5.4km) we got 2nd in female vets cat....strange sort of running surface as it was a combo of tarmac and wood chippings. I don't know how many ran but our time was 28mins and 20 secs..  i think (tbc).   See you soon
Oh I hope all those at London did as well as they hoped today...fingers crossed....

I was just e-mailing u to let you know that I beat my half marathon time by 16 minutes today which I am very pleased with ... reckon the club is doing me the world of good. Oh also Tori and Abbie both completed the 1 mile fun run in about 6.30mins so they were very pleased. (TRACEY SNOW)

My pre-race for this one was about as bad as possible. A seven am wake-up call led to an eight o'clock departure, with a detour to a post-box with Sunday collections to post four ROC 8 entry forms off to someone. My chosen route via the A429 ended up with a massive diversion due to road closures at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and an unanticipated loo stop at Stow-on-the-Wold. My on-road parking space had long gone as we stopped on the main car park (£4.50 !!!) at 9.45, with just 45 minutes to go. I had to hand over a bag of cheques for the Leamington Regency 10km, collect a box of entry forms for the same race, and then put out various other race forms at the race HQ. Talk about stressed and wound-up. How amazing then that on this super flat, super fast course, I set my course record time, which also happened to be my fastest 10km for 26 months. The morning weather was superb, just a pity the rain came as we were eating chips on a bench overlooking the river in the centre of BOTW.

Sarah and I had a jolly time. We nearly missed the race as the traffic getting into the park was atrocious. We ended up leaving the car in some side road and jogging to the park. When we arrived we realised just what a big event it was with all the counties in the south of the country & Wales, taking part. There were 400 ladies in the over 20's race of 8km.The slightly longer distance suited me and my only claim to fame was not being the last Worcestershire runner to come in. Sarah did well but suffered two horrible blisters. The event was televised on sky sports and Hayley Yelling took first place. All in all, quite an experience, especially starting in pens !

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS from SARAH ARMSTRONG

It was an 8km run, pretty tough terrain. First over the line was in 29.33 Hayley Yelling, European
Champion, who was selected for the World Championships, so NOT much competition then !!!

Never Again!!

I allowed my mate Dave Chisman to persuade me to go to the Long Mynd Valleys fell race on Sunday (04 February). It's 12 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. That's bad enough, but you should see the 5000 feet of descending. Amazingly, I was not the only Foot, as I saw Richard Haynes several times in the event. I give below brief results, but must stress that Richard spent possibly 30 minutes waiting for his colleague Tony Mills. Good job it's only once a year.

A good turn out for the second of this years race league took us to Stourbridge for the Stagger, a 10 mile multi terrain race around Stourbridge, Hagley and Churchill. A quick recee on the way showed the ground conditions to be frozen but soft where it had thawed. Luckily the sun came out to warm us all up and to burn through the mist. A great result for Shaw Pye who finished 6th overall after finishing 2nd in his fell race yesterday. A good run from myself after having done no training in the week prior saw me 7th (I think) club member home managing in the process to knock off nearly 12 minutes from my 2005 time, and only be 5 minutes short of my 10 mile road PB!, don’t ask me where my speed came from because I don’t know.

I also ran today in the Blaythorne 10mile race at Cambourne in Cornwall. I managed to get a PB but I couldn’t quite duck under the hour L. After battling sun, wind, rain and hail all within 10 miles, I managed to finish 12th in a time of 60m 48s. The race entry limit was full (400 limit) so I’m guessing about 350 finished. Once I find the official results I will let you know. The course was undulating but had a few flat miles in the middle part of the course. The last mile was all uphill which my body didn’t agree with.

MIDLAND MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, JANUARY 21st 2007 from LINDSAY PULLEY