Wrap up and Run - Harewood 10k 2014

This time last year I was well into training for the Leeds Half Marathon.  The Leeds 10k and the Abbey Dash were behind me and I decided to mix up my training plan and enter an extra 10k race.  The AgeUK Wrap Up and Run Harewood House 10k to be precise.

I'd been training hard for months and in my head a 10k run was going to be a walk in the park.  My running schedule already included two runs over 10k every week, along with three shorter runs, so the distance was no issue.  I was also running up Churwell Hill a couple of times a week which was good as I had been told that there was a steep incline at around 7k of the Harewood course.

I did a bit more research into the route through the grounds of Harewood House.  It was meant to be paths and tracks but with a good chance of mud, so I decided to wear the trail shoes that I had bought to tackle the Somme like conditions of the Kirkstall to Rodley section of the canal tow path.

My race prep was going to plan.  I tapered my training so that my legs would be fresh and then I went out on an all day Street Food and drinking bender the day before the race.  Let me let you in on a little secret, stuffing yourself with tapas and curry then drinking beer and whisky while playing darts is NOT good race prep.

I had no right making it to the start line on time but I did.  Sadly I was there in plenty of time to endure the mass-humiliation of the group warm up.  Shimmying while marching on the spot was not doing my hangover any favours.  At least I had moral support from running buddy Diane who, like me, is also not a fan of the pre-race aerobics class.

The race finally got under way through a tight start/finish funnel.  It took some time to get over the start line but the pack soon spread out once we were passed the barriers.  Sadly we were bunched back together again almost straight away as the route took us through a five bar gate.  I know now that having to walk through the gate didn't have much of an affect on my finishing time but right then I felt like I had ground to make up.

We passed the front door of Harewood house and headed out to the back of the estate.  The narrow path through the trees was beset on all sides by muddy puddles and I was pleased as punch with my choice of foot ware.  Most people were sticking to the raised middle of the track but I could happily pass on the outside, accepting that muddy was going to be the way I finished the race.

At 3.5k the path opened up and we could look back across the estate at the house.  This was the moment that cemented the Harewood 10k as the best race I have ever taken part in.  Running through the countryside with birds of prey circling above me.  No traffic noise, just the rolling beauty of the Vale of York around us.  We dropped back into the valley and I started to think about what was coming next.  I knew that around one of these corners was "the hill".

There are a number of things that will stick in my mind from the hill.  The first was the disembodied voice of another runner who commented that they had never seen so many people walking part of a race.  I had thought that it was just me who had slowed to a walk but I was in the majority, a fact which helped me feel better about my failure to run the entire course.

The second memory that will stay with me long after I have hung up my running shoes, was a lad who had to stop and walk back down the hill to retrieve one of his trainers. The trainer in question had come off in a puddle of mud the like of which I've not seen since Artax was lost in the Swamp of Sadness.

The hill levelled off and I picked my pace back up again, covering the final kilometre at something like my usual pace.  I finished in 54:10 which was a couple of minutes slower than I had anticipated, but then it was faster than the time I had set for the Abbey Dash.  Even walking up the hill had resulted in me getting a new 10k PB.

This year's Harewood 10k is now only a couple of weeks away and I can't wait.  This year I will be sober and I am determined beat that hill.  I have two time targets to beat too, 54:10 for the course and 49:52* for the distance.  Anywhere between the two and I'll be happy, that said, I'm going to be happy getting to re-run my favourite race of 2014.

*time set at the Leeds 10k 2014

Book them, they will run!

If you're reading this and have ever entered a race or fun run, regardless of your ability, I'm sure you will know all about pre-race nerves.  Booked months in advance, the big day quickly comes around.  You have done the training but the voice in the back of your head tells you that you should have done more.  Your nerves grow as you stand in the starting area ages before the start of the race and there doesn't seem to be anyone else around.

You start to doubt yourself.  "What was I thinking entering a 10k?  I'm not fit enough. I'll probably come last anyway".  You realise that if you just set off running you could be at the end long before the gathering crowds have even started their humiliating mass warm-up.

Last night I went through all of that and more! It was the inaugural run for South Leeds Lakers.  I had printed off registration forms and route maps, dug out all of my spare hi-vis running gear in case any stealth runners turned up, advertised the group on Facebook, Twitter, and at Cross Flatts Parkrun.  I had even done the training for group leaders, but was I ready enough?

I stood alone in the car park of Beeston Co-op, waiting.  As with race days I was early, but I had to be first one there, just in case somebody arrived early, thought that they had been stood up and decided to go home!  What on Earth was I doing there?  Who was I to think that I could be a running group leader?  I should just go for a run, after all nobody would turn up.  In two years of running around Beeston I could count on one hand the number of other runners I had passed on any single run.

But then, out of the darkness they came.  One or two at first, fluorescent t-shirts visible long before I could identify their faces.  It wasn't too long before there were enough people to describe us as a group.  I had envisaged five or six people setting off around Beeston but to get almost twenty people turn up on the first night was fantastic.  Nineteen of us set off into the night, passing the Tommy Wass, running down Dewsbury Road and back up Beeston Road to finish outside Snipper Clarke's at the end of South Leeds Lakers' first 5k run.

Before we started running I laid out my stall.  I want South Leeds Lakers to be a social running group.  People coming together to run because they love it, but also to encourage others to take up the activity that, for some reason or another, had managed to get nineteen people to come out and join a stranger on a freezing cold February night.  The run should be at a pace comfortable enough to talk through, that way we can share our stories of running highs and running lows, and pass on any hints and tips on how to run better, or avoid injury.

Photo courtesy of South Leeds Life

Last night we did just that.  The group did spread out, but it was still running together and people were talking all the way round.  Importantly strangers helped each other around the route, up the unforgiving Beeston Hill, and cheered each other over the finish line.

My nerves had vanished and they had been replaced by an overwhelming sense of joy and achievement.  On the one hand I had been out for a bit of a run, nothing new there.  On the other hand I had got people together to run.  A diverse mixture of people and abilities coming together to run because I had given them permission to do so.

Had they enjoyed it? Yes.  Did they want to do the same thing next week? Yes!  Did I feel like I had just set a new 10k PB? YES!  We are already looking forward to next week's run and I know that those original nineteen runners are already spreading the news of the group to their friends.  At 6:55pm last night we were runners but now we are South Leeds Lakers!

South Leeds Lakers

Back in December I wrote about an opportunity that had come my way.  I had been asked if I wanted to undertake training to become a run leader.  I'll be honest, even as I was writing that blog post I knew my mind was made up.  I'm a solitary runner.  Pulling on my trainers and going out for a run on my own is where I find my peace.  Joining others just didn't appeal that much.  But then, over the Christmas Holidays, something changed.

A good friend, Kat, was pondering going for a run on Facebook and managed to talk herself out of it.  I suggested that we could meet up bright and early the following morning and I would take her out for the run that she had missed.  She was wary as she was only just getting back into running after injury.  She wasn't mad keen on a chilly run along the canal first thing in the morning either but that is exactly what we did.

That 10.6km run was on the 1st January 2015, my first run of the year.  We were both a little hungover from New Years Eve festivities, but we talked each other around.  It was this run that made me rethink the idea of becoming a run leader.  I knew that Kat wanted to run but just needed a little gentle encouragement to get through the door.  We both had a good time with no pressure for PBs and, selfishly, I felt great knowing that I had helped her get on her feet.

A couple of weekends ago I attended Leadership in Running Fitness, last week a handful of us had a meeting on the streets of Beeston, discussing a new running group for the area, and tomorrow (Tuesday 10th February 2015) I will lead out a group of runners for the first time.  I'm both excited and nervous.  What if nobody turns up?  What if there are too many people?  What happens if a hardcore runner turns up and expects drills?  Only time will tell I guess.

Two years ago I wasn't a runner.  Just a couple of months ago I was a dyed in the wool solo runner.  As of tomorrow I will be Run Leader for South Leeds Lakers, a mixed ability and mixed gender running group.  We'll be keeping it simple and friendly with the focus on the social side of running and having fun, not on races.  If you fancy joining me for a gentle run please feel free, we're meeting up at 7pm outside Beeston Co-op on Old Lane.  Hope you can come along.

Llamas Not Included

It has taken me a while, the best part of 40 years, to realise something about myself.  It turns out that I love a challenge!  The last few years have been dominated by them.  They started when I dreamt up The Olympic Food Challenge and a group of us attempted to cook and eat a meal from every nation taking part in the 2012 London Olympics.  That was 204 meals in 19 days.  That was followed by The World Cup Food Challenge.  With far fewer countries, we tried to cook a meal each time a nation took to the field.

The last couple of years my challenges have been a lot more personal and have all involved being on my feet.  The first challenge was to start running in the first place, the urge to not run is very strong at the beginning and it would have been very easy to pack it in after the first slow, painful run/walk/plod around the park.  Then came my first 10k race, followed by my first half marathon.

I'm not sure when I first saw an advert for the Oxfam Trailtrekker but it must have grabbed my attention.  On the 22nd August I, along with the rest of team Llamas Not Included, will be setting off from Skipton to walk 100k through the Yorkshire Dales.  Having completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks last year, I'm under no illusion that a 30 hour non-stop walk through some of the best scenery the UK has to offer is going to be hard work, but that is where the team comes in.

There is a saying "If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."  The team should, in theory, be the moral support needed to complete the challenge.  I'm sure that most teams that enter Trailtrekk are best mates, people who have know each other for years.  Drinking buddies, colleagues from work, team mates from Sunday League football, even families.  This is where Llamas Not Included differ.  We are a diverse foursome who know each other primarily through Twitter and to date we have only met each other once in real life.

So on top of the endurance aspect of the walk, Dalia Hawley (@chapiteaumt), Debs Davies (@roseytints), Jonathan Bliss (@JonathanBliss), and I have the added challenge of getting to know each other.  Luckily we are all of a similar mindset or we wouldn't all have decided that this was a good idea.

The route will take us past the majestic Ingleborough

The four of us are not taking on this challenge alone.  My good friend Lyndon Marquis (@LyndonMarquis), who late last year had a horrific fall while mountaineering, was in the original team line up, but since the fall he rightly decided not to commit to the trekk whilst still recovering.  He has however come on board as leader of our Support Crew who will meet us throughout the walk with extra clothes, food, and cuddles of encouragement.  So far Lyndon and Zoë (@Urban_Magpie) are the Support Crew but we'll be recruiting more members between now and August.

As this is an Oxfam event there is also the challenge of a fund raising target to reach.  I'm sure there will be raffles, cake sales, sponsored silences and the like.  We've set up a Just Giving page for recording our efforts and so that people can sponsor us for undertaking the trekk itself.

I know that this is a running blog but the Trailtrekk for me sits in exactly the same sphere as all of my other physical challenges, including the Yorkshire Marathon which I'm running in October.  I only hope my feet survive the 100k walk and don't hinder the preparation for my 26.2 mile run.