Leeds Christmas 10k Challenge

Here is my latest review, first published on Run Leeds December 16, 2016.

***

With so many races to choose from these days it's nice when the organisers make life easier and give their runs a meaningful name. It's fairly obvious that the Leeds 10k is a 10k race in Leeds.  The same goes for the London Marathon, it's a marathon in London.  The Great North Run is much more vague with no clues as to where or what you are entering in the title.  The organisers of the Leeds Christmas 10k Challenge have named their race perfectly.  It's in Leeds, it's 10k, and it takes place around Christmas.  It does exactly what it says on the tin.  There is one ambiguity though, the "Challenge".


Having taken part in the Leeds Christmas 10k Challenge for the last two years it is now clear in my mind what the challenge is.  It isn't an obstacle course.  There are tougher runs out there, not that the Christmas 10k isn't a tough hilly run.  But nothing (to my knowledge) has such a wide range of running surfaces to contend with.  The route covers running track, open grassy fields, tarmac, bridleways, and muddy root-strewn paths.  The only thing missing is a river crossing and I think everything would be covered.  So for me the "challenge" come race day is whether to wear road or trail shoes.


There was a new route for this year's Christmas 10k.  Gone were the dreaded steps of Scrooge Hill, but the rest of the route was similar to the previous years.  Starting with a lap and a half of the running track at South Leeds Stadium, you then cross the training fields towards Middleton Railway's Park Halt Station and a short sharp climb before entering Middleton Woods and running the length of the disused Tramway.  Another short steep section from the Tramway to the Rose Garden and the long descent on the Wagon Way, before doing the whole thing again and finishing back at the stadium.


I had been keeping an eye on the weather in the build up to the race to try and gauge whether trail shoes would be needed.  There had been some rain during the week but not much, so I went for a pair of road shoes that I didn't mind getting a bit mucky, hoping that I would want them more on the fast down hills rather than needing extra grip from trail shoes on the off road sections.


Having collected my number from the Phoenix Bar at South Leeds Stadium I made my way track-side to soak up the pre-race atmosphere.  Lots of the gathering runners were in "festive" running wear and one tor two had gone the whole hog on the fancy dress front.  Any number of Santas and Elves were joined by a tree, a Christmas cracker and an oven ready turkey.  Suddenly my choice of footwear didn't seem like the biggest challenge of the day.

Pre-race photo opportunity

Eventually we got under way.  As it was a new course this year I hadn't bothered to check my previous times, happy instead to test my fitness.  Last month's Holly Hustle had highlighted just how off the pace I had become, but I'd put in some decent runs in the meantime and wanted to complete the Christmas 10k in under 50 minutes. 



The start was a bit 'stop start' as the throng of runners was funnelled over the timing mat, but I soon found room to run the long way around the outside of the running track, whilst everyone else tried to run the racing line around the inside of the bends.  Out of the stadium and onto the grass my road shoes were far from ideal so far but then we hit the platform and the tarmac and they came into their own.  I was through 1km in around 4:30, perfect pace, but with two long climbs to come.  I felt good but could I hold on to the pace for nine more kilometres?


I'm not sure how many times I've run on the Tramway.  It feels like it goes on forever, slowly taking you up higher and higher through the ancient woodland that once connected Huddersfield and Nottingham.  It's a knobbly bridleway these days but it was mostly dry without any muddy puddles to ford so my trainers were still doing well.  Last year the route left the Tramway with a sharp left halfway up, but the new route took us right to the summit before a scramble up a muddy bank towards the Rose Garden. 



I'd been trailing a friend from parkrun who is much faster than me but the runner in front of me stopped to walk up the final section of the climb and I had no option but to walk too.  My friend and unwitting pacer, who was further ahead, pressed on and a gap opened up.  Once we were back running we got onto a 100% new section of the route, a slight downhill weaving between trees, then a short climb before popping out at the Middleton Park Visitor Centre and the long downhill on the Wagon Way.  My pace was still good, despite the enforced walk, but I knew that the second time up the Tramway would be a struggle.  I was right.


I passed the water station at 5k and onto the climb back into the woods.  The elevation was starting to take it's toll.  I knew I was slowing down but also knew that I had it in me to get to the top of the Tramway again.  The pack had thinned so there was no excuse for slowing other than fatigue.  I hit the short muddy section to the Rose Garden and, for the first time, regretted my shoe choice.  The runnable slope had been churned up on the first pass by the 500+ runners on the first lap.


My road shoes slipped under my tired legs, I took a much wider line to find solid ground, and I ran up the hill which I had been forced to run up on the previous route, but I was spent.  The determination to run the final hill had taken so much out of me that I was struggling for breath.  I couldn't gulp the air in fast enough on the descent back to the train station and the stadium, and the dream of a sub 50 finish was looking like it would remain a dream.

But, as I crossed the finish line at the home of Hunslet Hawks I stopped my watch and was astounded at my finish time.  I was light years behind the winner but I had managed my sub 50 dream with a time of 48:45.  I later discovered that my PB on the previous route was 50:03 so a course and race PB and a well deserved mince pie!


The Leeds Christmas 10k Challenge had once again lived up to it's perfect name.  The new route, two long laps rather than three short ones, was good.  Personally I'd like to see the steps brought back but I really liked the section between the Rose Garden and the Wagon Way, so on balance I think the change is a good one.  My racing is now over for another year and I'm happy that once again the Leeds 10k Challenge has rounded off another great year of running.

The Buggy Club

When I started running, back in 2012, there was no question about running with my son.  He was the reason I bought my first pair of trainers and set off on 4 years of pavement pounding, he's still the main reason that still I run to this day, but we've never been running buddies*.

He was 2, I was a poorly constructed mass of suet held together in a clingfilm exoskeleton, I could only just get myself around Cross Flatts Park without needing resuscitation, never mind pushing him in his buggy whilst trying to run the distance!

Apart from the physical size and weight of a 2 year old, and my considerable girth, there is no way that I would have considered taking him running.  I wasn't up to the job but then neither was his buggy.  We live in a compact Victorian terrace, use public transport, and have a small car.  Our buggy reflected these aspects of life.  It was a compact, light weight, could turn on a sixpence, but had solid wheels and no suspension.

Perfect for our needs but not for running as I discovered recently.  The 2 year old is now 6 and he has a little brother.  I am 4 years healthier and, for one reason or another, decided to take the newest member of the family out for a run.  I say run, it was the middle of the day, he needed a nap and I needed some fresh air, so we headed to the park for a walk.  I knew that I had a one hour window so I thought I'd walk the parkrun route with him.

Dressed in civvies** we made our way to the start line, and for some reason, I decided to run.  Neither of us were ready but we made it around the 5k route with some encouraging smiles and nods from other park users.  I had taken it steady because I wasn't dressed for running.  I was knackered, but I decided that I should do this on Saturday at parkrun and get an official time.

The problem with rocking up at parkrun (even a small one like ours) with a buggy is that they are an embuggerance on the start line.  I headed towards the back of the grid and set off for another steady run.  I was far from my usual parkrun pace but I was well aware of my buggy's limitations, especially on the pot-holed sections of the park path.

We crossed the finish line in a respectable 27+ minutes, but I was already trying to workout where I could save some time.  I had walked a passed the worst of the pot-holes, and on the detour around the steps.  If I could eliminate the walks then I would start seeing the times come down.

The following week we lined up again, ready to push through the up hill struggles and managed to claw back some time to set a buggy PB of 27:30.  But I couldn't leave it there, I knew there was more I could do, I knew I could push a buggy (and it's precious cargo) around much faster, but I also knew that I couldn't do it with our buggy.  I needed a decent set of wheels to really see some improvements.

Cut forward a month or two and I now have that new set of wheels.  A second (or third) hand Red Castle Jogger which has better breaks than my bike.  In comparison to our original buggy it is massive.  It's so big, even collapsed, that it has to live in the cellar when not in use. But size is important, especially for the wheels.  We can now cruse over the parkrun pot-holes as if they were not there.

Red is fast, right?

At the first opportunity I took C and his massive wheels back to parkrun to see if the big wheel theory would work, and sure enough we crushed our time finishing with a new buggy PB of 25:59 a minute and a half faster that we had achieved with the city stroller.  The improvements now will be down to me getting fitter and stronger.  Sub 25 is beckoning me and my new running buddy in his new running buggy, I might just need to get scythes or a snow plough fitted to get through the crowds on the start line.

*hopefully that will change now that he's started going to junior parkrun.
**cotton t-shirt, jeans, converse, not running kit, you get the idea.

Holly Hustle 2016

I'm back to blogging and the world of race reviews: Here is my latest review, first published on Run Leeds November 14, 2016.

***

Just when you think there couldn’t be any more races in Leeds another one comes along.  Some of them have been around for ages, but as I’ve only been running for a few years I’m only just scratching the surface of the Leeds race scene, but today I lined up alongside 200 other runners for the first run organised by a brand new Race company. Great Owl Running’s Holly Hustle promised “A fast fun packed forest trail run with some challenging uphill and rewarding downhills!” and, following the last weeks snow and rain, it was certain that Leeds’ latest trail race was going to be a muddy one too.  All of this made the Holly Hustle sound right up my street.

With a very civil start time I was able to cheer my son around his first junior parkrun before getting changed and crossing Leeds from Beeston to Meanwood and the Myrtle Tavern, which was acting as race HQ for the day.  With two races (11k and 22k) being staged on the same day picking up the race numbers could have been messy, but the efficiency of the volunteers was very slick and before long I had the magic 108 pinned to my Run Leeds shirt and I was ready for the start of my 11k run.

Following the well observed 2 minute silence for Remembrance Sunday the 22k race got under way and the remaining 11kers set off shortly afterwards.  I’m far from being “race fit” so I started towards the back of the pack but we hit the trails as soon as we left the carpark of the Tavern so I was getting bogged down in human traffic.  I quickly rediscovered my trail feet and skipped past my fellow tail runners.  Entering Meanwood Park I found some space and my pace levelled out, but almost as soon as we had some room the Hollies beckoned and we were back to some hard work, this time in the shape of a couple of flights of stairs.

Between the two flights I found myself blindly following the runner in front of me, he took a wrong turn and I followed suit.  However, we both quickly realised and re-joined the route.  Our error was not noticing the tape hanging from the trees to our left, however in our defence, the flouro green tape was hard to spot in the leafy Hollies with the low Autumnal light glinting of everything from moss to mud.  Still I was on the right track and I could press on.  It wasn’t long before the first batch of faster runners came hurtling past us going in the other direction…I was a little confused but pressed on regardless.

I knew that there were two races on the same day and that there were a couple sections which were to be run in each direction but I swear that I wasn’t on one of those segments.  Also, didn’t they have the same coloured bib on as me?  There was no way that the leaders of the 11k were so fast (or that I was so slow) that they were entering the home straight while I was only part way through the 2nd k.  The second batch of fast runners came towards us but it transpired that it was them who had lost the trail and decided to double back on themselves to find the right path.

With everyone seemingly going in the right direction again we pressed on under the Ring Road towards one of my favourite Leeds landmarks, The Seven Sisters Bridge.  The trails got more technical. More mud, rocks, roots, climbs, and descents.  I was loving running.  It was perfect.  Still, bright, messy and not too cold.  No, I was not up the front challenging for the prizes but even at full fitness I never will be, this was my kind of run.  I got caught behind somebody walking around the turn point rock between 6 and 7km so too the opportunity for a breather, took on water at the drink station and started running south back towards the finish.

Shortly after this my race unravelled.  Having skipped over logs and vaulted boulders I caught my toe on a cobble on a farm track and went down like a sack of potatoes cutting both knees and my elbow in the process.  The cuts were fine but I had landed, with all of my weight, on a rock, right knee first.  It hurt.  It hurt like a one of those grazed knees you used to get in the playground at school.  Of course had I been out running on my own I would have hobbled back home with my tail between my legs, but I was out racing.  A phalanx of runners passed, each one of them asking if I was ok.  I was fine, a little bruised and bloody, but fine.  But going flying in company, and the accompanying bruise to my ego, hurt more than the fall.

I hobbled back to running, only a little off my previous pace, and zeroed in on the finish.  The final hill though was a hill too far for me in my battered condition, so rather than finding that final ounce of push to get me to the summit, I walked, and then ran the final couple of hundred meters to the finish line once the road had levelled off.  This was not my finest moment, but it had been a great run until its abrupt halt. I’ve been lucky that, in a season of off road running, I haven’t lost my footing once.  Going down on the final race of the year is better than getting injured on the first one.

In my opinion Great Owl have come up with a brilliant trail run right on my doorstep and, with a hand full of direction arrows, and one or two more marshalls, it will be close to perfect if you are after a no frills autumn trail race.  I’m sure that I’ll be back to race it again next year, however I think I’ll go for the 22k race next year, just so that I can run past the scene of my fall twice without going over.

Keep on Running Sancho

2015 came and went without much of a fanfare from me. My yearly round-up was never written, along with 3 races which, for one reason or another didn't get reviewed. I also failed to write down my goals for this year, which, as a target orientated runner is a bit of a slip up.  2016 is now well underway, I've already got 3 races under my belt without so much as raising a pen to review them. It's fair to say that I've let the blog slip. 

 

There are quite a few reasons behind my lack of blogging, but chief amongst them is a new addition to my family. Time is at a premium and frankly most of my blogging time is taken up with running. 

Looking back to 2015, I can happily say that I achieved everything that I set out to. I had originally billed it as "Epic" and it didn't disappoint.  Trailtrekk, the 100km walk through the Yorkshire Dales, was incredible and much tougher than I had anticipated. I completed my first marathon in under 4 hours*, and in November I managed to run a sub 45 minute 10k at the Abbey Dash. All 3 target boxes ticked.

But with that all behind me I decided to lay off the mad challenges and just concentrate on enjoying running. That's not to say that I'm taking it easy this year.  To start with I've made the decision to only run of road. This came out of my deep rooted disdain of Kirkstall Road. Having propelled my body along it's featureless tarmac 7** times in the last few years I decided that enough was enough and I'd have a break. It was easy from that point to just rule out road races all together. 

So for me 2016 is all about off road running. That's not to say that I'm now a cross country nut longing to splash through every puddle available. To be honest I don't really know the difference between a trail race and a fell race but I know that the scenery is 100 times more interesting. 

Fitness-wise, I'm determined to get to, and maintain, some level of half marathon fitness. I've peaked and troughed since I started running but over the last year I have got myself to the stage where I could comfortably complete a 10k without any additional training. I now want to increase my base level of fitness so that I can tackle longer, tougher runs, without having to start from scratch each time. 

2016 is going to go by in a flash and I know that there will be times that I'll wish I was racing with my friends rather than sticking to my pledge of avoiding roads. I know I won't miss the Leeds 10k, but I'm already itching to beat my pb at the Leeds half. I really enjoyed the Hull and York 10ks too but they will have to wait until next year.

The Harewood 1/2 was a tough run

For now, I've already run the Temple Newsam 10, Skye Run, and the Harewood 1/2 this year. I have the Bluebell 10, Over the Odda, and the Round Sheffield Run, to name but a few races to look forward to... and I think somebody mentioned running the Yorkshire 3 Peaks.  Here's to 2016

*just
**Leeds 10ks, Abbey Dashes, Leeds 1/2s