Club Series, race 18
Sunday August 19th.
I can’t remember how this race sneaked into the Series. On the Rob Downs driving time/running time formula, a 5k in Rochdale scores low. With an 11:30 start, it takes a big chunk out of the day for less than half-an-hour’s running and it comes right in the middle of the peak holiday season. I had not planned to run, but then Catherine said she was in Dorset. I’m always away a lot myself in the Autumn so my Series tend to finish at the end of August. Cowm was probably my last chance for any points this year, so Don and I set off for Whitworth.
A novelty, it was raining, but not cold, lashing rain but a nice warm drizzle. Our poor decision-making had its appropriate award, only 5 of us. Paul is organising a Race Series forum, probably after training on Tuesday September 11th., for feedback/ideas before the planning for 2019 starts. It is not intended this year to do another survey but draw conclusions as to what people want by how they have voted with their feet and what comes out of the forum.
It is a pleasant, if not stunning, course. In the wilds of Lancashire you expect hills, and we started with one, but only 400m to the reservoirs edge, thereafter, however, the route stuck to the footpath round the water, flat as a pancake. Two laps of the reservoir and then 400m back down the hill to the finish.
Paul took the 100 points, something he has done once before, ‘Round the Reservoirs’ last year, there’s clearly something in his water. It also gave him his first League 1 60-points. Mark, who is re-finding his fitness took League 2 and Colin League 3. The only competition was in League 4 and there Don was running his first race of the season, so hardly able to provide a challenge to Ian.
In sharp contrast to easy Series points, the race for the veteran prizes was a mountain to climb. In a field of 160, I might have expected to have picked-up first M70, but the both the first and second M70s were 5 minutes ahead of me and the third 3 minutes ahead. They are obviously built to last in Lancashire, whilst we southern Cheshire softies fade. Paul fared better than I, but he did not win the M60 despite finishing 19th., the winner being under 20 minutes. Colin, Mark, Don and Ian all finished in the lower half of their age category. A very different field to that we had taken-on at Quarry Bank just 4 days earlier
Thanks for the report Ian. Yes, nice little race if it was on our doorstep but t’other side of Rochdale? Perhaps not. Shame cause they were very friendly and a nice course.