Sale 10

5 August 2007

Full results at: http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2007/sale10.htm

Photos at: http://www.mickhall-photos.com/eos/galleries/saleten07/index.htm

Despite my lack of navigation skills, I always prefer running off road with fresh air and a view.  I’ve run the Sale 5 (2 laps of the busy roads around Wythenshawe Park) a couple of times and had always promised myself that I’d never attempt the Sale 10 (4 laps of the same).  And there was the alternative of the Moonraker which had been good fun in 2006.  But then again here was the local fast 10 with a quality field and we had a chance put together a good team performance.  And after my Daisy Nook exploits … well surely even I couldn’t get lost running 4 laps round a park.

Stuart, Jim, Trevor Morris and I lined up on the track along with many of the usual local rivals and even a couple of runners I recognised from races in the Midlands.  It was a relatively slow start as the large field wound round the track and away through the park.  Passing the first mile marker in 5:25 I could still see Pete Riley leading 100m or so ahead.  He was on his way to victory in 48 minutes to take him to the top of the UK ranking by over a minute – an awesome performance.  Twenty places behind we seemed to be making harder work of it, grinding along road and pavement before turning straight into low sun and headwind for the long drag along Altrincham Road.  Stuart was on my shoulder as we traded places with a pair of speedy vets from Abergele Harriers.

We were still together for a photo at 4 miles but I wasn’t feeling as fit and smiley as usual – perhaps just reward for missing too many Tuesday night sessions lately.  The pace had increased somewhat but in the rising heat it felt like we would struggle to maintain this for another 2 laps.  Stuart didn’t appear to be feeling much better as we both gratefully grabbed some water.  We could only watch and groan as Alex Rowe changed gear and surged swiftly past us.  We ran together through 5 miles in exactly 28 minutes but as we began to weave through the backmarkers Stuart moved decisively ahead, opening up a 50m lead by the end of lap 3.

As we began the final lap I started to regain some energy, moving out to lap runners 2 or 3 at a time trying to focus on Stuart and the Abergele runners ahead.    I was running more smoothly now and managed to pick up a couple of places as we finally approached the track.  Stuart was finishing within seconds of his PB as I entered the back straight.  I had no time to wave as I could hear more runners closing behind me but for once I had the energy to stretch away in the final sprint.

Jim seemed to have also found it tough on the middle laps but finished like an 800m runner to the delight of his watching family.  We cheered Trevor in as the seconds ticked towards the hour – he just missed the mark but as usual still managed to clip a couple of minutes off his PB.

With all 4 of us inside 61 minutes, it was a solid team performance – I don’t think that there were any prizes but from the results we ranked 2^nd behind the home club – an achievement in this company.

It is a well organised race and if you have the focus for 4 gruelling laps a PB must be possible at Sale.  But next year I think I’ll be happy to know that others are circling Wythenshawe while I’m Moonraking or following the lads across Lyme Park.

Rob