Whaley Waltz, Saturday 29th June.
On Trevor's recommendation, I decided to give the Whaley
Waltz a go at the weekend. Trevor knows that I love the more scenic off-road
races, so I trusted his judgement, and was right to do so. And it was good to
see Angie, Nina and Sarah there too. The race started slightly later than scheduled
– because we had to wait for the procession of floats (lots and lots of rose
queens and princesses!) to finish. But it was a nice atmosphere, if a bit too
warm for my liking. (I prefer to run in the rain, I think!) The route started
on the main road through the village, but quickly turned off on to tracks and
trails and fields and worked its way up to Windgather Rocks. There were quite a
few queues initially to cross over stiles, which was a bit frustrating. As one
of the runners nearby commented, they would have been more welcome on the way
back when we needed a break!
I didn't see Angie at the start of the race – and once
we'd set off, I didn't see Nina again – although I think I caught a glimpse of
her heading down an adjacent field while I was still struggling up the track.
So she was way ahead of me already. Trevor overtook me on the way up to the
summit, as he'd said he would, and he looked to be going really well. I had
fully intended to catch him on a downhill section and to race him to the finish,
but I just couldn't keep up with him.
Next time, Trevor!!! Then, just as I thought it was
nearly over, with less than half a mile to go, Sarah strode past me
effortlessly, as if she'd only just set off. She made it look so easy as she
raced past me and those ahead of me. I got past one of those ahead, but
couldn't get close to catching Sarah at that stage.
I hadn't been looking forward to the dip in the river on
the way back – I'm really not keen on water. But when I got there, the rest of
the Wilmslow team were waiting to cheer me through it, and actually it was a
lot of fun, and very welcome in the heat. So, even though my performance wasn't
great, the race ended on a high note – in spite of (or maybe because of?!) the
fact that there were no points to be scored. Maybe one for the summer series
next year? And note to self:- remember to take a towel and a change of clothes!!!
Full results on the Goyt Valley site.
183 Angela Maziere 61:09
203 Nina Birch 64:27
222 Trevor Faulkner 68:59
224 Sarah Miles 69:29
226 Belinda Carp 70:18
Belinda