|
The Harriers (just about) had two teams of seven runners and our favourite solo nutter Carla Jenkins. Some of us arrived at camp on Friday and were greeted by a wonderful sight, huge masses of colourful tents and feather flags of running clubs from all over Great Britain. The weather was scorching and the course nice and dry. A BBQ and a few drinks set the evening off nicely with much tactical team talk over the flames, followed by a reasonably early night. Race day morning arrived, it was clear and sunny, the runners in good spirits. So what better than a little local Parkrun to get our legs in the mood? Conkers Parkrun (8 miles from TR24) hosted so well and great marshalling. A not so surprising massive turnout of just under 400 runners! A nice gentle plod around was just what wee needed. At the 11am pre race briefing this point we were warned that bad weather would be closing in later on in the evening. I think the words were something like ' during the storm we cant advise you to keep on running, ultimately its up to you' which made us chuckle! At noon our first runners went out - it was very warm indeed. The first part of the course is nice and flat, then a sharp turn into the woods at about half a km leads into a sharp ascent which then comes out into some grass before returning to woods. At this point you find yourself running past the campsite - really good support so a nice little boost. Its a bit undulating from here util about 5.5 km where you have aother hill climb before hitting 'Conti Hill' which is a sharp hill emblazoned with Continental Tyres advertising, apparently the fastest runner up this hill wins running shoes for his/her whole team. Around here there was also a water station. Once you have run (hopefully) this hill you are lead into a very twisty technical trail through the woods, exposed tree trunks are the order of the day and you need your wits about you. At about 8km you leave the woods and arrive on a lovely ridge which is a good photo opp spot, then a fast downhill and back through more campsite leading you too a very sharp hill at 9.5km, fine the first time round, not so amusing in subsequent laps. Coming into the finish on any lap was an emotional feeling, whether in the sun or in deep dark night. As promised the weather turned dramatically in the late afternoon - from brilliant sunshine to apocalyptic thunder, lightening and rain, we carried on running getting soaked and the course was soon a quagmire of mud, hidden tree roots and slippery ascents. The whole course is on trail, no tarmac and a few bricks on one part! It did change from a dusty leafy track into a muddy slippery watery mess and then into a sticky dirty nightmare where your shoes carried so much mud it was difficult to run and turning a corner took all the power you had not to go speeding into the nearest tree! There was a small event village where you could get food (reasonably priced and good quality/selection) a massage (excellent service and cheap) Buffs, and other promo were available - pricey as expected. Some of out tents flooded and were consigned to the skip. Noels large tent was the place to be for many of us through the night and im not sure that anybody slept at all on Saturday night, not that they really minded. Every runner came off the course smiling, day or night, rain or sun. The last laps at about 11am were fantastic as the finish line was full of spectators ans as Noel came in we all joined him over the finish line. A wonderful weekend where teamwork was paramount and came naturally to all involved. Well done to all the Harriers involved in running and supporting. Next year anyone? Sarah W
|
