Race no. 47 "When The Going Gets Rough"

A Muddy Night At Lambton Castle

"The Tough Get Going"

For my third race this week I thought that I would get off the tarmac and into the mud, and just to make it even more interesting, do it in the dark!

Yes, last night instead of my usual Saturday night smoked salmon, rib eye steak and some nice rioja, I put my trail shoes and a head torch on and headed to Lambton Castle Woods for a muddy five mile thriller - The No Ego Challenge ( a bit of a misnomer in my case)

I was already in a good mood when I learned on my journey that Sunderland had come back from two nil down at Liverpool to snatch a 2-2 draw. Things got even better at race registration when as the oldest competitor I was given a free tee shirt. Then, as the field lined up at the start the starter introduced the youngest runner, a 16 year old. He then asked if I minded my age being broadcast.
"Go ahead", I said, " they have to catch me". Yes, I was up for it!

We had been warned that the first few hundred metres were the worst part of the course for potholes, mud and obstacles and so it turned out.  But, aren't today's runners a soft lot.  Without wanting to be at the front, there I was with the leaders as we entered the dark woods. A young guy in front of me started picking his way around the potholes, " Coming through" I barked as I passed him, put my foot in the very next hole and fell flat on my face ( see my muddy knees on image above).

And yet, I was still there, with the leaders, as we left the wood and hit a nice, dry level track. Of course, that was when the younger, fitter leaders got away from me and I was on my own, dropped by the leaders but clear of the field. Not a new feeling, for this is how I always ran my fell races in my younger fitter, and faster, fifties.

Now when you are on your own, in the dark and having to look out for the markers you make sure that you do just that. At each junction of paths I made sure that I spotted the next marker before joining a new path. Piece of cake. Then, finally, a few faster runners caught me. Running along with them I started to relax for they could do the navigating, I thought. Mistake, as we ended up at a  closed gate with no markers. Turning back the way we had come , we soon rejoined the race, only further down the field. If this was not frustrating enough, after another mile, the same thing happened and I ended up even further down the field.

At this point I accepted that my possible moment of glory had gone and that I should be happy just get around in one piece. So it was that I finished in 45.56 for 44th position. Looking at the results later, I was first V60 by a margin of over 5 minutes to the second placed V60 runner and ten minutes over the third placed. That's victory in any language, and another bonus, my calf had held up, Hurrah!!!