6th Place at Haigh Hall 4 Mile Hill Race

Doctor Simon saves the day at Haigh Hall

Simon kindly gave Tracey, new club runner Rob Cosgrove, new kid on the block Steve Lewis and myself a lift to the Haigh Hall race at Wigan.
Driving through a tropical rain storm we were glad to be in Simon's trusty Volvo as we hit flood water over the top of Parbold, the cars ahead came to a dead stop as the road turned to a river and a tidal wave of water splashed across the road as cars on the other side of the road floated by!
we survived and made it to race HQ for 7 pm to find few cars in the car park and as we signed in race organizer Paul Carrol told how half an hour before he'd been thinking of cancelling the race due to the torrential downpour.
We trekked down to the start at the bottom of the Forest, the drops of rain falling off the trees was a nice relief from the humid conditions.
55 brave souls set off up the 1 1/4 mile climb, I found myself just behind the lead pack until we hit the 'wall' after only a few mins, I pumped my arms and legs in a vain hope of overcoming gravity!
The thought of why I wanted to put myself through more 'hurt' than the entire England team put the football fans through crossed my mind, for but a fleeting moment!
Close behind Tracey had set off fast, maybe her resent track racing had changed her perception of pace, but latter on she would pay the price!!
Simon thankfully not wearing his latex shorts [ after being banned from wearing them by his wife and Daughter] overtook Tracey wearing instead a mask of pain, he was followed by a smiling fresh faced steve and Rob who has only been running for 7 months.
Close to the top of the climb I overtook 2 runners which moved me up to 6 th place.
I now spent the rest of the race in no man's land as the lead group pulled away and at the same time I pulled away from the group behind me!
Simon battled hard to hold off 1st Lady Mary Aguera [who had a very shapely pair of legs I must say!] and a fast finishing Steve Lewis.
I finish in 6th place but 20 sec slower than last time, Simon by now wearing a full mask of pain wildly thrusts across the line in 17th place and 26.11, Steve looking like he was just out for a jog finishes in 21st 26.30, Tracey sprints in looking very red faced and worn out, thinking she'd done a P.B. [ due to her Garmin malfunctioning] I give her the bad news that she'd run 27.28 and not 26 mins, still a good run with 29th and 2nd lady. Rob in his first 4 mile race in club colours just missed breaking 30 mins with 30.55 47th place.
UPDATE; Opps! Sorry missed Phil Baxendale off the report who finished first V 60 with a time of 29.26 and 40th place.
At the prize giving Tracey, Simon Phil and myself all received prizes from Paul Carrol and much thanks have to go out to him and his crew for organizing such a great event once more!
RESULTS




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HAIGH HALL 4 MILE HILL RACE

Haigh Hall
THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR
13 sec improvement doesn't really tell the whole story as I felt a hell of a lot better than in last months race, In the May race I felt like packing on the first steep climb and I had to use all my mental will power to keep on going! This time I felt strong the whole way round. Starting in the woods the rain started as we set off up the one mile climb, one group pulled away from me and I found myself leading the second group, I didn't even notice the really steep section today, after a mile or so we went passed the hall and then tackled a short steep ramp before hurtling back down hill at speed, then there was a right turn and back up the hill again, slowly I started to pull back the tail enders of the group in front and be the top of the climb they were within pouncing distance! Just one mile of downhill to go, Rob tells me he ran this stretch in 4.48! I take out one runner then another as I get within the last 400m or so, A final sprint and I cross the line in the pouring rain in 23.31 feeling much happier than last time, I think I've turned a important corner in my running, for the better! Team mates Richard Shearer WON the race , Steve Wilkinson came 5th and Rob 'the chicken' Mcgraph finished 8th after his epic downhill assault, if only I could have finished faster the Team award would have been in the bag! As it was we had to settle for second, I'm hoping Barry's training will help me improve enough to support the team better next month!
Photo Haigh Hall Lion
Wed10th Haigh hall 4 miles 23.31, 18th place.
Thur 11th Easy run with Tess over the big sand dunes = 1.31
Fri 12th Easy run with Eddie and Tess, should have been 30 mins but turned into an hour!

HAIGH HALL 4 MILE HILL RACE, FIGHTING THE NEGATIVE DEMONS!

FIRST OF THE SUMMER EVENING RACES
Wed 13th
I was determined not to do what I did last year, run my fastest races in may only to burn out and get progressively slower throughout summer [ due to 2 hard interval sessions plus racing each week]! Chris kindly drove me to Haigh hall the the first in a series of 4, last year I finished 3 overall. Starting off in the forest at the bottom of a long winding climb I soon found the going tough a barrage of negative thoughts went through my mind, 'YOUR TOO OLD', 'YOUR TOO HEAVY', 'YOU'VE NOT BEEN TRAINING ON THE BIG HILLS' etc, etc, I replaced one negative thought with a positive one only to get another negative taking over, a bit like someone rolling boulders down the hill at me, I push one out of the way only to find another coming straight at me! Maybe I need some mental training check out posts from Scott Brown and CANUTE'S RUNNING Once I'd got over the steepest section I started to settle in to a better rhythm, I went through one mile in 6.20, not to bad taking into account the long drag up into the heavens, the gradient eased off a bit as I approached the hall and I make it onto the back of a group as we sprint up a short steep ramp before heading downhill. I pass the group taking to the grass, using the gravity running method I take full advantage of the downhill catching a runner as we turn uphill onto our 2nd lap, I now find myself on my own as I climb towards the hall again, pass the hall and up the steep ramp again I am joined by a short stocky guy who leads on the downhill track, we pull back another runner, then my stocky friend surges as we hit the tarmac. Downhill at full speed through the forest the road twists and turns, I start to blow and have to ease to get my breath back, stocky pulls a few seconds out on me, I search for the finish through the many trees and corners, before I know it I'm hitting the finish without time to sprint! 23.44, but only 5th v45! RESULTS
Foot note; At the end of the race the heavens opened up, so we made a quick getaway, one mile back to the Rugby club house, I was really surprised my muscled didn't ache or hurt [ quite amazing after such a tough race] I think using De-flex really helped and if you want to improve your energy return and reduce impact to your body and especially your calf muscles I would recommend you give it a try!
Thur 14th
Easy run with Tess over the sandhills, enjoyed the run in light rain! = 1.34
Fri 15th
Short hill sprints, up and down the hill x 6, max speed 12.4 mph
= 32 mins
Sun 17th
Run with Jon and Chris in pinewoods, then ran home over sandhills inc 8 x sprints and last half mile at 5.30 pace!
= 1.46