New Chew

I missed this race last year so I was pleased I could make it this year. I prefer orienteering races and this one is just over the hill from me. It is also one of our club championship races this year, so there was some obligation to run it so I would get points on the table. The short score was the counter for us which suited me; 3.5hrs on the hill is more than enough. To be honest, I've not done a run over 2 hours since early December, and nothing consistently over 1.5hrs for some months. I therefore set myself the target of 2-2.5hrs, and depending on the spread of check points 5 or 6 as a minimum.

After some time mingling around registration and with kit check complete we were eventually lining up to get our start time and map. 9.48am and a map is in my hand. It looked horrible. Check points (CPs) spread from beyond Sykes Pillar and Wessenden Reservoir in the north to Loft Intake (SE) and Holme Moss mast to the east, plus there were lots of out of bounds areas. There didn't seem to be any way to do a short circular route with the option of grabbing an extra CP or two at the end if I mistimed my planning or had spare energy left. Nothing for it but to get running, I'm already 4 minutes into my time. Oh well, as I'm not planning on being out the full 3.5hrs that doesn't matter. I think knowing that I couldn't get a decent route done with the spread of CPs got me into a frustrated state of mind to start with. I just couldn't settle.

I won't do a running commentary of this race...there were ups, there were downs, my shoes were uncomfortable for unknown reasons, there were times my feet got wet in marshy boggy grass tuft land (and it was very cold water), there was a bit of snow, some ice, some cold wind, some welcomed sunshine, gorgeous views and sufficient cold air to make my lungs scream in objection. The good news is that I achieved what I set out to do: running around for 2.5hrs and clipped 5 CPs worth 30 points. It was rather frustrating that the CP which I clipped furthest out (I reckon about 5km from the start) was still only worth 10 points and the rest 5 points. I've heard that some races do the points a different way, those being closest worth most points. That way, those that can push and get to the distant peripheral CPs only ever stand the chance of making small incremental gains over those who get the central CPs. That seems a much fairer way of doing it. I guess you'll never please everyone whatever way you do it.

I've studied the map further since the race ended and there really wasn't any easy circular routes to do. I'm not saying I want an easy race, but the spread of CPs made it hard for me to do any sort of loop. In fact I pretty much did an out and back, then a small loop to get one of the CPs on the east side of Yeoman Hey Reservoir. The second road crossing over the A635 was a good 3km away over featureless, tufty unrunnable (for me) moorland. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have been able to get there, and then back to the finish through the craggy valley of Greenfield Brook. The scoreless race would have been impossible for me to do as it took in too much of the terrain I can't run on, and realistically the distance covered alone would have been too much. I'm now left questioning whether to enter the next Dark & White mini mountain marathon next month after this race. On balance I think they're quite different, having their routes mostly set on footpaths makes it much more runnable. We'll see. I'm undecided.

Glossopdale Harriers had a fabulous day winning several prizes in both the short and long score. More on that below. Here's some photographs I took while plodding round the race:

Kit check....at this point we don't know it, but Glossopdale's Caity who's having her kit checked here went on to be 1st Lady in the Short Score, great running.

Looking back towards Alderman's Hill where CP 'B' was located

My attack point, the Obelisk on the hill above CP 'A'

Under Shaw Rocks heading north to CP 'H'

Returning back to Dovestones Reservoir, totally alone I'm looking back to the Obelisk as I head up to the Sugar Loaf

Looking down onto Dovestones Reservoir before dropping down off Alderman's Hill

First lady in the Short Score just arrived at the finish with fellow Glossopdaler

Evidence of my short Short Score race

Well done Glossopdale ladies, first Lady and first F45 lady

Well done also to our club Captain, Julien Minshull...winner of the Short Score race

Crowds gathering to devour the delicious cakes and check out the results

Glossopdale's Carl Bedson takes 3rd place in the Long Score, excellent running

Great score board

Provisional results are out on the Saddleworth runners website. Thanks to the organisers for a good event, I know I'm in the minority when being critical of CP placements etc and I write this blog purely for self-reflection and memory and definitely not to criticise.  The event was run really well so thank you to the RO and Saddleworth, and thank you to the man who sorted out the amazing hot food and cakes, they were delicious. The sailing club is a great venue for a race, having changing rooms and plenty of indoor space really helped on such a chilly day.

Glossopdale Harriers did brilliantly, being a club championship race we had a good turn out but equally we achieved great results:

Short Score:
1st (Julien Minshull)
2nd (Mark Ollerenshaw)
3rd (Tom Young)
5th (Dave Hogg)
9th (John Stephenson)
10th (Caity Rice)
11th (Lindsay Palmer)
14th (Charlie Eaton)
18th (Becky Thompson/Alison Holt)
22nd (John Hewitt)
27th (me!)

Long Score
3rd (Carl Bedson) - so close to 1st!!
27th (Sue Clapham)