This shot has nothing to do with 'The Bolt around the Holt' - as it obviously is a picture involving cycling. However, just got through a few shots of the race at Kempton Park last week showing me in "full flow". Particularly liked this arty one - fortunately there were none of me on the run.
Picking up a thread from earlier blogs - finally saw my first bluebells. Believe in or not they were just down the road in Brixton. The warm spell seems to have really brought everything out in flower.
This weekends race took place in Alice Holt Forest. The following details are taken from the Forestry Commission's website (http://www.forestry.gov.uk/aliceholt ). "This forest in Roman times lay at the heart of a thriving pottery industry, providing clay, water and fuel wood for the numerous kilns built within the existing site of archaeological interest. Throughout history, Alice Holt has remained a working forest, famous for its oak trees which once supplied timber for navy ships, furniture-making, building and wood for fuel.
Nowadays, Alice Holt Forest comprises 850 hectares (2,100 acres) of open access woodland with over 12.5 km (8 miles) of waymarked trails." A bit more information is at the end along with details of a local group that works with the commission.
When I was booking the race - I had a choice of a 5k (which to be fair wouldn't have counted towards my 50@50), a 10k or a half marathon (21k). So guess which one I chose? The course is based on a 5km lap - running "on compact forest trails with some cheeky inclines". To see the "cheekiness" of the inclines http://connect.garmin.com/player/27935599 My impression is from this is there's not a lot of 'flat'!
Pleasant drive with little traffic down the A3 then across the Hogs Back with fantastic views northwards across Surrey. The views were obscured a little, well actually a lot as I'd had to park the car under lime trees the week previous. And as everyone knows limes have a nasty habit of covering everything in a sticky honey dew (from aphids feeding on the tree). Which coupled with what seemed like the results from incontinent birds - made the windows somewhat less than 100% clear!
Reached Alice Holt Forest in good time - and on the way remembered where I'd heard the name before. There is a famous forestry experimental station based here and I'd come across a lot of the literature when studying for my first degree way, way back. As early (ish) again I'd had the time to stop for a paper (the right one this time) and had time to skim the sports pages before needing to get ready.
One thing I had discovered during my initial reconnoitre was that the was a Starbucks coffee stand that was giving out coffee for a donation. I must admit they went up a bit in my estimation for being one of the sponsors of the event, for collecting money for the charity (GUTS - bowel cancer charity see information at end of blog) and - I don't know whether it was the outdoor air or the good cause but - the coffee actually tasted pretty good! It goes to show that when they not faffing around with all their tall skinny 'whatsits' with added 'whatevers' they can actually produce a decent black coffee.
As it was a bit chilly first thing had held off stripping down to race gear until absolutely necessary. It was about this time I realised I'd made a bit of a faux pas. It seems I have to get something wrong each event - forget something or get there before they open. This time while preparing I realised that I had managed to pack odd trainers. Fortunately one was a left and the other was a right foot one - so it wasn't a total disaster. I just hoped that no one would notice and it wouldn't be too awkward running.
Looking around there was a nice mix of runners of all ages and abilities. The slight problem was that those I felt I stood a chance against were mainly doing the 5k whereas the serious looking ones, whippet lean and ready to go - warming up with almost yoga-like bendy stretching exercises were all doing the 21k race. Nerves began to jangle - another trip to the loo!
The event started with a warm up to music - something I try and avoid as I'm totally uncoordinated and worry about putting someone's eye out as I'm trying to follow the dance moves. Many of the 21k runners were looking disdainfully at this kind of 'fun' warm-up - my goodness they were taking it all a bit serious!
The canni-cross races were the first to set off. These are people who run with dogs - often more than one. They have a belt to which the leads are attached and the dogs are in a harness so it's a bit like having a team of huskies drag you along without a sledge being involved. It seems to be a very popular sport as a number of the races now start with canni-cross. I'm assuming they have to start first otherwise the dogs would just chase the other runners but I have wondered whether if a dog sees a rabbit or something would they go haring after them?
Anyway it was the 21k runners next (to be followed by the 10k and finally the 5k). The course was a 5k lap which we had to do four times. Those of you in the know will realise that a half marathon is actually 21k (13.1miles in old money) so the organisers had us do a 1km 'detour' on the first lap. While they could have been nice people and sent us along a lovely flat forest track - they weren't and didn't. Instead our detour consisted of running up a hill for about 500m, around a large yew tree and then back down again.
As it hadn't rained for a while the route was firm underfoot. Last year it had rained and some of the slopes were quite slippery. We ran along mainly tracks with one or two stretches of paths. The woodland was beautiful, most of the trees with the really fresh green leaves of spring. Lots of blossom and flowers in the woodland floor. Pretty sure I saw violets and wood anemones - but didn't for obvious reasons, stop to check. First lap was fine, second lap began to overtake the slower 5 and 10k runners. Third lap - thighs began to hurt more from the running down the hills rather than the up. Also on the third lap was when the faster 10k runners began to overtake and it required a lot of will-power not to speed up and give chase. Fortunately I had kept an eye on a runner (no 776 with a Sutton Runners top - checked the results, he was Tunde Adeyemo) to pace myself. So the temptation to give chase was moderated by just keeping pace with this guy who had one of those seemingly effortless running styles - no wasted energy at all. It was also on the third lap, near the end, that a couple of the fastest 21k runners overtook (eventual winning time of 1:16).
One thing regarding the laps was that you went through the start / finish area where all the supporters were cheering you on. The downside was that to get to this point you had to go from the lowest point of the course to the highest - a small matter of about 200 feet, so you reached the most public part of the course as a gasping, sweaty mess.
The last lap, there's no other word for it, was just painful. Fortunately, as most of my running this year has been off road I was used to the rough terrain, the hills and the stony surface, whereas some of the runners including no. 776 who did most of their running on roads found the going much harder. On the last lap I managed to pull away from some of the runners I'd kept pace with including Tunde who as I passed gave me encouragement along the lines of "go on old feller". I was also encouraged up the last hill by a woman shouting "you're looking good" - I'm assuming that's because I was still running and not a critique on my personal appearance - to which I responded "but inside I'm dying" which got me a laugh and a cheer from the crowd near the finish line.
To be honest once finished I could barely walk. Really stiff and sore legs. I waited for no. 776 (Tunde) to congratulate him and to swap notes on the race. Also to reflect that the following day many thousands would be doing twice the distance in the London Marathon - quite frankly I don't know how they do it as I was knackered doing half the distance.
This race is a really excellent - well organised, friendly and for some excellent causes. Fund-raising is the central theme of the race so that there are all types taking part from the really serious athletes to those of 'a certain size and fitness' who walked around the 5k lap. As a result there are lots of families in support - not in the least in that the race is based near a cafe, the go-ape facility, cycle hire centre, woodland play areas and so on. Also the organisers, All-About-Triathlons, are serious about fund raising so most of their events have a feel good factor which makes them fun to compete in.
Note to self - must get a Prostate Cancer top sorted so I can run in team colours so to speak.
Result: 50th out of 213 in a time of 1:42:26
GUTS - http://www.gutsfbc.co.uk/#!vstc4=about-bowel-cancer - Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK (after breast and lung - prostate is fourth) and is the second highest in terms of causing death (lung is first, breat is third and prostate fourth).
Conservation: It remains a diverse and ancient forested landscape that forms part of the UK Environmental Change Network, which is managed by Forest Research, a world leader in the research of climate change and sustainable forestry. For instance they have a flux tower (looks a bit like a pylon) which monitors the carbon dioxide exchange between the forest and the atmosphere.
All of Alice Holt Forest is classified as Ancient Woodland, of which a third is Ancient and Semi-Natural Woodland (ASNW) and the remainder is Ancient Replanted Woodland, often known as Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS). Over the next 50 years or so, we will contribute to the Government's policy for ancient and native woodland (www.forestry.gov.uk/keepersoftime) by maintaining native woodland cover on those sites that already support ASNW. We will also gradually replace most of the conifer woodland in Alice Holt Forest with native species such as oak, ash and birch. A proportion of conifer trees (up to 20%) will be retained to provide variety of habitat and landscape diversity in a woodland complex that contains pockets of open space, open water and an extensive network of wildlife corridors.
Local Group: http://www.aliceholt.org/
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