Ridgeway Relay, Leg 9 (10.7 Miles)
Well, today was 'hella hot'! It was well into the 90's when we running, which made Malboroough Running Club's fell-race style Ridgeway Relay somewhat more challenging to say the very least. From what I could see at the various handover points, everyone who came in looked absolutely trashed (Ed, I mean you, although I'm sure Nig couldn't have been in too pretty a state after his leg either), thus before I even started my leg I realized that survival might be more of an issue than split-times. After Rob handed over to me with a 7:30 lead (33% of which he was responsible for himself), the pressure on me to perform was lifted somewhat.I charged down the first hill of arguably the most difficult leg of the race, with some vigor (to take advantage of the small amount of favorable terrain on my leg), having pre-cooled myself with my ice-vest, and a chilled, wet vest & long sleeve t-shirt combination. The heat started to tell as soon as 10 minutes in, and I was thankfully for the water provided to me by my support crew at Ogbourne St George, half way through my leg. About 10 minutes after this point though, I realized I may have taken the pace out too hard, given the heat, as I was staggering around like a drunk for the last half of my leg, tripping over the loose scree & pebbles like they were obstacles 10 times their true size. I even resorted to walking up some parts of the climbs (the toughest of which was that out of Ogbourne St George up to Barbury Castle).
I came into the handover point, 10.7 Miles later (ran in my WO NB 834's) in a time of 71:31, severely disappointed. I was sure that I must have dropped time for the team, despite my efforts to maintain some sort of pace. After all, at some points I was virtually crawling! Imagine my surprise when the next runner came through 15 minutes & 13 seconds later. I had managed to double our lead! I know it was only down to the quality of runners the other teams put on my leg, rather than due to my fitness or skill, but it made me feel better about the poor 6:41/Mile average pace I sustained during my leg (peversely it was also a leg best for the day)!
At the prize ceremony, the usual suspects were present, Nig 'Gorilla' Grove, Ed 'Something Witty' Dodwell, Rob 'DF' Prady et al. After Toby Laver's efforts on the 10th and final leg we came in clear victors by some 14-odd minutes. A staggering winning margin given the day's conditions. I was somewhat disapointed by the lack of trophies though. I feel that our efforts were worth more than a consumable prize & a shared shield. I might follow Rob's lead and get my wine bottle engraved. A good day by all accounts, I'm just hoping I recover in time for Tuesday's track session!..
"Why doesn't the club actually spend some of its money on improving the service it provides, rather than just giving it ALL away?.."
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1 Comments:
well mr t what a day.yeah i must admit i felt like i had drank 10 pints about 3 miles in and it looked like you had drank 15 he he.i really thought i was going to die out there.but hey the roadrunners fighting spirt was the winner.great stuff by all the team.take it easy fella.
gorilla nige or nig.
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