Team Feed Me!
Trailwalker 2007

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The District Double

The latest “Team Feed Me!” training event involved running two challenging marathons on consecutive days to practise running when tired, running as a team, pacing discipline and refuelling on the move. We ran the White Peak marathon on Saturday 19th May and then the Brathay Windermere marathon on Sunday 20th May. We had a prearranged target time of “about 5 hours ish” for each event and a strategy for each race. This was three weeks after the Shakespeare marathon and four weeks after FLM so two of us (the lasses) still had the ghosts of previous marathons in our legs.

White Peak
Our strategy for the day was to get to 10 miles before the cut off (2 hours) then finish in 5 hours on a run-walk.
We started at Cromford Meadows Rugby Club near Matlock, where we were able to fuel up on bacon butties before the race began. One of the joys of running at an aerobic pace is that you CAN eat before running! From the rugby club, we were bussed to the start at Thorpe. This is a small event with about 200 runners. The run is over the Tissington and High Peak Trails. Both have compacted limestone and cinder surfaces on former railway tracks so normal running shoes were fine despite this being an off-road event. There was one road crossing just after the half way point, which was expertly marshalled. Water stations were plentiful despite the difficulty of access to the course from major roads. Starting on the Tissington Trail, the track climbs very gently up the dales to just beyond Parsley Hay, where we did an about turn at mile 12 then picked up the High Peak Trail. This trail runs level(ish) up to mile 21 then descends steeply (1 in 8 gradient!) in three stages down to the High Peak Junction at the Cromford Canal. After this we turned left along the tow-path towards the finish at Cromford Meadows.
We got to the 10 mile mark with ages to spare. There were some team discussions about what our eventual finish time should be and the team decision was that a finish time of under 5 hours would be a potential disaster for the next day’s running. On the steep descents we let gravity take over (wheeeee!) and walked up any inclines in the second half. Result: finished in 5:02, tired but not knackered. Fantastic event – take a picnic.




Team Feed Me! Near the finish of White Peak. From the left: Stu, Leon, me, Lorna


Brathay Windermere Marathon

Our team strategy today was to run-walk from the start. There were no cut-off times on the route and a very generous 8 hour cut off for the full 26.2 miles so we had no fears of a DNF unless some disaster stopped all forward motion. We agreed to run the flats and the downhills and walk all the uphills with the team member at the back (usually me!) setting the pace and choosing when to run.
This event was being held for the first time since 1986. It started and finished at Brathay Hall, Clappersgate, near Ambleside. The marathon coincided with Brathay Hall’s open day so there was a party atmosphere at the start and finish. Windermere is England’s largest lake and the marathon route goes anticlockwise around it. The marathon route is hailed as the most scenic in the UK. The route passes through Hawkshead, Newby Bridge, Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside. It is NOT flat. Water stations were frequent and well-stocked with water, energy drinks from SIS and Kendal mint cake.
Our pacing strategy worked well and although tiring, another 5 hour-ish marathon was well within our team ability. We finished in 5:05. I was surprised by how many runners (walkers!) we passed during the second half – I really thought we’d be crawling home last. At the finish, there was a catering van selling bowls of the best veggie chili I’ve ever tasted. With cheese. And bread. And cakes.

Next up: Rotary Across Wales Walk (at a trot?) then the real thing: Trailwaker 2007.