Alice's Run 2009

So, how do you go about breaking a seasoned 10k road race runner? Swap the nice flat roads and footpaths around York that he's used to the calf-burning hills and valleys around Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Alice's Run, aka Fellrunning for Beginners, is organised by Epilepsy Action and is described as a mixed terrain 10k race race perfect for serious runners and beginners, which puts me in mind of some nice rolling roads, a couple of dramatic hills, plus the odd muddy trail to splash down. As you may be guessing, I may have been slightly naive about this. Getting out of the starting field, I was worried about whether I'd get close to my PB at all, as there was a large bottleneck to get through before hitting a stretch of canal path with no chance of overtaking. However, after seeing the first almost vertical hill up the side of the valley, my thoughts were "Blow that", or something similar at least.

This is very much a course for enjoying the view, as because most of the hills you have to walk up to stand a chance of making it to the top of alive, not to mention numerous stiles, boggy trails, and on one memorable occasion, a huge felled tree to climb over to punish tired legs, it's very hard to pick up speed for any real length of time. This shouldn't be seen as a complaint though, as what scenery it was, as we were led from down by the waterside up to lofty heights amongst the clouds, and back down again through woodland trails and over scenic stone bridges. I still think that if Alice had actually used this as a training course, she was either half mountain goat and had thighs like tree-trunks, else possessing a fairly healthy masochistic streak, but it's very much a race to enjoy, even if you do end up cursing like a sailor halfway around.

The organisation was very good as well, with 300+ runners being herded around by good signage and a brilliant team of friendly marshalls, although a drinks station halfway wouldn't have gone amiss. Well-stocked goodybags and tshirts were handed out at the end though, as well as a nice awards event for the winners (Chris Miller came away with the fastest time, with a sickeningly quick 34:58). Me? I came away with a comfortable 51:47 and a promise to bring fellrunning shoes when I inevitably sign up again next year.

Matt


I've also got a lot to update from the last couple of weeks, including the York 10k, so keep your eyes peeled!