Hi folks,
Well I've had complaints about the lack of updates so hopefully this race report will help :) The Wizard 5 is a 5 mile multi terrain event (road, trail, and off road) set near the village of Alderley Edge. Brief results below:
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Position Time
14th out of 107 33:22
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So a few weeks back Rob of Bramhall parkrun race director fame thrust a flyer in my hand for a race, and as I read it the name captured my attention! I'm a bit of a sucker for the King Arthur and Lord of the Rings wizard stories and so I wondered why this race was called "The Wizard", well Rob answered, "It starts at The Wizard restaurant in Alderley Edge"... an answer, but it didn't really help me! Anyway, a little digging reveals that legend has it that Merlin has been spotted in the wood that this race is now set in. So with the small chance of meeting Merlin, I eagerly turned up at the start line ready to go.
It turned out that Wednesday was a shocking day for weather with really unusual heavy downpours for this time of year... very unusual, almost as if there was some other power at work in nature ;) This left me in the unusual position of having to ponder a concern that troubles many women every weekend... what shoes do I wear? On one hand I had my Asics Trabuco's which would normally be perfect (fast, medium grip) for a course like this, but perhaps the extra mud in some sections may be to much for even their trail grip, or I had my 4x4 style shoes, the Innovate Roclites (slow, but great grip), but that extra grip would be wasted on the road section and maybe slow me down slightly... decisions, decisions, I chose the Trabuco, as the Dr Pepper slogan goes, "What's the worst that could happen?"
Well I've had complaints about the lack of updates so hopefully this race report will help :) The Wizard 5 is a 5 mile multi terrain event (road, trail, and off road) set near the village of Alderley Edge. Brief results below:
--------------
Position Time
14th out of 107 33:22
--------------
So a few weeks back Rob of Bramhall parkrun race director fame thrust a flyer in my hand for a race, and as I read it the name captured my attention! I'm a bit of a sucker for the King Arthur and Lord of the Rings wizard stories and so I wondered why this race was called "The Wizard", well Rob answered, "It starts at The Wizard restaurant in Alderley Edge"... an answer, but it didn't really help me! Anyway, a little digging reveals that legend has it that Merlin has been spotted in the wood that this race is now set in. So with the small chance of meeting Merlin, I eagerly turned up at the start line ready to go.
It turned out that Wednesday was a shocking day for weather with really unusual heavy downpours for this time of year... very unusual, almost as if there was some other power at work in nature ;) This left me in the unusual position of having to ponder a concern that troubles many women every weekend... what shoes do I wear? On one hand I had my Asics Trabuco's which would normally be perfect (fast, medium grip) for a course like this, but perhaps the extra mud in some sections may be to much for even their trail grip, or I had my 4x4 style shoes, the Innovate Roclites (slow, but great grip), but that extra grip would be wasted on the road section and maybe slow me down slightly... decisions, decisions, I chose the Trabuco, as the Dr Pepper slogan goes, "What's the worst that could happen?"
At the start line there were plenty of club runners, including a few friendly faces from Wilmslow Running club and Bramhall parkrun. It had stopped raining for the couple of hours leading up to this and I was good to go, the whistle sounded and off we went! The first part was a small loop round mainly very good paths. I was trying not to set off to quick, but with it being a 5 mile course speed was the name of the game and I was pleased to say I was towards the front! As we left the small loop we encountered the first of what would be many stiles. Now stiles are tricky enough to get over in races (a few brave souls do a kind of hurdle!), but these stiles where all went and slippery, and so not wanting to give any bored local wizards any entertainment I was a little cautious on them. Around the 2km mark it became obvious the rain had left its mark on the course as the farmers field was a mud bath! Running certainly became hard and there was a fair amount sliding!
The 5km mark came and I found myself in a little forest with Nathan from the Bramhall parkrun behind me. Running down a short steep muddy slope I saw a small old wooden bridge and as I put my first foot onto the bridge it suddenly felt like I was walking on ice and my foot flew out from under me and I landed with a bang on my knees. I got up feeling a bit of a prat and ploughed on, but I got four steps before I realised I had taken a bit of damage from that fall and couldn't really run that well. I hobbled over to the edge of the path so that other runners could pass me. Over the next kilometre I started to recover and slowly caught back up with Nathan again not daring to look at my knees to see what state they were in. The graph though shows the impact the fall had on my pace.
By the time the finish line came into view I didn't really have anything left in the tank to give. The knees were in pain, and the lungs where already taking in as much air as they could, and so I had to let Nathan go as he passed me on the sprint finish. On crossing the finish line though a pack of three Cadbury's Cream Eggs where thrust into my hands and the spirit quickly lifted again! I was really pleased to have finished despite the fall, and a kind man from the St John Ambulance came over and sorted my knees out which was thankfully just bad cuts and grazes. Here's a photo of what they looked like after they'd been treated!
Anyway, a big thanks to the Malcolm Fowler and the volunteers for organising the race which raised over £400 for 'The Together Trust' and especially to the St John's Ambulance for looking after my knee... now where did I leave that final cream egg? :)
Cheers
Andy
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