First Fell Race of the Year!

Scenery wasn't too shabby

On the 10th April I competed in the Thomas Theyer fell race, a race I had recce'd a couple of months ago with my friend Helen (see blog post here).  Based in Combs, Derbyshire at the fantastic Whitehall Centre - the race was being run in memory of 18 year old Thomas Theyer who tragically died whilst out fell running near Buxton in 2013.  Before the day, I managed to raise £60 sponsorship and said I was aiming to complete the run in around 1 hour - my blog post was shared by the Thomas Theyer Foundation facebook page and they highlighted my estimated time - the pressure was then on!

It was a beautiful day with a cool wind but lovely warm sunshine - perfect running conditions.  Many of my friends and fellow Striders were competing in the Greater Manchester Marathon, Sheffield Half Marathon or the local Ronde Van Chinley road bike race, and this reflected in the numbers with just 54 runners on the day, 14 of them ladies.

Pete and I before the off!

I felt cool and collected at the start - a bit too cold actually, even after warming up -  the wind was biting - I spotted Pete - the only other Strider entered - was wearing a t-shirt under his race vest and so I dashed back to the car to get my training t-shirt to put under my vest! 


Talking of race vests, I was wearing the new prototype Striders vest courtesy of Caz and Tony at A&C workwear.  I found it comfortable, longer in length - a must for me as I have issues with my stomach (not helped by having a 10lb baby!), and the new graphics with little green trees looked more modern.    I mentioned to Caz that it might be useful to have "Goyt Valley Striders" written across the back of the vest as well as the front, as in races sometimes people address you by your club and this would make it possible for people behind to identify you.  Caz agreed that this was the idea, I just have an early prototype - future vests will have the text front and back all being well.  

Thanks Andy Waring for the Photos!

Once we were off (I only just made it back to the start in time) I found my stride and amusingly had a little chat with a Pennine runner - normally in races I am the one who is talking and usually get one word answers or grunts - anyone who knows me well will understand this - whats that you say? chatterbox? me?!  

Anyway, I felt good going onto Ladder Hill.  I found the stony surface hard going on my ankles down the second part of the hill and concentrated hard on where I was putting my feet, it was funny how many of the blokes were dodging the puddles over the flat track section, I remember a friend (Katy) telling me, you don't worry about getting wet and muddy in races, just go for it!  It definitely gave me an advantage over ladder hill just ploughing through the puddles!  Also it cooled my feet down which were, by now, very warm!

At the left hand turn onto Old Road I was cheered on by Sally (a mum from my sons school) and her lovely girls - they were impressed by my race number! (I was number 1). It is really nice to have people cheering you on, it does make you try that little bit harder knowing they have made an effort to come and support you, especially if it's a grueling race or bad conditions (this race was neither fortunately!).  Further up this rather monotonous road section one of our best pals Glenn came hurtling down on his bike - he was competing in the Ronde van Chinley bike event - we heckled each other and it boosted me up the hill to the next section - a woody track leading to the fields we had previously crossed on the stony section.  

Once back on the track we came to the gateway where a friend Andy was marshaling - he got some great pictures of us all, which is always appreciated! (it helps with the best bit - reminiscing afterwards!).  Next, we headed down a steep muddy field to a cattle grid and I gained a couple of places which is great because I have really worked on my downhill skills as I have talked about in previous blogs.  Back onto the road we headed up to the Beehive pub - I was veering towards the beer garden thinking how welcome a drink (of the alcoholic type) would be right now -  but round the next corner and I was cheered on by another marshal Victoria (Andy's wife) and her Mum Hilary who were doing a great job bucket shaking and directing us runners.  



The next road section saw another chat with a lovely chap from Pennine - he told me he was in the Vet 60 category and had done a 16 miler round Kinder the day before! - I was most impressed!  We stayed together until the next hilly section when I managed to pull away from him and his poor tired legs!  The next section was brutal and involved walking quite a bit.  The lady ahead of me was still in sight but with the gradient of the hills I knew I couldn't catch her in the distance we had left to the finish.  

Once at the top we headed downhill slightly to the finish which was uneventful with nobody close by - I still managed a little sprint - its got to be done!  My mum, sister and her partner Steve were at the finish to cheer me on which was lovely as usually fell running isn't much of a spectator sport, you just finish and go home!

My prize!

Once finished, I learned I had come home 3rd Lady, which I was really pleased with and I thought I had done it in around an hour.  I cheered Pete on to the finish and helped him avoid getting "chicked" on the line! ("she's behind youuuuu!!!")  Back at the centre we enjoyed amazing home baked cakes and flapjacks and as much tea as you could drink - all for a donation to the charity. 

Overall the event was really well organised, laid back and fun, unfortunately I couldn't stay for the prize giving as I had to get home, but kindly Ste Davison who I met at the Macclesfield Duathlon in February took my prize for me - a lovely beanie hat which he posted on to me - thanks again Ste and good luck in your forthcoming Ultra!    

At the bakery in Tideswell

I found out through the results that I had come home in 1 hour 1 minute and 1 second so not a bad guess hey?!  Thanks to all my supporters on the day - Mum bought me a Thomas Theyer technical t-shirt which I sported today on my run, and I have raised £90.00 online through justgiving, so a really good outcome all round!  I'm already looking forward to next year and fingers crossed for more decent weather!

The girls with Lyme Hall in the background

In other news this week,  I have had two great bike rides - one on Ladybird to Tideswell with Caz - not only did I manage 30 miles without falling off, I even conquered my fear of cattle grids and crossed 4.  In the wet.  This is big. 

Lovely Ladies!

I also went on one of our ladies MTB rides on Thursday with Helen, Caz and Estelle on a Lyme Park loop which is a bit of a Heinz route - a bit of road, a bit of canal, a bit of techie and a lot of gates! It was great!  I wimped out of a technical bit which has annoyed me so I'm going to conquer that soon.  One thing at a time... I might just let my face fade first...

OMM ready!

In the next couple of weeks I will be writing my first OMM Ambassador Blog which will involve a report of the Herod Farm 3 mile fell race and the OMM Bike event which Caz and I have entered on the 23rd and 24th April through my OMM role.  

In the meantime happy running to all!

TLF x

Thomas Theyer Fell Race Recce

A little while ago, a friend posted on Facebook about a fell race which was to be held in the local village of Combs in April 2016 - The Thomas Theyer Fell Race.  I instantly pricked my ears as I love running in that area and decided to look into the details.

The race is a 10k fell run from the Whitehall Centre, 







"The route goes out of Whitehall along the lane towards Whaley, until Wythenlache Farm, right down the lane/track to the end, turn left on to anther lane over ladder hill and left on to track past Tunstead Farm, left on to lane, left through Ladder Hill Woods re- joins the original route but then will turn right through Lower Thorny Lee Farm into Combs village then right through Rye Flatt and back up to Whitehall" 

(map and route summary from the Thomas Theyer Fell Race Facebook page)

The race is being held in memory of Thomas Theyer, an 18 year old fell runner from the Peak District who tragically lost his life while out running in 2013.  

On February 25th 2016 I went on a recce of the route with my friend Helen and her dog Summer.  I borrowed my running dog - Skye (who belongs to my friend Becca) and off we went.  What a beautiful day! Crisp and cold but sunny with a cloud inversion looking back at Whaley Bridge and beyond. 

We set off from the Beehive Pub in Combs village - a good starting point for the parking and a good finishing point for the food and drinks! - and headed towards the hill over to Dove Holes up Ridge Lane.  I had opted for full-on Fell Shoes and was wearing my Inov-8 Mudclaws as a precaution for the muddy sections.  


We soon turned right onto a farm track and headed for the second footpath sign to the right, which headed as the crow flies towards the Whitehall Centre.  Once over a stile we were into a boggy field where I was glad of my sensible footwear!  We crossed a couple of streams over footbridges then headed for the buildings at Broadlee Farm.  We kept the dogs on leads through these field sections as there were lots of preggo sheep around.  

The section through the farm then onto the footpath up to Whitehall was tricky to find and we ended up asking a lady at the farm - I assume this will be well marked for the race.  Basically, we headed towards the driveway of the farm then turned immediately left up a steep hill past the tree and followed the path through 2 gates.  This bit was quite steep and some people will probably walk this bit (I won't!)  We continued in the general direction we had been heading and eventually saw Whitehall, it was really easy going then as we turned right onto Old Road and headed for the cutting in the rocks. Heading through the cutting you can see Wythen Lache Farm and beautiful views of the Goyt Valley to the left as you drop down the hill.

At this point of our run I was wishing I had a pair of Roclites (more of a cushioned trail shoe) as my Mudclaws are a bit hard for the road and my toes were suffering slightly (even with vaselined toes).  We came to Wythen Lache and turned right following the bridleway NE to the gate then down the track to a spring.  This is an excellent track for mountain biking - a favourite route of mine.  We kept following the track to a bottom gate at Thorny Lee when the track turns into a tarmac road.  We followed the road steeply downhill then turned left and headed up another rocky track onto Ladder Hill.  

The views to the right of Combs reservoir are lovely but we had to dodge some massive puddles/fords so didn't spend long view-gazing!  The track continued to be relatively flat and then dropped down a rocky decent to Old Road.  Turning left,  we started the longish climb up the road (with the Goyt Valley now on our right hand side) where we eventually forked left up to the woods.  

Continuing uphill, we came to the top of the hill and descended

over and down through reeds to where the spring was located on the track earlier in the run.  Turning left we retraced our steps to the bottom gate at Thorny Lee and instead of continuing down the tarmac road, we turned right down to a farm and through a gateway (with a squeeze-past-able stone pillar to the left).  This field had a couple of horses in who didn't bother us as we descended down the muddy land towards the bottom gate. 

Once through the gate we turned right and followed the road onto Long Lane which brought us uphill back to the pub.  The route according to Strava was just over 10k and had taken us around an hour and a half max.  On race day I am hoping to do the route in as close to 1 hour as possible, so that will be my aim.