Amazing overall performance by Team Wye Valley for the summer 2016 series. Congratulations to Team Captain Kelly and to all who took part. Every point counted towards a convincing team win with some outstanding individual performances
For overall final individual position click here
For overall team scores click here
For men's award winner list click here
For women's award list click here
And for Shobdon results click here
Some of the members of the club have probably been wondering where has Jim Masters been? Well I can reassure you all it wasn’t to take a break, in fact it couldn’t have been further from the truth. He has spent the last 12 months training for what is probably one of runnings biggest challenges. I can hear you all ask what is the Bob Graham Round?
Bob Graham was a keen walker around the lake district and he set up this challenge of climbing 42 of the lake district peaks in 24 hours. You are talking about 66 miles of gruelling technical terrain which varies between peat, bog, slate, grass, rock and even the odd river and to make it worse unless you are up there with some of the best fell runners in the world you are going to be traversing these mountains in the middle of the night. Still not impressed? Well how about the fact that if you attempt this you are climbing around 28000 feet, that’s about as high as Mount Everest.
A Bob Graham Round attempt isn’t attempted without a support crew. The round is usually split up into 5 legs. You will have a support for each of these legs which will consist of a navigator who are usually Bob Graham Round runners themselves and due to the great community within this challenge they offer their services to others, they also act as witnesses to make sure you reach the summits. Then there is the support team who are there at each checkpoint with brews, food and water at the ready. You also have a few support runners to carry the kits, water and food. In the Tour De France they are called Domestiques, in running they are called Donkeys. This is where myself, Dan Lewis and Jeremy Jehan come in. Jim informed of this attempt a few months ago and asked us if we would support him, come up to Lake District for the weekend, it wont be a hard pace and you can enjoy the views. We all jumped at this opportunity to run around the lakes, little did we know we were to be handed the responsibility of leg 1 which starts at midnight and finishes at the ungodly hour of 4am but too late to back out now.
Fast forward a few months and it’s the night of the big day. Jim looks ready to take on this monumental task, although restless to get going and get it over and done with after all this preparation. With a few hours to go we all decide to get our heads down as its going to be a long night, in Jims case its going to be a very long day. We awake at 2230 to be greeted a lovely rainstorm this was going to be a fun start, but with only minimal grumbling we assembled our kit and shared out what Jim needed to take between us and headed off to the start point of Keswick Moot Hall. A very surreal experience being in full running gear in the middle of the high street as people enjoy a Friday night out on the town. After a few minutes we are joined by Mick who is the Navigator, a very experienced ultra runner and has also completed the Bob Graham Round before. After a few good lucks it hit midnight and is time to start, we headed out of Keswick for about half a mile and then start to climb. At this point I realised something, Jim has been training bloody hard because what he classed as an easy pace was nothing short of a power walk up on of the biggest mountains in England. He was going to keep this up for 42 peaks and 66 miles. We proceeded to climb up the Skiddaw, after 1 mile there was a few complaints that despite the drizzle it was really warm, after 2 miles of climbing those complaints died down because as we ascended the mountain we turned the corner and started to feel the brunt of the weather, turns out I was wrong. We continued climbing for nearly 5 calf burning miles to a height of 3000ft, with no idea where the top was we blindly followed the navigator with the light from the head torch getting swallowed up by the darkness and the wind and rain lashing at our faces. What felt like a lifetime but was in fact only about an hour and a half we hit the top and there was more than the trig point there ready to greet us it felt like we were in the eye of the storm, literally getting blown from side to side as somehow Mick unerringly lead us to the trig point stone, Which Jim ran straight up to and touched, which ticked off the first summit on his list only 41 more to go, at this point I couldn’t have been more thankful I was only doing 2 more who in there right mind would want to do this, you don’t even get a free t shirt at the end, but at least I thought I can recover on the downhill. At this point I realised something else, Jim knows how to descend, in mere minutes Jims easy pace quickly started to outdistance mine. This is a technical, steep and rocky descent on the top of one Englands highest mountains in the pitch black with gale force winds blowing you from side to side and Jim is descending like hes running down the road. Even our own mountain goats Dan and Jeremy were starting to lag behind. At this point I started to pray for some flat because we really needed to follow Mick as we had no idea where we were. This should highlight there difference in class out in the fells I never thought that when running 12 miles I would be worried about holding up someone running 66 miles. Fortunately we regrouped ready to start climbing the Great Calva a mere 690m climb through mud, peat and bogs where you could quickly submerge up to shins, not to mention the extra hazards of running in the dark along paths that are only every crossed by people attempting the Bob Graham Round, but once Mick who might be part bat navigated us up a mile and a half to the trig point. Jim once again not even out of breath touch the rocks this time which symbolises summit number 2 and proceeds to practically skip down the descent. There was 2 surprises left for us tonight, the first of which was what was described as a stream crossing at the start of the climb to Blencathra I would describe as a fast flowing river. Whilst Myself, Dan and Jeremy are dancing through like old women who have just had their nails done Jim and Mick who just waded through were off on the climb once again, heads down into the wind and rain. It was certainly an unusual experience running the dark, after a few hours you start to get tunnel vision and the fog was so thick this night that I actually thought my eyes were steaming up, I was seriously looking forward to dawn but we just had one more summit to reach. Turns out the summit wasn’t the difficult part of this climb which was my last surprise. Jim once again reached the summit at about 3:30am right on queue for getting in within his target time. Then we started the descent, all I can say about this is that I actually feared for my life. Clambering over the crags it felt like a scene from Cliffhanger but with a lot less skill. The 3 of us quickly lost Jim and Mick, who knew how to tackle this. It left us to find our own way down and really regret not doing a recce of this in the light. It turns out we descended what is called the parachute jump, which the top fell runners use when trying to set records. We are not top fell runners and it took us about an hour and a half to get down, by this time Jim had got to the checkpoint refuelled and picked up his next team for leg 2, at least it had stopped raining and the sun was coming. All I wanted was a cup of tea and to go to bed. It was at this point it really hit home exactly what Jim was attempting here. This isn’t just 66 miles, this is 66 miles of some treacherous terrain and through all sorts of weather conditions where you needed skill as well guts and strength. It was also great to see the amount of support, Jim was never running alone and no matter what ungodly time of the day there was always a group there ready to offer support and encourage and felt honoured to be just a small part of this. Jim continued to scale the rest of the 40 peaks including the behemoths like Hellvelyn and Scafell Pike always smiling and still chatting. The support crew all got together in Keswick town back where we were nearly 24 hours ago to await Jim and see if he was successful. Not only was he successful but he was literally sprinting through the high street outdistancing his own support group even after a gruelling 66 miles in an incredible time of 21 hours and 45 minutes.
I have always had huge respect for Fell Runners but after only experiencing a small part of what he went through that respect has increased massively. I can only report on the small part I experienced in this challenge, for the full race report you will have to ask the man himself.
Many apologies for such a large but the number crunching was difficult to keep on top of with the races coming think and fast.
Things are hotting up with only a few races left with Phil Thomas and Nicola Emerson currently holding a strong lead
Well done everyone who took part for tackling a challenging and technical course. The Wye Valley Army was once again out in force picking up the first 2 team places.
Christian Jones led the way with a brilliant 5th place, backed up with Dan King returning to fitness in 9th. Showing incredible strength the next 7 places were filled by 6 Wye Valley Men. Liam Grice 10th and Steven Flowers 11th completing the mens part of the team with Gintare Mali Gaiga 4th Female and Nicola Emerson 5th running incredibly to round off the team putting us in a strong position for the last race at Shobdon.
Only a few days till the next XC, so here are the details.
Click each pic to enlarge. As usual the race starts at 7.15pm, and meet at the Rowing Club at 6pm to grab a lift or follow signs off the Canon Pyon Road - ignore first turning right to Westhope
Alternative run on Monday 6 June. Scenic route from The Bell Tillington.Meet at 6.15 to leave at 6.30. Shorter route option and hill reps another option.
Courtesy of Mervyn and family and friends, Wye Valley runners are the hosts for the 1st XC race of this season on Wed June 1st at 7.30. If you aren't planning to run or bringing a support crew along why not help out on the night?We still need up 10 volunteers to help marshall the course. The race starts at 7.30 - if you can help let Mervyn, Les, Kelly or Paul know and turn up by 7.00 if possible. Thank you
Just a quick update regarding this years trip to Valencia.
Flights are still as yet undecided we are still looking at a few options. However a few of us have booked hotel rooms. We have booked 3 nights at Casual Valencia del Cine. That's Friday 18th till Monday 21 with the possibility of an extra night in Madrid on the way back
HEREFORDSHIRE SUMMER OFF-ROAD LEAGUE RACE 1 ABBEYDORE WEDNESDAY 1st JUNE 2016 7.30 p.m. start. Numbers from Kelly ideally in advance
Plenty of parking - with a short walk to start so please arrive in plenty of time. Roads were built for horses not cars so please dive carefully
Map here from Herefod Rowing club https://goo.gl/lBpsnI
Postcode for Sat Nav HR2 0JQ
Meet at 6.00 pm for shared lifts from rowing club
A465 from Hereford to Abergavveny
Turn right opposite Wormbridge church, signposted Abbeydore
Continue and straight over crossroads to a T junction and then follow arrows from there.
It is becoming the norm now for UK Athletic registered races to ask for your licence number. If you are a paid up member you will eventually get a licence from UKA. It has your unique number on it. If you lose it, forget it or eat it you can retrieve it using this link: http://livemyathletics.uka.org.uk/LicenceCheck/
Thanks to Pete Flyn for the tip
Fancy trying a new route over the summer, then please come along to one of these alternative runs exploring the forgotten paths of Herefordshire
1st: Wednesday May 11th – BELMONT – Phil Butler
2nd: Monday June 6th – TILLINGTON – Jan and Brian.
3rd: Wednesday June 29th – venue to be decided – Simon.
4th: Monday August 15th – venue to be decided –
Wye Valley Runners are proud to announce the inclusion of children’s races as part of the amazing Gord’s 6 race. This event is being held on Sunday, 17th April, at Fownhope Community Centre.
RACE 1 - 1k race for children up to and including age 8.
RACE 2 - 2k race for children aged 9 to 11.
Races will commence at 10am All competitors will receive a goodie bag including a medal, and the winner of each race will receive a Gift Voucher to spend in Sports Direct.
Entry for children’s races is free (donations welcomed) Children’s races will be finished before the main race starts at 11am. Please visit our Facebook site if you wish to enter any children for this event (so that we can gauge numbers for the prizes).
If you wish to enter the main race – a challenging 10k race of endurance in spectacular countryside – please join us. Entries will be taken on the day (entry fee applies).
www.facebook.com/groups/WyeValleyRunners/ Refreshments will be provided at the finish line for all competitors.
Only 2 weeks to the classic Gords 6 race on Sunday 17th April. We need 15 marshalls to ensure the route is up to it's usual high standards. Please let Paul "Bousty" Bouston know as soon as possible if you don't plan to run, can't be arsed to run or just want to help. Send Paul a Facebook message, see him down the club if you can catch him or send him an email:bousty@btinternet.com. Thanks
It’s time to decide where our next adventure will be. From informal discussions, Valencia seems to be a distinct possibility (Stevens 26 marathons in alphabetical order having been long abandoned!) The date has now been confirmed as November 20th and there is a full marathon and a 10k. It should still be pretty warm in November and flights are just starting to be advertised and look relatively cheap. An initial trawl of hotels suggests that we should be able to get good value accommodation as well, but we probably need to decide on Valencia and get booked, because it is a big race and hotels will get booked up. Also the prices for the races increase the nearer you get to the race date.
For the uninitiated, this is either an opportunity to race abroad on a PB course, or a good social event with a fun run thrown in, depending on your outlook. If you haven’t been on a Wye Valley overseas trip before, you will certainly enjoy yourselves.
The web site address, which is in badly translated English, is here:
http://www.valenciaciudaddelrunning.com/en/marathon/marathon10k/
If you’re interested, can you let Steven or myself know and I can then do a bit more investigation of flights/ hotels etc.
Martin Flowers
Summer approaches which means only one thing - Friday night wood runs return.
We begin the season with a practice of the Gords 6 run - a treat to start things off. Meet at the recreation ground in Fownhope Friday 1st April at 6.15. Turn right just before the church and right into the sports field after 80 metres.
Then from Friday 8th April we meet every week at the top car park in Haugh Woods ready to run at 6.15. We run for about an hour on various off road routes mostly around the Hope Valley. It's a relaxed and sociable start to the weekend. If you haven't tried it before why not give it a try. Bring some off road shoes .....
Cotswold Way Relay meeting on Monday 4th April at 7.30 pm in Rowing Club.
We have entered 3 teams..men,ladies and mixed with 10 runners each team.
We aim to put in the best and most competitive teams we can so we need to allocate the strongest runners to the hardest stages.
Please let us know if you have any particular preferences but please bear in mind that the priority is to put out the best teams that we can!
At the meeting we will ask for a non returnable charge of £10 per runner and 100% commitment.
Obviously we will allow for dropout for injury or illness and we need some reserve runners to cover for this.
Paul Bouston Jan Edwards and Jeremy Jehan are coordinating teams
More information on Cotswold Way Relay website.Please look at the details before the meeting to prepare yourselves!
http://www.wyevalleyrunners.co.uk/event-results/2016/2/14/muddy-woody-six-2016-results
Click here for a list of the final positions in each category for the XC series.
The figures are based on the best 4 positions, within that particular category, in the 5 races.
Where the points total is equal, it is then based on the best 3 positions.
P.S. A pair of navy blue zip-legged Adidas tracksuit bottoms was left at the British Legion Club in Presteigne on Sunday. They are now in Mike Blenkinsops possession. Please contact him if you are walking around half naked.
Muddy Woody 6 : Pre-race information
Wye Valley Runners look forward to seeing you on Sunday 14th February and hope the following information will be useful to you :
Please note that all entries are non-transferrable. This means that if for any reason you are not able to take part you will not be able to transfer your number to another runner
To get to the race follow the signs from the village of Mordiford. If using satnav the postcode HR1 4QX should get you to the registration area.
Please allow plenty of time to get to the race and park as you may need to leave your car some distance from the start. Please park as directed by the marshals along the forest tracks and follow the arrows and signs and observe the one-way system. Please note that after the race the forest gates will be locked at 2.00 PM. Please do not park on Broadmoor Common as the ground is saturated and you are likely to become stuck as well as damaging the grass.
You will need to collect your race number from the registration area. Numbers will be distributed alphabetically according to surname, so please go to the appropriate table according to your name.
There will be a covered storage area for you to leave any bags and a box will be available at the registration / refreshments area to deposit car keys. Please note that any items are left at your own risk and the organisers cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage.
This year’s course has several changes to recent years, so please pay attention to the arrows, marker tape and marshals.
If for any reason you need to pull out during the race then please ensure that you inform a marshal and let them know your race number. This is important in order that we can account for everyone out on the course.
Most important : Enjoy your run and try to manage a smile when you cross the finish line !