From Ash Winter…
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the weather has been pretty indifferent of late. Quite a lot of rain for an unusual number of days in a row. Misty too, lots of gloom around. The perfect conditions then for the Rombalds Stride, a 20-odd mile trail race and walk around Guiseley, Baildon, Ilkley, Menston and surrounds. I was a first timer, but had been admirably assisted and joined on recce runs by Colm McCann and Simon Jenkins. Jeremy Greenwood contributed a lot to the learning as well, with his uncanny knowledge of the route, which he happily shared with the group.
Colm, Simon, Paul Disney and myself trundled over to Guiseley on the train in nervous anticipation. Race HQ was busy with over 400 runners and walkers, as a league counter, the race was packed with Harriers. Catching up with some and saying hello to others but leaving them to their race prep. It’s no joke this one, distance, elevation, navigation, fuelling, mud, rain, mist all contributing to quite an adventure.
Onto the race. I had no expectations time-wise, but 4 hours seemed like a decent aim. I figured if I got to the top of the Chevin and sub 4 hours was still on, I’d thunder down the hill, like the Chevin Chase all over again.
The start had chaotic good vibes, walkers, runners all off together. Everyone was very gentle though, no elbows out getting ahead manoeuvres, all aware there was plenty of distance left to cover. Esholt Woods navigated, I headed to the Bucket Drop. My first faux pas of the day, I tied my token to the clip card, meaning a couple of minutes to retrieve it. Special thanks for Adam Gerrish for shouting ‘schoolboy error’ as he went past me.
We began the climb up to the Baildon Trig point, a classic Peter Roll Just Grind It Out™ sort of climb. After that though, there was a lovely slippery descent. To my surprise I kept my feet and made it to the Glen Road stretch, leading to a lovely bit of Otley Road, whose volume of SUV’s had me looking forward to the mud again.
From here, it was extremely boggy and familiar. I splashed across Burley Moor, joined the path to Dick Hudsons and onto the paving slabs at the Twelve Apostles. This was my first encounter with Jann Smith, who I rumbled past on the way to the Whetstone Gate checkpoint. I chose the dropdown to Cowpers Cross and I stumbled across Steve Newell and Emma Sheppard, who had become emotional support creatures to each other. We happily ran together through familiar territory, until Rocky Valley when I was ready to push on. The companionship was most welcome though.
Dropping down off the moor at Burley Woodhead, Jann Smith was ahead of me again, showing superior navigational and bog running skills. After getting a cheer from Jean though, I kicked on again and began navigating the twists and turns of the Menston section. After being warned about the small ginnel that was easy to miss, I missed it anyway but only by 10 meters or so.
The final climb of West Chevin path beckoned, so I found some friends to complain about it with and began to climb. My old nemesis, uneven steps were in full effect. Also, barely walkable mud, but it soon relented into trail you can make progress on. I checked my watch and I had 20 minutes to get finished in less than 4 hours. Managed to not drown on York Gate and galloped down the hill, to a satisfying 3:57 finish.
All Harriers who completed the challenge should be applauded but a few special mentions. Oli Murphy on another win and for being a thoroughly personable chap. Forrest Hamilton on 4th place, improving last year’s time by half an hour. John Hayes was as strong as ever, in really good form at the moment. Lucy Lowe improved last year’s time in far worse conditions showing excellent progress. Colm McCann on his longest ever race, no flat road marathon to ease into distance running for him. Simon Jenkins for his exemplary approach to recce runs and another great performance on the day. Paul Disney for completing the race and then heading out with friends afterwards, proving you can run almost marathon distance and maintain a social life in the same day.