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Snowdon horseshoe record attempt (Running)
Tuesday 16 June 2009 01:57PM
I decided to have a couple of running days in north Wales between a weekend’s climbing and my 7th Msc module down in Machynlleth. The weather has been mostly great, so yesterday I headed out to have a crack at a fast Snowdon horseshoe. I first ran this round when I was 15 or 16, hitch-hiking over from Derbyshire and spending a couple of days camped in the pass, reccying the fastest lines. I didn’t know if there was a record for the run then, and felt pleased to run 1hr 41. I decided to pop into the ranger office to ask them if they knew of a record. They looked at me as if I was a spotty, scrawny, kid, which I was, telling me that the record was 1hr 26 and had stood for years. They looked more than a little suprised when I claimed to have just run it in 1.41!
I’ve got a lot faster at running since then, mainly through getting older rather than training harder, although the training is picking up a bit now, so I always felt it was a record that might go with a bit of attention from my adult legs, and yesterday afternoon I decided to go and have a look.
I seem to get more “psyched up” for these types of challenges than I do even for races, and I set off hard from Pen Y Pass, passing startled walkers returning from a long day on the hill. I ran all the way to where the path splits to start the ascent of Crib Goch, where it becomes steeper and running was mostly replaced with walking and pulling on the rock. It started to spit a little on the way up Crib Goch, and I hoped it would stay dry long enough for me to clear the exposed pinnacles. Thankfully luck was on my side, and it didn’t start raining harder till I was on Crib Y Ddysgyl, where the terrain was less severe. I got mixed up about the best line here, trying to remember mental notes made 14 years ago, and was glad to reach the summit and put my head down to run hard up to the ever-crowded summit of snowdon. A heart in mouth descent brought me to the foot of Y Lliwedd and the final uphill effort. Again I kept getting the line wrong, finding myself on awkward scrambly ground with a good path below me to the right, and then being unsure about which summit counted, and so going to both. From here I looked at my watch, I had 15 minutes to get back to Pen Y Pass in order to take the record, which seemed a big ask, but worth giving a go. I tried to open up as much as possible on the steep rocky descent before the track. At the track I had 4 minutes to spare as the heavens opened, soaking me in seconds. The record still seemed on, until I remembered just how long that track is – it went on for ever, even throwing in some extra ascent to add insult to injury. I arrived back at the carpark, completely soaked, 1hr 31 after leaving. Ten minutes faster than my spotty teenage self and close enough to have another go sometime…
Approximate split times (I didn’t have a watch with a split time facility):
Crib Goch: 29min Snowdon: 52min Y Lliweedd: 1hr 11min Pen Y Pass: 1hr 31min 30sec
Note: The record of 1hr 26 is only what I’ve been told, I’ve not seen it recorded anywhere, I can’t help but feel that some of the very good runners who have lived in Snowdonia over the years may well have run faster than this. Colin Donnelly for example, who holds an amazing record for the 15 3000 foot peaks of 4hrs 19, would seem a likely candidate. If anyone knows of anyone having run the horseshoe in faster than 1.26, get in touch (es@es-on-ice.co.uk).
Sunny rock climbing (Rock climbing)
Monday 15 June 2009 11:39AM
Just had a lovely two days rock climbing in North Wales with an my old friend Eric. Gogarth on the Saturday where we did Toiler on the Sea, a lovely E2 next to Britomartis, followed by the classic E5 Positron. I seconded the big headwall pitch on Positron but was pleased to lead the awkward pitch 2 clean. We also had some fun with the wake from the ferry – Eric got soaked to the waist on the approach and we had to spend 40 minutes or so drying in the sun. Sunday was spent at Scimitar ridge trying to coax swollen feet back into tight rock boots. I led a slightly dirty E2 called Chreon then Eric pulled out the stops on Killercranky (E5) before we went our separate ways, me for a run up Crib Goch and Eric for a boulder session at the Cromlech boulders.
If my climbing can improve a little bit, which it should living in the peak as I’m able to get out regularly, then I’ll be at the best climbing/running performance combo I’ve ever been, which would be quite exciting for the summer…
Still in North Wales as I’ve got an Msc module next week so it seemed silly to drive back to the peak, was planning to run the snowdon horseshoe today, but it’s just started raining. Damn…
Etterbeek to Ennerdale (Running)
Monday 15 June 2009 11:26AM
I spent much of last month in Brussels with my girlfriend, combining a string of social engagements with spending a longer spell with her than usual. It was nice, and for once Brussels was sunny, since it usually seems to rain when I’m there.
I was stuck with a curious problem though, I was to be doing the Ennerdale race a few days after my return, one of the longest, toughest Lake District races, and yet I would be spending the previous 14 days in a city where the longest hill takes about 30 seconds to run up. It was time to get inventive. When I was a junior I used to find that my uphill running performance improved dramatically if I spent a bit of time on a bike. So I installed my old road bike on a turbo trainer on the balcony and did a few savage interval sessions in the sun. The suffering rationalised that I would be both stronger uphills and stronger in the heat upon my return to the UK.
Unfortunately Ennerdale was run on a cold, wet and windy day; hypothermia was more of a threat than heatstroke. But I did feel like I was running pretty well, both up and down hills. I tracked Rob Jebb for the first half of the race, until he decided to stop jogging and start racing, then ended up following Nick Fish, then a bigger group when we were caught. Not having reccied the course was very frustrating – the whole way I was completely tied to what the person in front was doing; you have to eat when they eat, you can’t break away if you are feeling stronger, you have to descend behind them and you have to hang on for dear life if you are starting to flag. The route choice on these classic courses is so intricate that even if you were a demon with a map and compass there is no way that you’d find all the little sheep trods and secret scree runs. In short it’s impossible to run your own race unless you’ve reccied the course. I got just within 4 hours and finished 4th overall, which seemed good given that I had no prior experience of the hills.
I’ve decided to do the Lake District classics rather than the British champs this year, since completing the British would mean missing some days on my Msc, so the next big race is Wasdale on July the 11th, I’ll hopefully have time to squeeze a reccy in before that one…
Racing (Running)
Wednesday 20 May 2009 02:11PM
Life’s been a bit hectic for the last month or so. I had a load of work on, which coincided with some Msc work and moving into a new house in the Peak District. But that last fact, bringing an end to my nomadicism, promises a bit less stress in the future.
One thing that I found about being constantly on the move was that I got ill a lot. I seemed to be in an endless cycle – I would start a training programme full of enthusiasm for how well I was going to run and climb in the summer, then two weeks later I’d have to have another week or two off with a cold. I guess the combination of sleeping on sofas, not eating properly and constantly exposing myself to unfamiliar germ populations, on top of trying to train hard, was a bit too much. So I’ve enjoyed being able to put in two good weeks of running training since moving in, and my running seems to be improving with it. First up was the second British fell running champs race at Stuc a ‘Chroin near Strathyre (I’d missed the first race in Ireland), where I had a funny run, most of the early part of the race I felt dreadful but then got a decent “second wind” near the summit of Stuc itself and pulled through to 13th overall on the descent. I finished 11 minutes after the winner and was reasonably pleased with this as a first race back. The following weekend I was at a friend’s wedding in Preston, and it seemed a good idea the next morning to go and do the Buttermere Sailbeck race. Again I spent a good chunk of the race feeling dreadful (copious amounts of wedding punch no doubt contributed to this) but again got a decent second wind and pulled through from about 10th at halfway to finish 4th. Some pics from the race here.
It seems that fitness for me manifests itself as an increasing proportion of the race that I feel like I’m actually racing, rather than just surviving, so the last two races have been heartening. Saturday at Fairfield I had only a short “grim” section, before descending well to finish 5th behind a very impressive performance from Rob Jebb, who got within a minute of the course record in cold and windy weather. Then yesterday in a short local race I felt good pretty much the whole way, having a good tussle with my landlord Jon Morgan but managing to drop him near the end to finish second.
Once I’m up to feeling like I’m racing the whole race, the next step is to make the racing faster…
I’m still trying to work out what running challenges to focus on for the summer, whether to try and complete the British champs, or do the Lake District classic series instead, and trying to decide between a handfull of “bigger” ideas.
Oh, and there’s lots of climbing to be done in the peak district too, if it ever stops raining!