3rd-8th February Run notes
Monday
It's a taper week as I've got a race on Saturday so unusually I run on Monday. It's a little-more-than-easy-steady state run today and I mix up my trail route by heading down to Dolphin Beck. It's pretty mild and damp underfoot and the Beck is quiet but for one dog walker on the way back. I stretch the route out a bit and briefly explore Spring Lane Sidings near Ardsley before turning back.
Tuesday
A classic Tuesday easy run to Sissons wood and the first time for a number of weeks I've done three sessions back-to-back. On the way to the wood the familiar burnt out motorbike is adorned by a piece of cardboard with a joke about Rachel Reeves and the economic state of the UK. Interesting place to start your political art movement but I appreciate the effort. I cut onto the lower path and come across a young lad all in black standing looking out over the farmers fields. I carry on and turn around at the point to make it about thirty-five minutes and meet darkly dressed chap again but on the higher side of the wood. He seems to be looking out towards the Dunningley viaduct but I can't be sure. Some lines creep into my head I write down, it might have been a call-and-response song but I had to go to work.
Oh! Watcherman what are you waiting for
Trains don't come this way no more
Standing tall, draped in black
Wishing the Dunningley viaduct would come back.
Thursday
Back to the woods for one last session, this one was an easy-with-a-bit-of-play. There's a frost today and some places are crunchy underfoot, I wonder if it'll be like this at the weekend but the forecast is for a chill wind with some drizzle. I make it all the way to the clearing for once and trundle down the path that runs along the railway fence before turning tail. No sign of Tuesday's watcherman but the cardboard sign on the burnt out motorbike remains. I throw in some brief bursts to remind my legs what it feels like to not just plod along.
Saturday
The Punk Panther Harrogate Hustle half-marathon is the race of the day. I've stayed overnight in a lovely little hut in Scotton on a beef farm. I don't get a chance to enjoy the hut's external bath but the quick walk over to registration more than makes up for it. I've never done a trail half-marathon before and whilst this route is different to previous years and features a fair amount of road I'm not sure quite how to pace it. There's a cold wind this morning but conditions are still damp underfoot and as we traipse down to the start the excitement starts to build. The start is a much more low-key affair than the bigger road races I've done and the race director just looks at his watch and says off you go. I barrel down the first hill into the Nidd Gorge at the front with two other runners who set quite a pace and within a kilometre or two I fall back and try not to think about my position. The Nidd Gorge isn't too muddy and the main obstacle is roots coming up over the path. There's a little bit of climbing and eventually I'm on the Nidderdale greenway where I stay until I join the road and start the first big stint on country lanes. I'm in my trail shoes which are a little heavier on the road but I find a pace that works for me and eventually am back on a trail path around the golf course. I come over the train tracks and come to Calcutt before running up Bland's Hill before turning off to join the Knaresborough round trail along the river. Snowdrops seem to be springing up all around Knaresborough which is beautiful and the riverside is particularly tranquil. I reach the first and only checkpoint for the half-marathon at the Lido Leisure Park and don't stop. Onto a long road section that winds through east Knaresborough to Hopewell farm. My route scouting via Google Streetview pays off here and I'm able to navigate by the key features I've seen for the right turns and crossings. Up to Hopewell farm, across some fields and onto Bar Lane where I get stuck behind a classic blue Leyland tractor. This doesn't slow me down too much and get myself along to Lingfield where the final track back to Scotton starts. At this point I know its two kilometres or so to go so I should try for a push to the finish, this probably starts a bit early and I fade a little in the last kilometre, particularly as there's not an insignificant bit of climb. But I get past the pub and up along to the village hall and finish. I've been on my own pretty much since kilometre two so I'm delighted to find out I've actually come in 3rd. That's a great result and I'm happy with the way I ran the race all things considered.
An enormous thank you to the team from Punk Panther who ran the day. It was a great event and a great course and I hope to do other races in their series.
