Race: Tattenhall Tough Team (9m+)
Time/Position: 59:45 (14th from 160 [5th Team from 52])
Strangely enough, I'd never done this well-known and long established team event before. It's a real cracker - involving teams of three with the overall finish time taken from the slowest runner (clearly, as I was in a team with Jez and Eric from Buckley there was a distinct and rather stressful possibility that would be me!). The road sections were inevitably a bit of a shock to the system, as I haven't raced on roads in anger since last November, but I thoroughly enjoyed the XC racing through the woods of the Peckforton hills. We all set off at a quick but steady pace in heavy rain - climbing up quite steeply to Burwardsley and sticking together well. It was a relief to enter the woods and leave the tarmac although Jez sped off at this point, so I held back a bit for Eric. However, I ended up moving ahead on the first steep climb through the woods - which echoed fell racing and suited me nicely. After some splendid trail running through fields and woods, the infamous 'railway' arrived sooner than anticipated. This kicks up immediately, and then gets steeper and steeper until it briefly equates to the hardest sections of any Welsh fell race before the top. Slippery moss and mud between the rails made life tricky at times. A fast, fun descent through woods leads to narrow paths across a series of fields before regaining the road and retracing the outward route at Burwardsley. I was slowed by a stitch here, again hardly surprising given my lack of recent road running.
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