Time/Position: 1.06.24 (15th from 248 [5th team overall])
This has long been a favourite event of mine. It was a race too far, obviously enough, given my current schedule (8th race in three weeks) but I always really enjoy the teamwork and friendly rivalry that the event revolves around. A very hot and humid evening, even by the usual standards of this midsummer race. I don't think I've ever done the event with precisely the same two people, although me and Jez have frequently teamed up over the years. This year our trio was made up with Rob Alexander, quite a bit younger but still in the Vet category. The expectation was that Rob and I would be a little faster on the road with Jez catching up on the hilly off-road section. This is more or less how it panned out, although we did perhaps go off a little fast and I was quite fatigued after two 10k races in the last five days. That said, I felt OK as we went past the Pheasant and started the off-road section up to the familiar twisting route round the Sandstone Trail and eventually down to the dreaded Railway. This is always the crux of the event, and this was definitely my slowest ever climb up! I did get my breath back and the next section was brilliant, all three of us came together and were perfectly matched through the woods and down the fields to regain the road above Burwardsley. The event is always at its best when this happens. Sadly, however, my recent race schedule caught up with me for the long return along the roads to Tattenhall, and I started to blow a bit. It wasn't too disastrous, we all stayed together, but I didn't feel great and the heat and humidity didn't help. By the finish I was badly depleted, and knew I needed some proper recovery time. We should have been first Vet team, just beating our Buckley rivals by a few seconds, but the rules have changed so we weren't!
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