Recent round-up

After his amazing Outlaw full-distance triathlon effort, Jon Z took a well-earned rest and did a fairly normal thing by going on holiday. Relative normality over, Jon then immediately – as in the day after arriving back home – got stuck in again and competed in the Redcar half marathon. Inevitably slowed by his heart issues, Jon could not match his previous course best time of 1.36, but nonetheless got round in a respectable sub-two-hour time leaving many people who are not reliant upon a pacemaker and artificial heart valve in his wake.

Meanwhile, Steve C has also been in half-marathon mode, racing in the 13 Arches Trail Half in and around the lumpy terrain of Radcliffe (pic). Steve describes many of the said lumps as ‘severe’ so it’s a sure-fire thing – if Steve describes them this way – that they really are. Not content with the general difficulty level, the organisers also built in a relentless and seemingly-never-ending uphill finish. Steve finished, but at the cost of calves-of-stone that took a week to loosen off. One for hardcases, it seems

For his last race of the season, Steve teamed up with Len for the Onley CaniX 5K. ‘Muddy’ best describes the event; with the underfoot conditions not helped by a constant race-day drizzle. Actually, ‘muddy’ is something of a euphemism. Much of the course shares tracks with equestrian users and – truth be told – comprised rather more ‘organic fertiliser’ than mud. In spite of the going being officially ‘soft’ the Steve / Len duo still knocked out a 5 minute kilometre pace, which helped with the guilt when it came to quaffing unfeasible quantities of coffee and muffins at the event after-party.

In other running news, Rosie W had a bit of  tough time in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10K when a mix up at the start resulted in her being shoehorned into a pen right at the back alongside various superhero and Disney characters. Rose spent the whole race frustratedly attempting to make ground through the 9000-strong field but to little avail.

Unperturbed, Rose turned out a couple of weeks later alongside Emma S and Mick W to compete in the first of this winter’s PECO cross country series races held at Temple Newsham, Leeds. This series is an England Athletics-sanctioned team-based competition and only open to invited clubs. In order to take part, Rose, Emma and Mick all race in the name of a local club: Ackworth Road Runners. All ran well with Mick being 3^rd Ackworth male home, whilst Rose and Emma were 8^th and 9^th Ackworth female respectively. As a result, all ‘counted’ for the team effort. Mishap of the day was down to Mick when he misjudged the width of a stile, or his own hips – depending how you see things – and whilst attempting to gracefully hop-and-shimmy through, firmly wedged himself in a cork-in-a-bottle fashion between the stile’s posts. It literally took a mighty heave from the competitor following to free our stranded hero. At least the fire brigade weren’t required…

Don't make Mick mad

Well, Mick W was indeed fired up after the debacle of being directed off course in his last off-road duathlon.

On Saturday 5^th November, he returned for a second attempt at the cross-duathlon scene and this time not only stayed on course but smashed it. The event was held at the splendid Sherwood Pines venue and comprised a dry and fast 5K run, 20K bike and 3.6K run combination.

Mick clocked a very competitive 19 minute opening 5K run, absolutely hammered the bike leg, and then held on for a super-impressive 7^th overall position (actually, he was 6^th individual overall as one relay team featured ahead of him).

Cross duathlons are probably Mick’s strongest event. He’s very much at home on the rough stuff and such are his bike handling skills he can even find time for a casual smile at photographers!

Mick's ups-and-downs

Mick W combined some good solid bike training with an entry into last month’s National Cycle Challenge – a scheme designed to encourage bike-commuting to work. Mick’s impressively dedicated 23 days and 300 miles of commute was enough put him in 4^th position in the challenge for the whole of his home county of West Yorkshire.

Not content with hammering the bike, he’s also been putting in some really impressive runs and a 5K PB at York’s parkrun bears testimony to his form. This was his first sub-19 minute 5K but very probably won’t be his last.

Mick has been working hard on both disciplines with a view to making an impression in cross duathlon this Autumn and indeed, on the15^th October, he made this season’s multi-sport debut at Clumber Park in One Step Beyond’s 5K run / 17K MTB / 2.5K run Sprint event.

Unfortunately, in spite of his proven bike and run form, this particular foray into ended in frustration and disappointment after slack course signage management saw him – and several other leading racers – directed off the bike course: thereby rendering the whole event something of a farce.

The follow up cross-duathlon event is in a couple of week’s time and Mick is angry…

Lakes in a Day Ultra

Steve C has been up to his usual tricks with a completely crazy assault on the Lakes in a Day Ultra Run... walk... crawl.

Starting on Saturday 8th October (but not necessarily finishing on the same day) it's pretty clear from the Lakes in a Day website and accompanying fly-through that this is one of the more difficult ways to spend a weekend. In spite of stunning weather (always something of a gratefully received treat in the Lake District) the event still proved to be as tough as they come. Steve himself taps into just how much of a physical and mental challenge such things are:

"The real kicker was the descent to the tarn from Helvellyn and subsequent re-ascent of Fairfield. We could see Ambleside from there but it was like someone was towing it away at the same speed as we were moving towards it: it just never got any closer. Like many a newbie - I gather - I'd expected to be a half marathon further on by nightfall but was instead only just leaving the Ambleside checkpoint, which of course meant even more navigating in the dark and sections that you just couldn't run - even if you felt like it - due to rocks, tree roots etc in the woods alongside Windermere. (Incidentally, the owls were on great form scaring the hell out of you with their calls and occasional half seen wing rushes.) The last real low of the event was leaving Windermere to go to the final checkpoint at Finisthwaite, which looked nothing on the map but was largely uphill and took an hour. I eventually arrived at Cartmel at gone 3.00am on Sunday morning."

Steve's time of just over nineteen hours betrays the severity. Just awesome!

Recent round-up

Though not a formal Cani-X event, Steve C and Len had a crack at the Delamere 10K trail race on 11^th September, a sometimes-tricky-underfoot race through Cheshire’s largest (and very beautiful) Delamere Forest. Steve and Len finished in the top half of the field and were the first man / canine team home – a fitting result given that the main motivation was to celebrate the almost-to-the-day seventh-year anniversary of the Steve / Len running partnership.

Jamie L continued with the general 2016 theme of Go Veggies taking on some very tough challenges with an assault on the Worcestershire Beacon Race held on 8^th October. This 7 mile multi-terrain event in the heart of the Malvern Hills includes tarmacked road, woodland paths, exposed tracks, grass and rocks. As if the change in terrain isn’t tiring enough, competitors are also expected to take in approximately 500m of ascent: including a real lung-busting effort up Worcestershire Beacon itself (pic). Impressively Jamie beat the hour mark for this grueller and finished a highly credible 60/219 overall.

Parkruns have again featured quite a bit in GV activities this past few weeks with members making appearances at Bradford, Nostell Priory, Doncaster and Stratford-upon-Avon. A good number of age-group wins and top-10 overall positions have been recorded with the stand-out performance being that of Mick W, who achieved a course best of 19:22 at Nostell: a cracking time on this very pretty but difficult and ‘lumpy’ course.

In multisport news, the 18^th of September saw Emma S back in sprint-triathlon mode at the Nottinghamshire-based Southwell Last Minute event. Emma reports having had a pretty average swim followed by her best ever bike performance on this particular course (a two minute PB) and then a half-decent run to finish 7/24 in age group.

Meanwhile, Steve W also made a surprising end-of-season appearance at the Epworth Sprint Tri on 9^th October and showed his speed hasn’t been tainted too much by this year’s Ironman effort by finishing an impressive 2^nd overall. Steve reports he would have taken the event win but for making the irrational error of trying to put socks on in Transition 1. A particularly cold autumnal morning inspired the thought process that rather than wrestle with numb feet and waste vital seconds in T2, if socks were worn through the bike leg then T2 would be a super-slick affair – and so it proved to be: the downside was that trying to wrestle socks on to wet-from-the-swim feet meant our…ahem… ‘most experienced’ triathlete wasted a good 30 seconds stubbornly persisting in the folly whilst his ultimate rival-for-the-win was gifted a 250m head start on the bike…

In spite of some very cold events Steve has never tried the sock’s experiment before: he won’t be trying it again! We live, we learn.

Finally, for any who fancy it, quite a few Go Veggies are now using Strava, which is a pretty effective training aid and a good place to keep abreast of fellow members’ activities. The KOM / QOM / CR accolade that can be won by beating fellow Strava users over named ‘segments’ is definitely a real motivator for those occasional otherwise-far-too-easy-to-put-off maximal efforts – just resist the temptation to try one every day…

Formal recognition for Jon

Jon’s incredible achievement of completing the Outlaw full distance triathlon has not gone unnoticed. He has – very justifiably – been elected by major-event-sponsor Erdinger as Athlete of the Month for July.

As well as this accolade, Jon has also been formally recognised for his post-illness achievements (and his massive fundraising efforts) by both the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and his own GP. The South Tees Hospitals Trust has paid tribute to Jon by hanging a poster in his honour (pic) whilst his GP has similarly inducted him to a ‘Wall of Champions’ at his local surgery. Jon’s GP hangs posters of people who have made incredible achievements in spite of adversity to show patients what can be done after serious medical problems.

Jon has earned his place amongst such figures as Jane Tomlinson, Mark Inglis (the first ever double amputee to summit Everest), Ranulph Fiennes, Paula Radcliffe and Steve Redgrave.

Inspirational stuff indeed: the next time a parkrun is proving tough, just think of Jon and his frankly incredible resolve…

August Updates

There’s been plenty of Go Veggie activity these past few weeks in spite of the holiday season spreading members far and wide.

Steve C has continued competing in spite of his niggling knee injury and a successful ‘joint-testing’ completion of the Salford Sprint Triathlon (pic) gave him some much-needed confidence to tackle the truly formidable St Begas Ultra. The organisers of this event describe it as a: “…tough as you want it, largely off-road 36 ‘country’ mile trail race, which follows a point-to-point route from the heart of the Lake District all the way to England’s west coast. Based on the long distance St Begas’ Way route, runners follow the path of the legendary Irish princess, travelling the (approximate) 36 miles between two chapels that both bear her name.” What they don’t mention is the terrain and underfoot conditions would have most experienced hill walkers doubting the viability of doing it in one straight push.

Compounding the brutality, race day itself brought searing summer heat which led even the very experienced Steve to describe the ascent of Honister Pass and the fabled ‘Bummers Hill’ (which came at marathon distance) as “nearly the end of me”. Steve being Steve, though; he pressed on… to near disaster. The heat, fatigue and encroaching dehydration led to a period of truly delusional confusion where he was convinced he was off course and heading the wrong way; in spite of fellow competitors all around him trying to convince him all was well. Fortunately he believed them, came good, and went on to finish to tell the tale.

Tough things, these Ultras…

Speaking of tough things the 8^th out of 9 in the 2016 Trunce series took place on 22^nd August and Mick W and Rosie Wigg – definitely to be regarded as Trunce stalwarts by now – dutifully took to the start line. High recent rainfall levels saw many a competitor literally dunked up to the waist in the three river crossings but, as far as we know, all who started, finished. Mick continued his incredibly impressive conversion to competitive runner to finish 22^nd out of 240 overall. Rose also performed brilliantly to finish 165^th overall. These are seriously good performances in this highly focussed event.

Parkruns have featured quite a bit with members competing all over the place – even whilst travelling. We’ve made our presence known at Stretford, Plymouth, Bradford and Copenhagen, as well as at the courses which feature more frequently. Notable performances have been those of Jenna G at Bradford with a 2^nd in age (148/442 overall), Mick W at Nostell with a new course PB and Steve W in Copenhagen with a 3^rd overall. Jenna shows great promise, she’s relatively new to endurance sports but her super-fluent running style is very efficient and there’s every indication she could be very quick indeed.

Jon on TV

Jon Z and Steve W took on the infamous Outlaw full distance triathlon on 24^th July and we’re pleased to say both finished.

The event is a true grueller and features a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike leg and a full 26.2 mile marathon run to finish. It was especially tough for both Go Veggies but for entirely different reasons.

Jon Z is a seasoned long-distance triathlon campaigner with an enviable results record. This, though, was his first full-distance event completed since major medical issues and his truly outstanding finish in the 14 hour slot is, we think, unique.

In Jon’s own words:

“In late July I attempted my life's ambition since my heart surgery in 2014. A full ironman distance triathlon (over 140 miles) in Nottingham. It would be my tenth such race - and my fourth such race at this venue - but my first since 2012 before my stroke, my pacemaker, my very major open heart surgery and, more significantly, before my heart became highly inefficient.

There were strict cut-off times for end of swim, end of bike and also end of run. I was very, very concerned about missing the bike cut-off. (Most races of that distance allow 10 hours 30 mins from race start to finish bike but this race allowed only 10 hours. Also there was an intermediate bike cut-off time at 75.5 miles, as well as final one at 112.6 miles.)

This race has always been shown on TV in an hour programme a few weeks after the race. Although, of course, the focus is on the expected first three men and women the TV production company also interviewed and filmed me. 

There is no way of knowing for sure but I may be the first person to complete an ironman distance triathlon with a pacemaker and prosthetic heart valve.

If anyone is interested to see the programme - called the Outlaw triathlon - and it is due to be broadcast as follows:

Channel 4 on Saturday 3 September at 06.25. (Or 07.25 on Channel 4+1.) Later, it is due to be broadcast on British Eurosport on Wednesday 14 September at 17.30.”

Jon’s achievement is truly outstanding.

Steve W, on the other hand, is anything but a seasoned long-distance triathlon campaigner. It’s the first time Steve has taken on anything approaching such a distance and his goal was simply to complete the course. In spite of novice status, a decent swim and well-paced bike leg initially saw Steve both comfortable and well up the leaderboard but, cometh the run, cometh the downfall. Steve reports that though mind and cardiovascular system were willing, 30 minutes into the run it was all about the legs, ie they just would not work. Notwithstanding the huge time losses though, he still managed to finish in the 11 hour slot and in the top 10% overall.

For Jon, it was a day of outstanding achievement; for Steve (pic) it was a day of humility and learning…

Streakin' Steve

Emma S has had some good results lately kicking off with a 6/56 in age group and 31/251 female overall in the Woodhall Spa sprint triathlon (26^th June). This event is fairly unusual in as much as the swim is in a 33m heated pool but is outdoors in a traditional Lido setting. It’s quite an engaging swim, what with all the competitors and the effect of the wind – not to mention the occasional errant crisp packet. Nonetheless Emma had a decent swim, made places on the bike and then had a super-strong run to hammer home the good result. This also happened to be the third in a three race series and her consistency across them has been rewarded with a 2^nd in age group.

Continuing her good running form, Emma had a very good result in the Jane Tomlinson 5K Canal Run (5^th July) where, even amongst some pretty serious club runners, she  managed a highly credible 15/158 female overall and 2^nd in age group. Her time was just about bang on 24.00mins, very impressive for this twisty multi-terrain course, which has more than its fair share of twists, turns and narrow gateways.

Emma was once again in open-event action last Sunday (17^th July) at Hatfield sprint tri (750m swim / 22K bike / 5K run) but had some ‘open-water swim trauma’ (it happens), which wrong-footed her for the remainder of the race. More open-water training is now high on the agenda…

Steve W competed in the same event and in addition to his 7^th position overall continued his age-group-winning ways. Steve (pic) hasn’t been beaten in his age group in triathlon since August 2014 (when he was 2^nd) and has now strung together 18 unbroken triathlon victories. However, this is set to end next weekend! The reason Steve reports this awesome streak is doomed revolves around his entry in The Outlaw long-course event. Steve has never competed at anything approaching this distance (2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bike / 26.2 mile run) and freely admits this event is simply a ‘life tick’ and is all about completing rather than competing.

Continuing the theme of Go Veggies at the same event, Jon Z is on the start list for The Outlaw, too and will be making a valiant effort to become (we believe) the only person with an artificial heart valve and a pacemaker to take on this fearsome challenge. Just a couple of weekends ago Jon performed well in the Norfolk Half Outlaw (1.2 mile swim / 56(+) mile bike / 13.1(+) mile run) where his masterful pacing skills and huge experience in longer events saw him finish 4/8 in his age group. In spite of the slightly longer-than-standard bike and run legs, and the hilly nature of this event, he also beat his 2016 70.3 [mile] mark set in the Nottingham middle-distance event a couple of months ago by a full ten minutes.

Whistle-stop roundup

The past two weeks has seen much running and multisport activity.

Emma S competed in the Allerthorpe Sprint tri (pic) and suffered in a really frenetic swim. This swim is notorious as the lake is really shallow and silty. A brush with the occasional tench is not unknown. The twists and turns of the swim course mean that competitors are regularly to be found bumping and bashing into course markers and each other. In spite of losing minutes Emma rallied and put in  good solid bike and run to finish 2^nd  in age category and in the top half of the female field overall.

Mick W has continued to improve and is now unquestionably at the sharp end of competition in age group events. His equalling of his course best at Nostell’s parkrun last weekend (sub 20 on a very hard course with strong winds blustering about) saw an impressive age group win.

Jon Z has pushed on (as Jon Z does) through some recent health issues and has competed in the Marske 10K and the Cleveland Short Course triathlon (swim 1500m / bike 25.07 miles / run 5.25 miles) this past couple of weekends and though typically hard on himself only just missed a 3^rd in age group in the tri. Jon reports that the run in particular was ‘entertaining’ taking in parts of a long-distance footpath and crossing overgrown pastures. Apparently, the long grass and ‘minefield’ of cowpats made the going less than straightforward.

Rosie Wigg continues to tread the tightrope of competing without exacerbating niggling tears and has put in strong and thankfully injury-free performances at Sandall Beat 10K and the Darrington 5 mile ‘fun’ run. In reality, fun it isn’t, it’s seriously competitive and takes in a hideous steep climb that just goes on and on. We’re looking forward to Rose being able to go at a run full-tilt without the fear of tearing muscles…

Jon's middle-distance podium

The middle distance Outlaw Half (swim 1.2M / bike 56M / run 13.1M) held at the National Water Sports Centre on Sunday 29^th May drew a full field of 1,450 competitors; amongst them was our very own Jon Z. Jon is a master of longer endurance events and always has a meticulous plan for pacing, nutrition and strategy. Even after a less-than-comfortable mass-of-participants swim start Jon settled into his routine and – through the course of the event – gradually executed his plan to achieve an utterly remarkable 3^rd in age finish. His peers without the disadvantage of an artificial heart valve and pacemaker must wonder what they have to do!

In other triathlon news Emma S and Steve W were in sprint-distance action at the Scissett tri on Sunday 5^th June (swim 412m / bike 17.6K / run 4.2K). Though short, this event is incredibly tough with the ‘highlight’ being a monster 5K bike climb over Emley moor. As Emma’s pic shows (that’s not a smile), this is no easy affair. Matters weren’t helped by the very hot and humid conditions – just the thing to really test the post-Emley-jelly-legs on the hilly and rough surfaces of the final run leg.

Emma did a very good bike split but had had a tough time in the very sloshy pool so was always playing catch up. Steve too had a good bike leg (2^nd fastest overall) which was enough to see him take an age group win and a 5^th from 143 finishers overall.

Running reports

Steve C and Len have been in the CaniX groove a couple of times this past two weeks with the 6km Chorlton fun run acting as a warm up for the main event: the Crogen CaniX. This is a tough 14km multi-terrain race comprising fields, forest tracks and moorland. The event organisers – Up Hill Down Dale – make no secret of the fact that the mixture of terrain and the 365 metres of elevation do not lend themselves to an easy potter. Unperturbed by the tough-stuff (as always), Steve and Len (pic) slogged it out to a top 10 finish; in spite of the warm conditions not favouring a big dog like Len. Unfortunately though, the terrain fought back a little and resulted in the flare-up of a knee injury for Steve… disappointingly it looks like he’ll be out of competition for a short while.

In other news, Mick W has been up to his ever-improving tricks again and scored a new PB in the third Trunce of the season knocking out another sub-30 minute run with a 29:38. This was good enough for a 38/380 overall position.

Emma S and Rosie Wigg have both suffered recent minor setbacks with illness / niggling injuries but battled on anyway and, last Wednesday night, raced in the ever-popular evening midweek Askern 10K road race. Cool and damp conditions meant there was a lot of oxygen about and in spite of getting a total drenching both were happy with their performances. Emma finished in the top half of her age group whilst Rose managed a top 10 in hers.

News in brief

Events

It's been a busy couple of weeks with many members out and about and active.

Parkruns have been as popular as ever and some good running form is evident. Emma S, Steve W and Mick W have all knocked out a season's best at some point over the past two weekends with the best performance going to Mick who did an impressive sub-20 minute run on the hilly and comparatively slow Nostell Priory course. As well as season's bests plenty of age-group wins and some high overall results have also been recorded.

Emma S did her second triathlon of the year on Sunday 1st May - the Lincoln Sprint (S400m / B22K / R 5K) and in spite of an awkward blustery wind and the infamous 'cliff' of a climb on the bike section managed a very credible 6/16 in her age group (pic courtesy of SportCam). Emma is currently working hard on her swim - complete with coaching advice - and is hoping to move towards the podium in her next tri event this coming weekend.

New Member Welcome

We extend a warm welcome to new member Harry Cole. Harry has competed in triathlon since 2007 and has already achieved the massively significant step of completing a full-distance Ironman event (S2.4 miles / B112 miles / R 26.2 miles). He is currently training for the Mallorca Ironman to be held in September: we wish him well. Harry has a particular interest in veggie nutrition and there's no doubt that full distance events are as tough a proving ground for effective and efficient fuelling as it's possible to find.

Trunce 2/9 - PB for Mick

The second Trunce of this year (last Monday) saw Mick W stepping up to the plate with a course PB of 29:42. This is no mean feat - the course has unofficial 'clubs' for those who can break 30 minutes and for those extraordinary athletes who can break 25. Mick's 35/382 overall position betrays that his run was top-drawer. The top 10% of a Trunce field overall is not easily achieved. Many runners at this event are very hollow cheeked and have thousand-mile stares.

Rosie Wigg competed in the same event and scored a creditable 29/71 in her age group. Again, this is good going given the competition. Rose is steadily recovering from enforced absence and all seems to be going well. Her last two parkruns at Nostell (slow course) have been sub 25 minutes and indeed one resulted in a season's best at the venue.

Things are looking good.

Tri-season time!

First out of the blocks in the 2016 GV multisport events campaign was Emma S with her Sunday the17th of April participation in the Southwell sprint triathlon (S400m / B20K / R5K).

Freezing (literally) conditions meant that all competitors had to take extra care in exiting the pool swim and heading out on the bike. It's an easy mistake to make to whiz through transition and rely on a simple tri suit when conditions are so cold but Emma's experience saw her taking a wise few seconds longer in T1 to don an extra layer. The result was a very good bike split and - massively importantly - the ability to still feeel fingers and feet come Transition 2.

Emma's tactical awareness and a good run leg was rewarded with an 8th from 37 finish in her age group. (Thumbnail courtesy of SportCam Ltd.)

Exactly one week later (Sunday 24th April) Steve W took to an equally freezing sprint tri at Epworth (S400m / B20K / R5K). A decent swim saw an equally tactically aware and well insulated Steve taking to his usual strong bike section and making serious time before the final hanging-on-in-there run section. In spite of the cold conspiring to produce a ridiculously low full-race-duration average heart rate of only 137bpm, Steve won his age group and was a creditable 3rd position in the overall standings.

A great start all round.

Trunce 1/9 and Steve C's war of attrition

The first of this year's Trunces conspired to stamp it's authority with torrential downpours leaving river levels high and the rain-soaked soft bits in full-on shoe-stealing mode. Mick W and Rosie Wigg took it on nonetheless and both had pretty solid runs. Mick's 51/420 overall was particularly notable (pic). The fact that the Trunce can now command approaching 500 on the start line is either a testimony to the current popularity of running or an indicator that masochism is on the up.

In parkruns, Steve C made an appearance at Stretford and in spite of concentrating lately on longer / slower training efforts knocked out a respectable 23 min run. Other Go Veggies out and about in parkruns this past couple of weeks include Emma S, Rosie Wigg and Steve W. Once again, plenty of age group wins have been forthcoming.

Speaking of Steve C's return to ultras, he recently conquered The Vale Coastal Challenge 50K event which is in anyone's estimation - as it somewhat understatedly says on the tin - indeed a challenge. Not only is this 50 kilometres of coastal trail across the Vale of Glamorgan a ridiculously long way to run, but the terrain (savage) and the conditions (a quagmire) make for an absolute war of attrition.

Steve's time of just under eight hours (a mid-pack finish) gives some indication of the ferocity of the event. In fairness, the fact it's promoted by a group called Run Walk Crawl gives any prospective entrant a pretty fair warning of how things tend to pan out.

Recent round-up

There's been lots of parkrun activity lately with many members sharpening up for the coming season. We've had representation up and down the UK with appearances as far afield as Nostell Priory (Yorkshire), Stretford (Manchester) and Greenock (Scotland). Numerous age group wins have been scored.

Jon Z has already been back in open event action with appearances at the Clumber Park duathlon (run 10K - bike 40K - run 5K) and the Helmsley 10K multi-terrain race. Jon wasn't very happy with his performances but is notoriously tough on himself. Just being out there and competing (still at a good standard no matter his disappointment) is both incredible and inspirational given his artificial heart valve and pacemaker.

Rosie W has also started her open event campaign with a strong performance in the Wakefield 10K last Sunday (03/04/16). In spite of a rolling course Rose - by a matter of seconds - only just missed out on a sub-50 minute run to finish well up her age group. It wasn't for the sake of trying: that's a grimace rather than her usual smile. Pretty good going given that this event attracts some very fast athletes and boasted a field of 1,700 in total.

The gentlest return to training possible

Parkrun activity has been as prevalent as usual with several members scoring good age-group positions recently, including Emma S and Rosie Wigg. Steve W has also been doing well in age group and furthermore scored an impressive overall win at the Doncaster event last weekend.

Mick W, meanwhile - returning from a month layoff with a troublesome virus - decided that a nice, gentle way back into training would be a to run a 10 mile circuit of the Lake District’s Northern Fells and take in the 931 metre summit of Skiddaw! Not content with inflicting masochistic harm, Mick persuaded Steve that such a ‘gentle fat-burner’ would be good training for a full distance triathlon Steve is planning for later this year.

It’s easy to see from the video who’s in his element with ‘gentle fat burners’ and who isn’t. Mick (in blue) is almost permanently smiling: Steve (in yellow) is almost permanently not. In spite of white-outs, ice fields, thigh-deep drifts, blizzards, serious wind-chill and numerous falls each, both got off the mountain relatively unscathed. 

It was generally concluded there are less involved if infinitely less memorable ways to burn fat...

The Steve C guide to making hard events even harder

In spite of cracking a couple of ribs a few weeks ago in a too-giddy-canine-related tripping incident, Steve C shrugged off the pain and has been back in the thick of things this past couple of weekends. First up was the Montane Trail 13 in Grizedale where the ever-changing Lake District weather briefly smiled and allowed competitors some reasonable (for the season) conditions. In spite a very health-interrupted program this past couple of years, and the ribs, Steve was pleased to manage a time within a minute of his efforts in the same event a year ago.

Last weekend saw Steve and a vegan friend (Britta) take on the Anglezarke Amble, a 24 mile LDWA event run across the West Pennine Moors which takes in the well known landmark of Rivington Pike.

The bottom line is: it’s up on the tops and always bleak.

The event was proving typically tough but, as if the cold and exposure wasn’t enough, matters took an unexpected turn when a fellow competitor suffered a heart attack and collapsed in front of our intrepid duo. The unfortunate chap wasn’t breathing and had no pulse so Steve and Britta immediately sprang into action and administered CPR until medics / the mountain rescue helicopter arrived about 20 minutes later.

The man survived but the enforced stop left Steve and Britta nose-diving towards hypothermia. Undeterred, they carried on complete with completely numb extremities, including such fundamentals as feet and – against all odds – successfully made the finish.

Heroic stuff!

How to get even wetter than usual in Manchester

Recent activity has revolved around running, which maybe comes as no surprise given the time of year, except for one notable exception in the form of Steve knows-no-fear C who, in the wake of New Year celebrations, returned to the brain-freezing activity of a mid-winter outdoor swim. The venue was Salford Quays and the distance 250 metres. It may not sound far but immersion time was long enough to witness Steve shivering violently come the point where shrivelled body re-acquainted with dry (or as dry as it ever gets in Manchester) land. Absolutely not one for wimps: or anyone sane.

Thankfully, Steve seems to be getting through health issues that have curtailed his ultra-event activity a bit in the last couple of years and is again aiming for some longer distance events with a target date as soon as March pencilled in for a 50K run. Part of the preparation has been to hit the fells with Len, with a bit of speed work thrown in in the form of the recent Hit the Trail 5-mile multi terrain race.

The Lake District has been Steve’s recent choice for canine-accompanied training fells where persistently wet conditions meant a couple of very trick situations up on the tops including one very swollen crossing of Lingmell Ghyll, which saw even the substantial bulk of Len  needing a bit of assistance to make it through in one piece. Both prevailed though, if slightly bedraggled.

Other members have stayed substantially warmer and drier, if not totally warm and dry. Rosie Wigg raced in round 4 from 5 of the Yorkshire-based PECO cross country series at Golden Acre Park, north Leeds where she had a credible age group and a top-half-of-the-field overall finish whilst others have been hitting parkruns to maintain a bit of top-end fitness. Claire W, Mick W, and Emma S have been out at Pontefract and Nostell and there’s even been a bleary-eyed, post-hibernation appearance by a considerably-larger-than-usual Steve W at Doncaster: the new triathlon season must be approaching.

Running out of 2015

Running has been the staple diet of most of the recent GV activity with many members hitting parkruns at Pontefract, Nostell Priory, Doncaster and Temple Newsam. There were even some festive period heroics with Emma S and Rosie Wigg both doing back-to-back events at Pontefract and Nostell. On this one-off occasion, the organisers leave just enough time for those up for the challenge to finish one, commute between the venues, and start the next.

As well as parkruns, Rosie Wigg and Mick W have also been active in the Yorkshire-based winter cross-country PECO series plus some open events as well. Rose competed in the hilly and tough Barnsley 10K a couple of weeks ago while Mick, on New Year’s Eve took on the infamous and immensely popular Auld Lang Syne fell race.

This race attracts the cream of fell runners and also, traditionally features the Brownlee brothers and occasional guest appearances by their world-level-triathlete training buddies. As well as attracting elite runners the race remains firmly grounded and boasts, amongst other touches, plenty of fancy-dress competitors and a Bottle of Daleside beer for all finishers.

The on-form and still improving Mick had a really good run given the level of competition and finished 122 / 413 in 57:33. Anything under the hour for the truly peat-bog-traversing 6.7 mile / 1,100 ft ascent race is considered a bit of a yardstick.