FEATURED ACTIVITIES

FEATURED ACTIVITIES APPEAR IN DATE ORDER WITH THE MOST RECENT FIRST BUT YOU CAN EASILY HYPERLINK TO OLDER POSTS IN ANY NUMBER OF WAYS. IF YOU GET LOST, SIMPLY CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MOST RECENT POST AT ANY TIME.

STRAVA FEED

Steves

Determined not to be out-suffered by Mick W, Steve C was back racing on the Peak District’s uplands on Sunday 7th May when he took on the 23mile version of the LDWA’s Stanage Stumble. The event organisers advise that the event comprises a “Challenging route over Limb Valley, Houndkirk Road, Stanage Edge - returing via Redmires Moor, Rudd Hill and Limb Valley mainly off road on good tracks and paths”. The event organisers are also known for understatement and for Steve himself to report “surprisingly little flat”, you just know it was hard. At least the weather played ball offering fine and dry conditions giving great views throughout the entire five and a half hours it took Steve to complete the course.


The same day saw Steve W back in sprint triathlon action, this time involving a ‘rolling’ bike course across the Yorkshire Wolds around Driffield. A surprisingly decent (for Steve) 400m pool swim was followed by a strong 19K bike leg (pic) and a hang-on-in-there twisty-turny, multi-lap 5K run which - all combined - resulted in an age group win and a thoroughly reasonable 10/302 overall.


The Tough Files

8th April - Missing the Mark

Steve W took to the wholly esoteric world of medium gear (72”) time trial racing again on 8th April with a race over 25 miles on a known fast course near Newmarket. A good day with only a light breeze saw Steve giving the event his best go and almost making the sub-hour-medium-gear-25 hall of fame (a very exclusive club) with a 1:00:34 effort. Compounding just missing the hour mark was the relative disappointment of missing the podium too with a 4th place overall. Steve reports he wrung himself out and given an inability to be 30 years younger that some ‘bike tweaks’ may be the only way he’ll ever crack this one.

14th April - Scary Night Swim

Steve C consistently manages to find the strangest (and toughest) events. Swimming in Lake Windermere in April is challenging enough: swimming in Lake Windermere in April after nightfall is a different sphere of challenging entirely. In a wetsuit designed for swimming, a couple of kilometres in a temperature of only 9 degrees Celsius was only ever going to be a rough experience and - even following a winter of indulgence and a subsequent layer of ‘natural insulation’ - the halfway point saw Steve shivering uncontrollably and violently. In that way that he can, though, Steve put the pain to one side and finished the event to a reward of a roaring beach bonfire and steaming mugs of cocoa. We don’t know if he knows you can just buy cocoa at the supermarket.

29th April - Three Peaks Madness

Mick W is undoubtedly inspired by the crazy world of Steve C and is becoming something of a pain-meister himself. The Yorkshire Three Peaks are a renowned challenge to walk; so why not have a fell race over them? Well, on Saturday 29th April nearly a thousand people did - and Mick was amongst them (pic). The conditions - which can be notoriously foul - at least didn’t conspire against competitors on this occasion, and even allowed each peak to be clearly viewed from each of the others for the entire race duration. Now, this can be a very good or - depending on mental toughness - a very bad, thing. Running over hideously challenging terrain for an hour, yet seemingly getting no closer to the next lung-bursting 2000 foot ascent can play havoc with motivation. Mick was well prepared, though, and slogged it out to a 437/699 overall finish in a time of 4:37:35. Almost three hundred competitors didn’t make critical time cut-off points and were pulled from the race. Putting Mick’s finish into further perspective, this is not an event that is open to any entrant; competitors have to prove via previous results that they are capable of running the fells so each and every entrant is a proven-capable endurance runner.

During the event, Jenna G, in support of Mick, made her own big-hill debut and blasted up (and back down) Ingleborough to offer some much-needed humorous abuse. Serious fell running seeds may well have been sown…

30th April - First Tri

Steve W made his 2017 multisport debut with an appearance in the Ancholme sprint event (400m swim / 20K bike / 5K run) on Sunday 30th. A result of 2nd in age group and 6th overall belies the fact that until the very morning of the race Steve wasn’t sure if he’d even make the start line. A huge bike crash only two weeks previously saw a very battered and bruised Go Veggie really struggle in the run with a performance that was at least a minute slower than would ordinarily be expected.


Tough lot these Go Veggies!


KEYWORD SEARCH

FILTER POSTS BY DATE