My knees have been hurting quite a lot lately and on Tuesday I woke with that feeling that a cold was coming. The symptoms were still very mild on Wednesday and the knees weren't too bad so I packed my stuff ready for after work. The drive from Northwich to Bollington was painfully slow, my Garmin asked (with synthetic lack of irony) whether I wanted to switch to pedestrian mode! By the time I reached Bollington the rain showers had diminished to intermittent light drizzle, and I cheered up with the prospect of sandwiches and a pleasant walk in.
The walk to Rainow was as delightful as ever, the lambs gambolling was a particular feature this year. Several of the squeeze stiles had pieces of fence across them, presumably the tiny larrys were getting through without much trouble. The rain held off, but many lurked in Rainow institute just in case. One hundred and seventy seven runners squeezed into Smithy Lane. It was hard to move through the pack on the tarmacked road and not much easier on the descending track, Oakenbank Lane, at first. I must have managed OK as I arrived to a much shorter queue at the first stile than in previous years.
We made our way through the fields to where the outward route crossed my walk in path on the outskirts of Bollington. The surface was extremely good, firm and springy, just about everywhere. I concentrated on running 'solidly', I wanted to make a reasonable go of the race without putting my knees in jeopardy. We crossed the valley bottom and then started the steep ascent straight up the side of Kerridge, to White Nancy. I maintained a reasonable 'trot' until near the top. I had decided I would get a shot looking down at the runners here this year. The colours of a couple of runners ahead were particularly appealing, so I got a move on and overtook them gaining enough distance to include them in my shot (above).
I had already started muttering 'fantastic' crossing fields on the the descent from Rainow. Here on Kerridge my face practically ached with involuntary smiles and I whooped out my appreciative war cry repeatedly as the occasion demanded.
Near the end of the ridge a gentleman passed me. He remarked to me that there was little point in his passing as I would only pull away again on the upcoming descent. How familiar that sentiment sounded, and how unfamiliar to be the person hearing rather than voicing it! I mentioned this to the runner as he passed, and how it was only in very recent times that I had acquired any skill in this respect. It would have been nice to continue to chat to my fellow runner, but as the path now began to descend and I didn't want to contradict him, I overtook and pulled away.
I kept my pace up as the route levelled and thought that I had opened a gap of more than ten seconds. However, just after emerging from the next kissing gate I heard a clang as someone else came through. I would have paused to stop the gate latching if I had realised someone was that close, and did so at the next gate. By now the pursuer was right on my tail, but it was a female runner, not the gentleman I had passed earlier, she soon passed me in turn. Shortly I opened a good lead on the chasing pack though I was still a good few seconds behind the one in front so ran on my own for a while. I tried to close in on the pack ahead as we climbed back up to Rainow. I overtook one runner who fell back, but never caught the group. I finished, found a welcome cup of water, then looked for those I had met during the race.
Twilight and the flagged path back to Bollington.
Back at the Rainow Institute I filled up with cake (the lemon drizzle was gorgeous), a cheese and tomato roll, and enjoyed one of the excellent espressos on offer. I wasn't sure of my time, it turns out I pipped last years by around half a minute so I am happy with that. Full results are on the Macc' Harriers site HERE. The walk back in the twilight was a real pleasure, one I shared for a short while with a charming young woman and her dog, that I met along the way.
I had planned to retire from working at the start of this month. I want more time to myself to spend outdoors with what is left of my mobility. My employers persuaded me to cut my hours instead. This works fairly well for both of us, I have two more days to ride, walk and run, they get a 'handover' period. I also avoid the shock of suddenly having no income at all.
I've done little with my first few days off, apart for some short walks and casual bike rides, as knee pain meant rest if I was to be fit for the Rainow 5. I'm looking forward to a nice long ride this week though. I'm planning a leisurely ride up NCR 55 to have a look round Bollington in the daytime. I anticipate a lot of cycle touring in the near future.
