Author Archives for Pete
September 23, 2019 9:14 pm
Published by Pete
Flower of Scotland. It’s unlikely I’ll ever hear it again without emotion welling up inside. It’s Saturday and we’re strung out along the northern slope of Stob Coire a’ Chàirn. Only moments before I’d lost my footing on what should be an easy scramble around An Garbhanach. For a second I’m suspended between this life and the next, or at least it felt that way. I stare down at a 1500ft drop and my tired and cramping legs grapple to find their hold. A minute later and I’m back to normal but my nerves have frayed. That felt too close. It’s then, starting to attack the summit climb, that the silent concentration of runners meets with the stirring sound of the pipes. We push on, intensely focussed on the next step. Power hiking up, grabbing onto rocks to support or propel. As I summit I thrust a fist into the... View Article
September 19, 2019 9:10 pm
Published by Pete
Every few weekends in summer, I’m left with a mix of awe and envy as my social timelines fill up with my favourite athletes on their way to the Golden Trail Series races. Six epic races around the world in incredible locations with stunning scenery. I spend the days before and after each race living vicariously through the lives of the athletes and the Salomon media team. Except, that is, for this weekend. Because this weekend I’m here. In person. Ready to give one of a handful of races that are on my bucket list the best shot I can. There’s a real buzz at the event village, even before the bulk of people arrive. With seven races spread across three days, it’s the biggest mountain running event in the UK. There are talks from people like Holly Page, Paul Tierney and Charlie Ramsay. Yes. That Charlie Ramsay. Many of the best mountain runners... View Article
September 9, 2019 9:07 pm
Published by Pete
There are many things that I find frustrating about the Great North Run. It’s expensive, over commercialised and mainly ran on dual carriageways. There are too many people and the t-shirts are cheap. But the moment I hear the gun, and the opening bars of Local Hero come from the speakers, all frustrations are forgotten. The run up to this years event has been a little different for me. I’d been having a golden spell in early summer. In eight days I ran personal bests for 5k, 10k and the Chevy Chase. Everything seemed to be falling into place right until the moment I took a tumble at the Turner Landscape. As my ankle turned over on itself, I saw my hopes of a quick summer disappear. It’s been a tough five weeks since. I spent two weeks flailing around attempting to swim before a gradual return to running. I squeezed into my start pen... View Article
August 4, 2019 9:02 pm
Published by Pete
There was a moment of joy, in amongst it all. One of those moments where your lungs seem to find an unlimited capacity and your legs float along, leaping over rocks like a mountain goat. There was a moment of joy, but there’s far more to my experiences at the weekend than that. The Turner Landscape is a fiesty little race on paper. It’s a shade over ten miles and a thousand metres of ascent – not to mention giving the opportunity to bag a few Wainwrights en route. The drive down through Wrynose Pass to Turner Hall Farm in the Duddon Valley, where it all starts, is enough to leave you breathless at the beauty. I’m not sure if J M W Turner influenced the naming of the farm, but he certainly spent a fair amount of time in Coniston and the surrounding area. He painted and sketched The Old Man... View Article
July 23, 2019 8:53 pm
Published by Pete
There are few things as exhilarating as pushing yourself to your limits. As T.S Eliot wrote, “if you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” For me, fell running is a great way to test those limits. Plan a route that’s going to test you in a way that you’ve not been tested before and go for it. I love the feeling of locking the car door, looking up at the mountains, and getting a healthy sense of awe at the size of the challenge ahead. When I was first getting interested in fell running a friend bought me the classic Feet in the clouds by Richard Askwith. It’s like reading of myths and legends. Giants stride across the landscape with names like Iron Joss, and the challenges those giants rise to are the great rounds. Giants stride across the landscape with names like Iron Joss…... View Article
July 12, 2019 9:42 pm
Published by Pete
There’s a little section on the club website that says to try to limit yourself to one important race or PB attempt in any four week period. I couldn’t help but think of it while I flagrantly ignored it on my drive to Silksworth for the Sunderland 5k. It was Pablo Picasso who said, “learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”. I’m not sure that’s exactly what I was doing, but chalking it down to artistry rather than stubbornness works for me. I’d ran Tynedale 10k last Wednesday and ran a PB by over 40 seconds. On Saturday it was the Chevy and the elation of crushing past performances there too. This week my legs are feeling tired but my mind is raring to go still, I’m just enjoying it at the moment. So, remembering it was the Sunderland 5k, I headed south after work.... View Article
July 8, 2019 9:37 pm
Published by Pete
There are a few basic elements of a good narrative — you have a character, some conflict or adversity, and then a resolution. The thing that keeps us reading, watching or listening is the tension between those things. The writers of the medieval Ballad of the Chevy Chase understood this. They recounted a tale of Harry Hotspur, Earl of Northumberland, going on a hunt in the Cheviot Hills. The Scottish Earl Douglas saw this as an invasion and set off in pursuit, losing his life in the following battle. It had all those elements of a good story. Seven centuries later, competing in the 63rd Chevy Chase fell race, I expected a similarly epic story — though hopefully without a death at the end. What more would you want from a race steeped in such heritage? I was already penning a race report in my head, usually ending with me... View Article
July 4, 2019 9:36 pm
Published by Pete
I don’t think there’s a race start quite like the Tynedale 10k anywhere in the north. A steep downhill that eases off and sweeps you from Ovington into Ovingham. The challenge isn’t to start fast, but rather not to start too fast. I set my 10k PB two summers ago in Morpeth at 40:43. It was a hazy, dreamy, summer night and I’d set out for a 42:30 and found myself faster than I’d believed possible. I hoped I’d go on from that to get a sub-40 but it just wouldn’t come. My times started to slacken off and I settled in to 41-42 minute territory. Preparing for this race I couldn’t help but think that this might be my day. It’s a little over a mile up from the race headquarters up to the start line in Ovingham, but it’s a pretty walk and helps prepare you. My strategy was to... View Article
July 1, 2019 10:55 pm
Published by Pete
7th July 2018. 14:05:13 hours. I can still remember the elated feeling, glancing at my watch on the way out of Carey Burn and realising I was almost bang on target. After over three and a half hours of racing in the sweltering sun I was within thirteen seconds of my pre-race goal. It wasn’t the first time I’d been on target in a big race, but it was the first time it owed as much to a spreadsheet as to training. It was the Chevy Chase last year and my first attempt at making data work for me in a race. Most fell races follow a simple format; you run to one or more checkpoints, in order, before the cut-off times. If you ignore the fact checkpoints are often on hill/mountain summits, you could even consider it fun. What racing provides you with, as well as dull and persistent pain in... View Article
June 6, 2019 10:43 pm
Published by Pete
On Sunday the elites of world mountain running raced at Zegama. It’s a race so legendary that they say, “Zegama is Zegama,” as though nothing could convey the essence of the race except the name itself. Basque crowds line the path of the Sancti Spiritu climb, only inches from the runners, to cheer them on. It’s a definite on my bucket-list, but also almost impossible to get into. There’s little I can do except keep entering the ballot and live in hope. Last night was the annual Ernie Johnson Memorial Penshaw Hill Race. It’s not Zegama but, for the briefest of moments, hurtling through the woods around the back of the monument, you could imagine. Penshaw Hill is a low lying hill that sits to the west of the city of Sunderland. It’s visible across the area thanks to the half size replica of the Temple of Hephaestus, in Athens, that... View Article
