Tag Archive: Chevy Chase

Losing the plot – Chevy Chase 2019

July 8, 2019, by
OS Map marked with the Chevy Chase and race number

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

Running with data

July 1, 2019, by
Phone showing data screen resting on Heaton Harriers vest

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