News from South London Harriers
March 25th, 2007: Cranleigh 21
Posted by Runningclogs at 7:11 pmCranleigh 21 (+254y) = 21.14m
Weather is a significant factor on long runs if one of one’s problems is dehydration!
So peering ahead the week before almost daily the forecast for Sunday changed – changeable – rain all day – heavy overcast until Saturday, one would have thought close enough to get it approx right, it suggested that it would be a bright sunny day!
Then there was the little matter of the clocks going forward – no good arriving an hour late – one would not get in time to the 15mp to avoid the cut off!
Oh and I had no car available and no response from Neil Royle! In the world of instant communication at the cheapest price in a throat cutting world - some companies just offer it at a quarter of the prize until you find that their infrastructure does not allow the number of customers they have and all to use it at the same time!… we want your money … our service well…..it might work some times.
Fortunately Neil got his emails through on Saturday and with some phone calls all was arranged.
On the morning looking out of the window - a dark grey sky was greeting us and just 6C – weather forecast still bright sunny with temperatures rising to14C – no Andy Collins available to give a surplus tshirt to!….. I decided it was going to warmer rather than cooler! Took my gloves and hoped that was going to be sufficient.
In good time we got to Cranleigh (legend has it that it used to be spelled Cranley – but the post office in Victorian times could not distinguish it sufficiently from Crawley which I believe might also have been in Surrey at that time) after going through a heavy shower. The omens were not good.
All I could see around me were shivering people……. and very little urge to get changed….. in the huddle before the start everybody agreed that it was just about warm enough standing close together! … and perhaps we should stick together…. after two cars forced their way through the runners into the finishing car park (why they could not wait two minuets is unclear?) …. the start signal was given and for the first mile there was not much choice but to stick together through the very narrow lane.
Neil and I decided to run together as there is little difference in pace between us and especially as I had decided to take it a bit slower as I wanted to ensure that I had some energy left at the finish as if it was the full marathon. We ran round together all the way! - which was excellent as we kept each other going! - but somehow just before the
finish he was behind me so I was just one step ahead of him.
At 9mp I had just said to Neil that the car drivers had behaved quite well – when we saw just in front of us a 4×4 drive out of a garden straight in the path of three runners, almost flattening them! Their cries and shouts were totally in vain but sadly just three miles later the girl was limping – had she pulled a muscle because of the requirement to stop suddenly for the car? - I am not sure whether she even finished the 15m race.
We were recieved well when we went through the centre of Cranleigh – with lots of clapping and cheers – no problem this time getting through the carpark as all spaces had been taken by runners and there was no danger of being flattened by the eager motorists wanting the spaces!….
Just the two 6m loops left now ….. increasingly there were runners walking…. and also we were starting to pass others – where possible we encouraged them to carry on at a steady pace.
It was lovely to do the run in this in mainly quite rural area of Surrey with all the blossom and flowers about and lots of summer birds just come back.
Just then the winner past us at great speed at around our 11mp and his 17th – this THH runner won in a time of under 2hrs in 1:58:xx!! (The first 25 or so were already on the wall when we had our coffee and cake afterwards!) About ten lapped us….
We aimed at 9:20min/mile but as the course was slightly more undulating than I remembered and this gradually crept up to finish at 9:34 - for some strange reason I must have knocked my watch just before the 2mp and pressed the stop button - so I am missing about the extra bit beyond the 21mp as I just reached the 21mp as I went through the finish!
We finished in 3:22:37 or there abouts - is 7 minutes slower than last year - managed this year to keep going over the hill just before the finish - so second aim also achieved as I think I could have gone on for the last 5m, albeit at a slower pace.
It was also good to see that we did the last six miles about two minutes faster than I had done last year! Although there did appear to be any down hill at all anymore. (had someone changed the scenery or was it just our perception!) So for any doubters I think there is fair evidence that taking it easier the first half will reap benefits in the last half!
The best thing was with the aid of dioralyte - took just one dose this morning – I had no twinges - nothing at all that was leading up to cramp - absolutely brilliant. Aided and abetted by 8C the first hour slowly rising to 12C - the first hour had almost been too cold for just a vest & tshirt but was fine with my gloves.
As said before we had coffee and cakes at the HQ – a what looked like a marshal approached us whilst queuing – how is SLH getting on these days….. – well I said we have our new website up now and you can get all the news there – no he said I am an older member, racing in the fifties and rely on the Gazette. It’s mainly the obituaries page I look at!…..– is this a call for an obituaries page on the web???????
There were also two young (SL?) Beckenham ladies queuing just behind us – they passed us at around 19m at least 1min/mile faster then we were doing – must have finished about two or three minutes before us – agh they explained they had needed the toilet and had made a 10 minute detour – we want to finish the marathon in less than four hours – bearing in mind that they probably did over 22m in the 4hr20min or so,
we told them they would do it probably quite easily……
Neil and I are quite satisfied with our run and what we set out to do –
now just the good fortune required on that day in april!………..
As yet no results published.
Runningclogs
Posted in Road Running
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