Race Report: Worsley Woods 5 mile 'Trail' race

 I don't usually go in for a in the city trail races; nothing against them but you only have so much time a a bit of park and canal doesn't usually match a nice fell run. But when the start line is literally half a mile from your house, and it is organised by a local club, you feel obliged to join in, even after a night shift. 

So I trotted down my usual dog walk route to the cricket club at Roe Green and collected my number having gotten back from my night shift 10 minutes before. I had a lovely chat with two lovely ladies from my club I hadn't seen in a while and we walked over to the start line on the loop line. It was nice to see more women than men on the start which is really rare, and lots of local club vests despite it being the Great Manchester 10k and half on the same day. 

It is easy to forget how lovely the places on your door step are, and I am definitely guilty of forgetting how lovely the loop line and Worsley woods are. With the leaves just starting to change, and some unseasonably dry weather, they looked great. 

The route started on the loopline which is about as good under foot as you are going to get, and better than most pavements. I went out far to fast as the loopline is slightly down hill all the way to Monton, and I knew I was being a twit when I clocked 8mm on my watch. Also, the front runners weren't coming back as we passed the only section on the route where runners would be going in the opposite direction. Ooops! I tried to even it out as we went through the the gap in the fence at the bottom and on to the (also very good) canal path. 

And then we dropped on to a little used footpath full of roots and we all slowed down. As we headed around Duke's drive park (on good path again) there were a few very confused dog walkers and the group was nicely spread out. But I was also aware that it was gradually uphill from here on in and I was starting to feel it already at half way! Wally me for going off to fast. We went up the short steep slope back on to the loop line and started to head back up the loop line, almost as if we were doing the parkrun, which a few people commented on. However, when we hit the steps, I felt the fact we had done 3 miles, not 1!  Up, over and then a little divergence to the left past the park before looping back around the delph, where I ended up chatting to a Ramsbottom runner, whose club had included the event in their champs. 

I lost the Rammy runner on the second set of steps where I had to walk. I love this section of the woods and it is probsbly my little dog's favourite section. After going up one side of the mini valley, we took a much smaller path up the other side where there were quite a few roots and leaves. I struggled with the roots, my post night shift head making it hard to plan my steps. But then it was back up and over on to the loop line for the the last push to the finish. 

This section is where I really felt the overzealous start. I was pushing up the loop line, on the good path and felt like I was running through treacle. Looking back at my splits, this section was pretty terrible actually! But eventually I made it over the line. There was water and even a medal. We had to do a bit of wobbly route back to the cricket club to control traffic but overall it was a lovely, and lots of runners commented on on how much they enjoyed the race. It may not be the trailiest of the trail races, but it was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning.