Race Report: Walsh Two Lads

 I was going to post a blog on the Trail Pursuit Marathon fiasco but I have decided against it. If you haven't got something good to say, don't say anything at all and all that.....Views were nice and that is that. 

So moving on

Walsh Two Lads came one week after the Leo Pollard memorial which I had sadly missed due to poor planning. So one of two Winter Hill based races was better than none, and you can't miss too many in your back yard. Plus its on the club champs. 

Two lads is one of the lumps on Winter Hill, on the Horwich side. I go up there quite a lot. The race passes this point just before the descent. Its a five mile race with registration at a pub called the Banktop Alehouse. First thing to know is there is no parking but there is a train station at Blackrod a couple of miles away, and there is a bus that goes past. Other than that, bun fight for pavement parking. Seems most people managed. There was some pre-entry and some EOD but both ways you had to fill in the form with your details. Horwich RMI athletics club host it and so it ran like clockwork (they are good at these old events). 

Having arrived ridiculously early, and fannied around for an hour, I was surprised how few of the Blacksheep had made it out. I suspect a combo of Ed Sheeran concert traffic, Welsh Castle relays at the weekend and Boar's Head race the night before. Of those there, I think only two other people had run the race before. I offered the odd (probably unsolicited) tip and we lined up for the start. It had already rained whilst I was waiting, and threatened to do so again. A shout of to Bolton MRT and off we went and pretty much immediately (after the bollards of death) we started to climb up the hill. 

For a fell race, there is a reasonably high amount of tarmac. There was ait of bumpy poor quality road with some puddles, then some more tarmac, then a ginnel then some more tarmac but finally we hit the bottom of Wilderwood and something that was more like footpath, albeit a single track one. At least single track meant I had an excuse to just sit in the group I was in and not push. I knew eventually we would pop out on to George's lane and then the climb across the moor is much more broad to do a bit of over taking if necessary. Underfoot, most of the rain had drained so it wouldn't be bad going. 

As we started the climb up the moor, you could see Two Lads up to the left, and it was nice to know that the fastest people weren't already there and coming down. That said, they would be there soon. And I ran nearly all the way up this section, if at a very plodder pace. I wasn't feeling great but I also wasn't feeling horrendous. There was a lot of place swapping back and forth at this stage but I got the feeling I was mostly moving forward through the pack. On reflection, I wasn't really pushing myself cardiovascular wise but my muscles were definitely feeling a few extra pounds and extra miles of late. 

The magic happened somewhere between the road crossing and the first bridge crossing. Suddenly my legs seemed to wake up and stride out a bit. I moved with relative ease across the footpath across the moor, passing a few sheep. I was enjoying myself without pushing too hard. We went through a few gates and I got a moment of anxiety about gate etiquette in races before pushing that and my well embedded country code to one side.  A few blokes came flying past as we dropped down past the track to Burnt Edge but I could also see Nat, my fellow Chorlton Blacksheep only a little bit ahead (she was in long sleeves so probably boiling to death).I managed to catch on the climb out the clough as we headed up towards Two Lads and it was nice to have a bit of a chat. 

As we jumped the stream after the road crossing for two lads (mercifully low but a few of the bogs were a bit more full) I did have a short walk towards the stoney mounds at the top. But then we saw Tom Arthur who had come to cheer us, and decided we had better run as he had threatened to take photos. 

The decent off the top can feel a bit insane in places; it can be steep and slippery but interspersed with runnable sections where you pick up speed. To be honest, I nearly never run down this way, nearly always up! But I wasn't making too much of a hash of it, even when most people veered on to the upper track that didn't use to exist, and drops you very steeply to Pike's cottage. I had a small slip, which was just enough to remind me I am not as good as I was at descending, but stayed upright and pelted through the gate at the bottom.

I knew the next section had to be fast. George's lane at this point is quite flat, and much better surfaced than it used to be, then it was the drop through Wilders wood, before the mad footpath dash to the finish (all down hill). I was still level pegging with Nat who is much faster than me, but was mercifully tired from childcare. I was pretty sure I couldn't hold her off to the end. I swung round the gate and down the steps in to Wilders wood. It was narrow but I was moving better than I have in a long time inn a race; I felt fast. Once we hit the bobbly rocky bit at the bottom I did have a bit of a slow down and may have verablised my thought on this section which comes up in a few races and I always make a hash of it. Then we hit the cobbles and Nat came past me. I would aim to push to the end. 

Right at the end you drop in to a narrow tarmac ginnel down the back of some houses that goes on a surpringly log time. I remembered it being slick when I had done the race before but maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the graphene trainers (a gimmick I know) but I was able to really fly down here and dodge past Nat. I hit the track and the puddles at the bottom and gave it everything. Apparently I nearly 6 minute miled this last section.... Puddles be damned and I pushed right back to the grassy area where the Chorlton team cheered us in. It had pretty much been neck and neck and looking at Nat, she had definitely let me take the millisecond win. I worried I would regret my exuberance the next day on the long run.

But I had had a good race! It feels like forever since I said that. I didn't feel tired and slow. I mostly held my place on the descents and even the flat. I went up in a timely fashion (though the only two strava segments not showing gold were ascents...). I pushed for the line and got  better time than last time even if mostly due to better conditions. I enjoyed myself. I joined the Chorltonites to cheer in the last few runners. 

The good race did buoy my confidence a bit for the long run the next day, though it was still pretty tough (20 miles around Edale skyline even without the main ascent...ergh!). The feeling of descending well was the best bit; maybe my season is about to turn around? Or more likely not and I just had a decent day out; we'll see! 

Photos credit of Olga Woo, Tom Arthur and David Morrison; many thanks