Sherdley Park is a large park in St Helen's. St Helen's is not, to my mind, in Manchester but then who asked me. There must be a team that hosts it here, or else they just wanted to run in a venue that once hosted a major championship race in 2009. I haven't really been to St Helen's and all I knew about it before today is that it has a large white statue called Dream which once was described to me as looking like a massive tampon and it rather ruined the place for me.
Having had dog care issues up to the last minute, I forwent the club coach and consequently chose to arrive about 2 hours before my race to manage to get a parking space. A lack of loos and parking are a defining feature of cross country races in our league but given its about a fiver for the season, I shall not complain too loudly. I joined the loo queue, then got a cup of tea, watched the under 11s go off (so small!) and then bumped in to a work colleague who I hadn't seen. Then the club arrived and suddenly there was only 45 minutes to go and at some point I needed to remove the huge number of layers I was wearing and eat my banana. It was nice to catch up with a few people and hear what people were working towards. But I was getting jittery, possibly not aided by the Activ Root green tea powder I was sipping probably unnecessarily (I wanted to try it for the future- not the one I don't think).
Wellies removed, and mudclaws on, I took a jog and noted that it seemed a bit quieter than some races, possibly due to the distance. I didn't walk the course but had noted the sizeable dip in the park which we would be going up and down several times each lap and tried not to think about it.
Team photo and we were off to the start line, with a surprising amount of time to spare (we usually don't get a photo until the tree minute gun has sounded...)
Photo by Rob Mooney
The Sherdley Park course consists of a long start/back/finish straight and then some wiggly sections a bit like a letter B with some extra bumps on the other side. As a spectator, its a great course as you can watch a lot of people at once and not move far. It reminded me a bit of the Parliament Hill Nationals course in that you could see people coming back the other way at quite a lot of points. It undulates with nothing long but a series of short up and downs that central large dip in the park. It doesn't sound bad, but the long route crossed the dip 5 times in total (the short did it 3). We did one long lap and two short laps and the boys did 3 long. The short lap was only in distance slightly shorter than the long but you did get rid of the dips....The first lap I went out after Ali and Alison who I never beat but was hoping to hang on to for a while. I was over taken on the first climb out the dip which is unlike me but maybe the legs are tired from marathon training, or I am too full of cake from my trip away. We wiggled through the dips and around field which is mostly longer grass, not flattened like a playing field but a bit more uneven. I should have suspected I was going a bit fast when one of the guys shouted 'Hannah you're flying!' As we entered the last dip of the first lap before the long slog around the bottom of the field I clocked I was going a bit fast: my breathing was a bit out of control and the lady from Styal was getting away from me, as was Ali a few places ahead. Bother.
The second shorter lap was sheer hell and I walked a tiny section of the first dip to try and get my breath back. I was doubting my ability to finish and a few people over took me, and then someone caught me on the flat. I was annoyed at myself and a bit embarrassed to be falling behind so much. Gah! I never learn. I was overtaken by the race leader. Ahead of me a Didsbury runner was walking and I offered support and we joked together about who would over take who where. I tried to reframe my mind: 'You can have an easier one now and give it some beans on the last one', 'You are still doing nearly 10k race pace', 'Starting fast means you don't get despondent watching the pack run away from you'. I didn't know where the next Chorlton runner was but Ali and Alison had now swapped places but were increasingly pulling away and were way too far to over take as I entered lap 3. I was lapped by the 2nd and 3rd place jest before starting the next lap. Humph.
In lap 3 I was a bit slower to start, walking the first up section a bit again, and losing places. But I managed to keep it going for the remaining dips and people were still cheering me around the course so I had to keep going. As we came up the dip again, I managed to up it to 9mm for a bit, but the last bit round the field felt a slog. The ground had broken up a bit and the soft mud felt hard work. Suddenly I was on the home straight and someone called my name, the ground firmed up and, as I changed from the 'Lap' lane to the 'finish' lane, I kicked a bit, over took someone, lapped someone and headed in to a loudly cheered finish funnel.
People were quick to congratulate me as I came across the line which was lovely but weird as I thought I had a terrible race. However, when I looked, my average pace was actually not bad at all. I was ready for my recovery hot drink and a coat pretty quickly though.
I enjoyed watching the men's race but maybe was cheering a bit aggressively, as someone made a slightly rude comment from another team within earshot (snide). I enjoy watching them suffer more than suffering myself. I finished low down my age group but not last, and about 2/3s down the women overall. I beat the people I normally beat, some of them by quite a way, but I did not run a canny race.
I am in two minds about whether to do the rearranged match three as it is the same weekend as my 20 mile marathon-dress-rehearsal race and I don't want to blow a load of energy and feel rubbish on the main day and lose confidence. However, I do like Heaton Park. I do wonder why I do cross country but I do keep coming back!
Photo by Rob again
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