Kettleshulme is the original Blacksheep event- 10+ years ago it was the first fell event Chorlton Runners took a group to. Its been on and off the club series ever since but weirdly I hadn't ever been. To be honest, I run either the Lyme park side or Errwood valley side of Kettleshulme and never through it which is a shame as its a very lovely village (and the pub looks wonderful). The race had sold out this year so I was chuffed to get a spot. And having been off colour all week I was desperate to get out. Then I did another 18 hour work day and nearly bailed.
But having promised three people a lift over, I set my alarm, slept disgustingly little, walked the dog and jumped in the car.
The race HQ is the village hall which is a great building. There was a hubbub in the hall on our arrival, but number was collecting smooth (we were told we must put our ICE details on the back). Its a fundraiser for the village school and there was a lot of tea and cake being stockpiled and served for the end of the race. Having been off food for a week, I was suddenly quite excited at the prospect.
Team photo
It was nice to be in the excitement pre race, and catch up with a few people. We went out the back of the hall, across a playing field and lined up on the road at the back. After a short hello, the race director set us off down the road towards the hills. I instantly felt tired and slow, and my body complained from a week of inactivity and illness. In my head, it was a case of get round without embarrassment (a 5km 2 days earlier had exhausted me). It was a nice wide start so people could go round my over sized arse if they wanted. As we went through the village, a selection of people waved and cheered from gardens and gates which was lovely. After the initial down we were now climb up a track. We left the last houses behdn a dropped in to a meadow where I could hear barking and excitement; one of our club members was waiting by the gate at the other end with their very excited dogs which was lovely. In the sunshine everything looked very idyllic.
The race is essentially a long flag shape- you go out and back on the shaft.nd around a long almost rectangle in between. The climb up to the first right turn was gradual and mostly runnable with good surface underfoot given the drier weather we have had recently. Either side were views of the rounded hills of the Peak district. There were also the odd wonderful sign from the race organiser such as 'the bod of doom' which made me chuckle.
At the right hand turn a gaggle of Chorlton runners had gathered to cheer us on. We were running mostly on good path over grass fields and my legs started to feel a bit more normal. I was enjoying the view to my right and the path dipped and rose a few times, including down to a farm where there was a cute dog. Actually, there were several cute dogs on this race....
At the far end of the flag we started climbing up between some gauze. It was runnable but I was tired and did a run walk, and many people just walked; it was a nice day to enjoy the views afterall! I was precarious climbing the stile but then climbed up to the 'Dipping stone'. This has something to do with the plague and I really ought google it at some point. But this was pretty much the top of the course. Now it was just undulating along the top of the flag shape which dipped a bit but was on mostly good path. The grass on the tops was short and springy; very enjoyable. There was another cheer from our friend with his dogs before we hit the left hand turn down the flagpole shape'.
This last section was not all down hill and I had remembered this from the way out. However, I probably paced it quite badly. I had managed to catch up to people more similar in pace to me that I had been running at the start but couldn't quite catch the lady in front. Also, a lady came strongly past me as we tilted up hill which was disappointed but she deserved it with the way she sprung up the slope. I tried to keep with her as we went up hill through the village but she very much pulled away as we headed across the field to the finish line.
At the finish line were medals made by the local school kids and we all stood in the sunshine comparing designs and cheering in the last of our team mates. Then it was back to the village hall for tea and cake (and chilli). There was a bit of a queue for this but I did get a very nice blondie and a proper cup so it was all worth it.
The next day the long run felt hard but it was so nice to have gotten out and raced in the sunshine. I will hopefully be back to do the race or at least the route again!
