Winning Weekend

I really enjoyed the first of the Dales Trail Series races on Sat - the DT20. I had reccied part of the route in Feb but some of the route was a rather muddy surprise!! Setting off from Fremington and heading up hill for almost 20 minutes certainly ensured you were warm ! It was much calmer than I had expected running along the 'Edge' to the Pile of Stones. 

A sneaky and slightly technical descent brought us to the road crossing at approx 5 miles. A long and greasy slope took us up to the water station at halfway, reached in a steady 1hr 15 ish for me. They must have picked the windiest place for the poor marshals to stand! The remainder of the climb was wet and breezy up to the summit, through the heather. I recognised the path off, heading down to the main track and knew that there were about 3 miles still to go. As I had paced it conservatively, I was able to move quickly on the better ground and back onto the moor before we crossed the road and found ourselves on a sneaky up hill drag through a farm then back across the mud to the finish. I kicked up enough mud to ensure that I ended up with a couple of clarts in the hood of my jacket which was round my waist !! 

Crossing the line in about 2 hrs 9, I was delighted to find myself awarded a £30 voucher for Swaledale Outdoors at the presentation, for 1st v45 lady - an added bonus, along with the fab goody bag and hot drinks and cake! 

For this race, I tried out a new pair of Scott Kinabalu trail shoes which proved to have an amazingly good grip, not slipping once on the very greasy muddy surface or the tricky stony descents. I wore them with Injinji socks which were very comfortable even in these testing conditions. Thanks to Tony at The Ultra-runner Store for his continued support. 

On Sun, I took 2 little orienteers to the Morpeth Gathering at Carlisle Park. Keen to perform well in the Family competition, the pressure was on to find all of the controls and to get my tired legs moving quickly around the paths, over bridges and around the play area. Carefully checking off the controls and dibbing, we arrived at the finish in 13 mins 50. It felt quick ! The girls were delighted to find that we had won the Family Trophy - and so was I ( phew !!).

I managed to get time to do the v40+ ladies event, but managed to annoy myself by picking the wrong street and making a mess of control 3. I managed to make slightly less of a mess of the other street control on the way back ! It was enough to place me 2nd but very frustrating nevertheless! Running quickly in the wrong direction definitely doesn't work !