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The
Keswick 21? Sunday, 18th
February 2007 |
I’d always known this “race”
as the Keswick 22, but this time
around it had metamorphosed into the Keswick
34K, which in my reckoning works out at 21.1 miles. Not that I minded too much,
as the last mile seemed harder than the 20 miles before it combined. They say
the half way point in a marathon is at 20 miles, and I can now fully understand
why.
At least the day was clear,
with blue skies. There had been a light frost the previous night which soon
lifted on my drive up the M6 towards
Penrith. The scenery was stunning,
with the morning sun and mist intermingling to creating a delicate ethereal
quality. It reminded me I needed to come here more often!
I brought a couple of Lucozade Sports before the race, as I’d
forgotten to get any energy gels, and realised how sickly they actually are. I
got stomach cramps, but maybe that was just the thought of the 21 miles!
There was another good Wesham turnout, (as always), a great
example of how we are a “runners” running club. Not bad considering Wesham is 85 miles away. I had not
decided how to tackle the race, whether to go for it, or just treat it as a
training run. In the end I ran it at a pace of 7:14 minute mileing, which is
within my general training pace. Considering the two summits, that was an
encouraging pace.
My running watch had died a
few weeks ago, and I’d done the previous few races without a watch. Watches can
be addictive: everyone wants to know the times of their first mile, half way
point, last mile point, etc. I was now trying not to worry about the time –
that would be my surprise at the end. I set off at a reasonable pace, and moved
into 4th, (I think). I saw Steve
Littler and someone take 1st and 2nd place. They
would obviously be taking first and second places, with a pace over a minute
faster than my own! Some bloke from Garstang
RC ran along side me for 2 or 3 miles and I felt the pace pick up. He
dropped me a little later on when I decided the pace was too much for me. I was
saving myself for Honister’s sadistic
pleasure - all 300m of it, then Newlands,
another 200m of sweat and tears. Who said running was enjoyable?
The course itself is stunning,
today especially so, as it was enhance by a clear blue winter sky. After Newlands the views are stunning down to
Keswick. The views almost take away
the pain that linger in the legs. My running was steady until around Stair, 3 miles from the finish, when I
started to feel excessively tired. Without taking any energy boosters, I
fatigued quite quickly. 1 mile from the finish I was passed twice very easily
as I slowed down very noticeably, perhaps knocking a minute off my mile pace.
The ‘tank’ was literally on empty and every step hurt. It seemed that the
finish would never come. I was down to a jog going back into the park with 400m
to go, and offered no resistance to a runner that passed me. I doubt I could
have carried on running if it was a marathon. (I made a mental note to take
plenty of sports gels to
My ratings (out of
10)
PB
rating: Not
applicable - 21.1 miles!
Scenery:
10
Weather: 8 Can’t get much better for February
Wesham
turn out: 7
Value:
10 £5 – that’s 24p per mile
Do it
again? See you again next year.
Written by: Steve Myerscough
Submitted: 8th March
2007-03-08
Edited by:
Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor