Lyme Park Parkrun - NWFPAC 2018 Championship race 4

This weekend saw the NWFPAC at my local parkrun, Lyme Park. The weather gods were relatively kind with little wind and bright blue skies. For those of you unacquainted with the run, it’s an undulating trail course with amazing views of Manchester and a nice “gentle” climb to begin and end, the finish for which you need to keep a bit of energy. With that honest explanation of the course to Jill Hickson and Sean Thomson, 15 of us were ready to take on the challenge of Lyme.

143 people took part in the run in total which is relatively high for Lyme. Word about our championship obviously attracted additional runners. The first kilometre is pretty much all uphill and I saw Dave dash off at the start which is the steepest part. Being unsure of my form and having Dave noting his target was to beat me, I decided on a measured approach of trying to reel him in steadily over the whole course. About 800m in, the plan was in tatters though as I was just behind Dave. What was I to do? Pace myself behind him or try and break away from him. Seeing John Williams about 40m ahead, I decided on the latter. Unfortunately that was pretty much the last I saw of John as he sped off into the distance.

After the initial climb, there were the usual undulations to negotiate, before a short tarmac section and a grass path up to the building locally known as the ‘Cage’, which on a good day gives amazing views of Manchester. However, being rather warm and with race mode switched on, all I could pretty much see was the path and the next couple of runners. After the Cage, there course descends towards the park entrance for just under a kilometre before you arrive at Tumble Turn (no fallers today thankfully) and navigate a hairpin corner for the finish (albeit 1.2k away). I snatched a glance behind me to see where David was lurking (about 50m away…).

The first part of this stretch is a nasty biting climb before a long, slow drag uphill to the finish. I’d noted on the way down from the Cage, the wind was in my face, which should have meant a tailwind for the finishing drag back. Alas it must have been a sensory mirage, as when I got to the drag to the finish, the wind was in my face again (albeit gently by Lyme standards). Knowing the end was in sight, I tried to up my pace a little, all the while I could hear someone closing behind me. This was Gareth Hurfurt who overtook me with about 300m to go. Knowing a position in the race was at stake, my competitive edge kicked in and I managed to sneak past him in the final 20m in what must have been a rather slow sprint finish, heading in a gaggle of 3 NWFPAC runners separated by 8 seconds (Myself, Gareth and Tim Hayle).

For our podium, Jill Parker came in first lady at 21.12, Charlie Batho second male at 20.17 and Charlotte Haworth second lady at 24.17.

Well done to all who completed Lyme. Those undulations make it one of the top 10 hilliest parkruns in the UK. Although I fear it may have scarred Jill Hickson for life when she muttered “I hate you” as she crossed the line. Hopefully, I’ll see some of you at Lyme again, when the sun isn’t quite as brutal but hills most definitely will be.