Why has the writer of this blog put the word 'Dream' in inverted commas asked none of the readers of this blog until it was very deliberately pointed out by the writer himself in the very first paragraph.
The 'Dream' of the race title is a wonderful sculpture on the outskirts of St. Helens. My words probably wouldn't do it justice so there's a picture. It's a representation of a miner's child dreaming of St. Helens' past and future. Many local people hate it. I think it's one of the most beautiful things St. Helens has ever seen. It has always put me in mind of a kind of antithesis of Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias (one for the fans of early 19th Century Romantic poetry there, of which I know for a fact there are many, many who read this blog).
Anyway, I digress. The inverted commas are not a sarcastic comment on the aesthetic of the sculpture around which this race is run. It is a way of highlighting the hellish nightmare of running up THAT hill twice. More of which later.
I had ran this race last year, when it was a 5 miler rather than a 10k. It was challenging but fun trek around the trails with one monumentally steep slope which required more climbing than running to negotiate.
Anyway, race day started badly for myself - waking up to a dizzying hangover from a day of cider drinking. Not your common or garden Strongbow, mind. The kind of cider that I imagine smuggler's would drink in Jamaica Inn. Bravely and stoically, I managed to make it to the start line. Probably only because it was a late-ish 11am start. A few friends and familiar faces toed the line in the line up of about 200 runners. With fuzzy head and sweating palms, I decided to take it easy. Until the gun went and I tore off after the leaders like a greyhound after that fluffy thing that they somehow believe is a rabbit, even after it has been caught.
The course is a brilliant challenge for runners. Incredibly tough due to a number of fairly short but steep climbs, whose subsequent descents are equally tough due to their winding nature and soft gravelly surface. The early leader was clearly visible in a bright yellow jacket about 100 yards ahead of the chasing pack of 5, which I inexplicably found myself in. 3 Miles in and averaging about 6:20 a mile I seemed to have conquered the hangover. Until I faced the hill. There had been hills before and they were tough. This was something else. About 50 metres in length but a gradient of about 99.9999999%. I foolishly attempted to sprint up it but after around 4 steps was flagging. The burning legs forced me to slow. After what seemed like hours, I stood at the top, planted the Union Jack on the ground and lit a celebratory cigar....no, that was another trip. The hill had drained me and I plodded the second half of the course, which I eventually realised was a 2nd lap of the same route. This meant only one thing. I'd have to scale the hill again. I internally raged at the organisers for daring to trick me like this. Why didn't they tell me about having to climb that mountain twice? I wouldn't have turned up if I'd have known. What? They provided a course map in the emails before the race? Oh.
I battled to the final turn after being overtaken by only a few people. During those last couple of miles where I was running through treacle whilst wearing concrete boots I'd expected the entire field to breeze past me. Evidently, the other competitors had found it as tough as I did. I did manage to muster a final sprint to overtake a lady from Sale Harriers which gave me 10th place in 44:38. Congratulations to Catherine Howard of Knowsley Harriers who won in 41:09 and first gentleman, Martin Christian, 2nd in 41:16.
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| Mustering a sprint finish. |
The scene at the finish line was reminiscent of the climax of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Bodies strewn lifeless across the grass, testament to the toughness of the race. That was confirmed later when I uploaded my results to the RunBritain rankings and saw that the race had been assigned the highest possible SSS (Standard Scratch Score) of 6.0.
Despite my references to nightmares, horror and death, which were only a lame attempt at humour, the day once again was a thoroughly enjoyable one. A friendly and welcoming atmosphere, outstanding support from the marshals and supporters on course, great organisation from Sutton AC and a proper challenge of a trail race made this again one of my favourite races of the year. Well done to everyone who ran, organised or supported the race. I'm sure we'll all be back next year.
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| The eventual winner (I think) |
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