Swainby Sweep - 11 April
7 miles race – report by Anita Oldham
So, pretty much the first organised race as lockdown begins to ease. And what a route it was! A chilly, frosty night beforehand left snow on the route and some icy patches, all adding to the excitement and the atmosphere. Parking, registration and corralling in groups of 6 before the start line, lead to a smooth race start and good distancing throughout the run itself, which is definitely a route of two halves!
The route sets off over fields, past farm buildings, over a small ford and up woodland tracks. The ground was hard, yet also boggy in places before hitting the gravelly tracks. The first 2 and a 1/2 miles lead upwards with some steeper sections, before hitting the mother of all hills. I had been warned, I was still not prepared! Over a mile of steep uphill brought everyone I could see to a walking pace, and left me drained once it finally levelled out at around 4 miles. Although shattered and struggling to regain my breath, let alone a decent running pace, I couldn’t help but be overawed by the views from up here. We had joined the Cleveland Way, looking over the moors to our right, down towards Cleveland to our left and with a snow-capped Roseberry Topping ahead of us – our own little Matterhorn. From here, the running became easier, once the legs recovered. A flattish section, followed by some glorious downhill stretches that lead us down roads, through more woodland and back into the village of Swainby.
A challenging, lung-busting, leg-sapping first half(ish), followed by a swift and welcome descent. My heart went out to those doing the longer run, who had a last-minute route change, meaning they did the same route twice. Respect. And the finishers for the 7 miles – having been officially verified and adjudicated, i.e., released from MaD, are…
The Men
Lenny Lennox – 52:17
Matt Brookes – 57:59
Richard Knowles – 1:08
Michael Hernandez – 1:21
John Garrett – 1:22
The Ladies
Anita Oldham – 1:10
Karen Carrington – 1:25
Ann-Marie Brown – 1:42
Laura Vennell – 1:42
Fiona Hernandez – 1:43
Karen Price – 1: 46
Trish Garbutt 1:47
16 miles race – report by Ted Leahy
A long time waiting for my first real race in 6 months and I was really looking forward to it. I had a plan laid out that would support me Tapering for the days up to the race however that all went out of the window when I couldn’t help myself heading out everyday in the glorious weather and spring sunshine and pushing it much harder that I should have. On Saturday, my plans were a little walk with the family & dog followed by an afternoon of relaxation but this too did not go to plan having walked 7 miles to (the now famous) Smeltbakes for some lovely cakes and then an afternoon being roped into digging and breaking up an old concrete garden path! After all the days activity I settled down to a huge BBQ’d ribeye steak & Chips, washed down with a few Beers and a glass or 2 of wine – Fine racing fuel??
Much to everyone’s surprise, late on Saturday afternoon Mother Nature decided to have some fun and dumped around 4” of snow on Pateley Bridge and surrounding areas so we were not sure what we would be waking up to on Sunday morning. Thankfully the roads were not too treacherous and I made my way to Swainby on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors. Arriving early, I met Matt Brookes and we took a walk to the registration and corral area to collect our Bibs. Due to the recent snow the event organisers had decided to change the route given that they couldn’t get the marshals to the outer sections of the course and so opted for using 2 laps of the 7 mile course. It was disappointing having built myself to the adventure that I faced but I was still glad to be out racing and so the excitement built. A quick walk back to the car park to collect our things and prep for the race. I was part of the first corral and questioned what I was doing there when I saw the athletes around me, I bet they hadn’t eaten a huge steak and drunk lots of alcohol the night before!!
After a quick update of the guy starting us off, we were on our way… The sun was out, I was feeling good and quickly settled into 3rd place amongst the five of us (1 of the corral did not arrive). Two of the lads soon started to pull away leaving three of us trying to find our way in the fresh snow. We headed out across a field, up a section of road before breaking away onto a gravel track. There was a small ford to cross before we came across some farm buildings and we heading across some more meadow land. As we started to enter the woods one of the fields had a swamp crossing, thankfully it was just narrow enough to jump and so no heavy feet of mud just yet. Into the woods I stopped a couple of times to check directions and thankfully one of the guys had the route on his Garmin so guided us on. The climbing quickly became steeper & harder but the 3 of us pushed on at pace. I saw the marshal checkpoint and thought that we must be nearing the top, I was wrong, very wrong, the climb went on & on twisting & turning as we headed up. I finally saw a communication tower and reflected on Jamie Barker earlier told me that there was one at the top so hoped that this was it, As the ground flattened off we passed through a number of kissing gates and out onto the open moor top, I was still leading but looking back on of the other lads was falling back. It was really challenging passing over the stone flags at pace and made worse by the strong, bitterly cold cross wind that made my eyes water and blurred my vision. I could see the leading 2 runners in the distance and although I was never going to catch them I felt better that they were not as far away as I thought they would be. We descended down onto a road and then it was a quick sprint before breaking right into some more woodland. Heading at speed, I nearly missed the turning but thankfully caught sight of the route and pressed on. It was quite flat through the woods however at the far end the route took a turn to the left and started to drop away down some landscaped steps. These were a real challenge given that they were different lengths and sizes of step so I jumped across onto the slope but I didn’t find this any easier so I had to just go for it. They felt to go on forever and with each step I could feel it through my joints (I think I’m getting old!).
At the bottom of the steps we came out of woodland and onto a tarmac road that made its way back into the village of Swainby. Passing parked cars, houses and people of for a stroll in the sun we were quickly making a left turn and back into the start/finish area. At this point I had the realisation that I was now having to embark on the whole route again… I removed my gloves and carefully attempted to get them into my backpack without losing speed and my place to the guys behind me. He was gaining on me and seemed to find the field crossing easier than I was and as we came out of the field and onto the road he slowly came past me. I wasn’t too worried and knew I had more to give but thought I would let him lead for a while as we made our way towards the climb. I was still carrying my 500ml of water and knew that I wasn’t going to need it so took a few sips and then emptied the rest out making it a little more comfortable and saving every little bit of weight I could! As we embarked on the climb again the ground had become really slippy from all the other runners that had passed through. It was quite a challenge maintaining speed and I felt like I was impersonating Bambi as I pushed up the climb. Thankfully, the higher up we went the better the surface got and I had also taken back 3rd place. There were loads of runners making the climb and the majority of them walking which added to the challenge as I picked my way past them but also encouraging them on their efforts as I passed. As I got near the top I could see a large group heading towards the 1st kissing gate & narrow section that passed the communication tower so I burst into a sprint in order to pass them, not wanting to get held up. My efforts paid off and I made it to the front of the pack just as we reached the gate. There were discussions of astonishment as I ran knowing it was my 2nd time round and this gave me the inspiration to keep pushing. I looked back and could see the guy that I was running with had fallen back on the climb but knew he may also be ready to fight back on the decline so I didn’t let up. Out across the moor top and flagstones again, eyes watering I now knew the route and had confidence in my footing so gave it my all. I was super excited to see Karen Lennox ahead doing an awesome job so shouted & cheered as I passed. I think I got a bit too excited as she jumped out of her skin as I passed like a mad man and 2 other runner in front nearly crashed wondering what was going on. From here on in I knew the route and that it was all downhill so went for it. My last 2 and a bit miles were at a sub 6 minute mile pace as I excitedly ran towards the finish.
I was over the moon to enter the finish funnel in 3rd place and with no one behind me. A gentle walk through the funnel and confirmation of my name & number at the registration tent secured my run.
It was brilliant to see all the Ripon Runners passing through the finish and it was great to see everyone after so many months of only seeing their activity on Strava.
Well done to everyone that entered, that was a tough run but I loved it.
The Men
Ted Leahy – 1:32:05
Jamie Barker – 1:43:20
Ady Warner – 2:02:33
Andy Purll – 2:27:09
The Ladies
Helena Conlin – 2:39:45
Karen Lennox – 2:47:27
Louise Allen – 3:15:01
Andrea Richardson – 3:26:22
Catherine Nicol – 3:27:09
Alexandra Nicol – 3:27:10
Wendy Green – 3:27:24