A Monumental Challenge
I know what you’re thinking – a 2k run – how hard can it be? And with such naive optimism, I convinced my 13 year old that a little jog around Lilleshall would do neither of us any harm. So after a good breakfast we set off – on bikes – to cycle the short distance from home (Muxton) to the cricket club. Climbing the hill into the village was our first obstacle but we just about made it without having to get off and walk (apologies to any car drivers that needed to give us a wide berth as we clawed our way up the hill).
Arriving in good time we found Senior Coach Pete Maltby masquerading as a Steward (in order to avoid running) and other non-competing stalwarts of Lilleshall CC were also in attendance. Undeterred, we headed off to register and were soon back for some pre-race banter. By now the runners were arriving thick and fast, an eclectic mix of young and old it’s fair to say.
Soon we were ready for Rachel’s superb aerobics warm-up session which had us joining in (some more enthusiastically than others) in an effort to coax some life into our muscles. As the start time approached, we were ushered to the start line (towards the back of the grid) and I looked around anxiously for a St John’s Ambulance – just in case - but failed to spot one!
With the minimum of ceremony it was under starter’s orders and we were off – as the klaxon sounded and everyone dashed forward. We settled into a comfortable pace as we did a circuit of the ground and then headed over the stile and down hill across some tricky terrain. Easy going – this was going to be fine after all. Even the gentlest of inclines didn’t faze us as we kept up with the leading group and turned towards the hill. Running up Lilleshall Hill however was not going to happen – as runners started to go past us we elected for a brisk walk to the summit – although we were briefly encouraged to run by the sight of Pete Maltby near the top as we jogged past and gave him a dousing with our water bottles as we went by.
Soon we were on the downhill section and here my young son came into his own as he sprinted down the slope towards the finish line with me a few yards behind to claim our certificates and record our times.
A bottle of water and a hot dog each later we were well on the road to recovery, completed – in my case – by a life-saving cuppa! We watched the ‘serious’ runners head off on the 10k and headed for home with the long free wheel down Lilleshall Bank making the prospect of the return journey a lot less strenuous.
Roll on next year.
March 27, 2011
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