It has been….11 years since I last ran Hellhole 5M Trail Race by Derwentside Athletic Club. I may need a minute to adjust to that, even if you don’t. As this has always been a race that left an impression, it really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. It’s come at a bit of a weird time for me in that we’ve had a lot of weekend commitments, and while I booked entry when I was feeling back on an exercise groove, the truth is I haven’t been in that groove since a week long training course in Edinburgh the back end of August really threw off the routine I was establishing, and combined with a change in all the gym class timetables to ones that don’t suit me, I haven’t really got it back.
We got home late last night from a visit to family in Preston, and I hadn’t even checked what time the race was starting to know how early I was going to have to RISE from my snug tube to face the morning. I was tired this morning, but I also, if I was honest with myself, knew that while I wasn’t bouncing out of bed with excitement at the prospect of my longest run in what is definitely year, I did want to Have Done It, and that meant showing up. So I did what any sensible person does – I made pancakes, and then went to the pub (for race registration only! Honest!).
It was a little surreal getting to the start line in Stanley (also not in the same place as last time I graced this one with my presence) – it has been a very long time since I had a race entry I actually turned up to, and I also wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know. I’d worn a plain black top instead of my Blackhill Bounders one, as while I have been a subbied member of the club continuously since first joining probably 13 years ago, I haven’t attended any club events in a long time and felt it was enough to be turning up representing myself today. As it happens, I did know a few familiar faces; it does make a difference having people to wave at as you pass on switchbacks or just at the start and finish.
I started at the back, plugged myself into an audiobook, and went for a pootle around the woods; because that must count as rest in some form! (My knees do not agree!). I had a lovely time roaming the beech and pine woods, mostly feeling like I had the place to myself as I was decidedly near the back where people tend to be more spread out, and was also able to ‘run’ more of it than I was expecting when I set out. I made it home within a few minutes of when I’d expected to at approx. 1hr10, acknowledging that my current run pace over anything but very short distances is decidedly more of a shuffle at the moment, and counting that as a success for where I am today. Given my previous longest distances for the year have been entirely parkruns at 5k, and that I’ve taken those from 50 minutes down to 35-39 minutes, I’m taking that as a win for now. More importantly, I’ve proven to myself I can probably shuffle my butt around a 10k if I want to, and runs down to Gibside from home are also a doable option. I didn’t even have an afternoon nap!
Never really being one for a medal, I am still quite taken with the prospect of a goody bag to fossack through, and am now the proud owner of a new water bottle, and enough bits to count for lunch for work tomorrow. Queen Bozzle has a new buff too!
