Race report by Shuttlers:
I had seen this race on the FRA calendar a few days ago, when i checked the weather the BBC had it as rainin with lightning at 7pm race start time, i thought i would give it a miss as i have got soft after all the sunny weather. However, come mid-morning Wednesday the forecast had improved and i decided i was going to finish work early and go to the race – plus i dont think i had been to a race since Aggies Staircase back in late June.
I have run this race a good number of times and at 6.5 miles its a bit longer than most midweek races which tend to be under 6 miles. Its a nice route starting at Helmshore at the far end of Holcombe Moor, its a figure of 8 route, starting on tarmac running upwards onto a very rough, single track path onto the open moor, then u visit the Pilgrims Cross Stone carry on down to the west side of the hill, then climb up to get a lovely view of Peel Tower in the distance to the right – i always wondered why the route doesn’t go to Peel Tower as it seemed to be an obvious addition to the race route. Anyway the route descends to the east side of the hill then turns sharp left and goes back up to the Stone for a 2nd time, on to Bull Hill Trig Point the high point of the race at 418m where u are treated to a view of Winter Hill and the Mast, a tricky sharp downhill then back up and retrace the route past where we started and finish a few hundred metres down the road. The paths are very runnable apart from when traversing on the west side of the hill and the descent off the Trig Point is short but steep, also the course is well marshalled and flagged.
I arrived early and registered, £5 cash or card entry on the day only – a bargain. Saw a few runners and had a chat then went for a warm-up runnng the race route onto the open moor before returning to the start and meeting Chris Taylor who had just made it in time after getting caught in traffic. A quick photo and without much ceremony we were set-off by the RO. It was congested at the start going initially up the road and then the single track path where we thankfully had to walk intermittently as there was no easy way round other race walkers, not a bad thing as it stops u getting carried away and gives u time to recover from the upward trajectory.
Once on the open moor the race opens up and everyone finds there own pace, following the flags and being encouraged by the marshalls, i actually overtook some runners and was enjoying it as we passed the Stone and descended the tricky path on the west side of the hill. The path turned upwards and i was looking forward to a break but the runner infront kept going so i felt obliged to do the same, i was keeping me eye on where i was putting my feet and kept glancing up to check if i was catching the runners ahead when we came to a stone path i hadn’t seen on all my previous Pilgrims races and furthermore we were heading for Peel Tower, i hadn’t run this race last year so assumed the route had been changed and i hadn’t noticed this on the race map. Interestingly there were no marshalls at Peel Tower where we turned sharp left which seemed a little odd as this would be one of the places any RO would want to be marshalled, furthermore i realised there was a distinct lack of race flags!
We were now on a path heading towards Harcles Hill where we came to a small stream that had lots of race flags stretching up into the distance on our left, sure enough that is the route we should have taken down to this point and not from the way we had come. Now back on the race route we climbed up to Bull Hill trig, descended down the slippery north face and then followed the path to the end of the moor. I ran down the tricky single track path and onto the tarmac with only 300m to go, i could feel my calves twitching with the beginning of cramp when Jim Maxfield drew level with me, we both had a laugh at my particular ‘cramp preventing’ running style then he switched to 3rd gear and passed me.
I dont really like being overtaken in the run in to the finish, however when u know the runner that passes u smiling and is a 76 yr old u really have to take it on the chin and admire them. We had a good old laugh over a cup of water at the finish remembering other races at 2 Lads and Tour of Pendle where we have finished close together with Jim edging me out in the run-in in them all, what a nice chap Jim Maxfield is. Chris came in full of beans just like me, a great night out in cool conditions, not very muddy, very runnable, well marshalled and flagged!
An added bonus of 7.2 miles instead of 6.5 miles and all for a fiver.
