The folly of fashion!

Some thoughts for you as the winter approaches: -

Wearing black seems to be fashionable. Black is great for that slinky little number or the “dress to impress” business suit. But on the road it is not. That is why road workers, breakdown drivers, police and people who work in busy factories and yards all wear yellow HiVis. On the railways they always wear red because its easier to see in daylight.

How often do you see runners and cyclist out in their trendy gear; black tops, black tracksters, black trainers, black bike, black helmet. Very smart but almost invisible to drivers, even daylight. And then to add to the mix, listening to music on headphones so you can’t hear the traffic either.

I witnessed two cyclist nearly knocked off their bikes by a car recently. The driver did not look properly before pulling out of the side road, but with the sun in his eyes the cyclists were not easy to see; dressed head to toe in black with black bikes and helmets. Fortunately no-body was hurt but it could have been very different.

Directgov.com gives the following advice to cyclists, walkers and runners: -

· Wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing that helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light

· Wear reflective clothing and/or accessories, like a belt or arm/ankle bands, in the dark

The brighter your clothes, the more chance other road users will have of seeing you. Red is probably best in daylight. Fluorescent yellow colours are best for higher visibility in the dark, preferably with wide reflective strips.

Please think before you go out running on the road. Even in daylight you need to wear colours that can be seen. Now that evenings are getting darker, and even the light in daytime is poor you need to be extra vigilant.

Posted by Rob

This note will also appear on the North Wales Runners Blog on athleticsnorthwales.blogspot.com

Llyn Brenig Race

Four Buckley Runners turned out on Saturday 15th for this excellent trail race. The 9-mile route round the lake consists a bit of tarmac, some footpaths and forest tracks. It finishes in spectacular style across the dam.

The weather was excellent, dry, sunny at times and breezy, although the breeze felt a bit more like a gale when you ran uphill into it.
Paul Stinton was 11th in 1.01.40
Margaret Ludden was 45th in 1.17.35
Jack Thomas was 57th in 1.24.59
Rob Mackey was 61st in 1.28.01

Posted by Rob

Off Road Series

Friday night was the last race of the Off-Road MT Series organised by Deestriders. This was the last race that Fred Aird is organizing, he is stepping down after 10 years. Thanks Fred.

A good turnout of Buckley Runners, despite a fairly small field (61 runners). And good results in the series. Paul Stinton picked up 3rd in Senior Men. Jez won MV40, Jeff won MV 45 and Steve won MV55.

Posted by Rob

Caernarfon 10k/Welsh Championships

A big turnout from Buckley at the Caernarfon 10k, which this year also hosted the Welsh Championships, as well as the usual North Wales competition. Quite warm, with a light headwind for the coastal path. Dave Mountford won the race in 32.43, with several individual medals for the runners below.

14. Simon R, 36:00
17. Jez, 36:44
18. Jon B, 37:01
25. Eric, 38:28
32. Les, 39:05
34. Shaun, 39:23
56. John Ashton, 41:12
77. Chris H, 43:59
130. Fenella, 50:13
161. Jack, 54:58

Cilcain mountain race

A huge turnout for this race, narrowly beating the previous record (181?), despite slightly unpromising windy/damp conditions. Quite wet underfoot, with a bit of a headwind near the summit (I'm looking for excuses for being a minute slower than last year...). Jez Brown's great form continues.

2. Jez, 35.29
6. Simon E, 36.37
7. Simon R, 36.53
83. John, 46.01
166. Rob M, 57.28
167. Jack, same time?

Race the Train

Six Buckley Runners completed Race the Train this year. But over 40 people and 6 dogs turned up on the campsite. So we had a good party, several actually.

Conditions for the race were difficult. The morning was cool and damp with rain showers but it made the tracks and fields very slippery. In the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun started to break through. 30 minutes into the race and the temperature was rising. The light breeze was blowing straight up the valley, so the first 7 miles felt very hot. After turning round it was cooler but the ground conditions following such a wet summer made progress hard. Race times all round seemed slower than last year with only 103 runners beating the train.

The good news is that three of them were Buckley Runners. Times and places were (these are gun times, chip times are slightly different available on RTT website)
Jez was a superb 12th place in 1.34.31
Paul Stinton was 59th in 1.43.35 - another fine performance
Jon Bradshaw was 85th in 1.46.14. That is an excellent time but he did admit it was tough.
Jane had a good run in the conditions finishing 582nd in 2.25.23
with Rob was 679th in 2.37.10

Paul D was 103rd in the 10K in a very creditable 55 minutes.

I have booked the campsite for next year.

Rob

Tales from the dark(er) side

As some of you will know I have been aiming for the Lakeland 50 for the last couple of months. Why such a long race ? Well '50 at 50' had a nice ring to it, well at least it did when I entered ! Reality bit when I went up for the recce in April & could hardly walk for the next week. Having said that, I'd survived the 28 miles, and the 7 hours on my feet, so it gave me some confidence that I might be able to do the whole 50.

Once London was out of the way, specific training started in earnest i.e. a few long runs on Friday nights on the Clwydian hills, mostly in horrendously wet weather (but at least I'd be ready for what the Lakes could throw at me !). One of the perceived wisdoms for this length of race is that you 'walk the uphills', which I got really good at - so much so that when I did John's 'The Beast' race it was a real shock that people were actually running uphill, and unsurprisingly I finished well down the field !

As for the race itself, the 50 was actually the little brother of the 100 mile race, which started on the same night as the Olympics started. (One of the 'in jokes' was that it was nice that the country was doing a countdown to the start of the 100). So pre-race nerves were avoided by watching the opening ceremony. Reality bit when we were bussed up to the starting point at Dalemain in the NE Lakes. Start time was noon, which meant that most of us could look forward to finishing in the dark (one of the compulsory items on our kit list was a head torch, so running the Dashes in the Dark was going to come in handy). There were 500 of us nervously waiting to start, and once the claxon went, there was the usual adrenaline-filled rush away from the start, but things settled down pretty quickly.

I won't take you through a blow-by-blow account (if you're really interested I can tell you over a drink !). Essentially what followed was a brilliant experience - mild panic when cramps set in early, but this was overcome by a large dose of electrolytes; fantastic views at numerous points along the way; minor frustration by going the wrong way into Ambleside, but it only added a couple of minutes; great camaraderie - I actually ran the last two legs with someone from Chester, who had relatives in Deeside & Alltami !; running, well walking actually, the last leg in the dark; the final welcome at the finish at Coniston, where everyone who's finished plus all the supporters cheer you in to the area where you get your 'finishers medal'.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get out of bed the next day, but obviously the trails must be good for the legs as I didn't feel too bad (although I wasn't too sprightly playing football with my son that evening !).

See you all back up at the club soon
Dave

Time for something to eat at the second checkpoint

Heading up the Garburn pass

Coming into the checkpoint in Ambleside