Considering that the majority of races I run are at least 30 miles, 2.5 miles should have been a breeze! The race is organised by my new club, Saddleworth Runners. It's a 4 man event, 2 road legs and 2 fell legs. I was due to run with Ray, Adam and Chris. Ray had bagged the last fell leg as he was arriving late and Adam volunteered for a road leg which was good as he is rapid. Chris Davies (interestingly, also our local MEP)and I tossed for the other fell leg as neither of us fancied 2 laps of a 1.25mile road leg - which turned out to be more tricky than the fell section. I won and was installed in leg 2 on the fell. Adam ran well and we were in 9th when I was 'tagged' and off I trotted up the hill towards Pots & Pans. Having passed one lady on the road before the stile I set my sights on a chap with a funny gait and a lad that looked about 16! On the way up the hill I passed the older guy but the youngster was going like a train! He blew it though and despite feeling like my lungs were on fire I vaulted the stile on the tops and passed him down toward the Isle of Skye road. The race then got unpleasant as I attempted to maintain a good pace back over the tops. Coming down back to the road on the Cross Keys side I took the wrong line and ended up going down the rocks. Three runners followed me too, probably thinking (quite sensibly) that a guy in a Saddleworth vest should know the way (especially when he marked the course!) and we all struggled to stay on our feet. Two of the three passed me on the road section metres from the finish which was annoying, still +1 places gained was not bad. Chris and Ray finished the job in fine fashion (-1 and +1 respectively) leaving us in 8th place at the end. I don't think I'll be taking up the shorter distances any time soon, the intensity of 20 minutes at that pace is horrendous - ultras are far easier!
