A beautiful location, almost perfect running weather (just a bit too warm), a course that really suited me and a goal achieved – I loved this race!
Lake Vyrnwy is located about 2 hours away from Stoke-on-Trent, and about 20 miles over the border into Wales, with most of the journey along winding country lanes. But it was definitely worth the trip. It has a very interesting history, and there is a lost village under the lake, which was created with the construction of the dam in the 1880s (see http://www.lake-vyrnwy.com/).
The race started on a lane in the hamlet of Abertridwr – there were hundreds of runners crammed into a very small space and we didn’t really know the race had started until the people in front started moving. It was a slight downhill and then the only real uphill section on the course – just less than a mile up to Lake Vyrnwy.
It wasn’t too much of a climb though (nothing like Anchor Road) and soon we were emerging from the tree-lined road and out over the dam at the end of Lake Vrynwy. This was amazing – the views up the lake to the right were breath-taking and there were loads of supporters packed onto the road side as we came off the dam and round the side of the lake. It strangely reminded me of how I felt when I ran over Tower Bridge in the London Marathon.
Once over the dam, we mostly left the spectators behind to complete the circuit of approximately 11 miles around the lake. The road was tree-lined and provided lots of shade, but every now and then the view opened up and you could see across the lake and up into the hills. It was peaceful and there were just about the right number of runners – not too lonely but not too crowded either. Away from the lake shore, there were waterfalls flowing down the hill side, creating a few puddles to run through every now and then.
The route was mainly flat, or with very gentle inclines and downhills, going all round the perimeter of the lake. The most difficult section for me was between miles 8 and 10 – the route seemed to have more uphill than previously, I was running into the wind and perhaps my legs were getting tired. Knowing the last mile was downhill, I concentrated on getting to mile 12 and back to the dam. I gritted my teeth and pushed on, even managing a smile for Mick Hall (http://www.mickhall-photos.com/) and his camera.
Then it was that last downhill mile and the lots of cheers as we came to the finish. The race announcer gave me a shout out as I crossed the finish line – although it took him 3 tries to pronounce “Tideswell” correctly – and I heard Mr T cheer me on as well. Then it was over and I felt slightly jelly-legged as I worked my way up the finish funnel in search of water and my medal of course.
Most of my running recently has been about finish lines rather than finish times – I’ve been taking part in different races and not worrying about speed. But this race was a little bit different – I wanted to see whether it would be possible to complete in under 2 hours, something I’ve not managed in a half marathon for quite a while. And so I did take a few sneaky glances at my watch to see how I was progressing. And so it was very satisfying to stop my watch with 1:59 on the clock. My official chip time was 1:59:13. Very satisfying indeed.
Post first published on Potters Trotters Blog.
Lake Vyrnwy is located about 2 hours away from Stoke-on-Trent, and about 20 miles over the border into Wales, with most of the journey along winding country lanes. But it was definitely worth the trip. It has a very interesting history, and there is a lost village under the lake, which was created with the construction of the dam in the 1880s (see http://www.lake-vyrnwy.com/).
The race started on a lane in the hamlet of Abertridwr – there were hundreds of runners crammed into a very small space and we didn’t really know the race had started until the people in front started moving. It was a slight downhill and then the only real uphill section on the course – just less than a mile up to Lake Vyrnwy.
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| Running Route |
Once over the dam, we mostly left the spectators behind to complete the circuit of approximately 11 miles around the lake. The road was tree-lined and provided lots of shade, but every now and then the view opened up and you could see across the lake and up into the hills. It was peaceful and there were just about the right number of runners – not too lonely but not too crowded either. Away from the lake shore, there were waterfalls flowing down the hill side, creating a few puddles to run through every now and then.
The route was mainly flat, or with very gentle inclines and downhills, going all round the perimeter of the lake. The most difficult section for me was between miles 8 and 10 – the route seemed to have more uphill than previously, I was running into the wind and perhaps my legs were getting tired. Knowing the last mile was downhill, I concentrated on getting to mile 12 and back to the dam. I gritted my teeth and pushed on, even managing a smile for Mick Hall (http://www.mickhall-photos.com/) and his camera.
Then it was that last downhill mile and the lots of cheers as we came to the finish. The race announcer gave me a shout out as I crossed the finish line – although it took him 3 tries to pronounce “Tideswell” correctly – and I heard Mr T cheer me on as well. Then it was over and I felt slightly jelly-legged as I worked my way up the finish funnel in search of water and my medal of course.
Most of my running recently has been about finish lines rather than finish times – I’ve been taking part in different races and not worrying about speed. But this race was a little bit different – I wanted to see whether it would be possible to complete in under 2 hours, something I’ve not managed in a half marathon for quite a while. And so I did take a few sneaky glances at my watch to see how I was progressing. And so it was very satisfying to stop my watch with 1:59 on the clock. My official chip time was 1:59:13. Very satisfying indeed.
Post first published on Potters Trotters Blog.
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