Last Saturday I went to Pendle and ran my first fell race which was a bit of a surprise for me. It was part of the RRRR junior championship and me and Jacob Fisher were the only 2 to show up from Red Rose (Yes, 10 points are ours!) As we lined up to start the lady (run director) said
“As you all know, this is a fell race and you will be running over some very rough terrain”. She was right about that, but Jacob and I were more concerned that we were wearing our road shoesYikes!
I felt nervous and excited all at the same time. Then, without time to think, the whistle blew and we were off!
At first I took it slow and was at the back for the slippy run around the 200metre field. Off out into the road we went and slowly I was gaining on Jacob. As we turned the corner I saw my first obstacle, a waterfall. Having never ran through one before, this caused me to be a bit nervous. There were slippery rocks in the middle and dirt paths either side so me being me, I went for the rocks. At this point Jacob nearly face planted and I quickly took the lead abandoning the tail runner and Jacob. I looked up and saw a hill as tall as all Cuerden undulations (hills) put together. This was going to hurt in the morning. As I took off at a slow jog, I quickly slowed to a walk then to a crawl. The tail runner cheering behind me as I reached the top. I became overjoyed as I realised it was all down hill from here. Things were starting to look up (or down).
I was told to run straight down and stay on the path. As I ran I tripped off the path, got stung badly by nettles and slowly made my way back to it. Jacob was very close now, however I had to stop and wait as I was confused to where I was going. Off I went again as I heard a shout ‘over here’ and ran back to the waterfall, as I scrambled over the rocks I was extra careful not to trip. A quick dash down the road a left turn and there was the finish. I sprinted not looking behind but could hear Jacobs footsteps behind me, I wasn’t going to lose to him now!
As I crossed the finish line a roar of cheers erupted from the crowd and I received a gold medal, I was the champion. Actually I was 2nd to last and the cheers just came from my Mum and Dad, oh and the medal wasn’t gold, it was just metal but it was the same as those that had done the half marathon that morning! Jacob finished a couple of seconds after me, we congratulated him as he should only have been running the 400m and not the fell! Way to go Jacob.
I have to say it was my favourite race EVER and I can’t wait to do another one. GO RED ROSE!