28th Ridgeway Run race report, and help my daughter is turning into an aussie!

11th October (yes, this is another tardy blog by the busy bald academic) saw the 28th running of Tring RC's 15km Ridgway run. Tring is a nice Buckinghamshire town nestling at the base of the Chilterns, below the 87 mile long distance path called the Ridgeway. There is an annual race run by the TRA which takes in the whole route but Tring RC's Ridgeway run is a more modest affair distance wise, but much faster.

The undulating (+/- 620') route starts in Marsh Lane and runs along road for a mile before heading up and into the rolling, hilly woodland around Auldbury and the Ashridge Estate, along the lovely forested 'ridge' (remember this is the Chilterns, so no lofty cliff top paths here) towards Ivinghoe Beacon before turning down then up Pitstone Hill along the Ridgeway for a bit then back down along Marsh Lane and into Tring. Nice mixed terrain although perhaps a little too much road.

Ridgeway run profle

My previous fastest time had been 1:10:47 in 2008 so I was very pleased to come in under the 1:10 mark with a time of 1:09:38, in position 38 of 473 finishers. Either the UTMB hadn't knackered my legs in, or they had given me a super boost of strength or as I suspect I hadn't run the 40 Mile High Peak 40 ultra 3 weeks before it for the first time in 4 years (had a friend's wedding you see).

Me grunting my way out of Marsh Lane at just below 6:30 pace

The race itself I found to be the most enjoyable shorter race I've run for a while. The weather was good and I consciously played around with my psychological approach to see what worked best. I don't normally focus on closing down the distance between the heels of the runner in front and me but did during this race and it worked a treat. I didn't lose motivation or slow down unwittingly as can sometimes happen. Rather I remained focussed, was able to not notice the effort of running as much and overtook quite a few folk mid-race. I was so full of UTMB ultra camaraderie I kept encouraging people who were slowing in front of me to keep going etc. that I got a few odd looks. Not the done thing in shorter races.

Me grunting my way up the rise after Pitstone Hill

I caught a white vested runner on the 'ridge' section only for him to catch me up on the descent towards Pitstone Hill. I kept the distance constant with the aim of taking him, but after a while he pulled away gradually, seemingly having kept more in reserve than I. However I caught sight and began to close the distance as we headed along Marsh Lane towards the finish. I knew I could catch him if I timed my sprint right and oh so nearly, very nearly did. I sprinted with 100m to go and he was clearly surprised but noticed me just as I was about to overtake. He had enough notice to get a split second head start that he just maintained to the finish. I could tell though he was slowing as we neared the line so reckon if I'd just started my sprint 50m further back I'd have taken him. Oh well, we live and learn.

My daughter is turning into an Aussie - help!

Clearly I knew I was marrying into good Aussie Queenslander stock but I had no idea that so much of the Aussie habit is apparently genetic. Our daughter Eilidh is about to turn 2 years old on the 17th November and the photo below was taken during the summer when she was about 19 or 20 months old so it is a little dated now. Look at it though. Can't you just imagine her with a stubbie of beer in one hand saying 'jeez' or 'she'll be right' ... ? Help! With no particular input I have given rise to a mini-Paul Hogan! :-)

Little Eilidh looking Australian in her wendyhouse