Virtual Racing
With lockdown rules hopefully relaxing in the coming weeks it is expected that this week will be the last virtual race for most club members. The whole virtual racing 'thing' has not been everyone's cup of tea but it has kept many of us motivated and sane (yes, even those who've been doing endless laps of the IE 😅 ). Big thanks to those who have co-ordinated the various club events: Bobby Pritchard, Paul Dodd, Niki Morgan, Steve Owen, Cherry Fowler, Andy Creber and of course to Martyn and Jeanette Jenkins from Fairwater for doing an incredible job with the various GLCL events. Some members have also taken part in the WA events and the recent BMAF one miler. It's fair to say Chepstow has totally embraced virtual racing.
Forest Mile.
Well done to those who competed in this week's Forest Mile challenge organized by Cherry. This week it was the 8.9 mile Family Cycle Trail in FoD (or equivalent elsewhere). She'll post shortly with this week's and the overall results.
GLCL Race.
This week is the final event in the GLCL Winter Virtual 5 x 5 Race Series. You can do your run anytime from Monday 22nd March to Sunday 28th March. Don't worry if you've not done any of the previous races - it's open to all club members.
And here is the link to the March leaderboard, the form for submitting results etc: GLCL March 5 Miler
Runner of the Week - Niki Morgan
Niki has won the club champs 7 times since 2012 and the Age graded champs 5 times. As a self confessed 'serial racer' she takes part in the full range of running genres - cross country, road races, fell races etc and is probably the most prolific racer in the club's history - sometimes racing 3 times in one weekend. As female team captain, her enthusiasm for racing contributes hugely to the club's success in inter-club competition where we often punch above our weight.
What was your first ever race? Egg & spoon circa 1970
How long have you been running? Since about 2 – to get to the potty
Why did you join Chepstow Harriers? To meet hot men. Lean pickings on that front meant I had to engage with the actual running bit.
What runs/events do you like best? Actual races, with real people and everything
What’s your favourite distance? From my house to the Two Brewers and back.
What’s a typical training week for you? Standing around Thornwell Loop getting barked at by an irate Scotsman bellowing “Can’t you shift your wee butt any quicker than that Cappie?”.
What ways does running impact on your life? It means I get to eat more food.
Do you think you fit into any particular category of runner? Yes, FV50.
What do you feel is your best running achievement? Being selected to run for Wales for the Snowdon international fell race – but only because Katie Beecher had injured her leg – and no, I didn’t do a Tanya Harding on her.
Is there anybody or anything that has inspired you in your running? Yes, Sparky when being chased by Thomas. He puts in an impressive 20m dash.
Have you got a short epic/funny story to tell about running? How long have you got? They usually involve some sort of muppetry on my part. Mynydd Troed fell race was pretty epic – or so I thought until I turned around and saw Joc Dodd floating up the hill in an outrageous blizzard making it look like a stroll around Mallard’s Pike. I took a long hard look in the mirror that day and my reflection revealed a rather pathetic wuss.
Got any advice for others? Don’t be a pathetic wuss.
Ha. Mynydd Troed 2012. Remember it well. Epic scenes in the pub after.... and the last time it ran. Dick changed the event to Cwmdu Fell Race with the venue at Cwmdu Village Hall.
Video here - note the photographer only ventured 1/4 of the way up the hill. 😄
Fell Series 2021
The fell series co-coordinators Den and Paul have updated the schedule of races in line with current thoughts on the roadmap out of lockdown in Wales.
The RO of the planned April race has postponed the event to May and clearly the planned May race, Steam Bunny, is also likely to be postponed/cancelled.
Follow this link to the club website fell series information: Club Fell Series
It should be possible though for members to travel to the hills in April - clearly everyone needs to abide by the rules at the time (bearing in mind that they may be different for those living in England) - Dickie will make the situation clear within a new blog post next week after the Senedd makes an announcement.
Therefore a MapRun fell race will be made available as the April race. The starting point will be Cwmdu village hall and it will ascend to Mynydd Llangorse and back down. Navigation on this route is fairly simple - it's essentially just up and down the Pen Tir ridge on a good path to the trig point. Distance - 7.8kms. Ascent - 396m.
Members may be able to group together to make an attempt - again, everyone needs to make sure they abide by the rules. Running with one other at least is a good idea in the hills in case of trip/injury.
It will not be essential for members to use the MapRun app on their phone as it is possible for individual results to be added after by using a gpx file downloaded from Strava or Garmin Connect. So anyone with a gps type watch can take part.
The route can be found within the MapRun app here: UK/Wales/South Wales Trails/Pen Tir PXAC.
View a map to view/download here: Pen Tir PXAC Map
If anyone wants further information or help on MapRun then go to the club website under training - see MapRun. There are some clunky vids here explaining it all. Or look at a similar fell race MapRun here for full details:
https://sites.google.com/site/welshfellrace/races/waun-fach-v2
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