Learning to run faster... Want quicker race times?

I get quite a few enquiries from runners looking to increase their mileage from 5 and 10km races who are progressing up to marathons and half marathons, a question that often crops up is how to get faster and break through the rut they seem to be stuck in, in terms of speed. Let me introduce you to a great way to get started. Here's a snippet from this weeks eNewsletter.


What are Strides?
You accelerate smoothly from your normal run pace to run at a controlled but fast pace for a short burst 5-10 times (approx 20 - 40 seconds). NOT FLAT OUT.

Why do Strides?
Prepare body and mind for faster running eg after warming up but before an interval training session or race. In time will help to improve your speed. Good introduction to faster running.

Who are they for?
Anyone who has already begun to run regularly and is thinking about trying to improve their speed or regular runners and elites as part of pre race warm up or to spice up an easy run. As with anything new, if you have any medical conditions or injuries it's best you ask a relevant professional first if it's appropriate for you.

How to do Strides?
Warm up FIRST as normal.
Smoothly accelerate from a normal run speed to run at controlled fast pace for APPROX 20 - 40 seconds before decelerating smoothly to your normal pace. About 60 - 90 seconds later repeat.

They should be done while legs are fresh but warmed up so maybe during an easy run or as a pre race warm up. If you currently only seem to have one running speed but have been running regularly for a few months or more then try about 5 reps once or twice per week for a couple of weeks, listening to your body seeing how you get on.

If you have done speed training before and are more advanced you could add these into a couple of easy runs keeping around 5-8 reps. Any more and you risk turning an easy run into a hard training session.

Over time they'll help (in combination with other aspects) to improve your speed, coordination and efficiency whilst running.

Enjoy.

P.s You obviously wouldn't want to do these if you have a niggle or injury now would you. Any questions drop me a message! 

Charlie is a sponsored ultra distance runner and specialises in helping busy men and women aged 25-50, over come the challenges of a busy lifestyle, run further, faster and get a body they are proud of, along with the confidence boost and sky high energy levels that come with it!

Charlie has extensive hands on experience working with busy professionals and on-the-go parents, from losing that last couple of pounds to losing five stone or more. He has helped people through their first session in a gym and others through multiple marathons.

In his own training Charlie has become UK ULTRArace Champion 2012, completed many running events ranging from 5k to 268 miles with many wins and podium finishes. He has had past success in rock climbing and wakeboarding, all this since deciding to 'get a bit fitter'

As a result Charlie's clients have confidence and support whilst they are guided down the path to a lean and healthy body that's ready to smash PB's and for anything else life can throw at it!

Shedding a bit of extra weight the easy way (Part 2)

You'll remember those pictures from last weeks eNewsletter, where I talked about the simplified theory of getting either a flat stomach or definition in the stomach! Similar applies to the rest of the body too to be honest. A lot of feedback from last week thanks, I'll be bearing questions in mind for future topics! 

Last week I talked about how the body fat levels (low body fat think thin sheet, higher body fat think thick blanket) affect the definition of the body (by definition I mean visible lines or shapes of the muscles - often what people mean when they say 'toned')  

Beyond aesthetics lower body fat levels mean less excess weight and so for activities like running it becomes easier, muscles don't have to work as hard to help you run at the same speed or you can run faster for the same amount of effort. Sounds great right!? 

I mentioned correct training will help to shape the muscles and ensure the body is strong and has the stamina it needs, I'm not focusing on that though today, we're talking about nutrition! So how to get that thin blue sheet?

Above there are 2 pictures... the first a typical days food for myself (excluding a bit of extra veg I'd add to some of the meals, and my Dinner which I might have Salmon and green veggies, asparagus and broccoli with some soy sauce perhaps  and to the right.. this is what a typical grocery shopping trip looks like. 

I might add some cottage cheese and milk to that along with some fish and perhaps a few nuts. I probably eat out once or twice per week on average too, sticking with similar principles. Other than that daily Omega 3 fish oil and sometimes protein powder. I do vary my food intake depending on my training but lets keep it simple for now. Your food intake will vary depending on your weight, activity levels, muscle mass, body fat levels and a few other things (bare in mind that is the intake for an ultra runner who trains daily and is active all day)

Essentially we're looking at lean protein source (meat, fish, eggs) and a variety of veggies for each meal. The odd bit of fruit too but veggies are where it's at! The body will perform best when it has a range of vitamins and nutrients to work with, eating is a constant thing we do all our lives. All we need is right there. The body doesn't need huge doses of sugar and fat! 

Ever heard someone say 'you are what you eat?' guess what!? It's true! Every part of you has been made up from food.... broken down in the body to it's components and used to rebuild cells in your body. 

Eating this way will ensure balanced energy levels, nature is pretty good at watching our backs when it comes to food. 

To really make a change, consistency is key. Having the occasional 'good week' wont make a lot of difference to anything, making good choices most of the time will!  

Is your every day diet up to scratch? Or... to rephrase that are you in the shape you want to be in? Have you always got plenty of energy? If not.... nutrition is probably the first place you should make changes

My 3 top tips for optimum nutrition.....

1. Plan ahead... prepare your food and take it with you, you'll never need to grab something on the go that could mess your day up! One of the best time saving tips I have is to cook meals in bulk, the alternative can be bad news if you're always out and about grabbing food on the go it's difficult to get good stuff and we know that can lead to some low energy and poor running!

I don't mind cooking but I'd much rather be out on the trails than spending all my spare time in the kitchen. Equally I'd rather not be trudging around the supermarket.

When I'm at home I get a lot of stuff from Musclefood.
Haven't tried the easy cook stir frys yet but very keen on the exotic meats. I usually stock up on chicken and fish and beef myself and have the exotic stuff occasionally for the novelty.
Anyway hope it saves you some time and gives you more time and energy out on the trails :)

Here's their site

https://goo.gl/zzarji 

2. Natural food is best... if the ingredients list (if the food has one) has words you can't pronounce or don't know what they mean, it's probably not all that good! 

3. Be consistent.... Having the occasional (ie once per week not twice per day!) meal that isn't quite perfect wont harm your results too much provided you get back on track straight away, having a weekend long binge on processed food isn't going to get you very far! 

Trying to find your abs and get a flatter stomach? Start here.

 

A little bit about 'abs', body fat and flat stomachs! I hear from many people  who are frustrated with particular areas of their body, one that crops up  A LOT is stomachs. If you're frustrated about trying to get a flatter stomach  or really want to see some definition in your abs, you're not alone, read on.

What's this all about?  This picture represents a side on view of large stomach muscles  (tubs) and the small stomach muscles (white balls). Well today's post is about the stomach!   The muscles The Thick blanket The Thin blanket

So what are all these funny looking pictures? 

I'm going to give you an insight into abs and flat stomachs that many of my clients are on their way to (or have acquired) I might also tell you why doing heaps of crunches and sit ups and similar ineffective exercises are a waste of your time.... This is the best analogy I've come across...

TUBS AND BALLS... The balls on the left represent small abdominal muscles, the tubs on the right represent large abdominal muscles... These are my two six-packs for demonstration purposes... See what happens when we put a layer of body-fat on...

GREEN SHEET.... The thick green towel represents someone with moderate to high body-fat covering the abdominals, there is very little definition or shape... even on the very large abdominal muscles (the tubs) 

BLUE SHEET... The thin blue sheet represents someone with low body-fat covering their abdominals.... as you can see there is good definition on both the small and large muscles. The larger muscles protrude (stick out) more than the smaller muscles which would essentially make the stomach look bigger.

Top Picture.... represents a side on view of the large abdominal muscles vs the small ones, if you just want a flat and smooth stomach that doesn't look really really muscular or 'ripped' then getting bigger abdominal muscles isn't going to help you. Reducing the blanket of fat down to a thinner sheet however, will ensure some definition and shape but still a flat stomach.

So what does all this mean? 

Consider the Picture Below... Someone who has done no specific 'abdominal exercises' ... Why? Your abdominals should be working during all movements that involve your whole body eg when the arms and legs are working together the muscles in the middle are the link. This would show a 'thin sheet' of body-fat, Give the person in the picture a 'thick sheet' of body-fat like the green towel then there would still appear to be no definition, even though the musculature would be the same. Although the person pictured does a considerable amount of exercise (I heard he runs marathons for warm ups), living on a diet of convenience foods, sugary, carbohydrate rich foods, regular alcohol and poor quality foods would soon cover up the muscles!

Correct training helps to shape our muscles and 'burn off' excess fuel such as body fat, It's near impossible to out exercise a bad diet. Sure there may be one or two people who do, but the nutrition has an incredible effect on our bodies 'composition' (how the body is made up eg what % is fat, what % is muscle) If you want to have a thinner 'blanket' and more definition it's likely the nutrition that needs work. Endless amounts of crunches and sit ups for example, will not shape the stomach up alone, if at all. What are your eating habits like? Do they match up to your activity levels and your goals?

Ultima Frontera 166km Spain

I fancied another 100 miler this year and after a brilliant experience at Ultima Frontera 2 years ago I decided to go back! The organisation was spot on and really smooth. A flight to Malaga on Friday morning, hand luggage only so no dramas there, €3 bus from the airport to Malaga bus terminal, bumped into Fredlina - a fellow competitor who I'd not yet met, we had a stroll around the city for a couple of hours before taking the bus to Loja (€6 and it's about 1 hour away?) and meeting a couple more of runners on the same bus.

A mile or two from the bus stop to the race HQ, a large sports hall facility where we got registered and collected race packs and set up 'camp' there were a number of rooms to stay in so 3 of us shared. Showers, bathrooms, a restaurant and the start/ finish line all within 30 seconds of your bed! Now that's ideal!

Quite a chilled out evening with some food and sorting out kit bags (I'd not really taken anything that I wouldn't need so didn't have much to sort) and we were ready for the 9.15 start the Saturday morning.

It was quite a dull start but still felt warm (at least to us UK folk) the field spread out quite quickly as we weaved our way along the trails into the hills. The course marking was perfect, you'd struggle to miss a turning or go off course here. Although I'd done the event two years ago it was substantially different and involved more climbing, some added distance and it felt quite a lot warmer. I'd have chosen to wear road shoes on the course for definite although I only had some which were new that week and didn't fancy risking breaking them in over 100 miles, so I used my trusty Mizuno trail shoes. The ground was incredibly hard and my feet knew about it by the end, road shoes would have been spot on, poor organisation not having a pair a bit sooner.

As the day progressed around 2pm I felt myself getting hotter and hotter and felt like my stomach was holding the water I was putting down, I slowed the pace a little in an attempt to rectify this and had to repeat the process later, perhaps the body wasn't used to processing as much water since recently I've not really been running in any hot weather? The guys from Abu Dhabi and Spanish seemed to enjoy the weather a little more.

 Day time vs Night time, Montefiro 48km and 128km

As darkness fell I moved on at a steady pace and found myself in 'just get to the end as comfortably as possible' mode. It was great to share the adventure with so many enthusiastic people, including all the support team who were absolutely brilliant. Thanks Paul and the team for putting on another great event!

Rolled up in 3rd eventually for a nice trophy.

 The course map and info, I actually never even got this out of my pack as the markers were spot on and very frequent!

Arriving at the finish line at some obscure time of night, substituting one night sleep for a night of running has become quite a regular occurrence recently it seems! The next big race looks to be a bit colder than this, longer too!

Winter Running Basics

Hi guys, Charlie Sharpe here, resident expert at RunGeek.

Today, I’m going to talk to you about winter running – things you’ll need to consider, the things you might need, the conditions you might experience, and also the training options you’ve got available.

I am aiming this at everyday training runs mostly on the roads and perhaps a little bit of off-road too rather than big trips off into the mountains. So, if you’re expecting to head off for multi day runs in the mountains you’re going to need more kit than I am going to talk about today.

The first thing to consider is that it’s going to get colder, we might get some snow and ice, and it’s going to get dark in the evenings.
One of the first things I’d recommend is a good head torch. You might not need one if you’re running on the roads in well-lit areas. But if, like me, you like running off the roads on canal paths, trails, tracks and even heading off into the hills, you’re going to need something to help you see – simple as that.

Generally, the brighter your torch, the easier it’s going to be running in the dark. If you’re going to be running on uneven, rocky ground you’re going to benefit from  a brighter torch.  A small torch on its own isn’t going to be much use on rough terrain.

I run with two torches, a smaller one that I wear on my head so I can see around me and look at signs  for example. I’ve also got a larger one that I wear round my waist; it’s nearer the ground so it throws more light on where I am putting my feet. My waist torch is also a little bit heavier but it gives out substantially more light which means I can move quicker and more confidently and see exactly where I’m going.

If you’re running near roads wear something reflective, people see you easier and you’re less likely to get run over! Obviously, keeping safe is incredibly important so look out for jackets and anything else that has reflective striping, some night races this is also compulsory.

Let’s take a look at kit now and consider what you’ll need, starting with shoes. If you’re going to do most of your running on the pavement, road shoes are your best option but if you’re going to be venturing off road, you’ll need something grippy with an aggressive outsole. You can also get Goretex shoes that have a membrane inside which makes them fairly waterproof in wet grass, deep mud and puddles or snow.

Now, just because it’s cold, or it’s snowing, it doesn’t mean you’re not allowed out. If the snow’s soft, you’ll get good grip with trail shoes and you may find it’s not even that bad. If it’s icy, it might be best to avoid the ice as much as possible. If you do end up on an icy patch, it’s best that you do no crazy intervals and no sprinting and be delicate on your feet. It’s similar to driving a car - be gentle on turns, acceleration and braking.

You can also get snow chains that wrap around your shoes, forming a metal grip on the bottom, that are made for running on the ice. Yaktrax are the brand I’ve seen if you want some of those and you should find them with a quick search online.
What else do you need to consider? You’ll need to keep warm but not too hot. Once you start running, you’ll heat up and if you sweat you’ll get wet and then start to cool down, which can leave you really cold.

Consider a waterproof jacket, such as Goretex, it keeps the rain out, the wind off and keeps you drier inside because it allows your body to breathe as well. A good jacket’s not like wearing one of those mac in a pack things that feels like you’re wearing a plastic bag and where you end up sweaty inside. Because Goretex allows your skin to breathe more naturally, you stay drier and more comfortable.

Another thing to think about when it’s cold is layers. With thinner layers, you can manage your temperature better. A lot of people look out the door and it’s cold so they put on a big jacket and a thick jumper and as soon as they start running they’re boiling hot. Remember, you are going to warm up as soon as you start running so I’d recommend a thinner jacket with some sort of base layer and another one in between if it’s really  cold. You can also take another thin layer with you it depends on the type of run you’re going to do. If you’re just going round the block for 30 minutes, it’s unlikely you’re going to die in that time but consider taking a spare layer perhaps! If you are going to do a day run, or multi day runs in hills, you’ll need to take your kit more seriously and you’ll need additional kit from what I’m recommending today.

Next, gloves to keep your hands warm. I like to have a thin layer over everything rather than big thick gloves and a big thick jacket and jumper. Even when it’s very cold and icy, or even if it’s actually snowing, I like to keep to thinner layers. You can manage them better than if you have thick layers

You could also think about a buff. It’s a kind of scarf in thin material that you can actually breathe through. You can put it over your head to cover your neck and face and up to your eyes for protection in very cold conditions. Again, if you are only going out for a short run you might not need one but if you’re going to go for longer you might want to consider it then.

Finally tights – some people have full length tights and if it gets really cold you might need them. Personally, I like to stick to shorts as much as I possibly can unless it gets really cold. If it gets really wet then wearing tights can soak water up and you get cold whereas with shorts your legs dry off quicker and you don’t get as cold, at least that’s my theory.

That’s all the gear I’d consider for usual training runs during the winter near home.

Conditions -wise, generally in this country it’s mainly about the cold and wet rather than lots of snow. But if we do get snow and its soft snow, as I say, grippy trail shoes will be good for those conditions. If you are going to be doing a lot of running on ice, then you’ll need the snow chains I mentioned. As I said, Yaktrax are the brand I’ve seen, they’re quite popular and grip well on ice.

Take care, if you’ve planned intervals or a speed session and it’s icy. You might want to reconsider and do something a bit steadier so you’re not putting yourself at risk – it doesn’t matter how fit you are when you are injured!

Next some options for winter running. If you’re not too keen running on the roads through winter, alot of people like to do cross country running. Basically, it gets pretty muddy and you are going to need some grippy shoes. It involves hurtling round a muddy park, or field or area as fast as you can, for a short period. It’s lots of fun, very demanding and very good for building strength in the legs and  helps develop endurance and fitness. It also requires skills such as good balance and agility.

Perhaps more tame than cross country are trail races. They come in  varying distances and involve running off road, where you’re not going to get as much black ice but you could find yourself running in snow which can be fun - just be aware of what’s in the snow. In off road areas and uneven land there could be holes, dips and roots. If you are going into hills watch out for the drifts. If you’re definitely not up for being outside in the crisp winter air a treadmill might keep you out of mischief over the winter, provided your session has a specific purpose then you should be able to focus and keep on track rather than simply moan that treadmills are ‘boring’. Think about your goals and why you are doing it, each session should be improving your running ability in one form or another.
Personally I love winter running and a bit of snow to me feels no different to running on muddy terrain, it’s all relative to what you are used to.

Make the most of what you have, when you can, whether that means running a little longer on a nice day as you couldn’t dig yourself out of the house - the snow was so deep the previous day.
If you need to get to a gym for a treadmill because you know you simply wont go out during the dark evenings fair enough, do what you need to do and enjoy it.

We’ll have time for questions and answers at the end, if you have a great question but can’t attend simply email charlie-sharpe@live.co.uk with the subject WINTER RUNNING QUESTION and I’ll be sure to answer it.
Thanks for reading, it seems slightly odd writing this while I’m looking forwards to flying off to Spain this weekend for a 100 mile race where temperatures are in the twenties. I also post an article each week similar to this one, on my eNewsletter which you can access by going to the home page and using the box on the right hand side.

See you Thursday 17th at 7pm at the RunGeek store.

Beskidy Ultra Trail 220km Poland

Beskidy Ultra Trail 220km (BUT 220) 11 000m ascent.
A first time in Poland for me. I saw the race pop up on an advert and the elevation grabbed my attention. Anyway, within 5 minutes of being on the site I entered and booked some flights seeing as I'd not been abroad on holiday yet this year.

This was a much more hilly race than what I've done before although not quite as long as the Viking Way it was far harder due to the terrain, navigation, gradients and generally unfamiliar territory. 

It took me 41 hours 7 minutes and some seconds which is the most time I've run for.

I really enjoyed the event aside from a bit of frustration regarding the markings, just waiting for the medals to be posted out too as they weren't ready for us unfortunately. I'd recommend the race if you're after a big challenge although I'd like to experience more countries and different races before I go back. It's going to make Ultima Frontera 160km in 2 weeks feel easy ;) 

The course profile below does obviously look hill highest point 1725m in the middle there. I usually look at race profiles and think wow that looks hilly, then turns out that the hills weren't as bad. This is the only race i've looked at a profile and thought hmm tough, and then it's actually even tougher than I imagined.

In terms of training for it I didn't do anything specific but have been running on the most mountainous terrain I can most of the year which has meant travelling to the Lakes or Snowdonia and the odd weekend in the Peak District. Despite this even the biggest climbs we have in the UK didn't seem to add up to what Poland had.

The race started 8am Friday morning and so I ran from then all day, through the night, then through Saturday and finished just after 1am on the Sunday morning. It is the first time I have actually fallen asleep and fallen onto the ground whilst running, literally as if someone just switched me off. A quick dust off and then continue.

So the race started with a climb up over 1000m within the first 10k. It was pretty cool on the start line, I opted for a long sleeve top and gloves which I added a jacket and hat to at various points in the race. It was a nice temperature to run in although you'd soon get cold if you were stood around.

After a couple of climbs and a few hours of running the field was very spread and I didn't see anyone around for much of the first day. I was running somewhere around 10th I guessed although my main focus was to stay on track and just keep going at a steady pace. Some stunning views off the peaks. Much of the areas we ran through turn into ski areas through the winter. The only bit of ice or snow was on the highest peak which I hit in the early hours of the Saturday morning.

Much of the trail was forest tracks with some technical root and rocky sections too. Some areas where seemingly being deforested and had branches lying around to stumble on. The weather stayed dry despite some heavy rain the day before the race. With some rain the course would have been incredibly technical and much more strenuous!

The average trail conditions for the race. Nice!

Generally each section was a big climb up from a town, a long descent into another town, a couple of km across the town and then to a CP then repeat!

 Sunset on the Friday night. Was really great to have the views. By this point I was around 80-90km in after 12 hours. Quite slow going for me although considering the terrain I was happy and moving well.

Sunrise here I think. Somewhere around 80 miles approximately?

The highest point of the course, there was someone up here in a sleeping bag (nothing to do with the race) I imagine the sunrise up here would have been a sight to see especially on such a clear night. It was a couple of hours after this where my falling asleep running episodes occurred.

 Here on the Saturday evening. Approaching some sort of reservoir at Zar which seemed to take forever to run along. After this was a loooong sustained descent. I could feel the heat from my quads going down this! There is a GPS assisted Hungarian chap who I had the chance to run with for many hours during the Saturday, eventually we parted ways and I moved ahead as the course became more well marked towards the end.

The average view during the night, the odd adrenaline boost when you shine your torch around and see dozens of eyes reflecting back in the woods (presumably deer) and then the rustling and trampling and pounding of footsteps as they run into the darkness.

And the view from the hotel the Sunday morning. Beautiful weather again, The last finisher was some 59 hours! The race had a cut off of 64 hours. To put that in perspective I'd finished, had a night in the hotel, travelled to the airport had a few hours there, flown to the UK, driven home and had dinner and there they were finishing. That is an epic performance in my view! Good on them for being so determined and keeping going for 2 and a half days!!

Some top tips for racing abroad...

1. If you have GPS use it and get the route in! If not get a good map of the area. We were not meant to need maps as we had a well marked route and instructions but for a few spots these weren't enough and I had to wait for competitors to catch me who knew the way. I would have saved literally 3-5 hours with a map. 

2. Find out as much as you can about the area and trails and weather etc. You can plan your kit better and shoe choice etc, I had my kit spot on although carried some extra layers and spare jacket 'just incase' and didn't need them although If I'd had to stop anywhere high up I would've needed them.

3. If you know a few basic words of the language it'll help. Things like thank you, hello, water, etc although there was always someone that spoke English everywhere I went.

4. Train appropriately, hopefully this is obvious but having done some pretty big weeks of elevation (for someone who lives in a flat area at least) my legs didn't struggle with the course and fitness wasn't an issue which meant I could focus on keeping on track. 

5. Try and minimize the stresses between door to door. I booked a transfer from the airport to my hotel which cost a bit more than a train or bus but saved me hours of waiting and changing over etc and meant I had a friendly face at the airport (possibly a body builder or security person when he's not driving tourists around?)  

6. Keep hydrated and keep your nutrition in check whilst travelling to the event. I took a couple of 'Performance Meals' and 9 bars to munch on and then topped up with a meal in the restaurant the night before, save having to trawl through the airport food.

Bullock Smithy 56 mile

2013 Bullock Smithy. 56 miles of Peak District fun. some nice weather too. I've done the run twice before and each time have ended up tagging on with someone and running with them from around the half way point. This year I decided to run it at my own pace and had selected it as a good long run before Poland and the Beskidy Ultra Trail 220km. 

The race has 14 checkpoints each with various food and drink although I didn't make much use of any of the edible goodies. There is a cooked breakfast upon finishing (which due to the 12noon start time was at about 10pm for me) very nice though! 

Basically you choose your own route between the 14 points provided it's a footpath or road you can use it. From the start in an open park near Hazel Grove there is about 3 or 4 different exits people use so it's a little chaotic if you aren't expecting it. I chose to set off out along the main road and settled behind a group of 5 runners, one of which was the eventual winner and also course record holder who hung on to a lead of just under 10 minutes on me by the finish - Well done! 

We spent a couple of hours running together and within sight of each other. He seemed to know the route very very well and the couple of times I passed him he could pop up in front of me again. It would be well worth recceing this route if you're wanting to race on it although it's not such a serious 'race' as a challenge. There is a 24 hour time limit allowing hikers to complete too! 

With route choice I had done it twice before and each time on a different route so this time I decided on a route which took the best of both and was quite happy with it although it seems there are still a couple of spots I could improve for next time. Here is the selection of trophies available for various categories.

They have a starting gun resembling an anvil and a hammer!

The eventual finish line. 9 hours 20 something mins for 56 miles. About 2500m ascent off my head. No major hills depending on what you're used to... I was happy to test out kit and have a final dress rehearsal before Poland, although I actually got to do High Peak 40 mile too!

I'm not going to drag on about the route but there are some nice spots and some highlights include Jacobs Ladder down into Edale, up and over Hollins Cross, Cave Dale, Millers Dale, Earl Sterndale and up and over near Mac Forest finishing with a couple of kms flat and fast along a converted rail line and a country lane back to the finish at Hazel Grove near Stockport.

If you're looking for a friendly run with plenty of support and food, that is great value, yet has a little variety with plenty of opportunity for navigation practice, get in next year! First full weekend of September!