Race Report: Knypersley Pool 5m 24/02/2013

Organised by Biddulph Running Club, the race was run in aid of the Mayor charities, Staffordshire Moorlands Cancer Support Group (Biddulph Branch) & MacMillan Cancer Support. This was a 5 mile multi-terrain race at Greenway Bank Country Park in Biddulph.

Tom kindly offered to drive Liz, Bob and myself to Knypersley and having departed Liz’s house at 9:30 we arrived in plenty of time for the 11:00 start. The race car park was at the top of a hill, with race registration at the bottom, a five minute walk away.

Having registered we returned to the car to change and returned back to the registration area which was also the baggage drop and start/finish area. There was a one mile fun run before the main race and it was great to see so many kids taking part.

After a short safety briefing informing us of conditions and words of encouragement such as “god help you” we were off.

After a short uphill climb we started on a downhill section close to the south western side of Knypersley Pool reservoir. I thought the water looked quite white then realised it was frozen over.

The route continued around the reservoir in a clockwork direction until we reached the north east corner and Knypersley reservoir tower.

We continued east through the woods then turned north until the woods ended, all of which was uphill but nothing too drastic. A series of uphill steps followed then thankfully a nice downhill section across a field allowing me to get some much needed air into my lungs. We turned south through the woods back to the tower we ran past earlier then followed a route almost the reverse of the outgoing section with the exception of even more steps.

The last few hundred metres was all downhill and past Bryan Dale taking photos.

A nice mug was collected at the finish along with a choice of tomato or vegetable soup, bread roll and cookies, all very welcome.

This was a nice race in a lovely setting, well organised and marshalled. With only 180 or so entrants it never felt crowded and I would definitely recommend it.

 

 

Our times were……

Tom Mayell (41:11), Bob Kettle (45:22), Perry Wyatt (47:14) and Liz O’Keeffe (50:26)

 Perry

 

Last week I found myself saying "yes I'll do the Kynpe 5". This morning as my three amigos knocked on the door I wondered what I'd let myself in for. 

It was cold but as Tom drove nearer to our destination the car temp said it was zero
degrees. No way was I baring my arms and legs today. Gloves, knee high socks and lycra (sorted). We got to the race venue in plenty of time, just as well as car parking was limited. 

We soon found out we have to walk down a big hill to get our registration sorted out and just as we did there was a light snowfall. We got our numbers and I spotted Bryan Dale and Ann Jones and they informed us of what the course was like having run it before. It's a bit hilly in some places said Ann! but really nice. We did a little warm up and true to Ann's words the first 300 metres had a hill in it. Having never done this before we really did not know what to expect so we all said we'd just enjoy the day and try to keep moving to keep warm. 

The race itself was £7 to enter on the day and at the end you had soup to look forward to (bargain). The Kynpe Crier did a count-down and we were off. My plan was to try and keep up with one of the Striders, so in front of me was Perry and Tom and for the first 300 metres I was behind them, then the hill got me. The race is all off road and I would describe it as a cross between the Wizard and the Sandstone Trail. There is a few hilly sections but the really tough bit is when you have to climb up some stairs. This is ok for those of you that have long legs, but when you are only 5' 3" with little legs it's flaming tiring. You go one way round Kypersley Pool and then you climb up the stairs to the top and come down the other side to run through some fields but it's all downhill and they were not as muddy as last week. 

Soon we were on the way back. A marshal told me I only had a mile to do and as my watch was on 32 I thought I was really going fast so I picked up the pace. I got to another set of stairs which I had to climb and the marshal at the top said only another mile to go. Funny that's what the other lad said about 8 minutes ago. Oh well, the last half quarter of a mile is all downhill, just what you need after a hard race. Would I do it again - definitely. It's got a good atmosphere and having a nice big mug (which you got as you crossed the line) with tomato soup to heat you up was a bonus. Even the climb back up the hill was not too bad. Thanks lads.

For more information, visit the website.

Liz