Early preparation for Mallorca.........hard days cycling followed by relaxing in the pool (wishful thinking) and whiskey solo and tapas....oh and a few friends to share it.

Winter Hill Fell Race 14th Feb 2010
A couple of weeks ago we bumped into our neighbour Tony who lives 2 houses down. After a brief chat and him stating this was the last year he would be organising the race, his parting words were "I'll look forward to receiving your entry then". That sealed my fate.
The day dawned bright, still and cold and a short drive down to Rivington Hall top barn for registration ensured I had plenty of time to drink hot tea in the truck whilst I watched fellow competitors swigging brightly coloured sickly sports drinks. It washed my breakfast porridge down a treat and I was now all set.

Up to the start line where we all congregated, the atmosphere was abuzz. Tony brought us all back in line and stated "to be careful as its abit slippy in places out there". He then shouted out 5 or 6 race numbers at random to do kit checks and guess whose number was called - yes, yours truly! Just as well I had the full kit requirements in the bum bag(waterproof jacket, trousers, hat, gloves, compass, whistle, food).

The conditions were fantastic for fell running and off we all went up through Rivington over to the shooting huts, up and down Winter Hill 3 times and then back over from Georges lane through Rivi and back to the barn.


Thankfully I had great team support with Martine giving me much needed encouragement and drink on top of Winter Hill. For much of the race I ran with a guy called Albert who had his Horwich Harriers vest on, and I figured he would know his way round. He did, and I hung on as best as I could which was scary especially on the downhills as he was quick!

Now the stats:

11 miles
2700 feet ascent
62nd out of 196
Time 1hour 58 minutes 33 seconds

A grand day out involving a lot of sweating and heavy breathing - after all, it was Valentines day.