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SUICIDE SIX
Nov1620099:33 p.m.
Hello strangers! Well it’s been a while since I last visited “The Buzz” and the reasons have been twofold. Firstly I haven’t been able to pop on here at work like I used to, as recently a colleague actually got fired for personal internet use during office hours. Turns out he was spending forty hours a month on racing and gambling sites! O.K. my ten minutes or so a day pales into insignificance compared to that, but obviously it’s made me a bit wary and has kept me off anything other than business related websites during work time. Secondly due to my lack of running, I’ve had nothing to post about! I made the decision after my last ill fated treadmill session that a full two weeks rest was needed in order to get my calf injury better. I hadn’t done any running at all until last Thursday when I finally managed a slow three miler as a sort of fitness test. Glad to say came through unscathed and so I decided I was on for Sundays Suicide Six over in the wilds of South Staffordshire.
After Friday and Saturday’s torrents the sunshine on Sunday, coupled with moderate temperatures made for a truly great morning for running. I knew that with all the rain over the past couple of days the course was going to be tough, but it’s a beey-atch of a course at the best of times, so I steeled myself for whatever it decided to throw at us!
The race started at the rather civilised time of 11:00 with around 700 participants (the vast majority of whom where seasoned club runners) we got off to a rather slippery start on undulating waterlogged grass before the steep accent to the top of the old colliery slagheap. I gritted my teeth as I warmed to the task in hand and reached the summit without too much trouble and was able to take in the splendid views on offer as we ran over the top before starting the treacherous decent down to the clay road. The surface of this next section is as the name suggests …Clay! Or to be more precise three inches of clay mud and puddles! Which as you will probably realise doesn’t exactly make for an easy surface to run on (those who had not tied there laces sufficiently here certainly regretted it!) the next couple of miles were uphill and down dale through woodland tracks with a couple of really nasty energy sapping hills thrown in. I pondered at this point that the trouble with this race is that it’s impossible to run in a relaxed mode as you always seem to be running in a very tensed state. If you’re not trying to stay on your own two feet then you seem to be spending your energy avoiding the flailing arms of others trying stay on theirs!
Started feeling a little jaded at 4.5 miles but the adrenalin started pumping when I heard the whoops and cheers of the crowd at the water crossing. (All hoping for the same thing)…that is seeing some of us go arse over on the way in and get a good ducking! I braced myself on the approach and tried to make sure that I wasn't one of the ones they could all piss themselves laughing at. Which as it turned out was quite difficult as although you don’t want to go under you don’t want to look like a total wooz either! So in order to look the part of the rufty tufty cross country runner that you think you are, a certain amount of tenacity is required as you take the plunge!...Pheew! scrambled up the muddy bank on the other side and finally found a half decent running surface and dried off in the breeze before approaching the last mile.
I felt pretty strong along this last section before coming to the final challenge of the famous Baggeridge steps. If my memory serves me right 115 I counted and staggered up, before finally reaching the top of a grassy bank which overlooked a rather tantalising view of the finishing line! Pleased to say I put in a good effort down the home straight and picked off a few runners I’d had in my sights for the last half mile or so! Finished with an official time of 59:09 feeling wet, muddy but with the fantastic sense of achievement you always get from a race such as this!
Met an old mate at the finish line who’d come to watch out of curiosity. Here are a couple of snaps he took on his mobile including one of a rather weary looking geezer crossing the finish line!
Had a well earned bacon butty after before going home to a nice hot shower. The spent the rest of the afternoon preparing a nice Sunday roast with a drink or two to hand!
Hope alls going well for everyone and hope to finally look at some blogs this evening!
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Comments (10)
squa25 'Wow! What a way to get back into it! Great race report. Rather you than me though. ' added 16th Nov 2009
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vickibombicki 'well done again mate,i've seen ur pics on dk website,i'll be chuffed if i can get under the hour on my 2nd attempt! x' added 16th Nov 2009
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markinthepark 'Great report. Sounded a toughie after a 3 mile fitness test only. And thanks for using a font size that poorly sighted people like me can read. Hope you get back to full fitness really soon.' added 16th Nov 2009
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Johnf 'What a race, you look as though you kept out of the mud fairly well though. Good time as well considering you've not run much recently.' added 17th Nov 2009
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moose10 'well done on getting round sounds like a toughie nothing like easying yourself back in great post' added 17th Nov 2009
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simonedumergue 'Great race report Ant! Sounds like an aptly named race and loads of fun. Bet that bacon butty tasted gooooood afterwards :-)' added 17th Nov 2009
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JSIMMONDS 'Bloody hell Ant. That's some way to start running again after a lay-off! Under an hour sounds like an excellent achievement for that sort of run.' added 17th Nov 2009
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Nick 'Well done on making it round the Suicide Six in one piece. It doesn't sound like my idea of fun!' added 17th Nov 2009
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Keith_L 'Try not to get sacked fella Wow what a race - sound sgreat!' added 17th Nov 2009
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Account_closed 'One of the women from our running club (Wrekin Road Runners) did this and said it was excellent. If you liked it, you should have done the Mad Jack 5 at Attingham which is an excellent race as well. Also, have a look out for the Haughmond Hill Shuffle in May, which is run by Shropshire Shufflers. I've done it the past two years and it's really good fun.' added 18th Nov 2009
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