Tag Archives: Somerset Levels

Town Tree Trail: race report

by Ben

May and June are pretty relentless as far as Somerset Series races are concerned. The Wambrook Waddle and Town Tree Trail were back-to-back this year; Sunday/Wednesday. After a tough hilly race on Sunday, there were quite a few tired legs out there on Wednesday evening: mine included!

This was an interesting race for me; it was the first time since my switch to Minehead that I was taking part in a race with a significant presence from Running Forever. There were a few comments, in jest (I think!), about tripping me up, but I emerged unscathed!

While writing my report for the Wambrook Waddle, I was musing about my pacing tactics; specifically, I came to the conclusion that “at the moment I feel my best tactic is to push hard early and then try to hold on.” I noticed that at the Town Tree Trail last year, although I’d averaged 7:06 per mile, my first mile had been a 6:26. I thought about it some more, and decided that on a flat course, maybe it would be worth trying for a better pacing strategy. Maybe take things a bit easier early on, and have a more even pacing.

A few laps of the field with Matt and Will sufficed for a warm-up, before we then ambled around waiting for the start, which ended up being late. There was more or less a full course description in the pre-race briefing, during which I must admit I completely switched off.

The race

Starting on the front row probably wasn’t the best idea for a controlled start. I had Ali and Sam, both club-mates at Running Forever, just over my left shoulder; both were likely to be quicker than me. As we set off, I consciously avoided going with the leading pack, which Danny and Matt were both part of. Three-quarters of the way around the field though, I realised that Will was still behind me. Bugger; he’s quicker than me too. As we left the field, I glanced at my watch; 6:03 pace. Double bugger.

As we hared along the short stretch of road (and let’s be honest, given the silly pace, it definitely was ‘hared’), Ali and Sam eased past me, shortly followed by Will. Right – the pace might still be a tad too quick; I clocked about a 3:50 first kilometre, which is quicker than my average during my quickest-ever 5k, but at least I’d shuffled down to roughly the right spot.

Leaving the fields, we entered a stretch of fields. In contrast to the lonely race I had at the Wambrook Waddle, I was rarely without another runner during this race. Through this first field section, I had Sam about ten metres ahead, and Nick Brooke closing in behind me. My pace had dropped to something more sensible, and I was happy to tag on behind Nick when he passed me.

During the middle section of the race, it twists and turns around the Town Tree Nature Garden, which is a lovely landscaped garden open to the public year round. As a runner, it’s a pretty unique place to run, featuring a narrow paths around tight corners, including more than one complete 180 degree hairpin. We went over a small bridge which we later ducked under; there was a little waterfall feature we ran under, and countless arches made out of old horseshoes. Through all of this, I remained a couple of paces behind Nick, and now about the same ahead of another Series regular, Andrew Piper.

I was starting to have some concerns about the race distance; we had gone past the two mile marker a little while before entering the garden, and yet my watch bleeped for four miles while we still had a fair bit of the garden left to do. As far as I was aware, we would be following the same route back from the garden, which added up to more than 6.22 miles by my reckoning. I made a mental note to possibly expect a “long 10k”.

When we came back out of the garden, I was feeling pretty comfortable, and soon realised that this was due to the pace having dropped quite significantly. Feeling that I could push on, I opted to move past Nick, figuring that if nothing else, we could work together to keep a decent pace for the last couple of miles. Ahead, Sam had moved out of sight, but another runner was in view, and I felt that I might have a decent chance of catching him. For the next three-quarters of a mile, I was slowly reeling in the runners ahead. One, who was struggling, was passed quickly, while both a runner from (probably) Yeovil and Sam were getting closer.

And then, disaster. A stitch. I haven’t had a bad stitch while running for years, and this was quite an awkward time. Looking back, I was probably running more or less at my limit, and this was just a sign that maybe I’d pushed a little too hard. Or maybe it was something completely different, who knows. I had to drop off my pace a little; I could only take relatively shallow breaths, and although my legs were still miraculously strong, I just couldn’t push. When we got back to the road, with around a kilometre to go, Nick and Andrew cruised past me.

A smile hides the pain and frustration of my finish.

Having eased off my pace for a while, the pain lessened a bit, and I hoped that I could push on to get them back at the finish. I thought I was more or less maintaining the gap as we ran around the final recreation field that we’d started in, but when I looked at it honestly, I was slipping back. My focus switched to the runner closing in behind me, and I concentrated on running hard enough to keep my position, which I managed.

Post-race

I haven’t seen any results yet, but I’m guessing that I placed somewhere in the 20s, which isn’t awful for the Series. We’d been quietly hoping before the race that we might have a good chance at the men’s team prize, as I was likely to be the last of our four finishers. Unfortunately, for both our hopes of the team prize and himself, Danny busted his ankle in one of the fields and had to drop out just short of two miles in. Dammit Danny!

After grabbing a cold shower, I headed with Matt and Will for some food (a sausage roll (thanks Will!) and a donut). While we were eating, the race director came over as asked for our race numbers and approximate finish times as apparently some runners had been missed, and they were trying to work out where the gaps were. This delayed the presentation ceremony a bit!

It was a successful race for both my clubs; Matt got a trophy for being third overall, and Verity was third lady. Meanwhile for Running Forever, Sam was first female, while Ali took home the prize for first veteran male 50+. For me, no trophy, but a surprisingly quick run. Considering that last year I was running pretty well in May, I actually ran a quicker pace this year (though the added distance meant a slower overall time.) Along with a decent Wambrook Waddle race, I can hopefully build on these for the summer races, and maybe an autumn PB attempt at either 5k or 10k. Or both?

Did I enjoy this race? Actually, yes. I didn’t have particularly good memories of it from 2018; not that it had been bad, just that I’d felt it was a bit bland. But, yeah, I enjoyed it.
Would I do this race again? It’s in the Somerset Series, so yes, I expect so.
What’s next? Lolly will be running the Wells 10k on 26 May, then I think I’m doing the Crewkerne 10k on 2 June.

BHAM Trail 10k: race report

by Ben

The BHAM Trail 10k was a new one in the Somerset Series for this year. They had held their first event in 2018, but it had passed me by (and, who am I kidding, if it’s not in the Somerset Series, I’m not really interested!) BHAM Runners are based in Bower Hinton, Ash and Martock on the Somerset Levels. The Somerset Series already has two races in close proximity, the Ash Excellent Eight, and the Town Tree Trail 10k. The Tin Tin Ten, which is sadly no longer running, used to be just a couple of miles away too.

I hadn’t done a great deal of research before the race, but I did have a quick look at a Strava summary from someone that ran it last year, and discovered that while it was mostly flat (which is to be expected on the Levels) it did start with a downhill, and correspondingly finished uphill. Even so, it totalled less than 250 feet of elevation, so nothing too concerning there. Beyond that, I didn’t really know what to expect.

As usual, I’ll get my excuses in early. I’d been running well this year, building back towards full running fitness, which culminated with my 20:00 at the Street 5k in February. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter I fell over while running on the Quantocks. Then I got shingles. Then I got the diarrhoea and vomiting bug. Happy times. I ended up missing around five weeks of training, and have only had two weeks back so far.

Race day

Parking was a military operation; we were neatly squeezed into a little trading estate. It was a short walk from there to Bower Hinton Farm, which served as the Race HQ. It was a little disappointing that there only appeared to be one porta-loo (plus a porta-urinal). The pre-race instructions had mentioned that there were toilets at the car park, but when I asked the car park marshals, they directed me to the farm.

Timings meant that I ended up missing my warm-up, which was a little unfortunate, but ultimately, I’m not in the kind of form where it’s going to make much of a difference. (The link between warming up and injury reduction is inconclusive, but the links with improved performance are far more apparent.) The children’s race was ran at 9:30, before the adult race (due to start at 10:10) which meant that the race briefing for the 10k doubled up as the prize ceremony for the children’s races, which was a nice touch to make sure that the children got a good crowd. Awarding children model grenades was less suitable, I felt. I get the obvious link between a grenade and the cartoon BHAM! explosion logo that the club use, but while it is fine for the main 10k, it felt inappropriate for the children. But hey, call me Generation Snowflake.

Race

With the race briefing complete, we bimbled over to the start line. It quickly became apparent that there weren’t that many of the typical front-runners. This wasn’t too surprising, as the race was held on the same day as the Taunton Half Marathon. Despite my expectations of struggling somewhat, I lined up in the second row from the front, and with little fanfare, we were set off.

Burnham’s Matt Powell was chuffed with a front-row start! Credit: Derek McCoy

After a short and relatively inconsequential climb, we dropped downhill for the first half mile of the race, and I mostly just let myself off the leash to have fun. The initial back-and-forth position changes went on as we worked ourselves out, but I quickly shuffled into tenth. A top-ten finish would be great, but I didn’t much fancy my chances of holding onto it. The early stages of the race involved a number of narrow muddy paths which were pretty slippery after the recent rain, and I could hear the footsteps closing in behind me as we navigated them. The narrowness of the paths meant that the runners behind couldn’t pass me, and I gained a bit more ground as we crossed a couple of stiles shortly after.

The stiles marked the beginning of the more traditional fare for a race on the Levels; running around the edges of fields. With this came plenty of room for passing, and it wasn’t long before I’d dropped a couple more positions into twelfth. At this stage, around a mile-and-three-quarters in, I was worried that the rest of the race might be a slow progression of other runners easing past me, but despite regular and frequent glances over my shoulder, I seemed to be holding onto twelfth okay.

After the early mud, most of the rest of the course was relatively firm through the fields. At around the three-mile mark, we came out onto the road for a few hundred metres before turning off, back into another field. That was the only significant road section of the race; another couple lasted less than a hundred metres each. The field after was perhaps the toughest section of the race. It was horribly uneven and leg-sapping: I can only imagine how much worse it would have been with a bit more rain!

More fields, more stiles, all good stuff. The aid station (which was somewhere during all this, I really can’t remember where), was dubbed the ‘Claire Station’ as all the volunteers there were named Claire. I didn’t take a drink; I was struggling a little, but water wasn’t going to do much! The only significant climbs of the race were both at the end; a climb up to a residential area on the edge of Bower Hinton at just over five-and-a-half miles, which wasn’t too bad, and then another at about six-and-a-quarter miles, which was.

Yes, six-and-a-quarter miles. This was a long 10k. So long in fact that it was closer to 11k! I had continued to glance over my shoulder, but the expected rush of runners passing me hadn’t happened. Until that last hill. Nicknamed ‘Cripple Hill’, it certainly had the expected effect on me. After managing to run the lower section, I ground to a walk soon after the cheering spectators. I felt nauseous, faint, all the great stuff. It felt like I was walking forever; a pair of runners went past me, and then a third just as I got back up to a jog. I managed to drag a sprint finish out of the reserves to get myself back into fourteenth at the end.

Flying feet during my brief sprint to regain 14th. Credit: the Burke family

A nice medal and goody bag awaited at the finish. A couple of biscuits, a bag of Haribo and a drinks bottle, along with a good quality medal made this race great value at £12. The good value continued at the cake stall: two cakes for 50p, plus a hot drink for the same again – bargain! We hung around long enough for Matt B to receive his bronze grenade for third place. It turns out that if you press the lever, it beeped and made an exploding noise!

Overall, I summarised this race on my Instagram post: “Harder than it should have been today, but to be honest, that’s just the difference between where my head thinks I should be, and where my fitness currently is. Nice course, but leg-sapping terrain in parts. Can’t complain at 14th overall, 13th male. Somerset Series campaign started.“

Did I enjoy this race? Yes.
Would I do this race again? Absolutely.
What’s next? The Butleigh MT 10k next Sunday, which I ran in both 2017 and 2018.

Butleigh MT 10k: race report

by Ben

It was the second year in a row running the Butleigh MT 10k for me. Last year’s race summary ended up in my catch-up post in July.

My focus over the past few weeks has very much been looking towards Snowdonia in July. The nature of my training plan means that at the moment I have been adding on distance, rather than looking at any serious speed stuff. While this is absolutely the right approach (I’ll discuss this more in my weekly summary) it does have a slight detrimental affect on my racing at the moment. (If you’ve read enough of these, you’ll know that I like to get my excuses in early.)

As is the case with a lot of the Somerset Series races, Butleigh has a relatively small field, and I wasn’t worried about it selling out, so left it until the day to enter. Even on the day, it was a very reasonable £12. A few of the Somerset Series regulars were missing, possibly because of the Yeovil Half Marathon, which clashed with the race. It was though nice to see Matt Powell, my old sparring partner, back racing again. Well, it was at first.

A gorgeous backdrop that I was entirely unaware of.

We headed over to the start, which was the same as last year, a zig-zag through a field and then out over a bridge. I was chatting to Matt for a little bit as we went around the field – mostly commenting that as his pockets were jangling with some change that he’d forgotten to leave behind, I’d avoid running with him. As it turned out, I didn’t have much of a choice.

Climbing up the first, small hill, Matt passed me and soon opened up something in the region of a 20-metre gap pretty quickly. I dug in to hold it at that as we came onto the first road stretch, just over half a mile, before we turned into the field that had been so horrendous last year. The conditions were definitely better this year, though it was still tough going. Once across the field, we turned into a copse that ran alongside the road. The terrain through this section was fun and technical, though I hadn’t remembered quite what a climb it still was!

When we dropped down the next field, I had hoped to make some headway on those ahead of me on the descent, but no such luck. Or rather, no sudden discovery of previously untapped pace. Back on the road for a short stretch, and then we turned right to head through Butleigh Wood. Or, more properly, the third hill, which feels like it goes on, and on, and on. I made headway up the hill – passing one of the two red-topped runners ahead of me. The pair had been my targets for a while, and I was relatively confident of passing them both before the end.

Climbing through Butleigh Wood.

Coming down the other side, my downhill speed finally seemed to reap some benefit, and I closed right up to the next redshirt. I remained right on his heels as we dodged the badger holes on the narrow path. I was just behind him through the last bit of field, before we headed back onto the road. Unfortunately, he then started to push away from me again. Or I dropped away from him, I’m not entirely sure which.

So close, and yet so far… After closing in, the redshirt opened the gap back up again at the end.

The bad news (or my bad finish) continued. The second redshirt put on a pretty impressive finish, and passed me just before we entered the playing fields at the finish. Another runner, from Wells City Harriers, also caught up to me during the lap of the football pitch. This time though, I was able to put on a sprint of my own. I had hoped that an initial push would see him off, but he kept coming, so I had to kick again all the way to the line.

Fast finishes aren’t pretty.

I finished in 48:36; thirty-five seconds slower than last year. Most of that was lost in mile two, though I benefited from not getting caught at the road crossing this year. As ever, comparisons aren’t worth too much – the conditions were better than last year, but my training has been anything but. Onward and upward.

Next race(s): Isle of Man Easter Festival of Running 10k (Good Friday) and Peel Hill Race (Holy Saturday)