Stamford Park Inaugural Parkrun – 2nd May 2015
By:
Obi-wan-sikobe
Well it
is over 5 years since I started doing the Parkrun series, and finally
2015 marks the year when it seems I am going to have a very-local
Parkrun that I can jog or cycle to from my back door, no car
required, without leaving before 8.15am for a 9am start. No, no, not
just one local Parkrun, but like the proverbial buses, quite possibly
two. Because this was the week that Stamford Park Parkrun
(Stalybridge) started and also the week that Dan Ellingworth
confirmed that the prospective Glossop (Manor Park) event had passed
the two-thirds point in its fund raising journey, following receipts
in connection with the successful Glossop marshalling at the
Manchester Marathon in April. The two events are roughly 3 miles
equidistant from Mottram, and a 30 minute jog or 15 minute cycle for
me right now.
Back in
the day (2009 – 2010) when I started doing Parkruns, the nearest
events were Heaton and Bramhall and shortly after I started, came
Woodbank and South Manchester (Platt Fields). Later Oldham and
Marple. These were the days before I joined GDH, when I was training
for Tri, and before the kids started frequenting sports clubs
(football, XC, skating, etc) on a Saturday morning. I could sneak out
of the house into the car at 8am and be back, unmissed, for 10am,
just as they were getting up from their weekend lie-in. Over two
years, in between working away, I managed to ratchet up 40 runs at
Heaton and a few at South Manchester and Woodbank. I ran my 50th
PR at Heaton sometime in 2011 (the year after joining GDH) and my
100th PR at Marple in March 2013 coincident with Neil’s
40th Birthday 40k-in-a-day-bimble. Since then the hit rate
has decreased somewhat, with an increase in Saturday morning
taxi-service-duties to the girls’ sports events or attending other
events with GDH, or weekends working away. I am no longer the sole
100-clubber in GDH, with Carl Buckley and soon a few others (Nev
McGraw etc) clocking up their PR century. But I am still comfortably
ahead, approaching 150.
Enough
reminiscing though, before this turns into a Clarksonesque article.
Back to Stamford Park. ‘Stamford’ - It sounds a bit posher than
‘Stalybridge’ doesn’t it? Though I do think the organisers
missed a marketing trick by not calling it the ‘Staly-Vegas
Parkrun’. But then maybe they would not have received the
all-important set-up support from Tameside Borough Council that they
appear to have had.
Dan E
posted this week to remind the club that the event’s inaugural run
was 2nd May 2015. With no football match duty this BH
weekend this gave me a pass-out opportunity that I grasped, and I was
one of a number of Harriers who responded positively to Dan’s post.
Come the day we had 6 Harriers at the start; Dan E, Lawrence, John S,
Alison, Tom S, and me. I chose to run over, partly because I could
(its <3 miles away) and partly because I wanted to trot over to
Hartshead Pike trig on a post-Parkrun venture (but that’s another
tale linked to my 50 at 50 trig challenge).
When I
arrived at 8.45am (after a good 30 minute warmup jog-over) there was
a good gaggle of runners milling around at the finish funnel area,
and I had a quick chat with the other Harriers and with James Kemp
(Marple PR and PR NW Regional Director) and a few others on the
Stamford organising team. It soon became evident that this was going
to be a challenging 2-lap XC-style course over undulating parkland.
SkeleTom trundled up after having arrived early and done one lap of
the course as his warm-up. Rod was also there supporting us with Lucy
on a lead. He was not running due to the double-whammy of having
expended his week’s allotment of energy on his allotment and then
not finding his barcode anyway. One place closer to the front for me
then, thanks Rod.
“It’s
going to be interesting,..” Tom said to me in a warning voice. “..
because I am expecting a few people to get caught out by starting too
fast for the off-road terrain”. Five minutes later we were all
stood behind the start line having the inaugural briefing, with Tom
and me just behind the front line of runners. We were given the off
and there was a hustle and bustle up the relatively narrow starting
track towards the lake, with around 15-20 runners including Tom
bursting ahead of me and the rest of the 140 strong field. I called
out to Tom, “don’t set off too fast mate, remember what you
said”, and he eased off and dropped back behind my shoulder after
200m as the field spread along the track around the lake and started
to climb towards the parkland which was reached somewhere between 0.5
and 1km. Soon the route climbed eastwards behind Tameside Hospital
along grassy paths through parkland dotted with shrubs and trees,
typical dog-walkers rough ground country between the hospital and the
nearby residential estates. The path is rutted and bumpy and
relatively dry today, but one can imagine it being slippy in the wet.
It’s a very runnable XC climb to the top of the course but one
which is a test for anyone not used to off-road terrain. Perfect
terrain for most Harriers though. As I reach the marshal at the top
of the course I can sense Tom still close behind me and we are
gaining on a couple of guys who do indeed appear to have gone off too
fast. A wave and thank-you to the marshal and we have turned to
descend back to the lake along a rutted path roughly parallel to the
one we just climbed. A few places gained on this decent and we are
back again by the lake about to reach half way after lap 1 of the
course. There are Rod and Lucy, spectating alongside Dave Norman (who
apparently, Rod tells me later, helped design the course). “Come
on” Rod shouts at me, “You are doing well but Tom’s close
behind you”. Of course he is I thought, he biding his time to
overtake me on lap two or in a sprint finish. I wonder, however, can
I shake him off on lap two?
Back
round the loop we went. I was feeling good, pushing myself but not
too much. On the climb back up to the top marshal I picked up another
couple of places, and as I turned to descend I could no longer sense
Tom behind me and I was about 10 seconds behind a guy in front who I
recognised as someone who has recently finished just ahead of me at
Oldham. He descended well and I wasn’t gaining on him now, but I
didn’t look back. Half way down the descent back to the lake (and
the waiting Rod) I sensed someone gaining on me, and taking a sneak I
realised it was another runner, not Tom. Phew. He was breathing
evenly as he came alongside, and I urged him past towards the guy in
front, realising he had more in reserve than I did for the final 1k.
In a line of three we hit the lakeside, and Rod urged me on again
shouting “Good lad, you’ve dropped Tom, he’s way behind you
now”. Right I thought, I just need to keep my place from here. Into
the final 0.5k of the run, hard surface now, down to the main road,
left along 100m of pavement and left again back into the park. Last
200m back towards the grassy field finish. I can’t catch the 2 guys
ahead who are both finishing strong, but there is no one close behind
me either. Grit teeth and pump arms towards the funnel, hoping for a
good time. Cross line, glance at watch, 21:30, that should do. Tom
comes in just over 30 seconds later with two or three between us.
He’s getting back to fitness and has had a good run, but admits I
was just a bit stronger on the second lap. Lawrence, John, Alison,
and Dan come in with good times, with John and Alison having their
own tussle on lap two. We all agree it’s a tough course, not as
tough as Lyme Park but tougher than most PR courses around
Manchester. Probably 1-2 minutes slower than a fast PR course.
However, a few of us were left wondering what the 100m of roadside
pavement in the last 500m is all about though. A stamp left by the
road-running Normans maybe? Or an advertising opportunity to catch
the eye of local passing traffic?
We
dispersed, with John, Alison and I doing a 5.8 mile post-Parkrun trot
up to Hartshead Trig (Mossley Cross) and back to Rod and Lucy
chilling out to music at the car. Then over to Lymfield garden centre
café for a welcome brunch to round off a very worthwhile morning. My
GPS watch said 18.8km in total for my morning’s run. Great, a good
component of my current 40+ mpw base training. Great run, great
Parkrun, and great company.
So in
conclusion, a welcome addition to the Greater Manchester Parkrun
suite. A tough little XC course, which should be even tougher in the
wet / winter. Today was chilly, but dry and firm underfoot in trail
shoes. One for the fast ones in GDH to target a sub-20. A future club
champs event to rival Marple or Lyme Park ? Maybe. Results here:
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/stamfordpark/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=1
Obi Wan.
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