As I had a meeting to get to in Bournemouth I decided to go to the race. Virus risks were small as I'd be travelling on my own by car and there is only a limited amount of physical proximity at a hill race which can easily be reduced.
Drove down on Friday nice and stayed at a very quiet Premier Inn in Wrexham. A short drive on Saturday morning to the race.
The weather wasn't great and I was feeling a bit off having eaten too much through the Premier Inn meal deal. It was a tough high mountain race at a time of year that is still more winter than spring. As planned I started easy but unfortunately found myself at the very back of the race and not moving at all smoothly. Need to stop and put on a raincoat layer as it was really cold - this proved a good idea as I needed that layer of warmth and rain protection the whole way round the course.
After about an hour I started feeling better and had a strong section on the higher flatter terrain and on the final approach to the summit.
After the summit the downward route was rough and I struggled a bit. Also didn't manage feeding and water very well on the return route - should have fed earlier on the way up and should have used a camelbak rather than carry a small water bottle.
At about 1 hr 30 mins I tripped and banged my right knee on the ground. Ouch! This brought me to walking pace for several minutes before managing to return to a slow cautious jog.
The final run in over the last half mile was good. I felt pretty strong and pushed reasonably hard over this last section on more pleasant terrain.
Final time was 2 hrs 28 mins for a course of 10 miles and 900 m climb. I was 173% of the winning time when I had a goal of completing this in 160% - way off target unfortunately.
It was wet and cold in the end and with the virus there was no hanging about and socialising so I headed for the car and onwards to another quiet night at a Premier Inn with a day with Hannah the next day to look forward to.
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