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Weekly Report #6

Club tackles some iconic events

This past weekend saw members in action across the country and also in Europe. We only had one member do a parkrun and it was David Napier who did Durham parkrun as a warm up to the Great North Run. The big news for Saturday was Rachel Howard who took part in the RedBull 400, this is the world’s toughest 400m race, where runners from across the globe gain a colossal 140m in height as they sprint up steep ski jumping. Rachel was 5th in her heat which qualified her for the A final for the fastest 35 times and she did amazing to come 18th overall. (Read her report below).

Sunday saw runners take part in half marathons. Firstly Charlotte Carr set a new personal best time at the Vale of York HM in a time of 1:53.08. Rachel Vernon didn’t have the best of days with logistical nightmare with the parking but still made sure it did not stop her clocking up another 21KM in the race to crown the clubs first ever Long Distance Championship by completing the Cheshire HM.

We then had two runners complete at the iconic Great North Run. Victoria who ran for a charity completed it for the 2nd year in a row and David Napier set a new club M50 record in 1:44:44.


Redbull 400 report

Red Bull 400 is the world’s toughest 400 metre race. Racing UP a ski jump, 400m at 37% incline, equalivant to 40 floors. The heats run up the land slope or ‘out run’ which is 300 metres. The
fastest 35 competitors progress to final A and competitors finishing 35-70 progress to final B. The finals run up the ‘out run’ and the ‘in run’ the top section (where skiers start their descent
before take off), to make the full 400 metres.

The day started with glorious sunshire, a walking tour of Helsinki and too many toilet trips to count. My cheerleader and I arrived at the ski jump in Lahti for 3:30pm, plenty of time to check
everything out and let the nerves kick in. We found a good spot for photos and set up camp (i.e sat on my jacket because we didn’t think of that).

All the commentary was in Finnish (unsurprisingly) which meant I had to keep a close eye on the proceedings so I didn’t miss my slot. After watching the first two heats, feeling slightly sick and
needing another wee, it was my turn, eek. The 10 second count down begun, the nerves floated away, the horn blew & we were off. I’m pretty good going downhill so I decided to set off as fast
as I could to give me some space to pick my own route. Using some tips I found on You Tube, I tried to stay upright as much as possible and step in the middle of the cargo netting squares.

The run down is artifical grass, on the incline it changes to long straw like artifical thatched roof, then as the incline kicks in they placed cargo netting over to assist your ascent but also to stop
you sliding down. I was just concentrating on one step in front of the other so I don’t remember how far up I got before I started to slip quite a bit and others started to over take me. Bear crawl
position was activiated, I started to increase speed and reclaim some places. About 50m to go a chanced a look up, one lady was being amazing just crossing the line and there was just
another 5 ladies in front of me. I gritted my teeth & powered up the last bit gaining a place to finish in 5th. My lungs and throat were on fire, my legs like jelly but I’d done it and not come last,
YES. It wasn’t until after I gave Mick a debrief that we realised I could have made one of the finals, either final would have been amazing, just to get that chance to run to the very top but I
qualified for the A final in 20th position with the fastest 35 runners out of a couple of hundred.

A 3 hour wait, Mick went to the shop for supplies while I tried to keep moving and enjoyed watching the mens and relay races. Relay is 4 x 100m, how on earth the guys start from the 200m
mark is beyond me, they couldn’t even stand up.

Darkness fell, the lights came on and it was time for the main event. As well as my energy gel & love heart sweets, I also had a can & half of red bull, I was buzzing and ready to roll. I had a
change of tactics for the start, my legs felt ok ish but I was afraid they would buckle under me as the descent quickly changed to the ascent. So I took it easy and it was the right call, as darkness fell so did the damp and it was extemely slippy.

Even when I reached the cargo net I was still sliding around and couldn’t get into a rhythm, I looked around and I was near the back. I know I said above that just to get the chance to do the full run was what I wanted and time didn’t matter but I still didn’t want to come last. Que bear crawl position, it was much earlier then in the heat but it was what I needed. I started to get into a rhythm, pick up speed and gaining places. As you get near the top of the ‘out run’ you can get back on your feet again, my endurance started to show here, other had nothing in their legs where as I managed a run here to the start of the ‘in run’, improving my position again.

So on to the ‘in run’, into the unknown and the last 100 metres. Rules: you pick a side and stick to it, no crossing the ski line, the ‘in run’ is narrow but over taking is just possible and allowed.
The surface was back to artifical grass with thin strips of wood across. I was using the wood to spring off and gaining a few more places taking advantage of my height disability, until I got
boxed in. 25m to go, time and positions meant nothing, finishing meant the world, we were all screaming at ourselves, our legs and each other to keep going, women against the slope. Then
there is was the red start gate (where skiers sit before take off), touch it or as in most cases flop over it and your time stops. Then you are swifty grab by a marshall who throws you to the
next, then the next and one more for luck, until you are at the top of the steps. Still gasping for breath, no feeling in your legs you are expected to start the descent as soon as possible,
theres no room for hanging about. A flight of stairs to a lift, which takes you to the top of the ‘out run’ then the million of stairs down from there.

It was an amazing experience and I would absolutely do it again.

Results:

I finished 5th in my heat in 3:04 mins, after the preliminary rounds I was ranked 20th, which qualified me for final A top 35 times). Fastest female was 2:21mins.

In the final I finished 18th out of 70 in 5:35mins (winning time was 4:15 mins). 1st out of 7 UK female competitors.

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