Haldon Heartbeat – 28 April 2012
After the wettest April ever the amphibious Musketeers racing snakes went into action.
Seven of us braved the rain in the 8ish forest miles of the Haldon Heartbeat race, starting at Exeter Race Course on Haldon Hill.
This was the second of the Heatbeat races and was a different course to last year when four of us completed it. This year notably excluded the initial circuit of the race course.
The charity race attracted 221 finishers with the stars of the show being the Musketeers in finishing order: 39th Guy 1h 33seconds, 73rd Dave 1h 6min, 95th Neil 1h 9min 34sec, 185 & 186 Darren and Sharon 1h 25min and 50sec and 51 secs respectively, 217th Sarah A 1h 37m 34secs and 219th Caroline 1h 38min 26sec. Not to forget Plymouth Harrier (and honorary Musketeer) Jane Allison was 40th in 1h 44secs.
After a freezing wet and windy start we tackled a trail run with plenty of forest tracks and a particularly slippery muddy hill where even the best fell, deep puddles also claimed victims, especially Jane who is closer to the ground than most. Even the strongest and tallest were caught unawares at the depth of some puddles and came close to diving in.
This was a test of keeping your balance while maintaining eye contact and foot contact with the uneven and muddy terrain at all times. It was a great experience and very rewarding to complete such a demanding race, regardless of the position
Yet again the Musketeers did their club proud, coming half way as a team. The club was also the largest by far of clubs from Plymouth with only three other runners from two Plymouth clubs. We may be friendly, but we have competitive teeth, grrrrrr.
By Guy