The Grand Prix race series point standings have been updated.
Well done to everyone who ran the First Chance 10k last Sunday, but unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, the race wasn’t quite 10K – so while the Grand Prix points for race series will be issued, sadly no times for this race will count as PBs or Club records.
As the Plymouth Hoe 10 has been cancelled this year, the Storm Force 10 on the 19th of January will be taking its place on the race series.
The format for the evening is as follows:
7-8pm – Choice of going on a short run or listening to a talk
The talk will be given by a physiotherapist about staying injury free. The run will be a negative split along Crownhill Road (slightly shorter than usual).
8-9pm – Half Year Meeting
The club committee will give you an update on what has been happening behind the scenes for the past six months. This will be followed by an open forum where you can ask questions or give feedback to the committee.
9pm onwards – Social evening
Food will be provided and the bar will be open.
We hope that as many of you as possible will attend!
Things you need to know before your first race that are not to do with training
In the days before a race, particularly a long one, make sure you eat well and drink more water than normal. On the last day, it’s probably better not to eat curry or anything that may upset your digestion, but don’t take the idea of ‘carb loading’ to extremes. A good meal of something easily digestible, such as pasta, chicken, jacket potato etc. is fine. No alcohol would be ideal, but in the real world, one drink won’t affect your performance and may help you to relax.
Put ready everything you will need the day before:
Make sure you know where the registration and start are. Plan your journey. You will need to allow time for:
plus
Get an early night if you can. Sleep is the best preparation, whatever training you have done beforehand.
Assuming it is a morning race, get up in plenty of time to:
Continue to drink small amounts of water/hydration drink until the start of the race.
At the start don’t stand too near the front of the pack of runners. You will probably start off too fast, and may get in the way of faster runners. It’s better to overtake people if you find you are faster than they are when everyone settles into their race pace.
Be careful if there is a narrow path near the start where you could be held up by slower runners, or could get in the way of faster ones. Also, be careful to avoid falling over in the jostle at the start or through running too close behind others, especially over rough terrain.
The Grand Prix race series point standings have now been updated.
Go to the Grand Prix page to view
A large elite team of Muskie racing snakes tackled the tough Plym Valley Challenge at Estover.
This is largely a trail race, with mostly well-defined paths, some tricky rocky riverside and some road.
Thankfully, although it was a hot sunny day, most of the race was under the cool shade of trees. This is a most beautiful scenic route which belies its strenuous nature.
Those who survived the sevenish-mile race were: 15th Eroy A in 56m; 19th Tom J 56m 57s; 21st Guy B 58m 27s; 31 Steve M 1h 2min 15s; 35th Craig F 1h 2m 39s; 45th Mike S 1h 3m 58s; 51 Dave M 1h 5m 23s; 52 Neil W 1h 05m 22s; 57th Rodney H 1h 6m 58; 63rd Ken K 1h 8m 39s; 69th Roy U 1h 1om 43s; 73rd David C 1h 11m 47s; 98th Sharon L 1h 17m; 99th Jane H 1h 17m; 106th Lucy S 1h 18m 44s; 107th Marie Hannam 1h 18m 44s; 122nd Maggie L 1h 23m; 123rd Sarah Horton 1h 24m 27s; 125th Mark Wilcocks 1h 25m 33s; 129th Ian L 1h 31m 27s; 130th Penny HB (hon Musketeer) 1h
31m 27s; 131st Kate H 1h 31m 27s; 132nd Louise K 1h 31m 27s; 133rd Sarah A 1h 34m 29s; 134th Caroline W 1h 34m 29s.
A notable triumph was by Rodney who won a trophy for winning his age group. He may make rare appearances, but when he does, Rodney makes an impact. Long may his non-injured period last.
Everyone deserves a medal (which we all received) for finishing a testing course with some long hills, one particularly cruel one was about two miles from the finish which last almost to the end and was too steep for many to run or even walk up.
The multi-terrain lived up to its name with the rocky path by the river being especially demanding of close attention with many an obstacle threatening to trip up the unwary or those in a reckless hurry. The flights of steps were also very hard to run down, being of uneven width and having sunken surfaces, leaving trip hazards. That is not to forget the gates, hurdles, stream, random cyclists and a short steep slope that almost had runners on their
hands and knees.
However, the friendly myriad marshals and tasty cakes at the end helped reward all.
I will come back next year – this was the first time at the shorter distance and new start location for a very well organised race by Instinctive RC, who are to be congratulated.
A big thank you to everyone who took part!
A strong team of Musketeers triumphed in the Tavistock Half, despite strong head winds.
27th was Guy in 1h32m 2nd in age category, 40th Eroy 1.36 and 17 in age, 61st Craig F in personal best 1.42 25th in age, 79th Chris W 1.46 80th Jenny K 1.47 4th in age, Claire Squires 1.55, 136th ,Sarah H 1.56 4th in age, 139 Jane H 1.57, 3rd in age, 157 Sharon Stevens (ex Muskie) 2.04 6th in age, 158 Bob C 2.04 1st in age, 176 Sam G 2.08 personal best.
This was a very good set of results with personal bests and high age category results and everyone is to be congratulated.
The race is generally well organised except it was let down before the start by the lack of race numbers. This led to long queues for those who registered by post and had to have their chips marked with a number by felt tip. Therefore, those who joined on the day could do so very fast.
Another consequence of the numbers was lack of obvious visual identity so the commentator could not call out
names as they entered the finishing circuit of the Tavistock College running track which meant a lack of atmosphere. Though of course, the Muskies stayed in force to applaud their colleagues in true team spirit.
The course is not an obvious one for fast times, having about one mile of hill half way through and a long road into a head wind for about three miles. The route takes the runners along a spectacular high viaduct overlooking the town, new to many non-Tavistock residents.
By Guy
