Having
been encouraged by Bob Caines to take part, it was with great
trepidation (and a few toilet stops) I lined up at the start of the
15th Kindred Spirit race at Corfe Castle (aka The Beast) with 12 other
WACers and 473 fellow runners who had travelled from as far as Scotland
to take part. Fortunately the weather had decided to be kind as it had
been extremely hot the day before but had rained during the night to
given us a cool start to the race.
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Awaiting the start. ‘Where’s Wally?’, or is
it WACers as Meerkats United. How many WACers
can you spot? Juliet, Jools, Julie, Tim, Phil, Craig,
Debbie and Antony are in there somewhere
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I had
been advised to ‘leg it’ for the first mile to get into a good
position, as you approached the first of several stiles/gates that you
would encounter over the course of the race. However, as we started I
quickly realised that unless you were at the front at the start, the
best you could achieve was a cross between a crawl/powerwalk but
eventually we all started to spread out and find our own space.
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Richard – our first WACer home
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The
terrain for the first couple of miles was a combination of Common
ground, single tracks with the occasional stile/gate to get over (good
opportunity for a rest/chat) and it was at this point that I decided
that I was going to keep fellow WACer Bob in my sights as an incentive
as I thought I spied him in the distance, but to my dismay I could not
keep him in view (I only found out at the end that he had in fact, been
a couple of minutes behind me for the whole race).
I found
myself going up paths that due to the rain the night before had become
quite slippery so had to be climbed carefully. Before I knew it I was
coming down the slope and on one of the few occasions that day found
myself actually overtaking people (due to the fact that I couldn't stop
and felt the quicker I got to the bottom the less chance there was for
me to injure myself or others by falling over!!!).
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Debbie and Julie ‘dig in’ on the coast path
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After a
few more miles (and one water stop) I found myself on the road up to St
Aldhelm’s Head and was greeted by magnificent views over the sea from
about 350ft (had to look that one up) and then followed the coastal path
until we reached the first set of steps cut into the hill . All too soon
it was time to climb up again, but encouraged by spectators at the top I
managed to make it and was even able to mutter ‘Thanks’ and a smile
before I continued along the coast (I think Graham popped up for about
the third time taking photos). It was at this point that I found myself
running with a Portsmouth Jogger (first timer also) and after we stopped
at the water station we continued on through the valley until we
approached the second set of steps and it was here that his face fell
and muttered something which can't be repeated. Let’s just say he
thought it might be hard to get up. I somehow managed to get to the top
(the first set seemed like climbing stairs compared to these) and
continued on and was cheerfully informed by a marshal that the hard part
was over.
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Jools, first WAC Lady home
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Encouraged by this I continued on legs that at this point felt like lead
and no matter how fast my mind wanted them to go they refused to obey
and continued to go at a pace that felt at the time extremely slow. We
continued to run on the outskirts of the Encombe Estate , pass the pub
at Kingston and into a wooded area which eventually emerged onto Corfe
Common where I was greeted by Corfe Castle, never before have I been so
grateful to see this castle as it indicated that the race was near the
end. This seemed to have the same effect on my fellow runners as
suddenly, with renewed energy, I was being passed by people hell-bent on
finishing before me and was pipped at the post by fellow WACer Tim Box
who I later found out had improved his time by around 18 minutes on last
year (well done Tim). On finishing my eldest daughter said she was proud
of me, and then bought me back down to earth by saying, ‘Daddy that man
in the brown shirt started 10 minutes after you and still beat you’ with
that comment still in my ears I was asked would I do it again … Just try
stopping me (If only to beat the man in the brown shirt and … Tim!!!)
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Bob still looking fresh, but no doubt pleased
to have crossed the finishing line
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Results for WACers
Men
Women
Richard Atkins 47th 1:41:15 Jools
Maskell 381st 2:29:44
Stewart Little 52nd
1:42:13 Julie Mead 398th
2:32:48
Craig Dixon 141st
1:55:43 Debbie Whittle 408th
2:34:28
Anthony Clark 142nd
1:55:54 Juliet Mellor 432nd
2:40:57
Pete Lemon 173rd
2:01:33
Jeff Hinsley 202nd 2:02:45
Phil Whitehurst 218th 2:07:02
Tim Box 307th 2:18:54
Paul Teck 312th 2:19:11
Robert Caines 348th 2:23:17
Paul Teck
