In the presence of greatness

Mrs Noel wanted to defend her second place at Grasmere, so we were back in the Lakes this weekend. I found a race to do on Saturday - Dufton Show - which meant I was happy to watch the kids for Grasmere on Sunday.

Dufton Show race was organised by elite fellrunner Morgan Donnelly. It was great to see what a nice bloke he is as he organised the kids' races (along with his equally nice wife). Mrs Noel was eyeing up the ladies' field, to see if she would have won anything if she weren't running the following day. We both spotted a lass who looked fairly athletic, but it's hard to tell until they start running. We all set off and this lass led the other runners out of the showground and was in the front three as they sped out of my sight.

We later found out this was Lizzie Adams, who is very talented, so it wasn't a total surprise. She finished 6th in the end. A long way ahead of me in 10th.

I was pleased that my descending seems to be improving. I lost one place from the summit, but managed to stick with the guy until he beat me in a sprint finish. I wasn't too bothered about this, as he'd helped me set a good time for the whole second half of the race - everyone needs a pacer.

Then on Sunday at Grasmere we got to watch Morgan Donnelly win the men's race by a fair way. Record holder Pippa Maddams was also there to destroy the ladies' field - again.

I was watching from the showground, so couldn't tell what was going on. The guy on the tannoy announced that Melanie Hyder was in second place at the summit. This was to be expected as Mrs Noel had only just beated Mel the previous year in a sprint finish. Perhaps this year, Mrs Noel would have to settle for 3rd place. However, as the runners slowly came close enough to recognise, there was Mrs Noel in 2nd place. No sprint finish needed this year, and 27 seconds faster than last year. She must be doing something right.

Burnsall classic and scarecrows

On Saturday it was Burnsall Classic - a short hard fell race with a very difficult initial descent which is made from heather covering mud and gritstone boulders. We've done this for a few years now so knew it pretty well. My race went as well as could be expected, and I took 5 seconds off last year's time to finish in 14th.

In contrast Mrs Noel was 10 seconds faster than last year and was first lady. This is a fantastic result for Mrs Noel and ensures she'll be printed in the Burnsall Sport Feast booklet for many years to come. She was realistic enough to point out that many of the top runners had stayed away this year - presumably because there was a English championship counter the following day. But, as I said, "they have to turn you beat you". I think this ranks as Mrs Noel's finest acheivement in fell running.

Then on Sunday, we went with the kids to Kettlewell scarecrow festival. This was one of the best organised small village events I've ever seen. There were literally hundreds of scarecrows, and organised parking (with marshals). One display was about 20 rugby player scarecrows, complete with pitch and rugby posts. As you can see, they even provided silly hats so people could be the scarecrow's face for pictures. Note the absence of crows - I think I might be good at this.

Mountains and courgettes

We went to the French Alps for two weeks on holiday, which was great. I'm hoping the slight altitude will have worked as altitude training.

We've arrived back to find that our three courgette plants have run riot. So we're eating courgettes and marrows for the next week. Although I can't find anything on the internet on the training benefits of this, it should make for an interesting week as I exhaust my current repertoire of courgette recipes. Courgette cake anyone?

The Bob bug - did I catch it?

I've not previously understood the attraction of doing the Bob Graham round.

For those not aware of this, it's an endurance event which you can undertake at any time, where you run up and down 42 Lake District peaks. It starts and finishes in Keswick and the challenge is to do it in a 24-hour period.

Many people have told me that once I support someone on a Bob Graham, I'll understand it all and it won't be long until I too am putting in the ridiculous training sessions that are needed before trying one.

So last weekend I supported Lisa's Bob Graham attempt. She was going for an anti-clockwise round starting at 8 in the morning. I was supporting leg 2, which included 9 summits and took about 5 hours.

For those who can't remember, last weekend was exceptionally rainy. In the end it was the conditions that led to Lisa falling behind schedule and eventually taking the sensible decision to abandon the attempt after about 20 hours (20 hours!!). All credit to Lisa for getting so far in such horrendous conditions - I have no doubt she would have done it if hadn't have been such a shocker of a day.

So do I now understand it? Well I think I do. From what I got out of the day, it's a lot to do with the sense of cameraderie. I cetainly enjoyed it, despite the conditions on our leg. And I can appreciate that the sense of achievement must be massive.

But having said all this, I'm very happy to support the odd Bob Graham rather than do one myself. For a start I'd have to train a lot more, and I'm rubbish without sleep. So come on Lisa, pick another date, and we'll pray for a clear day this time.

Cat and Fiddle down-and-up fell relay

On Wednesday night it was my fell race - the Cat and Fiddle down-and-up fell relay. This is the first fell race I've ever organised and I was a bit nervous that something would go wrong. In hindsight, I guess that organising a relay was a bit more complicated than a normal fell race.

On the night most things seemed to go well. I had a great team of marshals and helpers and I think the people who took part enjoyed themselves. The weather wasn't very nice, so I'll try to improve that for next year. I'll also remember to take some pictures.

I'm already thinking about what eco-batons I can use. It was carrots this year. It was funny watching the look on people's faces at registration when they were handed two race numbers and a carrot.

I was pleased to see some very good runners turn up. It was also nice to see how many couples and family partners turned up. It made for a nice atmosphere in the pub when I was giving out the prizes.

The results are here. I reckon the men's open, mixed open, male V90 and Mixed V90 will be hard to beat next year.

Conditions, conditions, conditions

In fell races, every race is different. So you can't compare your times from one race to the next, as a roadrunner might compare a time for a 10k race. So one of the ways to judge yourself is against your times from previous years.

Two years ago I ran Hope Wakes fell race in the wet and was pleased with how I did on the night. Last night I ran Hope Wakes in hard, dry conditions and took over 2 minutes off my previous time.

I can hear some of you saying "but Noel, that 2 minutes is probably down to the different conditions, and not any improvement on your part". At which point I am putting my fingers in my ears and I'm saying "I can't hear you. La, la, la, la".

Some of you might also ask how I did against the runners I am normally close to. These 'markers' provide another good way of telling me how I did in any given race. They represent my peer group, and between them, show me how well I should be doing. Well on this occasion, I'm once again ear-fingered "la, la, la, la" -ing.

2 minutes! If I keep up this level of improvement, I'll be in the national team in the next 5 years. Glory days here we come!

Back to form - Edale

It was Edale Country Day today, which means Edale fell race. At 5 miles and about 1300 feet of ascent it's my kind of race - quite steep and nice and short.

I remember being pleased with my time last year, so I was very pleased today to take about 25 seconds off it. And the key to my success? Well, it's a number of things.

Firstly, I've now got enough weeks of decent mileage under my belt. It normally takes about 6 to 8 weeks of training before the full benefits come through.

But I reckon what also helped was the exercise bike in the hotel gym while I was away on business last week. It was one of those where there's a screen in front of the bike and you try to keep up with your virtual pacer. Check out their website: http://www.expresso.net/. You can set how fit the pacer is, and there are loads of different courses. I did a few 10-12 mile "hilly" courses and a one reps session on a virtual track.

My pacer

It's funny how even virtual competition makes me try harder. I'd never cycle for 45 minutes on an exercise bike without having "someone" to aim for. Even if it's a yellow-jerseyed man with a big "P" on his back. And the fact that I know it's just a load of pixels doesn't stop me from trying to beat "him".

Does this mean I'd be better if I trained with someone else? Personally, I like the simplicity of running or biking whenever I want to, rather than having to arrange times, wait for people, and travel to somewhere convenient. But perhaps my competitive nature would drive me to train harder.