Ian Hodgson relays

Last year's Ian Hodgson relays were a highlight of our year. This year, the Pennine mixed team was even stronger, but we had some serious competition. Both Borrowdale and Bingley had put out strong teams. Presumably they'd seen our success last year and thought "we could have beaten that lot".

Last year I remember there had been some discussion about whether Daz Holloway or I should be in the mixed team. I got the nod that time, but Daz has since transformed himself beyond recognition, so I was happy that Daz was running our longest and hardest leg in the mixed team. He was partnered by Adam, who is also running fantastically well at the moment.

While the battle for mixed team success was going on, I was running as part of the open (mens') team along with Nic, who normally beats me but only just. Unfortunately, we made a navigational error on leg 2, so lost about 10 minutes for our leg 3 and 4 runners to try to make up. I could take 10 minutes off our time and say "we would have finished there", but navigation is all part of it. Plus that would assume all the other teams didn't make errors of their own. Luckily, the lads on legs 3 and 4 ran well and didn't repeat our navigational errors, so we finished in a respectable time.

Anyway, back to the mixed team. After two storming runs by the girls on leg 1 and the lads on leg 2, Mrs Noel and her partner ran the fastest female leg 3 of the day to hand over to our leg 4 runners well ahead of Borrowdale and about 50 seconds ahead of Bingley.

And who were running for Bingley on their anchor leg? Multiple fell running champion Ian Holmes, and three peaks fell race record holder Andy Peace. This pair are getting on a bit, but they're still winning good races. Although the Pennine boys ran a near-perfect race, they were pipped by 7 seconds. Apparently our lads had been closing the gap all the way down the final hill. It's amazing that after 4 hours and twenty minutes of running, only 7 seconds separated the two teams.

We'll definitely be back next year. It must be such a palava to organise this race, but it's definitely worth it.

Lantern Pike and barefoot training

Saturday was Hayfield Country Day, which means Lantern Pike Fell Race. I've only done this once, as Mrs Noel normally bagsies it, leaving me holding the children. This year we had a few offers of people to watch the kids, so we could both run. We both did fairly well. I was 6th, behind only one of the excellent trio of pacers/markers: Nick, Mark and Steve. Mrs Noel was second ahead of some fairly strong competition. Unfortunately, Mrs Noel missed the prize-giving, so I decided she would have wanted three bottles of strong ale.

Then today (Sunday) we went to Trentham Gardens and I started my barefoot training in earnest. Lots of runners sing the praises of barefoot running and it's become quite an "in" thing to do. There are even barefoot shoes, which are much more expensive than normal running shoes as it takes time for them to remove all the padding at the factory.

So when I saw that Trentham Gardens was home to Britain's "first and only" barefoot walk, I jumped at the chance. Here are a selection of the various surfaces we stood on. These are the feet of me and my mum. I say this in case there are any foot double talent scouts out there wanting to sign us up.

Not bad:

Urggh:

Ow:

Nice to gritty transition:

I feel sure my feet and whole body and now invigorated in a life-enhancing way that I can't quite describe. If you're ever visiting Trenham Hall - it's worth a go, and there are foot showers at the end.

Barrels of plums

What an action-packed weekend! First, we went over to visit some friends and laugh at my mate Dave, who had once again been roped into taking part in the Great Edale Beer Barrel Race. This is where a group of apparently sane blokes (or women - there was a ladies' team this year) run about 5 miles with a full beer barrel. I think it weighs about 45kg.

We watched most of the teams come past, and they all had pain etched on their faces. They also seemed to be going very slowly, which showed how difficult it was as they were clearly trying very hard.

Then on Sunday morning there was a double-header. At 10:30 it was Coombes Tor - a new race which I did and was very pleased to finish 5th, just behind teammate Nick. After a bit of post-race banter we headed over to Padfield for their excellent Plum Fair. We all ate delicious plum pie and Mrs Noel defended her first lady crown successfully in the Plum Fair Scamper fell race.

Then on this morning, the crysalis on the right developed into a small tortoiseshell butterfly. The kids and I watched as it slowly pumped up its wings before we set off for school. I felt a bit mean putting it outside as it's blowing a hooley today. Maybe the one on the left had a better idea in waiting a few more days.

It's all about cogs

My roadbike must have been made by someone who lived in a solely downhill country. I'm not a great expert on gear ratios, but here's what I've picked up so far. The bigger your front cog, the harder it is to pedal. Whereas the smaller your back cog, the easier [edit: I meant harder - thank for pointing this out Darren] is it to pedal. My bike was made with 2 front cogs. One huge, one enormous. It was also made with 8 back cogs, all of which were tiny.

So last week I had this changed. My local bike shop fitted a smaller, much more sensible front cog and a range of 8 back cogs, some of which are quite large. I was unsure how much difference it would make. The answer was "lots". Now, without getting out of my seat, I can cycle up here:

 and here:

 and here:

 and even here:

  

 

I was hoping my new-found bike keenness might translate to improvements at Shelf Moor fell race on Sunday. Last year, Shelf Moor was the race at which I announced my English Championship intentions. None of the top 48 runners would fail to notice my glorious finish just behind them. Indeed, I was rewarded with 2 championship points.

This year I managed to run 5 seconds slower than last year, but beat my placing my 41 positions. For a much better account of the race, with pictures, see Steve's excellent blog. He introduced himself after the race and seemed a thoroughly nice chap.

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?