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?

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.