The Charnwood Hills Fell Race is the closest fell race to where I live. It might ‘only’ be in Leicestershire but there are still plenty of hills, and plenty of mud! Sure, it’s not the Lakes, but it’s the best we have, locally, and the course is actually quite nice, not that we saw all that much today.
With it being quite local (30-40 minutes away from Rugby), it’s become a bit of a staple in the race calendar for several fellow club members. I haven’t towed the line as yet and, unfortunately, I can’t make it this year either due to other commitments. Those that are running it though, decided to arrange a Christmas social run to become familiar with the route, and also include Beacon Hill parkrun at the same time. Despite not doing the race, I took the option to tag along, and found that I have already covered much of the route before, in my training for Broadway.
The race starts with a couple of laps of the field at The Martin High School in Anstey before picking up the footpath and heading towards Cropston Reservoir. Obviously, we did not complete the school field laps but instead parked around the green next to the alleyway that leads onto the footpath. I did feel a bit guilty dumping my car in a residential area, but this was the scheduled meet point, so I parked as considerably as I could and off we set.
The footpath takes you around a few fields before bringing you out into Bradgate Park. Bradgate has become my go-to place recently, in training for both the Broadway Marathon and the upcoming 50km, but I wasn’t aware of this way in. Parking at, and around, Bradgate can be quite expensive, so this could be an option for future; to park outside and run in. If I can get over the guilt.
Of course, once in Bradgate, the target is the tower. A long, gradual drag from the bottom of the park. I was concerned that a lot of today was going to be about trying to keep up with the faster guys, and I did drop back from the pack leading up the hill, but I wasn’t miles away and I wasn’t alone either. I did slow to a walk during the last part of the climb. Old John is a cracking viewpoint, with distant views over Leicestershire. But with the fog, there was nothing to be seen today. Not yet anyway. Maybe later, as the course returns from whence it came. Down we went, out of the Hunts Hill car park and towards the golf club.
The golf club, along with Broombriggs Farm Country Park, offers a nice, offroad link between Bradgate Park and Beacon Hill Country Park, and is a route which I’ve now done several times. The race route takes in the upper section of Broombriggs on the way out and the lower section on the way back, returning after a single loop of Beacon Hill.
This inbetween section offers no respite to the hills of Bradgate and Beacon Hill. It is still suitably hilly, both going through the golf club and negotiating your way around Broombriggs. Another little run/walk section heading up Broombriggs preceded a fast descent before crossing the road and entering Beacon Hill.
The race route takes a left here, and heads straight for the top section of the park, before looping back round and heading out the same way which you came in. Today though, we had scheduled to do parkrun, so it was a right turn, a quick toilet stop and over to the start for the briefing. Timed almost to perfection, we had a few minutes of standing around before we were set on our way and heading up the hill. I took this opportunity to take on a bit of fuel. Just over 6 miles and an hour in, it was my first fuelling of the run. Just a handful of jelly babies.
The parkrun didn’t go all that well. I wanted it to be an effort but I also didn’t want to ruin myself as we still had to run back over to Bradgate Park and beyond yet, and I was already concerned with dropping off from the pack. In the end, it was a bit of a halfway house. I didn’t push too much but I did feel quite tired, and struggled up the hill. I finished more than two minutes slower than my previous two times at Beacon Hill parkrun. Disappointing given how shot I still felt at the end.
The way back was slightly faster than the way out. The lower section of Broombriggs, a shorter ascent of Old John and a long descent out to the bottom of Bradgate. I certainly wasn’t cruising, but I wasn’t exactly dying either. I was very grateful to come out that alleyway at the end though, and be greeted by the car. No angry notes pinned to the windscreen from the residents either. Bonus!
The plan for afterwards was to go to a cafe and grab a spot of breakfast. This was half a mile down (literally) the road. It was decided that parking might be difficult so we grabbed a couple of extra layers and continued down the hill without the cars. A hot chocolate and a large breakfast meant the jog back up the hill was tough, but it was only another half a mile to top the day out at just over 16 miles. Good training for the Hundred Hills 50km.
I knew Bradgate would be a bit sloppy but I wasn’t aware of how muddy the paths leading to it would be. I knew that my Trailroc’s wouldn’t be able to handle the day though, I’d found that out on a recent, separate outing around Bradgate. Still yet to buy a pair of aggressive trail shoes for the 50km, I opted for the Scott Supertrac’s that I basically got for free a while back. I was given store credit and, rather than add to it, I just used it to buy a pair of shoes which matched the amount. Hence the Supertrac’s. They have quite an aggressive sole, and handled the rigours of the day quite well, but I don’t believe they are ‘ultra’ suitable. Time to get looking for a pair, as we’re not that far away now and I will want some training miles in any new shoes before race day.
If you’re interested in the Charnwood Hills Race, you can find their page on Facebook, or take a look at this link. You need to be on it when places go on sale though, as it usually sells out within an hour or two. Like I said, I’ve not done the race, but I can definitely recommend the route.
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