14-15 May 2022
Another weekend, another dollop of racing from the team. Quite a varied weekend though and only half the team got muddy.
Evie
- Evie was at the West Midlands XC Champs at Swynnerton Old Park.
Great race at the Midlands Champs this Sunday!
I visited the course earlier in the week to see what kind of course it would be and loved it - great long climbs and lots of fun rooty narrow trails in between! It was a busy start as all the women categories were set off together so I had to pick through the crowd and try not to get caught behind anyone as there weren’t many places for overtaking after the first straight.
I got a good start and kept a good pace in the front group. I was having a great time down the single tracks but I made a mistake and clipped a tree and ended up over the bars on the second section - oops! I got back on and carried on round and chased down some older racers through my second lap before I ended up doing an unnecessary 3rd one! (The number of laps changed mid race and I didn’t see the sign).
Overall, it was a very challenging course but I loved every minute of it and was super happy to take the win!
- So our Evie ‘extra lap’ Strachan is now Female Youth Champ. Powered by pesto! I’m surprised she’s not been snapped up for advertising purposes by a pasta company.
A word about the extra lap: apparently the lap times were slower than expected so the number of laps was dropped part way through the race. However, the marshals missed pulling Evie off the course, she didn’t read the sign as she was head down and in the zone (you can’t expect racing riders to read things), so she added another five miles to her race. Let’s call it a victory lap.
Becca
- Becca was also circuit racing but for her it was home turf at Round 2 West Midlands Circuit Race at Shrewsbury.
I’m still a bit shocked that I won this race.
Woke up not feeling 100% but being it only a local race thought I’d give it a go! Had a good start, put pressure on the group but couldn’t get away.
Laps went by but no one could get away due to the speed and nature of the circuit. A group of 3 girls including myself managed to get away with 20 minutes to go and worked together for the remaining time. Nobody tried to get away so it was left to the sprint.
I came into the last major corner 3rd rider, so knew I had to work hard to get to the front.
I managed to overtake the girl in front just before the 's' bends and sat on the back of the leader. With about 50 metres to go I launched my sprint past her and won! Super happy with my race considering I’m still not feeling 100%- but I’m getting better every day.
- Well done to all the girls racing! Was a really good race. Thank you, Ben Walker for the photos – they’re great.
This is what Becca gets up to when she’s not feeling her best. A sprint win. Stand back, no further back than that, when she’s feeling on form.
Daphne
- Daphs did some of that running stuff. Not the easy on road variety but fell running. Clearly likes a bit of gnarr even on foot. Fell running for the uninitiated generally involves a climb up a hill and then coming back down having turned your brain off for the descent. I’s one of life’s more brutal pleasures.
On Sunday me and the rest of the Shropshire team travelled up to Kettlewell in Yorkshire for the Junior British Fell Running Inter Counties Championship.
I went into the race fairly open minded and not putting too much pressure on myself as my running hasn’t been the focus of my training recently. [Really? What have you been doing – ed].
The race was 4 miles and it went up and down Great Whernside. The race started fast and I dug in the best could to keep in touch with the main bunch of girls on the climb. During the climb I had a bit of an incident where I decked it in a bog and lost my shoe, but the shoe was quickly retrieved and luckily it didn’t cost me too much time. Then on the descent I just left everything out there whilst taking judged risks that luckily paid off as I crossed the line in 13th.
Super stoked with this result against a very competitive field and definitely surprised myself and some others.
It was an amazing event hosted by the Wharfedale Harriers and it was a privilege to get to represent my county at a high-profile event.
- Sadly there are no photos of Daphs in the bog but plenty of her looking muddy. Stunning run.
Duncan: Last time seen he was riding a bike but really he’s much more at home on the fells on his
feet. He got 4th MV50 catergory in the Great Whernside spring edition race. #bemoreDuncan
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