Well, here in Wales the Beast from the East is yet to arrive in full force it was just cold and damp as I prepared for my run. Anxious that things might turn worse, I set out a bit earlier than the 10 am official start time. (Told Mr. CJ that I was off with the elite athletes which was met with at smile).
Inevitably, my routes here start with the thrill of the hill or so I keep telling myself as I plod up an elevation gain of over 100m. It is strange the things you can find in remote spots. At the top of the hill is a strange fantasy house with gargoyle figures on the gates, unexpected animals including lions, elephants and crocodiles on the walls and a bell tower at the gable end of the house. The Strava segment on from here is given the ominous name 'Heart attack hill' fortunately my route is down today but I go with caution to avoid launching into space. At the bottom I pick up a disused railway track which, today, a real 'jog in the bog'. I pick my way carefully and am surprised by my Garmin buzzing for 10k. I stop the monitoring and prepare to wade through a wide river that has appeared recently from nowhere. All I have to do is plod back up the hill to home.
As I arrive in the village wearing my Cancer research banner, 2 people stop me and promise contributions. The first flakes of snow start to fall. I feel a glow of pleasure and pride. My first 10k 'race' is complete. A slow 10k taking 1 hour 23 minutes. I did a slow Fly 5k yesterday (more penguin than peregrine) On the Fly 5k website they show age graded percentages. Mine is 55.69%. This would make my time an amazing 43 minutes for the10k but I don't really care - I did it at my pace.
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coggerjogger
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Wow! I also ran earlier this morning a 5k but listened to the #winterrun crowds! So I probably saw you overtake me at the 2k mark! Fabulous! And I’m so jealous of that bobble hat!! 👏👏👏
Yes. Like a fairy tale. I found out from a farmer in his 90s who has lived in the area all his life, that it was developed by a family who ran a company called Taylor seeds. They had travelled the world and got a local tradesman to make images of what they had seen. Not sure what inspired the gargoyles though. The bell tower was part of a chapel.
Brilliant it's great that you managed to find out about the houses history. It's really annoying when you see something like that and can't find out anything about it.
You certainly did do it! Congratulations and well done. How lovely for two people to stop and commit to donating . That must have made your legs feel a bit lighter 🙂
That gargoyle looks a bit scary, bet it frightens people when it’s dark 😱
Well done coggerjogger, and collecting extra donations en route too. It sounds brutal with that hill start, a bit like my run straight into the wind this morning, but getting that bit done first is a good idea. Celebrate with style. 👏👏
Fantastic! You started with the elites whereas I thought about staying in bed and starting with the last wave 😅Sounds like you picked an amazingly tough route for your first 10k race, well done!!! I saw on facebook that the event has raised over £700,000 pounds so far which is brilliant 👍
ty. It was fear of the weather defeating me that got me out. Felt I couldn't let my sponsors down. With covid restrictions on travel, all my routes around here are tough (or at least I think so). We live 8000ft up on a limestone plateau I can go higher and then down or move off the edge and then run back up later. No way to avoid the elevation gains. The mud was an added bonus!😆 It is very beautiful though!
Brilliant time! Fab hat! and intriguing house!👍👏🏃♀️
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1st 10 miles this morning! 😀
A 10K in the sunshine ☀️