Despite the discernible hollow and general weakening of the squad, left by an absent Niall in the men’s half-marathon event, the Bath Amphibians pulled together to put on an impressive display at January’s EnduranceLife Coastal Race Series event in Portland, Dorset, on Saturday 23rd. The cheers from the Amphibs’ corner during the prize-giving were over-whelming!
First out of the blocks was Coach Dougie. It was a 9 am start for the marathoners, so as the 10-k-ers were rolling bleary-eyed into the car park at half 10 Doug was almost half-way there. Neck-and-neck with rival and eventual winner, Doug looked relaxed and chatty as he battled with the endless miles of Chesil Beach, although on lap two he did confess to wanting to use one of the stones to kill himself. Doug had an awesome race as you’d expect but despite breaking the old course record, he had to watch the eventual winner canter off at about the 20 mile mark and settle for second.
Next off were Georgia, Ross and Jacqui at 10:30 in the half-marathon. With only guys around her to lead the way, it’s no wonder Georgia was led astray and ended up covering loads more ground than was required of her. But back on track she started picking off her rivals (again) and after a long and gruelling slog up the Chesil Beach, she cruised in as first female - in her first official trail run. Imagine how much damage she’ll do without the diversion - awesome! Meanwhile Ross and Jacqui did the loop together and kept each other sane with mutual support, which seemed to work judging by the smiles on their faces when they’d finished.
Then came the speed demons - nothing sluggish about the slick 10-k-ers. With 6 in total there was great team camaraderie (as well as good odds on prizes!). Kezza went off like silt off a shovel and, consistent with the pre-race plan, Mikey B sat in as the tasty race pace was set. Just behind was a second Amphibs tag-team, with Sue and Streety working off each other. Annie had her eye on all four of her team-mates as they climbed the mountain that (according to Coach Dougie) gave 400-odd feet of ascent in the first km. Just behind Annie, taking good care of his team-mates as usual by sweeping up from the rear, was Michael Sidey. A solid performance from Michael, made ever more impressive by the additional few k run in order to avoid the vertiginous heights (with exceptionally steep drop-offs to the left) towards the end of the course.
The 10-k race stretched out after the first climb. Mikey B showed his strength and pulled away from Kezza, staying in touch with the lead pack of guys throughout the entire race, but just not managing to find an effective technique on the beach as everyone became a distant dot - a great first Endurance Life CRS performance that led to an overall result of 5th place. After setting a blistering pace at the start, Kezza was caught by a female rival at around 4 k and from there it looked to be all over - until the final Chesil Beach stretch, that is, where some deeply hidden strength came through and with a last-ditch effort that may have even resembled a ‘sprint finish’ - she handed it straight back to her rival and came in first female overall. Just. The odds have shortened considerably on Kez winning the series, not that you’d have betted against her at the start.
Sue and Streety were battling it out and despite breaking rule number one by following people in front instead of looking for the course signs, leading to a full two minute diversion/standing around wondering where to go, Sue looked to have the better of Streety, until the down-hill section when the Strasse showed scant regard for her ankles by launching herself ahead and letting gravity do some of the work on the steep descents down to the beach. Streety pulled away and stayed strong on the long stretch of yielding, energy sapping pebbles, fighting off cramping calves to the finish line with a unique running action that made her want to explain to people why she was running in that way. An impressive race that ended in 3rd placed female, even if she was denied her trademark power finish. Sue was hot on her heels though and came in 4th and first female vet.
It wasn’t long before Annie was also over the line, with a massive grin on her face, having set off at a steady pace and slowly picking off rival after rival throughout the course -working her way through the field and smashing her pre-race target of finishing in under 1 h 30 min with a 1 h 25 min finish time. It wasn’t about the time for Michael though and hopefully that extra off-route section with added river crossing, complemented his marathon training. For some people, 12.5-k of brutal off-road running just isn’t enough.
Thanks must go to the sun - for coming out on an otherwise chilly day, to Clif Bar for supplying a second breakfast and their magical Shot Bloks, to Endurance Life for a sweet event and definitely to all Amphibs present for the legendary volume, banter and support. Bring on South Devon, 27th Feb. Tag Us In.
