The Wrekin Streak

The Wrekin Streak. Turns out it is a stupid name for a race as anyone I told about it assumed it would be a run in the nude. It is a 2.75 mile race up 810 feet of the mighty Wrekin. 108 runners took part this year and over 80% of those runners were club runners, i.e. runners who run more regularly than me. I didn’t have particularly high expectations for my race results, my personal best for running the Wrekin was 30m 55s and that was in July last year when my running was at its peak but I haven’t been seriously training since the start of winter and am no where near race fit, I anticipated a more conservative time of 35minutes this time out. Last years slowest time was 39minutes which was unnervingly close to what I expected to manage and the usual people who pull up the rear are the Fun Runners who were mostly absent from this race, so my pathetic goal was to simply not come last.

The weather was perfect, cool and sunny, though standing at the registration was a chilly affair. Once my dad and I were allocated our race numbers we had a bit of a warm up walk/jog to the first bend and back to the start line. Looking around the other runners who were warming up as well I knew I was going to struggle to get a long way down the field as they all looked far fitter and far more prepared to do this.

Race start was pretty much at half past seven and apart from a bit of jostling for the first couple of metres everyone spread out quite nicely. I got onto the heel of someone in front who had set himself up for a steady pace and kept pace with him despite my own urge to surge ahead because I knew that the climb was going to hurt in a few minutes.

Rounding the first bend a Sky TV camera crew were filming, I have no idea what they were filming for but I ran faster as the crew went past.

The first steep bit up to halfway house I was able to run up, shorter steps but still at a run, I could see a few people ahead of me walking it and I was close to joining them, I made it to the short flat stretch past the house though and caught my breath before the next uphill slog.

Past half way halfway house it steepens again up to the first of two false summits this was where I couldn’t keep the pace any longer and was forced to walk. My dad passed me at this point, not quickly, but with a slow unremitting upward jog. The path flattened out again and I was able to catch up with a few people again but then the second longer, steeper climb to the next false summit reduced me to a half walk, half jog. Going up here the race winner went flashing past me a long way in front of the next runners. I knew I was going to have to endure faster runners going past me on the way back down but it was pretty grim knowing I still had a way to go.

Reaching the top of the second false summit there is a long but not very steep climb to the trig point which was the turn around mark. My dad passed me on the way back not far from the trig point and I fancied my chances on the descent, I just needed to be a bit more brave and carry a bit more speed down the descent. I rounded the trig point and gave it some beans.



I didn’t pass many more runners heading the other way and I was very aware that I was near the back. I hurtled down the hill at full tilt, I wanted desperately to make up some places. One of my shoelaces came undone and I lost my balance a couple of times but I managed to stay on my feet for the distance. I didn’t catch up with anyone though, if anything the gap between me and people in front extended. I clearly wasn’t banzai enough.

I reached the bottom in a personal best time of 29m 52seconds, though I didn’t know it at the time, my dad beat me by a couple of minutes. I was 97the overall beating just eleven other people, one of whom didn’t make the descent in one piece and DNF. I did beat someone in the same age/gender category than me who was a club affiliated runner so I wasn’t the worst out of my peers. The first man down did it in 18m 05s so I was a good 10 minutes off winning pace.