Mark Paviour Explains what it’s all about.
When Theresa posted the results of this year’s Vinnalls Uphill held on August 8th, she put in a tentative request for ‘a race report’. In the absence of one being offered I thought it might be worth while giving an insight to its origins and answer the “Why on earth….?” that gets posed.
Back in the mid-late 2000’s there used to be a super little mid-week race called ‘The Burway Burn’ which was basically 2 miles uphill up the Burway from Church Stretton. Those who know area will understand that runners, the Burway and traffic is not an ideal mix, especially descending at twilight after the race, so it stopped after a few years. In some ways it has now been replaced by ‘The Dash to the Pole’ in the autumn, itself a time-trial.
Move on to mid-2010’s and Croft began Beginners / New2Running / Return2Running groups and we were looking for a nice little tester so people could measure their progress, but something not as staid as a Cooper’s Test or timed mile and a half, but still as repeatable.
Sue and I used two short climbs at High Vinnalls for training / testing. One from Mary Knoll Valley to the summit, which is slightly shorter, slightly steeper and much less good under foot in many parts. The other was the climb through the hairpins to the summit. We felt that given the latter was all on hard-pack and fairly even gradient it was better suited to members of all abilities, including juniors.
Originally it was staged as a time-trial. Some form of individual ‘testing’ is a useful training tool and in a TT you should focus on the sustained effort and pacing, and maintain that to the end. In a ‘race’ there is the possibility of ‘settling for position’ as you near the end and so even subconsciously the effort may fall slightly. Either way it is a nice little run, and individually you can commit as much as you want.
For a few years we did it in August/September and again by head torch in February, but persuading starters and time-keepers that this was fun to do in the dark of winter was difficult! As an annual event it is a friendly and fun thing to do, and I think generally is enjoyed, and is simple enough to go and do yourself at any other time if you should wish.
Results from the August 24 event can be found on the results page of the website here along with the age group records on the club records page
Photos from this years event:
