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V is for Vittoria per Scuderia Limar in Viking Country

Neon Red's picture
on Sat, 19/08/2017 - 21:16

The curtains were opened and the rain and strong winds were blowing in from the west this morning as I awoke at 5:30am ready for a crack at a new course for my Saturday Parkrun. Normally I make the trip up the A570 for the race in Hesketh Park (where HMCC's ageless wonder Tony Harvey placed 8th today in under 19 minutes, what a legend) but I was aware that Southport Waterloo were having their 5k championship race at the venue today and as such I didn't want to get involved with their intra club battle for supremacy given how narrow the curves are around the lake. Just imagine if the race favourite had been CHINOOK'D........Anyway, I was in no mood to reprise last week's Monaco Grand Prix style course at Ellesmere Port (yes you spotted the irony) so took the recommendation of Joe Allen from St Helens Tri and headed down the Knowsley Expressway to yet another Victoria Park in Widnes, home of John Baden's NRG4 Cycling operation where those awesome Limar helmets come from. I think you all know of at least one person who wears one of those. This course is three and a bit laps around a layout similar to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez used annually for the Mexican Grand Prix; yes there are some twisty bits around the lake but most of the course is made up of long straights and an epic final corner much like the original Peraltada used until 1992 (in another similarity there's a play area inside the last right hander like the Foro Sol baseball ground; here's hoping the Parkrun doesn't get changed to running round the obstacles at it would lend a new meaning to the phrase "swings and roundabouts") I arrived at 8:20am to survey the course as best I could and checked the route map out while the others were arriving, as I watched to see if anyone looked particularly purposeful. A huge downpour soaked the start/finish area just as the race director read out his briefing and then he called us over to the start. There wasn't much time to think "ZEN OUT: PARKRUN TIME" as he counted us down from 3 before some people had even got to the start line but luckily for me I was on the left side of the 20-wide front row and before we knew it, we were off and running for three slippery speedy laps of sprint heaven in less than heavenly conditions at the home of the Widnes Vikings.

The downpour persisted all the way to the lake chicane on the more sheltered of the two main straights and before we'd got there I'd dispatched Dennis the Menace (who would nonetheless finish on the podium) and a bloke in an FC Barcelona shirt who would duck under 19 minutes. Only trouble was, the local superstar David Twigg - bizarrely racing in a Miler's Club vest rather than his St Helens Sutton top - was about ten seconds up the road by the time we'd nearly ended up in the duck pond and I assumed that would be it; yet again there's always someone available to beat me. But here was another similarity to Formula 1 history. The first F1 race I watched was the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix, where the leading driver of the era, Ayrton Senna, led the opening stint but got reeled in and eventually overtaken by one Michael Schumacher, little known back then but the man who would go on to become the greatest of all time. Today's race was eerily similar; the gap between the top two stayed constant for much of the first half of the race, but as we rounded the duck pond again, David's lead started to come down, maybe a second or so every 100 metres, but I began to wonder if the most monstrous upset special ever was on the cards.

And so as we rounded the right hand turn before the long back straight, I was right with him. Traffic also played a part on this section as the straight was more like the ones found on the old Hockenheim F1 track in that they had a few small kinks in them. When you're unaware that runners are coming to lap you, inevitably you end up straight-lining the kinks. This makes it difficult to establish which way to lap someone, and a bit of hesitancy from the leader had me alongside him. He didn't respond and as we rounded the fake Peraltada for the second time, suddenly it was me in the lead and pulling away! I was now into mental mode, as in "it's all in the head" but the head got a bit of a boost - as opposed to nearly getting blown off in the gusts of crosswind - as we reached our lovable feathered friends at water's edge for the third and final time; there was at least half a dozen backmarkers between me and and David. This was unchartered territory for me; indeed the last time I led any race in this fashion was July 3 2004 at Daytona karting in Manchester when I nabbed the lead early in the race and simply had to avoid choking. That was a tough ask today as the course was like an ice rink and I really feared a Steven Gerrard slip but I knew once I hit the back straight it was going to be a simple run to the flag provided my stomach didn't explode from the stress or I didn't lose my balance with the conditions being so nasty. As we reached the final corner another shower soaked the course but I was soaking up the energy from those I was lapping as well as the marshals cheering us on and I even got the joy of an open chute to sprint down at the finish. Yes, that's right, after eight years of this "second golden age" of competition I had finally won a head-to-head race, winning the 134th Widnes Parkrun in a time of 17:53, 19 seconds ahead of David who made it a St Helens 1-2!

After catching my senses and handing the barcode in for a swipe I watched a few come in including FC Barcelona Man who has only just got back into running after a long spell of simply riding his bike. I think we know which two clubs he should join. But the biggest applause of the day, and deservedly so, was reserved for a lady with an unknown medical condition who beat 40 minutes while using one leg to run and holding up the other with a crutch, absolutely inspirational. I went over to the park cafe which only reopened a few days ago for a bacon, egg and sausage ciabatta, chocolate muffin and cappuccino all for £8 while I discussed tomorrow's Birchwood 10k with the marshals and the differences between a 5k and a half marathon with a lady helper whose son is doing a junior Parkrun tomorrow. We went our separate ways and I made my way over to my dad's house in Formby, from where we went to the pub and waited over an hour for the only BOOM of the match but hey, who thought we'd get a shutout win in week 2? Then I jumped the train into town for a quick coffee at Patisserie Valerie where I saw one of my Splash Flash and Dash teammates for next week's club relays in Nottingham before raiding a few shops for designer bargains. Come 7pm it was time to head for home but what a stunning day out, one that will forever live in the almanac of Chinook Classics, and the club relays are only a week away on 26 August!

Now for the results, brought to you by the official coffee suppliers to Splash Flash and Dash, Patisserie Valerie:

Distance: 5k
Time: 17:53
Most Metres Led: let's just call that a draw as I forgot to bring the Garmin
Ducks: 2
Powerslides: 1 on the first lap
Hero of the Hour: The lady who beat the 40 minute mark (and several other runners) balancing on one leg and a crutch, just incredible

REJECT OF THE RACE: Dennis the Menace
(Not least because his costume was shaped like a short sleeved tri suit - I wonder if Zoot or Zone3 are reading this)

Time to have a small late dinner before riding the bike tomorrow. Good luck to everyone riding three countries or the sportive in Anglesey!

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