WEDNESDAY 9th JUNE
HOLCOMBE TWO TOWERS
4m/1300ft
HOLCOMBE BROOK, RAMSBOTTOM

Just as I was setting off to warm up for my first appearance at this event, I bumped into the Clayton-le Moors cameraman whom I so wrongly ranted at just a month ago. It was good for me to apologise in person and it turns out he is a really nice chilled out guy (thankfully). He was out with his camera again tonight for this short but pretty tough race which seems to take in every concieveable slope up, down and around the modest heights of Peel Tower and Harcles Hill. A steep climb out of the woods mellows out a little, but continues upwards before reaching Peel Tower and a short spell of good grassy running to Harcles Hill was made all the more difficult by a strong head wind. By this time I had pushed up to fifth. Darren Kay was on one and already descending Harcles when I began the push up it. His clubmate Martyn Bell wasn't far behind him at this point and I accepted that young Rossendale star Joe Johnston was also going to be out of my sights soon enough. Joe's clubmate Gareth Jackson had set off sharpish with Joe but tailed off a bit and so became a dangling carrot some half a minute in front of me that I never gave up on catching until it became too late. Over and down a bit of rough moorland, back up with a short climb on all fours, down again to the bottom of some woods and up again for a slog back to Peel Tower. I seemed to reel Gareth in slightly on the descents but then lose that ground again going up and I resigned to consolidating my position at this point. From Peel Tower we retraced our steps downhill through the woods where the route is taped and zig-zagged like a steep slalom. My momentum sent me towards a large tree trunk which I ended up embracing momentarily. I did get one last flash of that sky blue Rossendale vest through the undergrowth on the final run in but there was not enough time to do anything about it. Not a bad night at the office though all in all.
Time: 36:13   Pos: 5th/80