NWFPAC ‘Michael Page’ Championship 2023 – Race 4: Quarry Bank Trail 10k

Eight of us who managed to bag (or blag) a ticket to what appeared to be the hottest race in town… the Run Northwest Quarry Bank Mill 10km.

Tickets for this year’s event flew off the shelf faster than Glastonbury! So I was surprised when Dave’s attendees email came through, as I was expecting about 4 of us. I was banking (and hoping) on being able to jog around and pick up some nice double-digit points, particularly given I had dragged myself round the Great Manchester Half only 2 days earlier. Given my tired legs and having conducted some extremely brief pre-race due diligence (60s of a YouTube highlight reel of last year’s event) – for the first trail race this year I agreed with Charles that carbons were the way to go.

Upon turning up at the Mill – you could see why it was so popular. A picturesque courtyard start line on a stunning summers evening. There was a nice relaxed and social pre-race atmosphere. Even better when the run director announced the race would be roughly 5.9 miles as opposed to the 10km advertised. My legs were very much grateful, although I had to check with Sian that I had heard correctly, as I had a slight moment of dread thinking he had said 9.9 miles.

The start was very compact and straight up hill. After which though, the course opened up and felt like constant decline for a good a mile or so, luring us into a false sense of security. We also ran alongside one of the airport runways which was cool, although I was too busy looking at the ground watching my step as I was beginning to regret my choice of footwear! A few miles in and I had well and truly lost all NWFPAC companions – it was one of those races I was stuck in no man’s land, in the middle of the pack with no way on gods earth of catching Charlie or Tim.

The course developed and we hit an undulating woodland trail section. Suddenly, a large stairway appeared. We had been warned but I wasn’t expecting it to be so debilitating. The whole field basically stopped and walked up the stairs and the anxiety of time slipping away was unbearable. Then what goes up must come down! With a similar thing happening again as people tried not to break their ankles. At this point I opted for the slope at the side, pining for some 5mm lugs! Thankfully the gamble paid off, I didn’t deck it and I managed to make some temporary headway through the field.

Eventually, my watch hit 5 miles and I knew we didn’t have the full 1.2 to go which was a relief. Eventually I could see the Mill again beyond the trees and it was a nice short sprint to the finish. This race pretty much had it all – trails, road, gravel, stairs, styals, hills – so respectable times posted from the entire group. We were all rewarded with double-digit points for our hard work (and attendance and punctuality). This now makes the Team Championship interesting with the pre-race leaders ‘Rantander’ slipping to 3rd, and Adrian’s inside man at Run Northwest handing ‘Knights that used to say TP’ a championship lead as we hit the halfway mark.