NWFPAC ‘Michael Page’ Championship 2024 – Race 1: Fletcher Moss Parkrun

The January blues are long behind us, the mornings are getting lighter and that only means one thing – the start of the 2024 North West Finance Professionals Athletics Club Championship is upon us.

First up was a trip to Didsbury for the Fletcher Moss Parkrun.

Those who ran last year (or are an avid reader of Dave’s Monday morning newsletter) will know that this was one of the most popular races of last season with NWFPAC runners taking 4 of the first 6 places.

I had just set off on my warm-up when I was joined by a very enthusiastic runner who continued to offer me a number of marathon tips as we ran down the road together.  This lady, however, was wearing her dressing gown and slippers whilst eating a ‘Bom Bay Bad Boy’ pot noodle with one hand and drinking a can of Carlsberg Special Brew with other – that’s one way to carb up and hydrate before a long run I suppose!

I managed to shake her off and was approaching Fletcher Moss from the path around the Mersey.  However, whilst it was mild for the time of year, it was extremely muddy.  As I tried to side-step a large puddle, my legs went from under me and I ended up face-first in a thornbush desperately trying not to slide any further down the bank into the river!  As I lay there (hoping no one saw), I did think about turning around and going back to bed but knew that Team Rantander were going to need every point possible to retain our title, so got up, dusted myself down and soldiered on covered in mud and scratches!

It was great to see such a good turnout with 21 NWFPAC runners at the start line.  Dave had emailed on Friday night to ask about the best choice of shoe with Josh and Charles confirming that the course was Carbon Approved™.

The first 500m of the race suggested otherwise and that trail shoes would have been a much better option!  A plethora of muddy puddles immediately greeted us, with runners constantly shifting from one side of the path to the other to avoid slipping (or losing a shoe) which did end up causing a few bottlenecks.

Thankfully, the course became drier as we made our way up the first climb, although getting around corners was reminiscent of using “powerslide” on Mario Kart.  After my earlier fall, I was taking corners cautiously.

Stephen Henderson had already disappeared into the distance (inevitably claiming the 20 points), the orange flash of Stephen Grice’s Alphaflys was a constant about 20 meters ahead of me (finishing in a course PB) and I knew Charles was breathing down my neck.  However, the key race was amongst the ladies with Daria, Aisha and Alex all in contention.  In the end, it came down to a sprint finish with Daria (21.49, 19pts) just 4 seconds ahead of Aisha (21.53, 18pts), with Alex close behind in a new course PB (22.30, 17pts) – well done!

There was an even closer battle going on slightly further back in the field with Shaun Little, Rob Dawes, Alex Kelly and Josh Nelson amazingly all separated by just 4 seconds!  I suspect there will be some good races between them as the Championship unfolds.

NWFPAC also had a first official Parkrun tail walker (and tail wagger!) with Claire and her dog enjoying the scenic, tree-lined route in a more relaxed fashion and in much more appropriate footwear – wellies!

After Nicola’s visit to the Parkrun first aider (hope the hand isn’t too sore!) following a stumble (or trip?!  No VAR was available) in the home straight, it was on to the Didsbury Sports Ground for a well-deserved caffeine kick and debrief of the morning’s events.

Next up: Wigan Half.