{"id":3726,"date":"2018-01-18T22:32:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T22:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/?p=3726"},"modified":"2018-01-18T22:32:15","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T22:32:15","slug":"cannock-chase-trig-point-race-and-the-red-dibber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/?p=3726","title":{"rendered":"Cannock Chase Trig Point Race and the Red Dibber!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tMillford Cricket Club was the meeting place for my next adventure in racing by taking part in a cross country navigation race.\u00a0 This one was a 17.2mile event in my case or could be longer\/shorter depending on your route\u00a0 and organised by Mercia Fell Runners.\u00a0 FRA (Fell Runners Association) rules were applied to the race meaning you had to carry mandatory kit (waterproof top and trousers, hat, gloves, compass) and gives you an idea of the type of race and competitors lining up at registration.\u00a0 After paying the entry fee, collecting your number, your are then presented with a red dibber! A vital piece of kit for proving you have been to the set points in the correct order, anything other than this order or not making cut of times at certain check points means you will be asked to leave the race.\u00a0 The dibber is an electronic dongle that attaches to your finger by elastic, when you reach a checkpoint insert your red dibber into the checker wait for a quick flash and a beep and all is done and logged.
\nOff to the start at Millford common, noticing that I am the only one carrying a map case, taking a bearing and working out which path to take.\u00a0 I must stick out like a sore thumb, only thing missing is the Sat Phone and flashing beacon on my head in case I get lost.\u00a0 Too late to worry as we are off, at least in the directional I wanted to go, but some are veering off to the left up over the hill, do I follow them or stick to my route with the bulk of the others? Stick to the route, over the stepping stones then wind up and round, chatting to people as I go.\u00a0 Not running flat out but trying to find a steady pace, check the map on the move, look where people are going up ahead, this is the right way.\u00a0 The first Trig point appears by the rifle range as planned, time to insert the dibber. Flash, beep and the marshal records your number, check map and off heading south towards the railway crossing and the first timed cut off point.
\nThrough the 60min check point with 7 mins to spare, I follow the pack this time as we cut through the forest.\u00a0 Then its uphill and a steep one it is all the way to Castle Ring at the most southerly point of the Chase. \u00a0\u00a0Dibber done, then all the way back down and uphill again to the road.\u00a0 Keep going up to the next Trig point at Stile Cop passing a few runner on the way.\u00a0 The hill sessions are paying off and over half way! Heading back now but first a long slog up a track to a short road section then on to the last of the trails called Sherbrook Banks.\u00a0 Three miles to go and I up my pace at each mile from 9 \u2013 8 \u2013 7min, catching a few more on the last climb and then we can see the final Trig point called Glacial Boulder. Dibber done, quick selfie and off for the final push as chap blasts past but I just can\u2019t hold on. \u00a0A gradual downhill through a tree covered gulley before it opens up and the finish is in sight.\u00a0 \u2018Don\u2019t forget to check your dibber in\u2019 shouts the marshal as I approach the finish line\u2026\u2026bleep, flash and it\u2019s finished.\u00a0 Not many of us around the finish area but all of us are congratulating one another and grabbing a cup of water. We watch some other faces I recognise from around the course finish and cheer them in. \u00a0Mutual respect amongst runners as a tough mornings run has been conquered and I think maybe the first time an SDRR runner has completed it, but hopefully not the last.
\nA great experience on a chilly morning, the ground was fairly hard underfoot, a lot of hard compacted natural trails, some short road sections so my choice of trails instead of XC shoes was a wise choice.\u00a0 Navigation was minimal as most competitors had done the race before so at times I followed the crowd.\u00a0 Thank you to Mercia Fell Runners for organising an excellent race and giving me some happy memories for years to come.\u00a0 Managed to finish 61st<\/sup> out of 118 finishers in a time of 2:32:42, not too bad for my first attempt.\u00a0 Big thank you to all the marshals, supporters and helpers, cheers and may see you next year! Ade Middleton\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millford Cricket Club was the meeting place for my next adventure in racing by taking part in a cross country navigation race.\u00a0 This one was a 17.2mile event in my case or could be longer\/shorter depending on your route\u00a0 and organised by Mercia Fell Runners.\u00a0 FRA (Fell Runners Association) rules were applied to the raceContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-race-reports","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdrr.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}