Ilkley .....

..... Incline.

Iv'e had a fairly full evening after work today. After finishing work it was straight home to get changed in to my running kit for this evenings Ilkley Incline race then straight out again. I called for Mr M on the way up to the race, which as the name suggests is held in Ilkley and is an uphill race. At only one mile it's the shortest race I've run but there is 560 foot of climb to make it interesting.

Also racing tonight was fellow blipper Earthdreamer. It's been five years since I last ran the Ilkley incline achieving a time of 9:25 however today my road running legs were a bit slower and I finished in 10:06. Earthdreamer achieved a brilliantly time of 9:29, you can tell he's a fell runner and used to the hills. This photo of Earthdreamer was taken near the finish line on the top of the moor. Mr M was convinced he would be last in the race, but after a great sprint finish he overtook the other two runners who were at the back of the field with him. After seeing everyone cross the finish line I had a jog back down the route to the start with Earthdreamer and I got to briefly meet the effervescent Muddyshoes who was there as a spectator supporting family members who were running.

After stopping to watch the prize giving ( The first prize was a home grown marrow ) I had a run home and then the quickest shower and change to make it out in time for my second event of the evening, meeting up with a few ex work colleagues ( including yet another blipper, Reddleman ) for the twice-monthly pub quiz at Bar Tats. Later on we were joined by Mr M and a few pints were drunk.
As I hadn't eaten since lunch I had a bowl chips ( part of a balanced training diet ). We were on form tonight and our team came third winning us a prize of two tokens for a pint of beer or glass of wine which will no doubt be used at the next quiz night.

As it was good to meet up with him again and he ran such a great race, today's blip is Earthdreamer at the .....


..... Ilkley Incline.


Post script :
There were only three teams in the pub quiz ;-)