2017 Percy Pud

Apparently it's nearly 3 weeks since I ran the Percy Pud - how time flies!  I've been busy, and I've not always been in the right head space to write a review.  In a lull amid the pre-Christmas frantic rush though I have found time to put my thoughts on the race into words.

I've been aware of the Percy Pud for a while, being a long standing fixture in Sheffield organised the the Steel City Striders - in fact this year was the 25th anniversary of the first running of the event.  Last year the event was on the first weekend after I had moved back to Sheffield, and starting as it does in Loxley it's practically on my doorstep, just over 2km away.  I ran my first parkrun that weekend but already had a desire to run the Percy Pud, so you could say this marked the culmination of an amazing first year in running.

I'd run the return leg along Loxley Road a few times, as I would often go out along Loxley Valley Trail and back on the road after the slog up Stacey Bank, but one Thursday lunchtime decided to recce the whole route, so ran from my house to the start, did the full course, and then ran all the way back, making it a nice 14km run.  Obviously the roads were open so I was only on the pavement, and there was a lot of wet leaf fall, but it was good to get a feel for the route. I found the outbound Loxely Road stint really hard work as it's uphill and undulating, but then I really enjoyed the road around the back of the reservoir out to The Plough and back despite quite a headwind, and Loxley Road return was the old familiar route.

When I entered I decided I was going to aim for sub 50 minutes, having run 50:01 at my first 10k in May, so submitted an estimated finish time of 49:49.  Come the day of the race I met up with Andy, Liz and Kelly G and we made our way to the start area.  It dawned on me I had to walk a long way down and was surprisingly near the front, positioning myself between the 50 minute and 45 minute pacers. After the usual standing around for a bit a horn sounded and we were off.  I started my watch as we headed under the arch and ran with the pack, jostling for space a little but nowhere near as bad as Amsterdam.

The start was fast, I was happy. I was passing people, I was keeping up with the 45 minute pacer.  This was good, I was really enjoying myself! But still, this first bit was my least favourite and there are 10 of these kilometre things to do so don't get carried away.  I'd been working on my cadence and technique, so I was trying to bear that in mind keeping my pace high while ensuring that I felt my heart rate and breathing were under control and not at the ragged edge. The first KM went quickly in 4:24, the second even faster in 4:16, and I was at the dam wall - the bad bit was done!

I'd noticed on the first leg that not everyone was using the hills - this is Sheffield, surely everyone has had plenty of practice - but this meant that I was overtaking all over the place on the short sharp downhill segments and still absolutely loving it.  OK, settle in for the mid section. Eyes on the prize, don't blow it all early, keep that breathing in check.  We were being encouraged over to the left hand side of the road by now to make space for the returning runners, and the KMs kept falling - 4:24, 4:46, still amazingly good times for me and still WELL on target.  Just after the 4km mark I saw the pace car, followed shortly by a few lone runners before the pack came past.  Tricky hairpin turnaround at the 5km mark, take a gel on board before the water stop, and it's homeward bound.

Not long after turning I heard Andy shouting encouragement as he headed towards the turnaround, and shortly after I spotted Kelly G and Liz, returning the encouragement to them.  Everyone was looking good. My legs were not tiring and the pace was holding high, before I knew it I was at the dam wall and knew that once I had the small climb out the way I could push for the finish.  2km to go and I was beginning to feel it, but I could see the 45 minute pacer in the distance and slowly but surely I was gaining on him.

Drive up the hills, use the downhills for speed, inching ever closer.  With the finish almost in sight I passed him just as he was telling those around him they were well on course to hit 45 minutes, and then the finish line appeared and I could see the clock - gun time was on 44:50 and that was it, I started sprinting for the line. I crossed on a gun time of around 45:03 so was confident I had smashed my target and finished under 45:00. I felt weirdly emotional at this point - happy and yet really close to tears.


I collected my t-shirt and Christmas Pudding, got a drink of water, and headed up to see the others finish.  Andy had already crossed the line by the time I got there, and I saw Kelly G and Liz finish. My Chip Time in the official results came through as 44:31, utterly blown away with that.  Turns out we all had a really good race:

• Me: 44:31
• Andy: 47:17
• Kelly G: 49:43
• Liz: 55:21

And we weren't the only ones - the male and female course records both fell (there was a £1000 prize for each of these) with the Male winner being Andy Heyes in 29:42 and the overall second place finisher was Scottish Olympian Eillish McColgan in 32:23 - breaking her own record from last year and setting the second fastest 10k in the country this year.  The first quickest?  Her performance at Leeds Abbey Dash.  Hmm, seems a fast race... maybe next year?

City Centre Running

Over a Full English Breakfast in the work kitchen one day we were musing what would happen to us if we kept eating this way - my workplace is not averse to the odd cake and even features a donut based scheme to incentivise good information security practice -  and a passing comment was made to starting a work running club.  Given I have discovered running in a big way over the last 8 months I thought this was a great idea and seized the opportunity, and before anyone could wonder what was happening 12:00 on a Tuesday was a fixture in the company calendar.

I wanted this to be accessible to people, and to fit in 1 hour while giving people time to wash, cool down and eat.  Working on the basis of around 30 minutes moving time I decided to look at some 5km routes starting and finishing at our City Centre office.  Inspired by the Outdoor City Run Routes I tried to add some interest to each route taking in the urban green spaces Sheffield is so loved for.

Route 1 - Sheffield Canal and the River Don



My first route is inspired by my good friend Andy, from whom I lay have also borrowed the idea of a work running club.  The combination of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal and the Five Weirs Walk along the River Don is a real bonus for urban running in Sheffield, running as they both do from Sheffield City Centre to Meadowhall (and beyond) with never too much distance between them, and I have used them in runs ranging from 5k to 21k of mostly traffic free running.

For our work runs we start at the top of Fargate, running down the side of Town Hall and across Arundel Gate to the station via Howard Street before turning right, and a short climb up to the tram tracks.  From here it's a blast along to Park Square, and if you get lucky you can race the tram.  From the roundabout you drop down into Victoria Quays, one of the hidden gems of Sheffield and a beautiful place to dream of the relaxed pace of life of a narrowboat.  Along the canal to Cadman Street bridge where a bit more road takes you to the Five Weirs Walk - well in reality a quick blast along Effingham Street before crossing the delightful Cobweb Bridge and dropping past the ever evolving River Don sculptures by 'Dan' before returning to the city centre and a punishing blast up from West Bar to Church Street - I vary this section depending on how cruel I am feeling on the day, it certainly gets noticed by people lulled into a false sense of security by the prolonged flat section :)

Route 2 - Norfolk Park



This route is directly inspired by the City Centre Traffic Free Trails but tweaked to suit an office start/finish.  Following the tram tracks we again cross Park Square, this time in a different direction, before climbing past Park Hill flats through South Street Park up to the Cholera Monument and Clay Wood before crossing into Norfolk Heritage Park.  The relentless climb from Park Square continues all the way up to the top of the park before finally turning the corner and heading downhill to Sheffield College, back along to the station, and then a final kicker of a hill back up Howard Street back to the office - a great place to stretch out the pace...
Route 3 - The Botanical Gardens


This was always designed to be a fast one as it's fairly flat, though it does involve crossing a great many roads so you have to get lucky with traffic.  Up along West Street dodging the lunchtime crowds and crossing over the ring road below the University to continue along Glossop Road, the crowds die out as you hit Brocco Bank and eventually drop into the utterly wonderful Sheffield Botanical Gardens where I like to pick a route at random to make the most of the space before dropping down on to Ecclesall Road and fast back in to town - watch out for the building work at the site of the old Grosvenor Hotel though or (like us) you might find you need to double back on yourself...


Route 4 - Upper Don and the Ponderosa



Picking up the Don where we left it on Route 1 we follow the Upper Don trail to the industrial heritage (and the birthplace of the Sheffield Real Ale revival) of Kelham Island before heading up to the Ponderosa which on the time of our first run was still in full cleanup mode from the weekends Tramlines.  This was a hard climb, possibly because only a few days before I had run 21km from Hillsborough to Attercliffe and back via Don and Canal, before finally reaching Crookes Valley Road and a much needed descent.  Crossing the road we pass the Arts Tower and enter the pedestrianised space of Sheffield University Students' Union before passing the Hicks Building and the famous Johns Van and crossing past the old Henderson's Relish factory and heading back to West Street, through Leopold Square, and back to the office.


We've now run each of these routes at least once, with 2 or three people each week so far generally running at something between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometre - the Botanical Gardens was a fast one as we managed to get our Commercial Director on board, who is a regular runner with eyes on a sub 3 hour marathon.  I'm really happy with how it is gone and am always looking to get more people joining in so will be keeping the pace accessible, faster runs can always happen another time - There are plenty more lunchtimes in a week!  Coming up next I am going to try reversing the routes and see how they fare, then I may have to think of some new twists.