Nobles Park

I had planned to run in the Western 10 this morning. However, some niggles during the week along with a general assessment that I was not quite fit enough to race flat out over 10 miles made me change my mind. Instead I ran to Nobles Park for a look over conditions before next week’s race.

Despite the recent rain it was not as muddy as I expected it to be. Yes, there is some mud but not some reasonable sections as well. As the park evolves, there has been one of two modifications to the park which may impact on the route. The main one is that there are some barriers at the top of the dog walking area – previously the golf course. These will either need to be opened up or the race route altered slightly.

The struggle on the hills confirmed I had made a good decision not to race. As I ran I reflected that to me Nobles Park is perhaps the spiritual home of cross country running on the Island. It isn’t the best course by any means but has been used for 30-40 years. Some people rate it an “easy course” but there is actually very little flat and with some potentially boggy sections on the golf course, if you find it easy you are not trying!

Two final points on slightly non-cross country related matters. First of all, I was saddened to read in Athletics Weekly about the sudden death of Liverpool Harriers runner Keith Hatton. Many in the Manx Harriers Track and Field team from the 1990’s may well remember him competing. He was a good team man, always running lots of events during the course of an afternoon and clearly had great enthusiasm for running.

Secondly, good luck to Gemma Astin and Tom Richmond who leave the Island this week to compete in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India next week.

This will be my last update for a few days.