You need to be an orienteer to get round Dawley

This picture is taken from the pit mound that dominates the skyline near Dawley's Phoenix school. In days gone by we would run - well, crawl, really - up the hill during cross-country races. Now it has its own Orienteering course round it. Actually it's quite pretty these days. Phoenix Flyer 5km has a long history - well, the name does. It's been part of the Telford Sexarathon series for years now. In the olden days it was a tough challenge round the streets near the school, running flat out while avoiding kids, dogs, dogshit, buses and cars as well as other runners. But eventually, 'elf and safety took charge, and the race moved on to the fields. This coincided with a fall in numbers which has thankfully been reversed now - there must have been a couple of hundred out last night. Good stuff! The race is one small loop of the sports field, then 2 larger loops of the sports field plus 3 adjoining fields. It's reasonably flat and almost entirely grass, and last night it was pretty good going. I started sort of mid-pack and finished sort of mid-pack with 21.07 which is a pb for me in this age group though the distance was a bit dubious, garmins coming up a wee bit short but I suppose it being MT it would normally be slower. Swings and roundabouts. Nice to see the great Jonathon Pierce out & about and he won a spot prize (but couldn't spend it as he was in a hurry). So that's Phoenix. Next up in this series - Shropshire 4 ml. Now it gets serious! In other news: I have had my entry for the Wenlock Marathon accepted. Gulp. In other other news: Dave met up with our chums from Axe Valley Runners and did their handicap run. 27.54 for 3.6 miles. No details yet of how much beer was drunk in celebration..