Granville Colliery/Shropshire 4 miles

description: 4 miles, 2 laps+ round Granville Country Park, Donnington Wood, Telford. A multi-terrain route. time: 28.12 stuff: Granville is close to where I grew up, and also the site of my family's homes at the turn of the 20th Century. Today it's part woods, part reclaimed land, part tidied up and being steadily encroached upon by housing called 'Muxton'. There you go that's the history lesson. it's a lot prettier now than when I was a kid - though nowhere near as much fun! the race: it was a hectic start before the first of 3 climbs up Granville road, which proceeded a long descent down the lane to the Muxton farm/ Shropshire golf club complex, where the race then picked up a trail through the woods back to Granville road. This big loop was done twice, with 3 climbs of the hill in all. My legs, weary from a tough week and a long run at the weekend, gave out on the 3rd climb and as a result I was unable to muster anything other than a feeble challenge on the run-in. But the result does represent progress of sorts and I'm sure there is more to come. Next race in this series is on 27th June at Ironbridge, where by tradition it's either really hot or pouring with rain. Onwards!