Mad Dog 10k Southport

www.maddog10k.co.uk
Southport (£24.75 entry)

Thought I would add a review of my favourite 10k of the year, The Southport Mad Dog 10k held in February every year. 2015 will be the 5th running of this popular event, it will be my third; with many more to come



Each year the race has a theme, as you can see this year its Game of Bones (Game of Thrones!!). Each race has a custom logo which is superbly represented on the excellent medal and probably the best T Shirt you will get in any race (I have yet to see anything better!)

 

The main problem I have encountered with running events is the anxiety before the race with getting there, parking up, and getting to the start in time. No such problem here, the organiser have sorted plenty of free parking at a local car park, unfortunately this is not within walking distance (weather wise you probably wouldn't want to anyway), however this is sorted by plenty of free shuttle bus rides to the start (GNR take note FREE!!!) these buses get you to the start in plenty of time to collect your fantastic Tshirt and to prepare for the race by getting a pre race massage. There's a baggage collection area within the school sports hall and some local shops offering some sports goods for sale. Theres a great atmosphere in the hall, its a great place to meet new friends, and its warm (which it usually isn't outside!)

 

 

The organisers give you plenty of warning to get to the start which is only minutes away from the sportshall, and all the locals are out in force to support the 2000 runners at the start of their run. The route takes you along the Coastal road under the famous Southport Pier, loops around the Pleasure Beach, then takes you around the Boating lake and returns back along the Coastal rd back to the Start. There's plenty of support around the course, notably from the local Sea Cadets who turn out in force to marshall the race and offer encouragement and a friendly smile.



 

There's plenty of entertainment around the course with local groups turning out to keep runners motivated from Elvis to an African drumming group which always add a boost to tired runners. Fancy dress is always encouraged as you can see below, with the organisers offering cash prizes for the best fancy dress on the day! You can also win an Ipad by getting at least £10 sponsors, or an ipod by submitting a photo of you in your maddog Tshirt in interesting places.

 

So I finally made it to the end in 2014, after months of injury it wasn't my best result ever, but the atmosphere of the race more than mad up for it, and the goody bag WOW!! you will not get better than this one, full of goodies and the fantastic medal.

 

There's also a fantastic run for younger runners the Crazy pups run which takes place before the main race, a perfect opportunity for your pups to earn a great medal.

 

If your a runner and haven't run this race before, I would highly recommend this one, superb value for money, superb Tshirt and medal, and a fantastic doggy bag. Great support and entertainment around the course, and its a flat PB running course, weather dependant, (last years wind was horrendous).

 

And best of all the organisers do all of this for FREE, everything goes to charity, you cant say better than that!!!

5/5 - a definite must for runners of all abilities

 

see the official video of the event

 

 

 



Silva Cross Trail 2 vs Petzl Zipka plus headtorch

Comparison review of the Petzl Zipka plus and the Silva Cross Trail 2 headtorches.

Petzl Zipka plus rrp £44.95

Silva Cross Trail 2 rrp £99.95

So I decided to take the plunge and enter the Delamere Forrest Night run, a new experience for me, so  I needed to get a headtorch. First up was the Petzl Zipka, which was kindly loaned to me by a friend, initially I thought great, nice and light, looks like its not going to be a distraction. 

So evening comes and of we go for a training run, Ian and I both wearing Petzl, I had Zipka and he had Tikka.

The obvious difference being that the Tikka had headband, whereas the Zipka had unique retractable cord, with a rubberised pad on the back of the torch to give grip.

During the run initially we started along a paved canal path and for this purpose the light output 80lumens was fine the combined light from both was more than sufficient for this purpose. The run then moved onto an offroad track, with mud, puddles and ruts. The run then became a bit more of a challenge with some concentration really needed to miss the biggest puddles, making running somewhat difficult. Also throughout the run I found it difficult to keep the torch where 

I needed it, with a lot of movement around the forehead.

On the night of the Delamere run, I took the decision to wear a cap underneath the torch, this alleviated the problems of moving the torch throughout the run, allowing me to concentrate more o. The tarrain rather than the torch. On the gravel tracks of the forrest all was fine with vision being sufficient, I did struggle with dark wooded areas with rocks and roots, and heavy mud, having to constantly look at my feet, making the running difficult. A lot of the time I relied on the stronger torches of people around me to illuminate the route ahead. A feature of the torch I didnt require was the red led used for map reading, where it is important to remain underected.

Race complete, I'm bit by the bug, next purchase a stronger headtorch, following recomendationsmby my friends on therunningbug.com I went for the Silva Cross Trail 2 with its 250 lumen output.

In the box came the torch, headband, battery compartment, 4 x AA batteries, plus bonus items I wasnt expecting an attachment to add to my cycle handlebars, and an attachment to fasten the torch to a cycle helmet, as well as a belt to attach the battery pack.

On wearing the torch for the first time, I was,impressed how comfortable the torch was, nice,and light, the battery pack attached to the accompanying belt meant the torch was nicely balanced on the head.

I couldnt wait to get out, so Ian was called out again, we avoided the canal and went straight for the mud and rocks. Instantly we were amazed at the light the torch was kicking out. The torch has 4 modes, high (90m), med (60m), low (40m) and wide beam which has a 20m radius, (all modes are combined with the wide beam to give a view ahead and around your feet which feels great, Silva call it intelligent light).

View on wide beam only. (Similar to zipka full power)

View on max power.

On full power the torch can last upto 5hrs, with advertised lifespan of upto 30hrs on minimum, so plenty of power for those 10k/13 miles training runs, I found that that min mode was more than sufficient for the terrain.

The torch has a big power button, easy to use with gloves on, mode is changed with a simple press of the button, light angle is also easily adjusted with a rotating bezel. Upon turning the torch off, there is also a useful battery indicator by way of a green/amber/red led inicating battery percentage remaining.

Comment by Ian at the end of the run was that he now had lumen envy.

So in summary, both are great torches, however, for running on even suraces I would recomend the tikka rather than the zipka as the hearband made the torch feel much steadier on the head, the zipka I think is more of a walking torch, to be used with hats/helmets. but for the serious offroading, on uneven surfaces for me the Cross Trail 2 is perfect, not too expensive but more than capable of doing the job, easy to use, comfortable and efficient.