Crash Bang Wallop

Anyone who has competed in any form of motor sport over a length of time is sure to have had a few dramas along the way, and I'm no exception.  Through my time in rallying I have been in a few "broken" cars and given plenty of work to the mechanics.  While looking back through my little black book of events I thought I'd share some of my bigger dramas.

My first few events only had spins but it was my 7th stage rally back on the 1998 Woodpecker event alongside Chris Hodson in his Mk2 Escort that I found the trees for the first time.  It was only a gentle slide into them (driver side) but we needed a bit of spectator help to get us going.  There was plenty there and a few weeks later I got hold of a video which showed plenty having problems there.

In 1999 the night before the Astra stages an accident meant that I didn't even start the event. This turned out to be the only time I went to hospital through rallying and only after getting home, and my dad took me to get my head cleaned.  I learnt a valuable lesson that night, as rally car seat belts can be a pain to get right so I actually wasn't wearing any as we were only heading a mile up a lane to where we were stopping.  Unfortunately the 205 I was in ended up on its roof and I bashed my head on the roll cage as we nearly came out the car.  From this night on I would at least have the lap belt on.  Still in 99 and the Somerset stages with Richard Sykes saw us going head on into a tree after a bump in a dip threw us off line.  Thankfully it was only a short stage so the stage maximum didn't affect us too much and we went onto win our class having won 11 of the 12 stages, my first class win.

My first full season was the following year with Sykes in the Peugeot cup and we started building up our speed until we got to round four the Red Dragon rally.  We found great pace and were leading going into stage 4, where disaster struck over the flying finish when we crashed heavily into a ditch.  To this day I believe I read the map (no pacenotes back then) right and there should have been more road to slow down between the flying finish  and the bend before the stop line.  At the time the atmosphere between Rich and myself wasn't great and wasn't helped by me undoing my belts and landing on him!!  He soon climbed over me to get out and we were later joined in the ditch by another car.  We got plenty of TV coverage from this as the crew were filming from the main road over looking the finish.

Two events later and heading too fast into a bend while trying to get a good start to the event we rolled four times into the trees and our Peugeot cup season was over.  Thankfully my rally career with Rich didn't end on such a low note, I had two more rallies and both went a lot better.  A 3rd in class on Rally GB that year and a one off Winter cup run out and a win a few years later

2001 and a high speed off with Barry Mayers got us more TV coverage. Lots of water before a square right saw us go straight on up a large mound and land on a wall.  The end of the year and a very unfortunate slide wide into a muddy section meant retirement for Mandy Twynham on the last stage of her first forest event.  A sad way to go out and the marshal who tried to help us wasn't too happy either when I shut the door on his hand.  The next event we did also ended in a ditch and Mandy found that kicking the car doesn't help!

2002 and one of my favourite events the Jim Clark Rally with Alan Doncaster came to an early end when we went off and got our Peugeot stuck on a wire fence.  It took us 20 minutes to cut the wire off that got wrapped around the wheel and brake.  We carried on for a short while and had a huge moment over a big jump which saw us heading backwards into a corner.  All good fun of cause.  The Red Kite rally in 2003 was very icy and twice we went off on the same corner.  I was with Olly Marshall in his 206 and we hit a pile of logs with the rear of the car first time through, then second time we didn't even get to the logs, sliding straight on.  Many others did the same that day as the event video proves and is very entertaining.

The 2003 Scottish rally has to go down as one of the biggest low points.  Two different rallies over two days alongside Stuart Jones in his 206 and we crashed out of both.  The first one was the bigger one when we ended up on our roof in a boggy ditch and had to climb out the back of the car.  The car was fixed overnight including the second front screen after the bonnet had come up the day before and smashed it as well.

Considering the amount of rallies we did together and the speed he had, I don't think we did too bad.  We did destroy a farmers fence in Ulster when we crashed out the rally and got a right telling off from his dad as we hadn't noted the road conditions well.  The following year we rearranged the rear of his dads Mitsubishi Evo 3 when we had a heavy impact with a tree on the Jim Clark rally.  The same year I was also sitting with Robin Bolt in the RERT Peugeot and we retired from the Plains rally with a blown engine.  This wasn't helped by rolling in the first stage.

With Ed Stallard in 2005 in the Mitsubishi challenge and we crashed into a ditch on round 2 and couldn't get out.  On the fourth round we went off over the flying finish but were able to keep going but on round 6 a late call from me lost us loads of time with a broken brake calliper.  We came into a hairpin way to fast and the car wouldn't come round.  This was all my fault, as I just didn't call it in time.

In 2006 alongside Chris Moore in the Fiesta Championship and we nearly threw the championship away on the last round when we went to fast into a corner crashing through to the stage on the other side.  Thankfully we were able to recover and won the championship when our main rival crashed out on the last stage.  My final season in 2007 alongside Elfyn Evans and a huge crash in the Fiesta saw us fly over another Fiesta that was parked up and land upside down in the trees.  It was big and I think it was here that I realised what family and friends go through as we vanished for 3 hours from the results and had no phone signal.  I have a disc with about 24 pics from this one roll.  All in all I think I have had my fair share of accidents and am happy to still be in one piece.

Playing in the mud PECO style

Cross Country is something I don't remember doing at school, but after 6 months of running with Hyde Park Harriers I decided to have ago at the PECO Championship.  This is a 5 round series based around Leeds.  I invested in some trail shoes and had a practise run before round 3 at Bramley Fall Park gave me my first opportunity at an event.

It was just over 5 miles so I knew I had run further but the terrain was going to be completely new.  I'd had scare stories the day before about hills and people passing out, and I did get very nervous that morning.  Due to this I could only manage a piece of toast so not the ideal preparation.  Signing on was at the pub, £3 to enter including food after - bargain.  Down near the start all the different running clubs met up.  The PECO is more for teams with the first 8 men and 5 women scoring points rather than it being timed.  Thankfully there were plenty of Hyde Park Harriers men out so where ever i finished wasn't to be a factor.

A cold and frosty morning for the 11am start, so the mud wasn't too bad.  It was a 3 lap course of which I knew there was a hill on each lap.  Some went to check it out but I thought I'd not scare myself anymore and risk changing my mind.  Soon we were off and I started towards the back, steady climb up the field into the wood where there was a couple of bottle necks where it got narrow.  Soon we came to the hill and even on the first lap I didn't run all the way up, further round a second hill came as quite a surprise.  I was enjoying taking part even though the course was tough, but I didn't enjoy lap two when I was getting lapped by the faster runners, especially in the narrow places.  It was tricky and I was already watching my foot placement, guess I'd better get quicker in future.  It was nice to be getting some encouragement from a couple of the faster Hyde Park runners as they came past and "Go Hyde Park" from people dotted around the course is very welcome. 

Final lap and I was feeling it now and I had to walk in places but the marshals kept you going.  It was a great relief to see the finish and I even managed a little sprint, well it was downhill.  In the end I finished 247th out of 254 men but it was all about the experience.  I learnt a lot from this especially about my preparation as felt quite ill at the finish but soon came round after some food.

 Round 4 saw us at Barnbow Field not far from Cross Gates, and I felt I was going into it with a better frame of mind.  Pasta the night before and porridge in the morning set me up right, plus having my fan club of Tina and Liam along this time made a big difference.  I didn't know the course other then it was to be just one lap and there was a water jump which we were to do on both the way out and on the return.

I felt my running had been going ok the past few weeks after a sports massage on my calf's.  I'd been having issues with my right calf but after a good hour spent working on both I was now running pain free.  There was a good turn out of Hyde Park Harriers again, no pressure on me to up my speed, thankfully on a very pleasant morning as we set off.  The early part of the course was a run round a large field and soon gave us a taste of what was to come, mud, mud and more mud.  The first crossing of the water jump was cleared in front of a decent crowd, all waiting for us to mess it up of cause.  Then soon we came to what I thought was the toughest part of the course, up a long hill between two fields.  The mud here was unbelievable, at times it was hard to stand never mind run and even when running it felt you weren't moving.  I had to walk but I wasn't alone but this section really took it out of you.  Finally we got on to a better surface but even then it was tricky as some one fell in front of me, thankfully without any injury.  I was to fall over twice before the finish and both times were my own fault.  Rather then just running through the worst of the mud I was trying to find a drier line, why as I was already muddy I don't know.  This lead to me, first time, slipping sideways and the second time head first over a stump, thankfully fairly dry in both places. 

Back over the water jump and the long slog back round the field and one last climb, which I must admit to partly walking until I could be seen from the finish. Finally I made it home 194th male out of 198.  What was more important was that both the mens and ladies teams had a storming day winning their divisions.  The only thing I hadn't realised was the post event comparing of muddy legs on Facebook! I'd washed mine by then, I may not have won that but I reckon I have the whitest than anyone else ha.

Finally round 5 at Boddington fields and the event organised by my running club - Hyde Park Harriers.  This gave me the chance to see a bit more what is involved in putting on an event like this.  A couple of weeks before I had the pleasure of joining a couple of the organisers for a jog round the fields as they planned the route and it was interesting to listen to what they had to look for and consider in terms of obstacles, areas that the runners had to be kept off and where people could go the wrong way.  Tina and Liam got involved a couple of days before by making a few cakes, a request that went out to all members and made for a really good selection at the finish.

The day of the run and it was an early start, first job was a bit of car park duty, trying to fit all the cars in around the old student accommodation.  It was soon time to get ready and test out the ground, very muddy near the start and finish but thankfully after a few dry days some places seemed ok as we got ready for 2 laps.  The course layout was very interesting with a few long sections with some sections with sharp turns as you zig zag your way round fields.  As always a good turn out for the club so I got asked if I would do sweeper duties, run last and let the marshals know on the second lap that they could now start to tidy up the course.  Almost the same as course closing car really on the rallies and a great excuse for me running slow. 

First lap it felt a little strange, I wouldn't have been too much further up the field but I was holding back, and even so I was still getting cheered on.  The second lap I really started to enjoy it and was able to chat to some of the runners and thank the marshals along the way.  The course was very good and I enjoyed the experience and actually helped more then if I was running for a place.  It had been good to see the work involved, and the event seemed to have been well received and the food after was excellent.  All in all the whole PECO experience has been really good, running as part of the club, wearing the vest and getting the support is something all runners should experience.  I'm never going to be fast but I have definitely found something to replace the buzz I used to get from rallying.  I can't wait to hopefully have ago at all 5 rounds next time round, now  just have to clean my shoes!!

The men finished the event 4th which should keep them in the top division and the ladies had another excellent 1st place winning their division.  Well done to all involved through out the season.

Photos thanks to Nicola Forward, Ian Wilson and Woodentops.