A second Epic Events event in as many weeks! Usually I am not a big fan of paying good money to run around a hill I run around anyway, but I am increasingly aware that I am going to be running the Lakeland 50 in to the night and I am not always the best at being in the dark. So this event was a good excuse to get out and run in the dark without my usual blacksheep buddies.
I first did this event five years ago when I was first getting in to head torch running. It was probably my second season of headtorch runs, having done a tiny bit the winter before, and I had ended up buying a really good head torch as I was loving it and there was a SIZEABLE discount on the Petzl Nao+. Petzl make good headtorches, and the Nao+ is often seen adorning the heads of pro runners at events like UTMB or the Spine. The interchangeable battery pack is sturdy but not bulky, and the straps hold it over your head, not just round it so it doesn't fall in your eyes. It has various different settings and a good whack of lumens. But all this comes at quite a price (if bought full price). I'll let you look it up. What I am saying is, it is an investment. And that was fine for me at the time with about 50% off, but not everyone can afford it. It just depends on what you want to do with it. I lead people running in the night and want to be able to run ultras with my torch. My partner steals it for mountaineering. If you just want to plod around your local woods or even on the street, it is probably a bit overkill. Many of my club mates have the Alpkit Quark which is a very good torch for the money, and Fenix have good some great ones on the market. What I will say though is think about ability to charge it (constantly buying AAA batteries is tedious) and get some lumens. A camping head torch on the winter trails is going to mean you go slower and you are struggling and squinting more. On one club outing at the edge of the Peaks, I put my head torch on a lady who was running much steadier than the rest of our group and suddenly she was at the front as she had more confidence and ability with the better light.
So returning to the event: Petzl Rivington Nightrunner is one of two night runs held by Epic Events (the other one is at Delamere) and the theme is UFOs due to the proliferation of reports out of the West Pennine Moors. When I did the event before, my knowledge of Rivington is not what it is now and it encouraged me to discover whole other areas to run there. There was also snow on the ground and in the air and I remember feeling a bit terrified at times. I also took a good dink out of my knee falling over on the cobbles (one of many over the years!)
The event HQ is at Rivington and Blackrod high school but the parking had rapidly filled up so it was on road parking by the time I arrived, which I managed to do without much bother about 400m up the road but one guy near me was getting a bit stressed by it (I mean, it isn't really far is it?!). I walked down to the start and joined the sizeable queue to register. This felt a bit like Delamere where the queue had held up the start but it actually moved much quicker, perhaps because there was only one distance (I missed the kids race). I'd liked that I could donate my t-shirt costs to charity but a lot of people were proudly wearing their luminous tees. I'd got the tee from five years ago on over my fleece midlayer but I suspect that was a bit niche. I'd gone fleece midlayer and tee, fleece leggings, mittens, head buff and neckie for the race, plus trusty mudclaws to grip the slippery slopes. The only required kit had been a waterproof or windproof jacket which seemed a bit light for me but Rivington is very accessible.
I heard none of the pre race briefing as everyone was a bit giddy. The queue for the portaloos was okay but got heavy towards the start time.
They set us off to Star Man by Bowie, an excellent choice. The lady on the mic was doing a fine job but I couldn't really hear her.
The race starts down the school drive, along the bus stops and up the side of the school before narrowing down on to a cobbled and rocky track that I have been up dozens of times. Its a steady climb and by this stage in the race we were all still sufficiently mixed that it felt crowded with some walking and some running this section, all trying to get around each other. I mostly jogged until we reached the gate for the terraced gardens when I had a brief walk to the top of the rise before we started the job down to the Pigeon house car park. I know this trail really well, and it was still kind of crowded. I didn't notice the weather at this stage as I was mostly dodging people.
I think a lot of people were a bit taken aback by the next climb; the old road to the Pigeon house. Its a really rocky, craggy path, with a narrow path running up the side of the main more unstable path in the dip (but only intermittently). I think I did some over taking here but I was mostly walking, with purpose, up the main track, taking the rocks and occasionally bigger step in relatively good stride. As we reached the top I realised how foggy it was, and noticed a few people getting a bit jittery around me. I actually couldn't see the Pigeon house through the fog by the top.
I tried to make a good progress along the track at the top, which is old cobbles. I am not fast on the flat but I don't mind the bobbly bits. I did feel a bit heavy and slow but decided not to worry about it and decided to do my best over to the of Rivington Pike. We hit the left turn towards and things were definitely thinning out crowd wise. I walked jogged up the first few bends of the path to the Pike before realising we were going around, and not over. I was sure it was over last time but oh well, it saved me doing the steep bit and lets be honest, it was so foggy, there was no view. People over took me on the downhill back to the main track but I held my own back on the flatter cobbles and knowing where to cross the bigger puddles.
Very soon after I started on the lower track, the front runners came past heading for the final descent. One of them shouted 'Good luck its fairly mental up there' which I think did not reassure a few of the people around me. It seemed to take a while to get to the left turn up to Two Lads given we couldn't really see any landmarks.
I was slow up Two Lads, given I had been doing reps up it earlier in the week. There was a bit more to-ing and fro-ing and I walked more than I ought to. I think the fog got a bit better again as we got a bit higher, but you couldn't see the ridge from the top. We went up to the road where the visibility seemed to completely fall but the turn up on to the final mound through the now boggy ground. Earlier in the week it had been frozen, and most of the course had been harder under foot. It wasn't worth dodging the bogs given how much you could wonder off course with so little visibility. The cairn finally loomed out the fog and it was time to start the descent.
The descent had taken some casaulties, if not actually in falls but a lot of people losing their nerve completely. I did a reasonable amount of over taking, trying my hardest to remember the fastest and safest line off the hill between the sparse sticks with reflective tape marking the way. I offered encouragement and advice on the line to a lady whose headtorch had died and prayed mine did not do the same. I managed to get the right line off the bottom steep section which was a relief, as I hate the steep descent that has evolved since the pandemic. At the hut cafe, a lady and her daughter were cheering us on. I don't remember if there were people still heading the other way towards the ascent but there can't have been many as I headed back along the main track and its cobbles towards the long descent. I was in a small pack of men and made an effort to keep the pace up here, aware I might lose some places on the long descent to the start.
The marshals were making the final descent clear as, again, it was hard to see the landmarks in the fog. The first part of the descent seemed like dropping in to nothing. All I could see were three yellow jackets slightly ahead of me, and fog. I also had little to give in my legs having run parkrun this morning and given it a decent effort this evening. I used to be so good at descending but I seemed to be off my game and by the time we did the switch back someone had caught up with me and one or two people would pass me before the bottom. Its a decent track, much easier than the fell descent off two lads but this lost me my local knowledge advantage.
Suddenly we popped out the fog and came upon the gate at the bottom and it was time to try and hare it down the road at the side of the school and past the bus stops again. I tried to focus on my form and pumping my arms. Annoyingly I was over taken as I turned in to the school drive but I thought I gave it a strong, well formed finish...until I looked at the event photos! See below! A fat shuffly mess!
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