Darren at CraggRunner has a sick sense of humour and so it is no surprise that when he resurrected the Windy Hill fell race he made it longer, and finish of about three quarters of a mile up hill. Mind you, we were blessed with much better weather than normal today and its cracking route for winter so we can forgive him (maybe).
Starting and finishing at a pub which doubles as a farm shop, it was pre entry only, and a course that was partially marked (indeed very partially). Usual FRA kit was required along with a map. Three check points with water and haribo. Just under 12 miles. Beautiful. Park on the super fast A road (less beautiful).
I was still pretty tired following the cross country the day before, and indeed, marathon training in general. I had spent my pre race phaffing drinking tea and saying hello to a surprisingly high number of people I knew in attendance. Subsequently I needed a wee within a mile and was super sweaty and caved in to stripping off layers at mile 3. Lesson for life: do pre race admin.
After a short briefing we were off down the bridleway and I took it a bit too slow as everyone was jumbled together. I was chatting to a club mate and toddling down steadily admiring the view of Piethorne reservoir.
By Sam Hartley
This happy state was promptly broken by the first uphill when my friend ran off and my bladder kicked in. It took my 3/4s of a mile to find a wall to hide behind and let enough people past to risk it. In this time I caught up another club mate.
We headed down to the left, veering off the bridleway on to a reasonably made path and then across a rugby club where a number of kids teams were warming up for their matches. After my wall hiding, I was catching a few people through this section and the gentle uphill to go back under the M62 bridge on a well made road and bridleway went well. I continued to go relatively well as we climbed back over the M62 and looked up towards Blackstone Edge. This looming hill has a number of gritstone boulders and pinnacles at the top. It looked a long way up. We joined the Pennine Bridleway most of the way up, then the old Roman Road. Like many Pennine bridleways, the track was not always well made, with intermittent bogs. I could see my club mates ahead of me and thought I might catch them. The cobbly section of footpath wasn't too bad on the way up but as we hit the slabs my two club mates pulled away from me and my race took a turn for the worse. Once we hit the boggier, tussockier part of Blackstone Edge I started to make a meal out of it. I had very much slowed down and was falling away from people in front and the odd person was going past me. As we started to descend back towards the motorway, it was several people. I did see the legend of Otley running that is Antonio though, and was pleased he was out doing his thing at his pace. Long live the older legends.
The bridge across the M62 was the Pennine way one, and thus, iconic. Shortly after I was chatting to a lady from Norfolk whose husband had signed her up and who was very angry with his deceit. I walked a bit more of the ascent of Windy Hill to the mast than necessary, stopped to refill my bottle at the checkpoint and then joined the boggier, very Pennine path and then track across the ridge, up and down. People were very much getting away from me but I tried to get a move on. Large puddles filled the main track despite relatively little rain of late, and I was up on a footpath to the side (all very classically Pennine). I had sort of drifted in ot a gap as I dropped back in to the main bridleway and suddenly fell, smacking my head on the floor.
I stood up pretty quickly (I think) but was pretty dazed. I stood for a good few seconds a bit confused. I must have started moving as by the time someone came behind me I was further down the track. I remember it not being an enjoyable descent back down towards the reservoir and I was not moving fast. The lady behind me talked to me and I was abit more alert by now and we started up the final hill together. It was a long final hill but not entirely unrunnable. Maybe I should have run a bit more as I was a solid 6 minutes behind me club mates I had been chasing (one of whom was at the finish line).
Tea and soup was free for runners, and pasties (vegan or meat) were available from the farm shop. None from Chorlton had won any prizes but we had had a lovely trip out. Low numbers mean I will still get points for the club champs despite my poor second half. I must admit I enjoyed it all the same; the route had the feeling of a journey in the Pennine landscape. Would recommend, but watch out for the last bit of hill!
No comments:
Post a Comment