It was a truly grand day out in the sun merry, you would have enjoyed it. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylegs
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It was a truly grand day out in the sun merry, you would have enjoyed it. :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylegs
I was going to do it, Mrs Crumbly tipped me off about it, but had to take my Mum to the bus station to go on her hols, left me no time to get there, i'll enjoy my run today up round Stoodley Pike;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Have a good run Steve. I love Stoodley Pike area of Calderdale. Looks like being another nice day today :)Quote:
Originally Posted by merrylegs
It was a very nice track;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Grouse
It was.:D
That was a lovely day out in the Peaks :D It was great to meet Duff and Derby Tup, thanks for your company. Some photos:
http://gvs.minuteboard.com/images/000/008/853
Happy runners on the way to Druid's Stone, above Edale.
http://gvs.minuteboard.com/images/000/008/856
On reaching the checkpoint near Ladybower we were devastated to discover that the ice cream van had gone home early.
http://gvs.minuteboard.com/images/000/008/857
Into the pretty woods just after Padley Gorge (I thought it was just my vision that was blurred at this point, turns out I'd sweated into the camera).
http://gvs.minuteboard.com/images/000/008/858
The home stretch, looking down on Bradwell. Hope cement works has never looked so attractive.
Hmm, a lot of missed checkpoints, by people finishing quite high up as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
I'm not saying this for personal gain, as is wasn't a race I'd targetted, I entered last minute when Safety Pin started this thread having forgotten all about it. My aim was a nice long day out in the countryside I love, where I do most of my fell running and walking, not for time or position, and I had the grand day out I wanted.
But, if I'd been doing the Vasque series this year I think I'd be a little irritated since time in relation to the winner counts. Looking at the splits and talking to others at the end, a lot of people (including the winners - and me) missed the checkpoint before the final climb onto Stanage Edge and retraced their steps - there's splits around 30 minutes instead of about 20.
I know it's supposed to be a running event rather than orienteering, and I'm sure everyone went along that track and passed within a few metres of it and didn't intentionally miss it, but the fact is some people decided to go back to get it, others didn't and gained an advantage. A few other checkpoints, there's a similar story, that tree by the tunnel for instance, some people will have spent longer looking that others.
Having been on the receiving end of a disqualification before for missing a dibber point on another event, I do think that would have been unnecessarily harsh. But maybe a time penalty should have been added?
Or am I just being a misery? :eek:
A bike ride out to watch the Newark Half Marathon this morning was a bit of a contrast to yesterday :)
I do a lot of LDWA challenge events and don't think 18 dibber points fitted into the format well tbh. Not so bad when running at 'social pace' in a group I suppose but must have been a bit fraught at the sharp end :eek:
The sharp end was a social group to Lose Hill at least :) It just got smaller and smaller afterwards.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
18 was a lot, and they weren't all as obvious as I'd have liked. Putting them on gates/stiles you have to pass through is fine. Putting them on fence posts when you are running up a road didn't feel right. Or reaching over a bridge - fun to do with a load of bemused walkers watching you, but it didn't seem to fit with what I'm used to for an ultra.
Due to my stupidity, I managed to miss both 13 and 15 :)
I zoned out on the way to 13, and only woke up as I was heading to Stanedge Pole before I realised my mistake. To be frank, I did not fancy running back 600m and I would have been okay with being disqualified.
#15, I was navigating from the map so foolishly didn't read the control description.
Yet again my pace was 86% of the winner's, so no change to my Vasque score.
Well I really enjoyed it but I feel a bit peeved now because I lost about half an hour looking for controls 9 and 13, and I know it wasn't an orienteering event but I didn't realise that dibbing was optional - I thought that missing a dib meant DQ. :confused:
Seems to me that D&W need to get their house in order regarding dibbing. I had a rant at them a couple of years back at the Hope Moors and Tors race. It was run with dibbers and there was a big notice at the start saying that dibbing was compulsory and missing CPs would result in DQ. They still decided to put people who had missed a checkpoint into the prize list. Not the way to endear yourself to your competitors...Quote:
Originally Posted by Grouse
Cheers, Steve
Enjoyed this event (apart from going spectacularly wrong after Stoke Ford – I blame it on the heat!) Like a few others, I also completely missed CP13 (Stanage) and had to run back quite a way to find it. Many thanks to the organisers and his helpers for a great day out – I hope the event isn’t just a one off but re-appears next year.
Sorry to be a stick-in-the-mud, but it does seem unfair that some people failed to dib at every checkpoint but still appear in the results – 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th positions. Like most people, I struggled to locate a few CPs but made a conscious effort to find and dib at every single one.:mad:
It was good to meet a three forumites that I was aware of - socks, Derby Tup and SteveS. I must have met others as well without realising.
I found this rather challenging. The legs weren't having any of it and I did far more walking than I should have done. My average speed over the full 32 miles was about the same as the previous week on the Lakeland 50! It was a beautiful day, though, and the views were to die for.
I managed to get all the dibber points apart from 13, which I was going to look for as I got to the edge. WRONG. I felt in no fit state to go back and search for it. I was already slow enough and I knew I'd done the whole route, so felt no guilt in carrying on.
I've just uploaded my pictures. What a beautiful day it was. Now I know why Derbyshire is my favourite county.
The blog will get updated in due course (I'll let you know.... ;)
Whilst I did enjoy this event, it's only right and proper to admit I found it proper 'ard.
First long run after a tendon injury that's been troublesome since the Fellsman, to add injury to injury I also managed to break a bone in my toe on the way up to Stanage due to a unplanned toe/rock interface in a deep puddle. Oh joy!
Thanks to Muddy, Derby Tup, and various others for dragging through the last ten miles when it would have been easy to pack it all in and catch a bus back to Bradwell.
I think I got all the checkpoints, and because a) I'm not going to win anything anyway and b) series points are based on times not positions, I'm not that fussed that people didn't get DNF'd. Have to agree that some of the CPs were bloody difficult to find/reach.
Nice photos Nick (even the one I took!). Looking forward to the blog.Quote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
Nice photos Nick. Good reminder of a tough but memorable run out. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
Nice photos BritNick. Saw the plane come over and wondered whether it was a lancaster.
Wheels well and truly came off for me on this. Stupidly didn't check my map when got to Parkin Clough and went down the slowish high peak marathon descent straight down. Got down to the bottom nr the yorkshire bridge then realised i'd missed a checkpoint and wasted loads more time going back to find it.
Then when i got to checkpoint 15 I looked all over the place for it, spent bout 30 mins looking for it and still didn't find it. Assumed I was disqualified at that point and consequently didn't bother doing any more dibbing then.
Good to go around lots of paths i'd not been on before though. Will look at my map more next time and not assume i know the route.
Good to see some forumites out and about.
Duff, it's great to put a name to the face, even if it's not your real one (name, that is). You take a good picture ;)
safetypin, sorry about your navigational and injury woes. Good on you for finishing anyway.
Unusually for me, because of the nature of this event I navigated the whole thing by map, with a bit of route description to get me to dibbers and down the lanes to the finish. I managed to keep on route. It only works if I set out conditioned to navigate by map, though.
How else do you navigate - by smell?:D I was with a guy over Back Tor and Win Hill who didn't have a map and told me he had committed it to memory - seemed to work, he didn't make the mistakes I did!
Yes, I lost my map and descriptions somewhere between Druid stone and Back Tor. Living in Bradwell, I had kind of mentally placed the checkpoints and descriptions - still went past CP13 though - familiarity breeds... complacency maybe?
My first ultra, couldn't not do it, starting 50m from my front door. Boy was it hard running past the house another 400m to the finish - could have stopped right there.
Great route, dibbing stations worked in keeping us all on the route the organiser had agreed with 'the powers that be' but the Dark and White 'Trailquest' pedigree was evident.
Two days on, legs are recovering and I'm hoping this will be part of the series again next year, and it may be my second ultra!
Was that you who I was with going up to Back Tor then - do you run for Dark Peak? - you said you had done a rce in S Wales where one of our lot (Pennine) won?
aye Grouse,
I do run with DPFR but I haven't been to wales for a bit.
Not good at looking after maps us dark peakers... Must have been another.
Would have been nice to meet you. Maybe next time...
Tee Hee. Telepathy. I close fingers and thumbs, close my eyes and hum and it usually comes to me. Smell, hum - you weren't far off. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Grouse
Seriously, since most of my events are LDWA-style, I use the route description and carry the map as a back-up and rarely have to refer to it. I should navigate by map more because it gives a much better picture of where you are in the countryside, rather than where you are on your particular piece of trail. Maps only fall short in the fiddly navigation around towns (I'm thinking Calderdale), so rather than having to chop and change I stick with the one that works in all cases (usually).
The web site for this seems to indicate the route is not issed until the day - when you register. Can anyone PM me a copy of the route from last year (assuming it is the same route). Thanks.
Would grid refs and route description do, MM?
S/F 174817 (start is down the road a bit, s/w of event centre)
Down the road(B6049)then right on track past cement works (heading nw)towrds Pindale
CP
1. track(?)(sorry can't find control descriptions)162824
Continue on track SW above Pindale past Hollandtwine mine to Junction with Limestone Way to:
2. 135813
Head NE To Castleton
3. 151827
Follow Hollowford Road NW out od Castleton over Hollins Cross through Edale to Grindsbrook
4. 123862
Up to the nab and track below Ringing Roger to Druid's Stone
5. 135875
Down Lady Boothe Brook, Nether Booth, over railway, Backtor Bridge, onto ridge towards Lose Hill
6. 152853
Lose Hill, down towards Lose Hill Farm (SE) to
7. 172839
Head East over Railway, Birchfield Park, Fairfield Farm, Aston, then at Aston Hall left turn (to head NE) to Track junction at Thornhill Carrs (very easy to miss - lost loads of time here!)
8. 193845
Continue N over Parkin VClough to
9. 196859
Head SE then over dam to
10. 202854 down A6013 then left onto New Road to
11. 206844
Continue on New Road to
12. 215839
Continue on road up to junction with Stanage Edge path to
13.235849 (another tricky one - cp is BEFORE climb!)
Follow edge path to trig point then E to Upper Burbage Bridge
at
14. 261830
then S along Burbage Brook to Burbage Bridge
15. 262807
Follow path along brook (SE) to Bole Hill
16. 250793
through Bole Hill Wood, over railway line the follow path between railway line and B6001 to
17. 234806
back down (S) B6001 past Leadmill then right on road to Hazelford Hall, R onto track past Tor farm (W), follow track to
18. 791795 (junc. of Abney Clough and Bretton Brook)
follow path w along Abney Clough to Abney then turn right after Fold Farm/telephone box. Follow road to junction, turn left, past quarry left on track towards Robin Hood's Cross (I didn't. Oops.)
and follow the track NW into Bradwell and to finish.
I was wondering about this one too...
Thanks Grouse, that's brill :)
Thanks Grouse - that's great, much appreciated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grouse
The route looks quite good Grouse. I have not done a lot round there but it looks a good mix of terrain on the boundary of the dark peak. I will definitely recce it though - just hope they don't change the route otherwise it could be fun :eek:
It is a good route, hope to do it again this year if I can. Made a couple of daft mistakes and lost loads of time just by not paying enough attention slowing down and looking for controls.
Bloody Hell. Took me ages to do that.
Is there a date for this, can't seem to find it
Aug 8 according to www.runfurther.com ;)
Is there food and drink provided at the check points or do you need to carry your own?
It was extremely hot last year so own drinks were a must although there were some on course. Similarily biscuits, choc etc. No food at end apart from tea and more biscuits :(
Will try and do this again this year. Enjoyed it, crossing and linking a lot of known ground in a good long run.
Anyone fancy running the route before August give me a shout and I'll nip down the road to the start...