Just to add that was the exact route with no detours/navigation errors.;)
Sadly not doing it tomorrow but may well be walking in the area with a couple of friends so will watch out for folk as I cross the road in Timble soon before the end.
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I enjoyed that allot. Great organisation and the food (cakes) at the checkpoints certainly hit the spot. It was my first LDWA event but I will certainly be doing more in the future.
My longest event by a long way so I was very pleased with my 3:24 finish. I felt strong on the run in after Beamsley but it was very difficult to get a proper rhythm going because of all the bogs. Great views coming off the moors from rocking hall with the sun lighting up Bolton Abbey. The rain held off as well.
It’s a very runnable course and was pretty easy to navigate as well.
Really enjoyed it too. Thanks to the organisers and volunteers, especially at the food station at Deerstones where the sausage rolls were greatly appreciated.
Thanks as well to Chris for your company - I really enjoyed running with you - and for lending me your cup at the drink stops. Good luck at VLM next week and at the Fellsman in three weeks.
Deerstones is possibly THE best LDWA checkpoint of any event. Sausage rolls, crisps & lemon drizzle cake.....I could have done with more but thought pulling up a deck chair may be a touch OTT.
Great to meet you too Ben, had a great run round there. Legs tired after Beamsley so had to let you go! No doubt we'll meet again (there's a song there!!). Cheers for the message.
A good day out, really well organised and even stayed dry....ish! I did somehow leave my Trawden AC in the hall, so if anyone picked it up, please let me know, it'd be appreciated!
I know it's about 7 or 8 months till this event, but just looking again at the route description as there were two places this year where I lost ground to one or two runners ahead of me who seemed to go a little off the route. I had thought with this type of event you were supposed to stick to the described route, as opposed to being a simple point to point event with route choice your discretion.
1) at Bolton Abbey, taking the road rather than the footpath that is next to the river in the section described below:
Leave Checkpoint through gate in south enclosure wall then following track for 1.5 miles descending to
junction (GR 093 567). Take RH track down to Bolton Park farm (please shut gates). Continue downhill
on access road to reach Wooden Bridge (do not cross). Turn L on riverside path to gate/stile, turn L to
cross Footbridge or Ford.
2) Around the shooting hut on Denton Moor just before the checkpoint before Timble, taking a route through the woods (reverse section of the start of round hill fell race) rather than over the moorland to the right of the woods (as per final section of round hill fell race).
Anyone got a view on whether it is allowed/acceptable to gain an advantage by making these individual route choices [edit:] on this particular event?
Ben
When you go to the pub do you pour some of the middle bit of your pint away so you could finish it quicker?
I certainly don't! (maybe the chap ahead of me at blubberhouses 25 does.) but then I don't usually go to the pub to see how quickly I can finish my pints. if you want to stretch this tortured analogy though, I would say that I do like to go to different pubs and sample different types of beer, sometimes many pints at a leisurely pace with friends and sometimes just a quick half.
Sampling different types of beer, at a leisurely pace is a good analogy for LDWA challenge events. There's no need to rush or worry about what anyone else is drinking
In the past I had this sort of problem at various points on this very event, and also in the Myrtle Meander. IMO this behaviour is cheating and NOT acceptable. For some people LDWA events are just a relaxed jolly training romp, but for others, walkers included, this may be the key event in their competitive year and their place and time means a lot to them. In my experience, when challenged the culprits never admit that they have cheated. I found it very discouraging but the upside was that I gained an insight into how hard it must be for professional cyclists when they are beaten by known cheats not to give in and do likewise.
However I did think it OK to substitute an off road section for the official route along the main road on the long gone Otley 9 Leagues. The difference was that my loop was if anything slower than the proper one and I can never see the sense in being on a road any longer than necessary.