Stolly's Running Adventures

25th October 2008 - Gisburn Forest Trail Run - about 10 miles and getting on for 850 ft of climb

OS Explore Route

I'd never visited Gisburn Forest before but knew that there were some mountain bike trails there with the longest being about 10 miles. In fact with a forest, the 'biggest in Lancashire', not that far from my doorstep I almost felt guilty that I hadn't given it a go until now. My starting point was Cocklet Hill picnic area (nearest civilisation Tosside) and three cycle routes start from there - pink (5 miles-ish), green (say 7.5) and red, the one I was following. All the routes were clearly marked and easy to follow.

This route as I ran it sort of meanders up the easterly side of the forest to the highest point near Whelpstone Crag before dropping down into a valley beyond and then meandering back more to the west, eventually reaching Stocks Resevoir with Cocklet Hill and the finish a short hop from there.

For much of the first half of the run I was on broad forest trails that, were I actually mountain biking, I might have found a bit dull. Not 'gnarly, radical or extreme' in the slightest in fact and more suited to the Von Stolly family doing synchronised cycling routines whilst singing 'doe a deer, a female deer' and other Sound of Music favourites. All the same as a run it was really nice and enjoyable with a very gradual but consistant climb involved for most of the way to the half way point. The scenery was nice too :)

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/1627/pa250436ue1.jpg

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7302/pa250437ti6.jpg

You can tell that who ever manages this forest that they are keen on mountain bikers though - although the main track was tame thus far, as it reached a disused quarry area there were loads of off road mtb-ing circuits and tracks off to the side including one scull and crossbones marked route through an especially dark part of the forest with all sorts of humps, jumps and obstacles to get over. The scull and crossbones warning was enough to make me want to go back with my bike and give it a go for sure.

After passing by Whelpstone Crag and its trig point (which I stupidly didn't visit not seeing a clear cut path to get up there) the trail becomes more interesting with some steep rocky descents and climbs and more going through of proper and, in places, quite spooky pine forest:

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/183/pa250442on9.jpg

Then it was more of the same, nice easy running through the woods along trails and tracks all the way back - all told a really enjoyable run through some beautiful hilly pine woods. In fact I can't wait to chuff round again, preferably on the first proper snowy morning of the winter. Incidentally this run could easily be started from and finished at the Dog and Partridge in Tosside as the track from there quickly meets up with the cycle route.

Exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes start to finish.

26th October 2008 – Ingleborough from Newby – just short of 7 miles and about 1,850 ft of climb

OS Explore Route

A straight forward up and downer following a completely runnable route. The path is also easy to follow although of course I went off track for a short while soon after hitting the open fell side before side tracking back on course. It was very soggy on the lower slopes and friggin windy up top but, other than that, it was perfect. All told a 51 minute chuff to the summit followed by a 32 minute whiz straight back down the way I came up; 1 hour 23 altogether. Fabulous.

Yet another Stolly self portrait on the summit :rolleyes::

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4779/pa260446rr8.jpg

The view just as I was dropping off the top with a wind blown Little Ingleborough before me:

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6339/pa260447ym3.jpg

Oh and Big Compass no Withins fell race for me - next 'proper' race is probably the Tour of Pendle :)

Hope to see you at Pendle Stolly, it's in our club h/cap, it may be 4 miles too long for me.

Race #14

So its 7 of the clock this evening, the 29th October. Its frickin' freezing with little wafts of snow in the air and Stolly is parked in a lay-by just outside Ingleton - grid reference SD702731 :rolleyes:. Slowly but surely other cars arrive and shut off their engines and lights. Darkened occupants can just be made out. Everyone is early but impatient. Stolly imagines that everyone is quietly drumming their fingers on their dash boards between glances at their watches.

Yet more cars still pull up. More drumming of fingers. Then at 7:15 everyone starts to 'light up' and mysterious beings emerge into the cold with glowing bulbs on their foreheads. There must be 40 odd runners in all, quietly milling around, freezing their nuts off (apart from the ladies of course who presumably are freezing their lady equivalents off). A cold wind is blowing. There are no stars and the hillside before us is black as pitch. The odd dog is also wandering about full of energy and keen to get going. But going where?

Then at 7:30 all head torches ignite and the mysterious band of hi-viz nutters start running hell for leather into the dark and gloom. And its all bleeding up hill. Stolly starts okay but soon begins to be over taken by pretty much all of the others as the party head up a track beyond which an ever steepening path awaits. The snow starts to get a bit heavier. Stolly can't see anything but the cone of light before him... and his breath is doing its best to obscure that.

Further up now and its getting ridiculously steep and the ground is all sharp sticky out bits, broken rock and rubble. Stolly is still running but you have to wonder why as another runner, walking for fcuks sake, overtakes him with ease. Stolly feels sick and can't get enough oxygen in to be able to breath properly. All his recent comfy solo runs come back to haunt him as he realises that racing is just not the same and bloody well hurts. More runners leave him in their wake and forge on ahead.

Now to add insult to injury some runners are coming down towards him, temporarily blinding him with their bleeding uber powered, search light like torches on their heads. Stolly is almost coughing up his lungs. Then, thank god, the summit plateau is finally reached and, at long last, running doesn't hurt so much. All the same the sad, lonely and frozen marshall pedantically forces Stolly to run around the trig before commencing the long wished for descent.

Unfortunately the descent is a nightmare; its all steep and rocky steps and the sticky out boulders are clawing at Stolly's feet and trying to trip him over. A couple of runners who presumably run with some kind of sonar choose to overtake Stolly just to rub salt into the wound. After a while though things get easier and/or Stolly gets more confident. Stolly is flying now and thankfully there's no more being over taken. There's still a way to go but its all down hill and its all fast and (compared to going up) easy.

Finally the finish line comes into view and Stolly zooms down the final grassy path and clocks in at 67 minutes and 42 seconds; two minutes or so faster than he had been predicting. Many of the other runners have already gone to the pub :(.

Stolly collects his breath and finally starts to feel okay and realises that he just really enjoyed that run up to the top of Ingleborough and back, in the dark, in the cold, in the wind and in the snow.

Stolly then quietly wanders off into the gloom, gets into his car and drives home exhausted but smiling.

5.6 miles and maybe 1900 feet of ascent.

Race Route and results

1st November 2008 – Fountains Fell Loop – 9.25 miles and around 1,500 ft of ascent

OS Explore Route

Like a bobble-hatted train spotter, beardy bird watcher or spotty pokemon playing herbert, over the last couple of years I’ve been gradually trying to 'collect them all' by running all the hills, peaks, ridges, beauty spots and whatevers that appear on the southern and western Yorkshire Dales ordnance survey map. So far I’ve <takes deep breath> nabbed:

Beamsley Beacon, Carncliffe Crag, Simon’s Seat, pretty much every inch of the river Wharfe from Bolton Abbey to Grassington, High Bradley Moor, Skipton Moor, Carlton Moor, the disused railway line from Elswick to Skipton, Skipton Woods, Embsay Crag, Embsay Moor, Rylstone Cross, Rylstone Fell, Sharp Haw, Rough Haw and Flasby Fell, Calton Moor, the Dales Way from Grassington to Kettlewell, Hawswick Moor, High Cote Moor, the Monks Path out of Arncliffe, Mastiles Lane, Weets Top, every inch of ground between Malham, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove, Kirkby Fell, Rye Loaf Hill, every blade of grass between Settle, Stainforth, Langcliffe and Malham, Attermire Scar, Warrendale Knotts, Langcliffe Scar, Giggleswick Scar and Smearsett Scar, Feizor Wood, Long Scar and Moughton overlooking Helwith Bridge (where I fcuked up my knee), Pen y Ghent left, right and sideways, Plover Hill, Hull Pot, Black Dubb Moss, Foxup Moor, Littondale, Eller Carr, Langstrothdale, Ingleborough from Horton, Ingleborough from Austwick, Ingleborough from Clapham, Ingle-bleeding-borough from Newby, Ingleborough from Ingleton, Ingleborough from Chapel le Dale, Ingleton Falls, the whole Whernside ridge top to bottom, the top half of Kingsdale and finally…. Great Coum and Dentdale.

Anyway that’s all a very longwinded way of saying that up until yesterday I’d never been up Fountains Fell (to the right of Pen y Ghent if you look down at the map) before and it was starting to get to me. I had planned to do a longer route but didn’t have time and instead drove up through Langcliffe to my starting point, a lay-by at Henside. Its was cold first thing too and especially so given that Henside is already at a height of 1400 ft – mind you that made for less hill to climb on my run.

I planned to run the Fountains Fell ridge south to north, where there is a wall line but no formal path to follow, before hitting the Pennine Way at the very top and circling back eastwards following that before taking another path at Great Hill Scar diagonally straight back to my starting point. Although there was no proper path marked on my map going up Fountains Fell there was a quad bike trail most of the time so it was fairly straight forward…… mind you this electric fence at the trig on the very first peak made for an interesting climb over:

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/7702/pb010458mq7.jpg

Here and there the 'path' completely disappeared too to be replaced by what looked like pretty insurmountable obstacles:

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/2953/pb010462ut8.jpg

Anyway without too much of a fuss I managed to follow all the right walls, didn't electrocute myself, didn't get swallowed by any icey bogs and made it to where the Pennine Way dissects almost the exact top of Fountains Fell, and then began to follow that down the other side. Well actually I thought I was following the Penine Way – there were these wooden marker posts and everything – but I eventually came to the conclusion that I’d actually ‘misplaced’ the Pennine Way and was in fact following the other side of the wall that I’d not long before been running up beside. How the hell do you lose the Pennine Way? Anyway no worries I knew the direction I needed to be going in and eventually crested the ridge, with the low cloud now clearing, and could see the Arncliffe road far below. Somewhere down there is my lost Pennine Way:

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/9046/pb010464ob7.jpg

After a fair amount of trackless cotton grass wading and hacking I finally reappeared on the Pennine Way and followed that all the way down to the Arncliffe Road and Great Hill Scar. Up until this point the whole run had been disappointingly not very muddy - don't get me wrong the whole of Fountains Fell was a mudfest but it had all been unfortunately hardened by the frost. Down here though with the sun out the mud was perfect and the final couple of miles back to my car were both easy running and muddy as hell :D.

1 hour and 39 minutes.

I love that 3rd photo - it's a belter Stolly and really captures the nature of the Dales :)

Stolly, old pudding, Whelpstone Crag is a regular run for the Bowland crew, both winter 'Bat runs' & summer evenings. On the main wagon road, Whelpstone Crag is square to your R.H.S. when you are in a dip. As you continue along the road, climbing out of the dip (just when you are thinking that you've left the crag on your right rear quarter) look for a muddy trod on your RHS that climbs through the plantation with a broken down wall on the left. Once out of the plantation, onto the rough open fell, this trod swings right along the top boundary of the planation to a gate in a wall. Once through the gate, swing left to climb directly up the steep grassy cone of the crag. The trig is one of 18 in Bowland that are over 1,000 feet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wheezing donkey

Stolly, old pudding, Whelpstone Crag is a regular run for the Bowland crew, both winter 'Bat runs' & summer evenings. On the main wagon road, Whelpstone Crag is square to your R.H.S. when you are in a dip. As you continue along the road, climbing out of the dip (just when you are thinking that you've left the crag on your right rear quarter) look for a muddy trod on your RHS that climbs through the plantation with a broken down wall on the left. Once out of the plantation, onto the rough open fell, this trod swings right along the top boundary of the planation to a gate in a wall. Once through the gate, swing left to climb directly up the steep grassy cone of the crag. The trig is one of 18 in Bowland that are over 1,000 feet.

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Thanks for that WD. I think I saw the trod (there was a wooden pole marked in blue too almost hidden by grass). I will of course investigate next time.

Stolly, Trundler has the Whelpstone Crag Bat Run marked in for Thursday 12th February, on the Bowland Bat Planner. If you PM him, he will include you on the mailing list, with all the Bat Run reports and planner updates.;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stolly

w.


For much of the first half of the run I was on broad forest trails that, were I actually mountain biking, I might have found a bit dull. Not 'gnarly, radical or extreme' in the slightest in fact and more suited to the Von Stolly family doing synchronised cycling routines whilst singing 'doe a deer, a female deer' and other Sound of Music favourites.
.

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We went for a family bike ride on your recommendation that it was quite easy. Didn't quite have the Von Trappe moment but enjoyed it.:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stolly

1st November 2008 – Fountains Fell Loop – 9.25 miles and around 1,500 ft of ascent

OS Explore Route

Like a bobble-hatted train spotter, beardy bird watcher or spotty pokemon playing herbert, over the last couple of years I’ve been gradually trying to 'collect them all' by running all the hills, peaks, ridges, beauty spots and whatevers that appear on the southern and western Yorkshire Dales ordnance survey map. So far I’ve <takes deep breath> nabbed:

Beamsley Beacon, Carncliffe Crag, Simon’s Seat, pretty much every inch of the river Wharfe from Bolton Abbey to Grassington, High Bradley Moor, Skipton Moor, Carlton Moor, the disused railway line from Elswick to Skipton, Skipton Woods, Embsay Crag, Embsay Moor, Rylstone Cross, Rylstone Fell, Sharp Haw, Rough Haw and Flasby Fell, Calton Moor, the Dales Way from Grassington to Kettlewell, Hawswick Moor, High Cote Moor, the Monks Path out of Arncliffe, Mastiles Lane, Weets Top, every inch of ground between Malham, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove, Kirkby Fell, Rye Loaf Hill, every blade of grass between Settle, Stainforth, Langcliffe and Malham, Attermire Scar, Warrendale Knotts, Langcliffe Scar, Giggleswick Scar and Smearsett Scar, Feizor Wood, Long Scar and Moughton overlooking Helwith Bridge (where I fcuked up my knee), Pen y Ghent left, right and sideways, Plover Hill, Hull Pot, Black Dubb Moss, Foxup Moor, Littondale, Eller Carr, Langstrothdale, Ingleborough from Horton, Ingleborough from Austwick, Ingleborough from Clapham, Ingle-bleeding-borough from Newby, Ingleborough from Ingleton, Ingleborough from Chapel le Dale, Ingleton Falls, the whole Whernside ridge top to bottom, the top half of Kingsdale and finally…. Great Coum and Dentdale.

.

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Excuse my lack of knowledge of the southern and western Yorkshire Dales, but are you yet to run up any others?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Al Fowler

Excuse my lack of knowledge of the southern and western Yorkshire Dales, but are you yet to run up any others?

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Yep still a few to go :)

8th November 2008 - Settle Hills Fell Race Route - 7.5 miles and 1,750 ft

OS Explore Route or more detailed Race Map

A jolly spiffing run yesterday morning starting straight from my front door on a lovely overcast Autumnal morning. Nothing much to report other than, as usual, the long grassy, tussock filled and ankle death trap riddled, with occasional hidden limestone cracked slabs thrown in for good measure, field at the highest point of the run (just before the turn towards Jubilee Cave) pushed me too far left of the line I needed - it doesn't matter how far right you run here, you always get to the other side too far left!

15 minutes in and the first steep climb behind me looking towards Rye Loaf Hill and Stockdale:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9730/pb080477fw8.jpg

The nightmarishly steep descent off of High Hill was 'fun' as you'd expect but was excellent practise what with Geronimo coming up next Saturday. The view back up having safely got to the bottom - the tiny red spec top left is a walker that kindly ambled into picture just in time to give me some scale:

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6613/pb080481ym4.jpg

Going down the bridleway I turned a corner only for a farmer with a shot gun to shout out a warning - not to me but to half a dozen shotgun toting friends in the field all of whom were facing me locked and loaded! I said "thanks, you saved my life" to the farmer who laughed and said it was a good job I was wearing orange (my windproof)!! A lucky escape or otherwise stolly's running adventures would have come to a premature, although I'm sure much deserved, end :D.

Then I dropped down the sharpish final descent and was just faced with a trot through to the now flat fields with home and Settle in sight:

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7862/pb080486qe9.jpg

1 hour 24.

Race #15

15th November 2008 - The Full Tour of Pendle - 16.8 miles and 4,830 ft up/down

After barely surviving last year's race I was back again this year looking to finish with a little more style and panache and alot less er.... begdraggled trainwreck survivor. I can't find the link anymore to the <cough> 'excellent' CleM race map so have devised my own incomprehensible OS Explore Route. The great thing about this incredibly convoluted route is that, if you get to the end, you've pretty much not left a stone (or bog) on Pendle untouched.

I met many of the usual suspects at the start (Ady, Emmi, Stan, Manhar, Man from Del Monte, Darth, Big Compass, Merrylegs and Mrs Stagger) and slightly worryingly two or three others who I didn't know but recognised me from this running diary - a quick aside on that note; one of my younger daughter's teachers must have read this diary and then (without thinking obviously) only frigging mentioned it to my daughter who, in turn, of course found it all stupidly funny and has since told all sorts of people that I'd prefer to have kept it secret from (my wife for example)!

Anyway back to the race. The weather was pretty much as perfect as could be hoped for at this time of year which gave me a bit of a wardrobe choice dilemma. I froze in the second half of last year's race and it was a bit chilly at the start down in Barley so I chose to run in my orange windproof over a helly. This was a mistake though and a third of the way into the race, sweating like a pig on a stick, I had to take it off and tie it round my waste (and probably ruin it as its now on its third wash trying to remove all the mud stains).

I as is mostly the case on the first climb up to Big End couldn't find the energy or will power to run much beyond the style at Ogden Clough and, with everyone around me also choosing to walk, I was psychologically dragged down to their level and had to walk with them. As nearly everyone can walk up climbs much faster than me this led to mucho being over taken. Once things flattened out a bit nearer the trig I did start running again and managed to get one or two places back by checkpoint one and the turn at the wall. This year due to soil erosion the route had to stick to this wall (although a few Clem runners presumably in the know chose to double back on themselves and follow the main footpath to the style crossing) which made for some fantastic bog hopping and plunging and the first of many falls for me into said bogs.

After a really enjoyable run down to the Nick and the climb over Spence Moor I followed a really good line to the right to be able to zoom down Geronimo into Ogden Clough. About half way down I launched myself into one of Swoops trademark lie on your back slides in a couple of places and one chap following accidentally dislodged a large boulder which proceeded to whiz past my head a matter of centermeters away - he shouted a warning but by the time I'd heard the boulder was zinging past. I then waded through the beck

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8052/img1190tn6.jpg

.. before climbing up onto Ogden Moor and then running the brilliantly fast descent down to checkpoint 5.

Having run last year's race I now knew that there was just the small matter of three humungous back to back climbs - I'd guess 250m up to Mearly Moor and down the other side, 270m up to Stile and down and then the cramp inducing 250m up the sheer side of Big End. It was made a bit more enjoyable as for a little while I was following Daleside up and down and almost slid on top of her in the mudslide at checkpoint 9 but for the most part it wasn't what I'd call enjoyable at all. Finally at the top of Big End I could get my legs moving again into a sort of running gait, grit out some really painful twists of cramp, and once past the marshalls with their little tent on Big End trig, I actually started to pick up speed again. This open moor run now through tufty grass and heather was really quite pleasant compared to the survival horror that I went through last year and before I knew it I was on the main drag at the bottom and passing the resevoir and hitting the finish at 3 hours 25, a couple of minutes behind Daleside. Given that I did 3:23 last year on the face of it this wasn't the result I was looking for but the course was a little longer because of having to stick to the wall at checkpoint one and was massively boggier than last year too.

The soup in the village hall and then the two pints of Pride of Pendle in the pub after that went down a treat. The piece de la resistance though was the huge slab of cake that Emmi gave me in the carpark which I devoured caveman style with dried mud. blood and grime all over my hands. Talking of Emmi, here she is in the beck just after Geronimo:

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/4247/img1241va8.jpg

Anyway a fabulous race and a grand day out.

Could be a couple more pictures to follow

22nd November 2008 - Pen y Ghent and Plover Hill from Horton - 8.5 miles and 1800 ft of climb

OS Explore Route

I have run this route probably 10 times since being able to run again following my knee injury in May. The first time ever was at the end of July when, still pretty much a cripple, I ran it in 1 hour 48. Since then my times have improved to a pb of 1:33 (and 22 seconds) but with many ups and downs along the way. My last outing which I 'chose' not to record on here was 1:37 ish and that was only maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Of course I've been able to explain all my piss poor attempts with a long list of excuses; starting with the knee injury, moving onto the the extreme mud on the ridge, no studds on my Walshes, strong head winds, knackered legs from a run the day before, hangovers, leaves on the track, wrong kind of snow etc etc but the real reason is...... that I just didn't run fast enough.

In recent weeks though I have been finally getting a bit more speed into my legs (although not seemingly at Pendle last weekend :rolleyes:) and have purposely been trying to run shorter and faster routes in my mid week training runs. Added to that I've been on an eat fruit not cake diet and have so far been able to shift half a stone in weight.

Yesterday too the weather conditions were probably as good as they get - the ground on the tops was frozen so the mud run from the Pen y Ghent trig to the top of Plover Hill was solid (ish)..... maybe for the first time in living memory. There was a wind and a nightmare windchill but I was only really exposed to the full brunt off that for maybe half a mile dropping down into Foxup Moor. And I could hammer the descents because I had grip.

Anyway no excuses were available and starting from Horton car park, I set off with serious intent to smash my previous personal best and ended up running the following splits:

Pen y Ghent trig -------------> 34 mins 38 secs
Plover Hill stile ---------------> 49 mins 50 secs
Hull Pot stile -----------------> 1 hour 12 mins 20 secs
Horton car park --------------> 1 hour 26 mins 39 secs

Almost a 7 minute pb and 22 minutes faster than my first pitiful run in late July :cool:

A couple of pictures en route. The first is Fountains Fell viewed from the steep shoulder of Pen y Ghent and the second is Plover Hill from just after the PyG trig.

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/8287/pb220502ig3.jpg

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5365/pb220503yd8.jpg

23rd November 2008 - Malham, Janet's Foss, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove Loop - 9.25 miles and approx 1000 ft up/down

OS Explore Route

This run is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. Although I haven't run it at all so far this year, it is a route that I must have run every other weekend for about 5 years previously and I know it back to front and sideways. As a fell run its really not that testing to be honest and it includes a fair stretch of road to run too (imagine me doing a spit the dog impression here) but it is quite a fast run and regardless of the road and the relatively small climb (mostly up Gordale Scar itself) its really enjoyable.

The route tracks past a series of must see tourist attractions too - Janet's Foss, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove - and the snow and ice this morning made it that much more fun.

Janet's Foss:

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/152/pb230505io6.jpg

Gordale Scar and the lower waterfall from below:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7408/pb230511ra4.jpg

The snowy landscape on the moor above Gordale:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5862/pb230517jz9.jpg

Back down at Malham level the now sunny and non-snowy view of Malham Cove:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6879/pb230520xq9.jpg

Fabulous run and a fantastic morning - 1 hour 29 minutes and 13 seconds.

Stolley - very jealous. That looked gorgeous!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stolly

23rd November 2008 - Malham, Janet's Foss, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove Loop - 9.25 miles and approx 1000 ft up/down

OS Explore Route

This run is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. Although I haven't run it at all so far this year, it is a route that I must have run every other weekend for about 5 years and I know it back to front and sideways. As a fell run its really not that testing to be honest and it includes a fair stretch of road to run too (imagine me doing a spit the dog impression here) but it is quite a fast run and regardless of the road and the relatively small climb (mostly up Gordale Scar itself) its really enjoyable.

The route tracks past a series of must see tourist attractions too - Janet's Foss, Gordale Scar, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove - and the snow and ice this morning made it that much more fun.

Jamet's Foss:

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/152/pb230505io6.jpg

Gordale Scar and the lower waterfall from below:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7408/pb230511ra4.jpg

The snowy landscape on the moor above Gordale:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5862/pb230517jz9.jpg

Back down at Malham level the now sunny and non-snowy view of Mlaham Cove:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6879/pb230520xq9.jpg

Fabulous run and a fantastic morning - 1 hour 29 minutes and 13 seconds.

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Another real Dales' classic route Stolly - made me feel a bit homesick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by socks

Stolly - very jealous. That looked gorgeous!

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Yes it was stunning - one more picture that I couldn't fit in on my previous post. Looking back down into the pit of Gordale Scar from the top of the waterfall:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/1978/pb230514le4.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Another real Dales' classic route Stolly - made me feel a bit homesick

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HOMESICK :confused: thas only been gone 2 days :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ady In Accy

HOMESICK thas only been gone 2 days

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Actually I've only been here for 7hours :o

I always get homesick when I've been drinking ;):p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Actually I've only been here for 7hours

I always get homesick when I've been drinking ;):p

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How can you tell the difference between homesick and i've had too much to drink sick:confused::D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by merrylegs

How can you tell the difference between homesick and i've had too much to drink sick?

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Very difficult Merry - it takes years of expericence of both ;) :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Very difficult Merry - it takes years of expericence of both ;) :p

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TBH i know that, called god on the great white telephone many times:eek:
Used to do it before rugby matches without drinking, and at home games:D

30th November 2008 - Horton, Ingleborough, Park Fell and.... er Selside Loop - 11.75 miles and maybe 2000 ft up/down

OS Explore Route

And what a completely brilliant morning for a fell run. A hard frost, clear skies, snow on the tops and not much of a wind. I'd never before run across from Ingleborough to Park Fell either so it was another ridge line to add to my list.

Setting off and getting up the path towards Ingleborough towards Sulber Nick and I seemed to have the whole mountain to myself - apologies for going all tree huggy but it was an almsot spiritual feeling of complete freedom and of being a small harmless speck in a wonderful wilderness. Things haven't been quite ticketyboo at home recently but running for me is always a massive release from all that crap and today was no exception - the view towards Sulber Nick and Ingleborough going up:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4004/pb300522cf4.jpg

And looking back the other way towards Settle the horizon was a silver haze with Pendle Hill in the far background to the right:

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6448/pb300524nc1.jpg

Once I'd reached the final climb to the top of Ingleborough there was a fair smattering of powdered snow on the ground making for an icey climb up (and down) but the view from the top, looking towards Whernside and ribblehead was unbelievable:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2903/pb300526sg2.jpg

Then it was a case of just heading along the ridge, skirting Simon Fell and aiming for the trig on Park Fell. This was a georgeous snow run now, maybe 2 inches deep in places, and over ground all new to me as well. After reaching the trig, my original intention was to drop down to where the 3 peaks route comes out onto the Horton ~ Ribblehead road and follow that track up to the Pennine Way before following that back to Horton. As usual though I was running 'on memory' with no map and hadn't actually looked at the map for a few days. For some reason I had it in my mind that I needed to vere right at or around the trig and, seeing a path right (albeit a completely unused one with no foot prints at all visible) and ignoring the well used main drag (actually going where I wanted to go), I hacked off that way without thinking! After following the path all the way down more or less, and second guessing the route through a couple of fields lower down, I finally appeared on the road............. but in frigging Selside, nowhere near where I'd intended!

The view back towards Ingleborough from Park Fell before my crap navigational skills kicked in:

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6025/pb300530uc2.jpg

This was a big mistake but rather than back track I decided to cut my losses and run on the road back to Horton, shortening my run by at least 2 or 3 miles and kind of ruining what had been fantastic up to that point. All the same a fabulous run over all and snow for the second week running.

1 hour and 58 minutes start to finish.

6th December 2008 - an intended Settle Loop via Rye Loaf Hill but it all went tits up - about 8 miles and at a guess 1500 ft up/down

On a stunningly beautiful Settle 'alpine' morning with shed loads of snow on the ground I set out to run this route but, instead, ended up running this: OS Explore Route. The run was still fabulous but I sort of inflicted quite bad cuts/grazes to my lower legs on deep ice crusted snow such that I had to retreat and turn what would have been a lovely long run into a shorter (slow and more painful) alternative. Basically running in 12 inch deep icey snow, where nobody else has run before to crunch the snow down, wearing shorts with bare legs, is leg razor cuttingly torturous and I have left a pretty good blood trail in the hills to prove it!

Anyway no need to describe the run particularly; just judge it by the pictures:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9302/pc060540fh0.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/2433/pc060541zd0.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/7889/pc060542mb7.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2214/pc060543km3.jpg

Not quite finished....

Part 2...

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2369/pc060544fv1.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7716/pc060549qm8.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6546/pc060550yz0.jpg

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/5862/pc060559dj5.jpg

A painfully slow 2 hours and 1 minute but very tough conditions to be trying to run in in the first place!

Cracking pictures Stolly:)

Expected to see a bit more red though;)

Hope legs are recovering ok.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Multiterrainer

Cracking pictures Stolly:)

Expected to see a bit more red though;)

Hope legs are recovering ok.

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Doesn't quite do it justice but here's my left leg in action!

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2259/pc060555ax0.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stolly

Doesn't quite do it justice but here's my left leg in action!

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2259/pc060555ax0.jpg

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that's more like it!!!

13th December 2008 - Bolton Bridge, Bolton Abbey, the Strid, Howgill Lane, Simon's Seat and back - 13.25 miles and 1,300 feet up/down

OS Explore Route

Feeling like crap from a 7 hour Christmas 'lunch' on Friday and having to catch the train to Skipton to collect my car, I decided to run away my hangover and the vaguely worrying flashbacks of the day before by zipping over to Bolton Abbey. This circuit is one of my best and most run routes from when I used to live over that way. The car parks weren't yet open at Bolton Abbey which probably saved me a huge wad of cash and instead I parked at Bolton Bridge by the cricket ground, which had the added advantage of making my planned run maybe a mile longer.

The route pretty much follows the river Wharfe for the first six or seven miles with a lot of that being through Strid Woods. After the woods its a long (and yesterday waterlogged) loop up river, crossing Barden Bridge, past the Howgill camp site then steeply up to Simon's Seat, a fast descent back into the Valley of Desolation with some more river side running to finish. Absolutely brilliant.

Five or six times the riverside 'path' became a bit wet - knee deep wet in fact!

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/6025/pc130565is7.jpg

The view towards Appletreewick just before it went all claggy on the way up to Simon's Seat:

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3540/pc130567zm6.jpg

This is more of what I'm used to - running up a boggy rocky path into icey cloud with no mamby pamby trees and rivers in sight:

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/2105/pc130568ip5.jpg

The waterfall in the Valley of Desolation was switched full on yesterday:

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4121/pc130571im0.jpg

A slowish 2 hours 13 but fantastic all the same and it completely de-fugged my head.

Ran along the side of the river on Saturday from Addingham to Bolton Abbey and wet it was, I bet the waterfall looked and sounded good, again nice pics Stolly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Compass

Ran along the side of the river on Saturday from Addingham to Bolton Abbey and wet it was, I bet the waterfall looked and sounded good, again nice pics Stolly.

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Were you wearing Mudclaw 330s Big Compass? Followed your SMNOTS yesterday if you were! ;):D

14th December 2008 - Settle Loop towards Malham and back - 12 miles and 1500 feet up/down

OS Explore Route

I very nearly couldn't be arsed to post this run but, given that my year of keeping this frigging running diary is almost over and that it was another beautiful snow run, I thought it best to in the end. So Sunday morning and straight out my front door I hack up the Pennine Bridleway towards High Hill and the Stockdale Valley beyond:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5941/pc140573dh9.jpg

Once off of the main drag and heading up onto the moor it suddenly dawned on me that there had been fresh snow up here on Saturday night. Here seen after about 40 minutes of running looking back down the Stockdale Valley towards Settle. High Hill is now the distant green snow stained hill in the top right of the picture:

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1203/pc140576gj8.jpg

And the same view but from a bit further up now with plenty of proper snow cover all round. Rye Loaf Hill to the left:

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6353/pc140581uo4.jpg

And finally the sun rising over Kirkby Fell:

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4749/pc140580xj2.jpg

Once up top it was a case of breezing down to the main track that heads back towards Langcliffe, with distant views of a misty Malham Tarn, before hacking back in a wide loop, down through Attermire Scar and then down the steep drop off into Settle and home. Fantastic to have run in snow now for the past 4 weekends on the trot. 2 hours and 3 minutes.

Oh wow, just discovered this running diary by following the link in your signature... lovely pics! :)

You going to do a 2009 diary Stolly?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

You going to do a 2009 diary Stolly?

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Like fcuk am I :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stolly

Like fcuk am I :D

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Like fcuk you are pal! :D

WOW that was a real good read, and LOVED the photos, i really think you need to publish this, whether its in a newsletter or your own magazine, if its only for the family and friends...

Xcellent!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NirvanaBliss

.. if its only for the family and friends...

Xcellent!

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Hehe, the last people on earth I would like to know were reading this would be my family and (non-running) friends.