Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Well, this has to be one of the best threads going and must take a bit of time to keep updated... good on yer.
After your recommendation, tried the headtorch for the first time this morning (left the house at 6) and did a few miles before it was what you could call light. It's certainly a different view on terrain that you are otherwise familiar with.
Is it just my wonky eyes, or do things look a bit 2 dimensional?
Had a few stumbles, but generally very enjoyable and had Macc Forest (plus the Wildboarclough side of Shutlingsloe) all to myself.
I'd arranged to take next door's black labarador (my usual running partner), and it was a bit weird helping myself to her knowing they were all still in bed. I had arranged it beforehand, but it is still a bit odd.:eek:
Thoroughly recommend it though... the place gradually getting lighter is as beautiful as it is as it gets dark:D
Keep up the log Stolly.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
15th February 2008 - Edale Skyline Recce - 19.5 miles and 3700 ft of Climb
OS Explore Route
So at 9:30 yesterday morning the recce crew of me, Colin, Paul, Linda, Helen and Hilary meet at Mam Nick car park just below the summit of Mam Tor for our Edale Skyline circuit. I'd arrived early and had already driven over the ridge and into the Edale valley, which is really stunning even on an overcast chilly morning.
Although the actual Skyline race starts with an ascent of Ringing Roger out of Edale itself, we were starting at the race half way point at Mam Nick; this provided a nice advantage of starting from pretty high up the ridge. It also meant that we could recce what turned out to be the least navigation friendly part of the course first. I didn't want to damage my pristine Edale lakesrunner map so I just totally depended on the others to get me round; Colin (Swoop) and Hilary in particular seemed to know each rock, track, trod and foible of the route extremely well with the others more than familiar too so I was in safe hands.
I've knocked up a Stolly Map (patent pending) of the route to help me describe where we went:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4918/edalemapxi5.jpg
PM me if you want to buy a copy; I'm sure it will satisfy the race organisers on the day :D.
Sector A - Bog Corner
We started off at Mam Nick running clockwise almost on the ridge line from the off and, to begin with, the path was easy going and straightforward. Beyond Lord's Seat though there is supposedly a short cut and Linda and I set off following a trod which we thought might be it, whilst the others set off in what seemed a huge tangent to our left. They soon disappeared from our view..... as did inevitably the trod we were following. After persevering over tussocky grass and heather in what we guessed was the right direction, our small 'short cut' party decided to cut our losses and find the others which thankfully we managed to do by hacking off to our left.
From here on the ground became incredibly boggy in places; fantastically so in fact. I imagine that in the race itself the field will be quite spread out by this point and, if the bogs are still in fine fettle, all sorts of carnage will ensue. It was here that Helen got stuck in a bog with just Swoop hanging onto to her, a bit like (well not at all like actually) Sylvester Stallone gripping onto the doomed girl at the start of Cliffhanger! Fortunately Swoop's grip held fast and we didn't lose Helen. When we got to the trig at Brown Knoll, the trig point itself was surrounded by a sucking bog although I did make it across to touch it, as you have to with all trig points and cairns.... for it to count :rolleyes:
Sector B
It was still boggy here too but the terrain became more rocky with the paths sometimes easy to follow and at other times not. We looped round, turning into a now biting wind, to the summit of Grindslow Knoll and then cut back on ourselves north to continue following the ridge line. Swoop sniffed out a little short cut here just beyond crossing a small gulley which was well worth knowing and we headed on towards Ringing Roger.
Sector C
After Ringing Roger summit, Helen, Linda and Hilary buggered off down to Edale to eat cake (having only been with us for the lightweights tour) leaving us three men to forge on. The ground here is very broken and slightly down hill making for one or two dodgy moments but nothing to worry about on the bog front. Paul took a nose dive (literally) along here but luckily landed on his head! Actually he cut his top gum pretty badly with some real blood pouring from his mouth but it all added to the fun and occasion. We eventually dropped down from the moorland into pleasant fields, fast running beside a wooded hillside and what had been to this point a tricky route to follow all opened up with some stunning views over the Edale Valley to our right:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1...toedaleen8.jpg
Sector D
A nice run into the wind to the top of Win Hill before dropping down a great descent all the way to the valley floor into Hope with now the biggest climb of the route before us up cleverly named Lose Hill. Once on the top, all that was left to do was a fabulous finish, running the ridge line or just below it all the way to Mam Tor - from the other side of the valley this ridge had looked challenging but in actual fact it was really good going, apart from the face freezing head on wind going up the last half mile onto Mam Tor. Then down to the car park for the finish. 19.5 miles and 4 hours 52. I'm none the wiser as to how fast I will run the race itself - I'm guessing 4 hours 20 as a target - but I'm damn glad I came on the recce as there are just so many places to go wrong, all in the part of the race where you're most likely to be spread out or alone too.
Thanks very much for the company too fellow recce-ers, with speacial thanks to Colin and his incredibly detailed insights to the route.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
16th February 2008 - Settle, Attermire Scar and around the top of Langcliffe Loop - 6 Miles and about 950 ft of Climb
OS Explore Route
Well after Friday's Edale run, my left knee ballooned up and my right achilles ached too and it was frozen pea bags all round on Friday evening. I awoke a couple of times in the night too and both my knee and achilles really hurt trying to stagger down stairs to get a drink. Anyway so long as I didn't run on Saturday they'd be fine............
Accept that Saturday afternoon my bleeding elder daughter turns up, out of the blue, with her running stuff and demands a run! Another troubling sign was that she has been triathlon training alot in the last couple of months and looked set up to try and run me into the ground :( .
The run we went on is my standard Sunday morninger and, sure enough, in the fields crossing over to Brockhole Lane and then on the climb up towards Lodge Farm, Kelly stormed ahead while I was left in the dust, trying vainly to get my legs going. I eventually caught up with her going up the Pennine Bridleway but that may have been her feeling sorry for me, rather than anything else. The climb though had done me good and my legs were starting to feel in working order again despite the aches and pains.
When we reached High Hill Lane, we climbed the gate opposite and followed the path to our right, skirting the right hand flank of High Hill itself and then to the left of a little hillock, Sugar Loaf Hill, before dropping down to the bottom of Attermire Scar. I trounced Kelly on this descent and started to make her now struggle in turn on the track through the scar, up towards Jubilee Cave. We then had a quick breather while I showed her the tourist non-event that is Jubilee Cave before crossing down through the field opposite in the direction of Langcliffe.
From this field on such a lovely sunny day you get the most perfect view of Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside altogether in the one shot. In fact short of standing on the summit of one of them, I don't know of another vantage point where you can see all three on the same horizon. Anyway, enough of that, there was a race on and, again on this descent, I stormed ahead. At the bottom here all that was left to do was traverse around the side of the hill for a mile or so, following the footpath before dropping down into Settle. It was all getting very competitive now but my superior fell shoe grip was winning the day and I added salt to the wound on the descent into Settle. Eat dirt, loser :cool:
Kelly then proceeded to change up a couple of gears on the road and flat, cruise past me and got to the finish at a sprint, with me chugging in a couple of hundred yards behind her :mad:
On the positive side it removed all my aches and pains and my legs feel fine now. 1 hour and 3 minutes on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stolly
From this field on such a lovely sunny day you get the most perfect view of Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside altogether in the one shot. In fact short of standing on the summit of one of them, I don't know of another vantage point where you can see all three on the same horizon.
On a clear day I can see all three nestling beyond Pendle on my regular runs over Bull Hill in Rossendale but my favourite view of them is from the summit of Buckden Pike.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stolly
From this field on such a lovely sunny day you get the most perfect view of Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside altogether in the one shot. In fact short of standing on the summit of one of them, I don't know of another vantage point where you can see all three on the same horizon. .
Coming down off Tatham fell to Bentham gives you (IMO) the best view of the fells all lined up - Casterton, Leck, Gragareth, Whernside, Ingleborough & Pen-Y-Ghent.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ady In Accy
Coming down off Tatham fell to Bentham gives you (IMO) the best view of the fells all lined up - Casterton, Leck, Gragareth, Whernside, Ingleborough & Pen-Y-Ghent.
Yeah thinking about it Ady you'd get fantastic views from that side of the A65; bear with me as I've never run there (yet) and have only driven that way once or twice.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stolly
15th February 2008 - Edale Skyline Recce - 19.5 miles and 3700 ft of Climb
After Ringing Roger summit, Helen, Linda and Hilary buggered off down to Edale to eat cake (having only been with us for the lightweights tour) leaving us three men to forge on.
And mighty fine cake it was too :D :D
Forgot to say I read this thread - normally at work (like now) whilst wishing I was out running. Love the pics :)
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
20th February 2008 - Half Tour of Pendle Bat Run - 9.25 miles and 2250 ft of Climb
OS Explore Route
So tonight 5 of us, including myself, Trundler, Hopey and Wheezing Donkey from the forum and another bod (whoops I've had a temporary memory failure and forgotten his name :o ), set off on a headtorch recce of the Half Tour of Pendle race route. To be honest to call it a recce is misleading in that I won't remember it for the race itself at all...... unless of course its very, very dark on race day. It was a really enjoyable run all the same.
As is usual for me, all of the others were miles more familiar with Pendle than I was, with Trundler and Wheezing Donkey pretty much knowing every rock, bog and tussock.
We set off taking it nice and steady for the first two miles, climbing up the side of Pendle to the trig point above Big End and then on a further 300 yards to our turning point at the wall. We then took a slight detour from the usual race route and followed the wall south westerly rather the boggier and harder to find racing line - our trod was icey in places and, although it wasn't that muddy, Wheezing Donkey kindly located a deepish bog for the team to avoid....by running head long into it :D.
All in all this next four miles were really comfortable going, particularly in a recce 'troupe', with an easyish path to follow and it all being gradually down hill. Trundler as pathfinder here also set a cracking pace for us all to keep up with. We eventually hit the Nick of Pendle and turned easterly down to Churn Clough Resevoir before climbing again up to Spence Moor. Then along the top before reaching the super 400 feet, steep (well almost vertical) descent that we all took nice and sensible in the dark. Three of us got to the bottom well before the other two and it was really weird to look back up the hill and see their headtorch lights gradually coming down the slope towards us.
After that the final mile and a half zoomed by, with a small climb followed by a fast run in through several grassy and/or muddy fields to our finish in Barley. No records set with a total run time of around 2 hours 20 but a really good chilled out run in the dark.
The route profile
I had to dash off at the end, while the others made for the pub, largely because I hadn't accurately communicated with my wife that a) I was going for a run b) that it would be up Pendle and c) that it would take so long. Needless to say I met a Nora Batty version of the Missus when I got home.
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stolly
I had to dash off at the end, while the others made for the pub, largely because I hadn't accurately communicated with my wife that a) I was going for a run b) that it would be up Pendle and c) that it would take so long. Needless to say I met a Nora Batty version of the Missus when I got home.
That cracked me up, genius :D :D
Re: Stolly's Running Adventure
Stolly, No. 5 was Andy Farmer - Fiendsdale Race organiser. My better half made me wash out my 3/4 tights, by hand, before she would allow them in her precious machine. They were totally covered in very wet peat - I went in right up to the waist!:rolleyes:
