Wadsworth Trog

[johnnybike]

Who is up for this one , on Feb 10th. I am targeting the 20 miler again this year and I hope to run a similar time to last year. That would be nice as I will have celebrated my 50th birthday the day before the race.

Last year conditions were very cold with a lot of ice on the ground, however that probably made some of the moorland stretches easier. This year could be tougher if it is soft underfoot

This is one step on the way forward to the 3 Peaks race at the end of April

Thoughts

John

[Graeme]

I'm plannning on doing the half trog, yes I know it's the easy option but I'm how should say slow lazy and unfit. Should be interesting if the clags down.

[Denzil]

Me and Moth are doing it this year again. Last years conditions were ideal if not a little chilly. Like you say, think this years might be a tad wetter. Still a great event. As training for the Wuthering Hike and 3 Peaks its a tester.

And as for that last pull back up to the cricket ground, well thats just sadistic !!!!

[Manhar]

I've sent my entry off.

Touch wood - running Ok at the mo' and hoping to post a better time compared to last year.

Anybody planning a R.e.c.c.i.e ?

[johnnybike]

I might be up for a reccie, maybe one or 2 weeks before. Would be an excellent training run. Maybe if we could do say the last 13-14 miles to save a bit of time. Some sort of circular.

I will not be running round the cricket pitch at the end

[Hamertime]

Having my first crack at this run, know loads of people who have raced it, not one of them has a good word to say about it, but they keep going back each year.

For me it's training for the 3 peaks.

[Bob]

(Un)fortunately, I happen to be in Chamonix that weekend. What a pity

As others have said, the hardest part on the full trog is that part of it shared with the Half. If the clag is down then from Cock Hill to High Brown Knoll and the first part of the section from there to just after the air shafts can be tricky. Definitely worth recceing and getting your bearings sorted out.

[goose fat]

I decided to recce this yesterday and have a few questions about the route.

I was fine with everything on the west side of the A6033 (wadsworth moor) but I was wondering wether I got the lines right on the other, east, side (Oxenhope Moor, Midgley Moor).

The problem areas were:-

1) CP2 to CP3 I just followed faint trods up Bare Clough (NW) to Catchwater Drain and followed a bearing to CP3.....no paths, very rough going.

2)CP3 to CP4. Do people run along the road from CP3 or head down Halfpenny Hole Clough and what line do they take back up from CP10 to CP11?

3) CP11 to CP12 just followed a bearing from the bend in the road at 011324 to high Brown Knoll. I was hoping to pick up Black Gate path (shown on the 1:25000 map) but must have crossed it without spotting it. Again very rough and slow going.

4) Got very confused from CP13 to CP14.....are there any flags on the day for this section?

[crowhill]

1) CP2 to CP3 I just followed faint trods up Bare Clough (NW) to Catchwater Drain and followed a bearing to CP3.....no paths, very rough going.

Yes, that's just how it is - there's a path cutting up through bracken in the steep climb from the reservoir. If you waded through the smelly knee deep mud alongside the wall it's straight in front of you. As you said, once you get past the steep climb there's a few faint trods taking you as far as the catchwater drain, Once you cross that drain, however, then you're "up to your buttocks in tussocks" - just head for the fence corner. If there is a path through that lot, then its the best kept secret in Yorkshire!

2)CP3 to CP4. Do people run along the road from CP3 or head down Halfpenny Hole Clough and what line do they take back up from CP10 to CP11?

It's straight across the road from the stile at Cock Hill - and through the gate (that says "no dogs") into Halfpenny Hole Clough. You go down the track for half a mile or so and come off it on your left to cross a narrow stream in the valley. From there, its fairly obvious as way marker posts take you down to the barn. You come back from CP10 to CP11 by running on the road to the barn, before turning up and returning the opposite way you came from CP3 to CP4.

3) CP11 to CP12 just followed a bearing from the bend in the road at 011324 to high Brown Knoll. I was hoping to pick up Black Gate path (shown on the 1:25000 map) but must have crossed it without spotting it. Again very rough and slow going.

You were correct to run to the road bend, before heading off on the bearing. Again most of it is rough going, though there is a trod that's a lot easier to find if you run it in reverse (i.e. head out from HBK to Cock Hill) - but it does just run out and you're back into rough ground; I've never managed to find it coming the proper way on the few occasions I've come back that way.

4) Got very confused from CP13 to CP14.....are there any flags on the day for this section?

Yes, I think there are - when you emerge from the side of the golf course, there's marshalls and flags directing you down to WoodEnd Bridge.

Hope that helps

[mapper]

............now I know why it's called 'The Trog'.

Good luck Goose Fat !