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Thread: Grindsbrook Circle

  1. #1
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    Grindsbrook Circle

    No details yet on the DPFR website for this new race. But I am intrigued by the statistics on the FRA Calendar: 2625ft of climbing in 5.6 miles. Reps up and down Slowgrind Knoll? But the race title says that it's a circle.
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    Grandmaster IanDarkpeak's Avatar
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    I've seen the proposed route and its a proper DP race route..LOL

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    I had a closer look at the map after my original post, and decide that the route must be the following. From the start at Shaw Wood Farm up to Grindslow Knoll (330 metres of climbing); along to the head of Grindsbrook Clough and east along the edge of the plateau to the head of Golden Clough; down the path to Grindsbrook Booth; up to Grindslow Knoll (350 metres of climbing); back down the way you went up at the start. But that it still 120 metres short of the advertised 800 metres of climbing. The undulations along the edge of the plateau can't account for more than about 30 metres. So where is the remaining 90 metres?

    Quote Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak View Post
    I've seen the proposed route and its a proper DP race route..LOL
    Ah, a proper DP race route. If we take the average depth of a grough on Kinder as 3 metres, they are taking us in and out of 30 groughs.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
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    Senior Member RichK's Avatar
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    I'm sure Ian Fitz will be along to confirm, but this race was trialled last year as "Bogfest". I was disappointed to miss it but I remember thinking what a hard route.

    It sounds like this new race is just based on last years so I don't know how much the route will change, but here's a map. It was listed as 7Km / 450m [4.3m / 1476ft]

    https://www.dpfr.org.uk/uploads/page...20Mark%202.pdf

    Comparing with your guessed route it could be that it does go up the Knoll twice - would that nasty "short cut" from 5 to 6 account for the missing ascent?
    Last edited by RichK; 14-08-2018 at 04:12 PM.

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    Senior Member fellgazelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RichK View Post
    I'm sure Ian Fitz will be along to confirm, but this race was trialled last year as "Bogfest". I was disappointed to miss it but I remember thinking what a hard route.

    It sounds like this new race is just based on last years so I don't know how much the route will change, but here's a map. It was listed as 7Km / 450m [4.3m / 1476ft]

    https://www.dpfr.org.uk/uploads/page...20Mark%202.pdf

    Comparing with your guessed route it could be that it does go up the Knoll twice - would that nasty "short cut" from 5 to 6 account for the missing ascent?
    Isn't this pretty much the reverse of the Edale race with a few minor variations?
    One for the uphill specialists!
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by RichK View Post
    Comparing with your guessed route it could be that it does go up the Knoll twice - would that nasty "short cut" from 5 to 6 account for the missing ascent?
    I had noticed the possibility of a short cut into and out of Grindsbrook Clough, but I had concluded that even DPFR wouldn't do something as daft as that.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  7. #7
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    I see that like last year, the Grindsbrook Circle race is on the FRA calendar, but no details on the DPFR website. Does this mean that, once again, the organiser has been unable to get the necessary permissions? Given what we have been reading abut Peak District races this year, it would be a major achievement if he does get the permissions.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  8. #8
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    Still nothing on the DPFR website, but I emailed the RO (Ian Fitzpatrick) and he assures me that the race is on, as described on the FRA fixture list. It's nice to have a race that is (a) easy to get to by train, and (b) has slopes sufficiently steep that I can walk up them without feeling that I should be running.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  9. #9
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    10 juniors and 18 seniors today, for what must now be the toughest AS race in the Peak District: over 2100 feet of climbing in 6 miles. Devotees of those races on the Long Mynd, where you have to drop into and climb out of steep-sided valleys, would enjoy this one. There are two opportunities to find out how Grind Slow Knoll got its name, and a craggy, heathery, bilberryish descent and climb across Grindsbrook Clough (it's a good job the race wasn't a month earlier, or I would still be out there, stuffing myself with bilberries).

    I arrived early enough to go halfway up the aforementioned knoll to encourage the juniors on the steepest part of their course. Then there was the junior prize giving: everyone got something, including the boy who twisted his ankle and was helped back down by his parents.

    Then it was the seniors, and I seemed to get a bit of a following on some parts of the course, as people realised that I knew how to read a map. There were no marshals on the course until checkpoint 7; the RO clearly trusted us. The only bit I didn't like was the paved parts of the path along the edge of Kinder and down the zigzag path by Golden Clough.

    All in all, a real confidence booster for me after a DNF at my last race: 90 minutes of running today, feeling strong (though not fast) all the way round except for a little tiredness on the last climb.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  10. #10
    Master Travs's Avatar
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    Great stuff Anthony... you’ll be fit and ready for the Long Mynd Valleys in Feb with all those steep climbs!

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