Details are supposed to be on the Mercia site but they are listed as "coming soon".
Details are supposed to be on the Mercia site but they are listed as "coming soon".
Oh, well the route is on the Mercia fell site. You need north as far as Jonathans Hollow, as far West as Boiling Well and as far south as Minton Batch.
Oh Sh*t!!! this is gonna HURT!!!! Just to warn anyone who has not done this before, don't think that just because it is in rural Shropshire it can't bite yer legs.
Last time I did it I was in agony of cramp for the last 40 minutes. I mean just look at the stats...5,000 feet in 11 miles? Thats a bigger cumulative climb than Ben Nevis. This race is a BAST*RD.
Simon Blease
Monmouth
So there I am, all juiced up for this epic and the phone goes. A pal is offering me a ticket for the Wales Ireland game which, of course, is on the same bloody day. What to do? Hmm, can't really turn down a free ticket can I?? Keep the hills warm for me!
Simon Blease
Monmouth
Wheeze - very disappointing, a poor excuse!!
Daz....go on, you know you want to do it!!
Weather update.....very clear skies, so route-finding should be easy. Damn!! Was hoping for low cloud
Tis a very cold morning though with frost still remaining in the shade. Supposed to be as cold tonight so expect frosty bits in the batches and hollows.
Wrong result but a fascinating contest nevertheless. Never mind losing to the Paddies...they are great winners! So, how where my favourite cuddly littlle hillocks of Shropshire??
Simon Blease
Monmouth
It was great! Sun shining, but also some unexpected patches of frozen ground in the shade to catch out the unwary.
I really enjoyed it, thanks Mercia. And somehow those last two climbs up Callow and Yearlet didn't seem so bad as before. I was obviously not trying hard enough!
Nice to meet "invisible" from this forum - I'm resisting the temptation to make a corny joke
Nice to meet you too Stevie.
What a fantastic day for a run. Unfortunately one of our boys tried to get to checkpoint 3 rather too quickly and took a bad fall. Big thanks to all the runners who stopped (there were quite a few) and especially Rick Robson of Mercia who seemed to know what to do with a first aid kit.
He has a suspected broken ankle and wrist and had a night in Shrewsbury Royal.
Thanks Mercia for your prompt action.
And to the runner who didn't take any kit, What clothes would you have put on if you had fallen?
Well done Mercia on naming and shaming him.
Twas a grand day out in the hills Perfect conditions and I was very happy with my time which was at the "if I have a really good run" end of my estimate!
Invisible....sorry I didn't see you at the end I did talk to "Daft as a Brush" heading up Callow who said you weren't running. (I say "talked", more like "gasped"!)
Hope your runner recovers quickly and is back out on the fells soon.
Agree with your comments about the "non-kit" runner! DUHHHH!! I think I passed him at some point.....I honestly thought, with no kit and wearing the clothes he was, he was out for a sunday morning trot on the hills and had just got caught in the middle of the race. There's always one (unfortunately) isn't there!