High Peak Marathon

[stevers]

Good to spend a few hours with Stolly today, Also had a chat with IaiR course was decidedly wet and the visibility was totally zero around Back Tor and MH, There were runners every where. I'm glad I was a local.

Thanks to the thirsty runners today who bought 14 cases of the the 'Ale' making just over £110 for MR funds

You want to watch that beer, Ian. Tastes great, but after a couple of bottles last night I had this nightmare about wading through freezing cold treacle, in the dark, pursued by dozens of people wearing head torches. Bizarre. Must be something to do with the brewing process. What do you think?

STEVERS

[Oscar]

That's not a light....(apologies to Crocodile Dundee)

http://www.dpfr.org.uk/album/2009/HP...-TZ5%20034.php

[IanDarkpeak]

That's not a light....(apologies to Crocodile Dundee)

http://www.dpfr.org.uk/album/2009/HP...-TZ5%20034.php

the other 3 members of my team had these ex range rover headlights on, I hardly needed my petzl at all...

[George]

Oscar - how did you get on?

[Oscar]

I was injured so we drafted in a replacement. They seemed to do fine - less than 1 min slower than last year, so pretty good considering there were two replacements in there.

[KingSnail]

Wow, what a race. Thanks to all of the organisers who put so much effort into making this event a success.

Thanks also to Margery Hill for her endless hospitality keeping us gainfully occupied during those wee early hours in the mist I think I'm going to sign up for a navigation refresher course...

[Denzil]

Thanks for the beer Ian. Could have done with that at at a few of the checkpoints to dull the pain. After popping Ibuprofen for 24 hours once it wears off you suddenly realise that your body is f@@@@d and that you really arent that fit after all !!

Well done to everyone who helped organise and marshall the event and congratulations to everyone who finished it. It is truly a great race, just wish they'd made some reference to the distance on the T-Shirts, just saying its a marathon is misleading and they could be up for breaking 'trade description laws' !!!

[Toreador]

Thanks to the thirsty runners today who bought 14 cases of the the 'Ale' making just over £110 for MR funds

As predicted, it had long gone by the time those of us who really needed it arrived. As indeed had all the food

We started off well, and by the time we got to Moscar there was actually one team who hadn't overtaken us (they passed us at Cut Gate). And it felt quite good on Margery Hill as we overtook 2 teams back, who were obviously lost, they followed us to Cut Gate and promptly passed us again

We were still not far behind several other teams at this point, and we had vague hopes of catching up again after Snake Pass - we'd gone for a slow start hoping to have more energy left for the last section. Unfortunately some rather unpleasant blisters put paid to this, and we were delighted just to finish.

I was pleasantly surprised that it was far drier underfoot and with fewer bogs than expected, based on our recce a few weeks ago, and the Cut Gate to Bleaklow section actually took us less time than it had in the daylight.

I was even more surprised that I found myself enjoying most of it, even without the benefit of hindsight. I may have to find 3 new team members for the next one though!

If anyone lost a head torch somewhere on Howden Edge, I found one and handed it to the organisers at the end.

[steve456]

Huge thanks to the guy we met on kinder who gave us apple pies as we hobbled on. That's pretty much all I can remember, think my mind has blanked out all the pain already

[Muddy]

Big thanks to the organisers for putting on such an excellent event and providing such unfailingly cheery helpful marshalls. My first time but I'll definitely be back, lottery permitting

It was nice to meet IanDP and the team - those headtorches were amazing! When I saw you closing in on us I initially thought 'bit far inland for a lighthouse'.