We (3 of us and a dog) did cut throat to snake pass on Saturday, started just before 11 am and didn't see any runner just couple of walkers. On Sunday 2 of us with a dog set off just after 10 am from Edale to Jacobs Ladder to join the route to Yorkshire Bridge. Mam tor to Lose Hill was very busy with walkers/bikers and couple of runners.
What are the checkpoints like with food and water and are the dogs allowed in a race?
Did the HPM a few years ago: the only checkpoints with food and water were those at Moscar and Snake Pass, the latter was a soup kitchen type affair, the others tend to be a couple of students sat in a tent! No idea about taking a dog on the race.
So imagine what it would be like if you had to lay some one down...go 6 man shelterOriginally Posted by BritNick
Ian it was great to see you up there near the Wain Stones. The sun might have been out by then but I was still glad of my full waterproof body cover plus under layers and waterproof socks. I was toasty for most of the time, especially on the move, which wasn't fast by any stretch of the imagination. 18 miles took us 6 hours. It's tough up there. We couldn't find all the right lines in daylight so I dread to think what it'll be like in the dark. I think we need another recce to find all the paths we missed.
We got passed by two other groups - four plus a dog just after Cut Gate (I think I know where that checkpoint should be now) and three plus a dog shortly after that. We saw loads of mountain hares especially on the 1.5-mile off-path crossing, which turned out to be one of the easiest parts of the whole outing.
The only other forumite is Barny. I don't think Dan and Karl are on.
We even got to test out some kit. 4-man emergency bivvies are not that roomy for eating lunch and can be agony with a complaining knee that doesn't like being bent for long.
You do that crossing at dawn on the DP 4 county tops run..i once counted 40+ hares at the same time on that stretch.
Bleaklow Stones to Wainstones took us 21 minutes on Sunday, you can use that as a guide..
3 people and a dog were team Rippon, Simon is famous for doing the trigger double twice!
no dogs after cut gate for certain...the game keepers have had big arguments with walkers and runners. it does say no dogs at all even on a lead on the NT access website.
I was near a group when a shot gun was fired!! it was under control and to heel, out side any nesting restrictions. I've also heard of other instances..best not to risk it.
as bob says only two water stops, Moscar and Snake. 5 to 6 hours for most teams I imagine.
We used to fill up in Abbey brook, not this year, there are springs off route and (depending on route choice) there is a small side stream that's probably drinkable but who can say if it will have water or be frozen on the day.
Quoting Ian Darkpeak: ..."Bleaklow Stones to Wainstones took us 21 minutes on Sunday, you can use that as a guide"....
I have only seen a time of 20 minutes once. A few mid twenties to over an hour is the usual time!
just checked yep 21 minutes, doubt we'll be doing that though in the night though after 6 hours.
Looked back on race times for this leg. I've done it in 30+31 minutes which put us in 3rd fastest in that race.
in 2013 15 teams were sub 30 minutes. was this the year the CP was in the wrong place and was by Bleaklow head. Flippers gang were 5 seconds off sub 20!!!
Does everyone take the route around Howden Edge? Am curious (as don’t know the area very well), looking at the map, seems like you could potentially drop from Outer Edge trig towards Oaken Bank and then head towards Swains Head via Humber Knolls. I appreciate this will add extra climb and the overall distance doesn’t look that different (maybe even fractionally longer according to Tracklogs), but maybe the ground conditions are better?
.... and in 2009, my vets team with an aggregate age of around 240 years, did the fastest time on that section, beating the winning team by a couple of minutes (and also set the lowest ever handicap time of the event).
The Bleaklow head cp wouldn't have made a big difference, the odd minute probably.
Last edited by ydt; 15-02-2016 at 10:11 PM.
Well Mark, I have recced that route along the Derwent and timed it a couple of times. It is about the same timewise. If you look at previous postings you will see comments about this. The main arguments against doing that route are that you will miss out the "best" part of the challenge and you will also go against the spirit of the event, which implies that you should follow the Derwent watershed (more or less!).
Interesting, thanks for the feedback Yiannis. I’m happy to stick with the character building bog-trotting route
I agree with Yiannis that the route up the Derwent is not in the spirit but it is a point to point race and lets you decide. I know many teams have reccied it in the past, mine included but only as a foul weather route as it's more sheltered. I know of teams who have been that way in the race and there is zero benefit on time and then only if you get it just right, make a mistake dropping down or on the climb up(easy to do) and you will lose out.
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