Dusk til Dawn Race 25th October (it seemed like a good idea at the time!)

Way back in February or so when I first asked my good friend Nicky to run with me at the 50 mile Dusk til Dawn event the world was a different place. I had just turned 50 and had a great winter training behind me. This event was to be a bit a cummulation of a year of runs to celebrate 50 years.

Roll on to the TR24 event in July and a serious knee injury laid me up for two months, making training hit and miss to say the least. To be honest, any normal minded person would have admitted defeat and asked for a refund! Alas a great training weekend including the Langdale Horseshoe and the Oldham Half marathon gave me a glimmer of hope, even though the knee still remained a pain.

Pulling out was not really an option and a further two longish runs just the week before sealed the decision, I was running.

The days itself (that should really be night) was a really mixed bag of emotions and physical fortitude. We were joined by Nicky's friend Dave, mountain rescue member and previous finisher last year. Dave is an excellent navigator and his skills were tested a few times over the 14+ hours we were on the hills.

The route itself is a circular route from Hope in Derbyshire and takes in large chunks of the Limestone Way as is circles Buxton. 

After the usual pre-race faffing of sorted what kit to wear, carry or dump as a drop bag, we assembled outside the race venue for a quick team selfie and we were off at the appointed time of 6.52pm.

As the title suggests, the race starts  as it goes dark with the aim to finish before sunlight, or risk being snaffled up the Grim Sweeper.

The race starts with a run along the road into nearby Castleton before ascending Lose Hill, before coming right back down to Castleton forming a 5 mile loop. 

Early jostling was soon forgot as we ran in 'clear air' for the next 10 miles or so, catching some who had obviously gone off too fast being caught by the odd well paced runner. 

All was going well til around the 13m point, we were going well and had been running just 2 hours 30 minutes. Then the first sign of trouble that was to plague me for the rest of the race. The troublesome knee was beginning to twinge with another 37 miles and over 10 hours still to go, thoughts turned dark and the thought of dropping out flashed momentarily through my thoughts. 

By Millers Dale, I had no other option than to reach for the pink pills (ibruprofen) the next hour or so as the pill began to work in the mood lifted and despite a navigational faux pas, we hit the food checkpoint at Earl Stendale (21m) in good form with Nicky announced as first lady!

We spent too long in the warmth of the school and as we got going again, we soon had to done cags as the mist and light drizzle swept in. We were now on our way to the Cat & Fiddle pub, high up above Buxton,but the general going underfoot was poor, rutted tracks and hard stony paths made running tough and meant that a number of headlights closed on us. The Cat and Fiddle (28m) was to be our meeting point for Matt, Nicky's lovely husband. It was great to see him for some much welcomed support.

The pub served hot tea and Hot Dog sausages. The body is a fickle thing when running and the heat of the room and  state of nausea meant Dave could not get his Hot Dog down, not to be undefeated to carried it for the next hour or so, nibbling on it while washing it down with water.

From the pub to Shining Tor is around 1.5mi, and is the scene of an ultra that runs 55 times to the Summit and back! Talk about unimaginative!  Why would you?

We were trotting along quite well again and once summited we puled out some time between us and the chasing headlights. At the village of Taxal we were greed again by Matt, offering tea and support.

The next few miles proved to be the toughest so far, big climbs one after another on the road which seemed to go on forever. By checkpoint 9 (38.5m) below Cracken Edge, a numbers of runners had swept by us, but we were still going well ourselves. The pull up Cracken Edge went on longer than you would like, but before the summit we got a good line off towards Chinley and opened up space again on the lights.

Another long pull up Mount Famine was hurting us all and even when we hit the top and had the chance to run, it was mainly walking as the paths remained hard to get good footing. 

The long track up to Rushup Edge went on and on an even though we 'Joggled' we were overtaken by a few. Once on top of the Edge, the end was in sight (well not quite) both Nicky's and my torch where pretty much useless, though it did give us the excuse not to run!. The dark brooding lump of Mam Tor loomed through the mist, we are nearly home! Still time for one last meet up with Matt at the road crossing before the Tor and a welcome swap of headtorch.

Mam Tor was conquered and we were on the home straight, just 2.5m from the finish and mostly downhill! We retraced our steps to Hollins Cross an hit the lane taking back towards Castleton we had come up some 13 hours before.

We hit the road and picked up the pace as we raced for the finish in Hope,once again someone had extended to road as it went on longer than it should.

We ran into the Leisure Centre and stopped the clock at a very respectable 13 hours 20 mins. 

Medals awarded we showered and made the most of the full breakfast (well Nicky and I did, Dave was still feeling queasey)

An excellent event, fantastic company and well worth looking at if you after a challenge next year.



 

Southern Tour of 50@50 is a stunning success

This week saw me take on the most challenging of weeks so far in my plan to run with 50 women to help promote women's health.

Twitter has been a great aid in getting to some really inspirational people and this week I had the privilege of running with 5 different people. Starting in Bedford, I met up with Sarah Roche, a psychiatric nurse with a very interesting story. We ran and talked for over an hour while running along the muddy canal towpath.

                                                                         Sarah Roche

Friday saw a double up of ladies with my work colleague Sinead and her training partner Alex. We talked while attempting some speed reps along Eastbourne sea-front. Sinead, a proud Irish woman uses running to counter the stresses at work, while much traveled Alex initially took up running to get in shape.

                                                                     Alex and Sinead

Saturday took for for a first time to Royal Tunbridge Wells, a lovely place in the sunshine and again I doubled up with Rebekkah Rand and Sarah Russell. Both ladies are extremely inspirational with Sarah having overcome some serious health issues in recent years. Both ladies help with Sarah's Runners, a greenshoot running organisation that has won awards in the last few years. Our run took us around Bewl Res, and though a touch muddy, a really stunning day out.

                                                                        Beks and Sarah

Next week takes me to Crete, though the challenge doesn't stop there, I will be looking to pick up a further 4 runs there.

Howard 50 at 50 Jo Hughes - 4th May

I had the lovely pleasure of running out with not just one, but four lovely ladies this weekend. The ladies all members of my 2nd claim club West End Runners were in the area having run in the Cake Race the previous day. One of their members Jo, a research nurse is one of life's great characters and is effectionately know as 'Mad-Jo' due to her myriad of costumes and even known to wear a little less!! A stunning run around the Castleshaw Valley nr Delph for a 5 mile run on drying out moorland.

                                                       Jo Hughes (Mad-Jo to my right)

Jo and I covered how she got into running, weight loss, her work/life balance and what drives her to improve. An avid park runner and all round lovely person

The Cake Race 3rd May

Once again our Saddleworth Cake race at weekend was a runaway success with 152 runners heading over the East Pennine Moors towards Marsden. This 10 mile fell race (was originally created as a trail race) and is fast running all the way round, bar the one exception of the Cricket Club on the way home.

Another bright sunny day, and although numbers well down on last years record field was just about right for our venue (Diggle Church) The start is a mile and a half up hill over 'Boat Lane' once used to ferry the barge horses over the Standedge Tunnel.

From Standedge, the route joins the Pennine Way and takes the runners over stone flags to Black Moss Res before dropping into the Wessenden Valley and a long hot run down towards Marsden. At just about the furthest point of the course come the dreaded steps, sixty or so steps down, followed swiftly by a cruel return up the reciprocal steps to the toughest part of the course round Marsden Golf Club.

After the Golf course a tough uphill section back onto Mount Rd and Boat Lane on the return home. Once this initial section is out of the way, its a fast mile and a half sprint to the finish...and the cakes.

Well worth a trip Up North if you ever get chance to take in this fantastic race

If Carling organised Road Races…

It think this is the 3^rd time that I’m aware we have chosen the Coniston 14 as a Club Championship Race, and to be honest it could be one every year for me. This is the 33^rd year of its running, bringing in much needed funds for the local community. Pretty much perfect conditions greeted an impressive host of Sadd’s for this our 2^nd Club Counter, the ladies once again making a fair proportion of our team. As routes go, you cannot get much more in the way of stunning views, as the race follows the Lake to the south, undulating as it goes, the return route by the quieter side of the Lake has a few more undulations just when you thought you were nearly home. A great Saddleworth Support contingent were in evidence and much appreciated by our twenty-odd team. Coniston Old Man winks at you for ages as you near the finish, with a run round the top end of the Lakes going on longer than it should.

 

First back (awaiting a Stewards Enquiry ;-) was late entry Shaun Willis, having a storming run placed in 16^th place in this top quality field in 1.28. Chambers, Platt and Gladwin all coming in around 1.37/1.38 made up a strong quartet. (Jon Platt despite this amazing run was only 2^nd V65 by 6 minutes!!)

The ladies had a storming result, finishing 2^nd overall with Helena, Alice, Tanya and Sandrine all running superbly. 

Results: http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/race-results.php?event=1528&page=1

A salutary Tale - Take the right Kit

A salutary tale: Today was the annual Edale Skyline Fell Race running since 1974 and a true bog-trotters classic, a race I have completed some 12 times or so. I took the gear that has stood me in good stead for many years, including waterproof top and bottoms, hat a buff and two pairs of gloves. Enough en-route food and some emergency food and a full bladder...I had even secreted a bottle at Mam Tor. At registration I was refused to run as the bottoms were not taped seamed. Of course I could have done the old trick of borrowing some from somebody else and pretended mine had miraculously turned up!! But rules are rules, had I thought to bring my heavier tape-seemed pair instead of chancing my luck I would have raced no problem. The kit-checker was very apologetic, but I had no qualms, I should have known better, I did not have the full stipulated kit with me and did not take part in the race. As it was I had a great run round while Roy Gardner and Ben Wolstenholme enjoyed mixed conditions on the route, with ample amounts of sunshine, hail and strong freezing winds. Lesson Learned

Chris Martin H, It takes a bigger man to accept the race organisers rules and bow out gracefully. Many a lesser, would have not, and argued the toss and therefore spoilt every ones day. The rules are in place for the safety of competitors and not for rules sake. A great post H, even the most experienced can get it wrong at times. A fine ambassador for our great little club! Just a note to all - FRA rules state 'full waterproof body cover with taped seams and a hood' .

Gareth Evans Agreed, well done Ben & Roy. And credit to you Howard, many of the very experienced runners like yourself would have argued the toss with the organisers instead of using that very experience to appreciate the situation as you did - you may not have run the race but you gave a good account of yourself none the less. Shame so many others don't quite see it that way. Well done

 

Haworth Hobble (and she did ;-/)

Saturday saw the longest run/race for a few years, the 32 mile Haworth Hobble. This is a classic in the fell runners calendar going back some 40 year or so. For many years it was a unique event in that it was pairs only and the best runners from around the North came to pick not only their wits, but also test out their partners! I recent years it has become part of the rapidly growing 'Ultra' scene and is regularly part of the Run Further series of events and is now open to singles too (though many still seem to stick with the traditional set-up)

Once again I was out with Gaynor Keane my friend and clubmate attempting the 24 Bob Graham Round in July this year. I had suggested this run as it's good not just for the miles in the legs, but also the mental building block of going through ups and downs over a number of hours. We last attempted this race in 2012, but were scuppered by Gaynor having stomach issues more or less from two hours in. Quite how she finished, running on empty as she did I will never know, but a time of 6 ours was clearly well within our compass this year.

An ungodly start time of 8am meant an even earlier get up time and traveling with another club mate Monica we arrived in the literary Yorkshire town at just after 7 to massive queues waiting to register. Cool but dry conditions greeted the 500 or so runners who headed up these famous cobbled streets and out onto the moors frequented by Heathcliffe and Cathy.

A fast  start is a must with an unfortunate log-jamming placed stile at around the 4 mile mark. We were off and running, all feeling good and picking up as many places as we lost in the early parry's. The route consists of a mixture of good paths and tracks with a smattering of slippy paving stones and a good bit of road thrown in, a good running course....Oh and about 4500' of ascent for good measure.

First few checkpoints down and all going well, keeping up with past Mixed Team winners Kate and Craig as we head to the highest point of the course Stoodley Pike. In  a bid to encourage Gaynor, I let her run ahead to set her own pace, but within a few moments disaster struck as a misplace foot twisted resulting in full length sprawl cutting knees hand and the obvious shake up of confidence and belief, we were only just around half-way with still a lot of miles and hills ahead of us. We took it steady for the next few miles and a number of other runners slowly came by as we looked to consolidate our position. By the YHA at Mankinholes we were both ready for the fuel input and walked the next half mile with drink and biscuits along London Road and up the steady climb to Stoodley.

As the top was reached, I remarked how well she was looking considering our last attempt, it must have been this that set off the memory of that grim day and within five minutes G was off looking for a place to ablute...poor girl. Not only was her ankle causing her much pain on the descents, but now her stomach was up to it's old tricks. We now entered a period of running on our own, neither catching or losing places, a positive sign things were stabalising. As we hit Hebden Bridge and the long climb to Heptonstall we actually started to gain on those ahead who had gone off way to quickly...and it's still a along way home from there ;-(

A good descent through to Midgehole and a steady jog/walk over Hardcastle Craggs had us catching even more stragglers and cramp victims as we headed the final checkpoint at Lane Head. Yet more tea and donuts on offer galvanising us for the penultimate climb over Sun Hill. We were moving well again here and managed to run all the way up to Pennistone Country Park, catching up yet more runners. Our final descent was a great one, knowing the route, we could navigate those tricky 'in-town' shortcuts that kept us ahead of possy of chasers.

We stopped the clock at the community centre in 5.37, a really great time considering the obvious discomfort Gaynor was suffering. I think a time of 5.25 would have been more realistic, but happy all the same. A great effort all round and the training plan move onto Edale next weekend

Results

8th/9th Mar - A stunning few days in the Lake District

A number of us had a great weekend just gone up in Borrowdale in the heart of the Lakes. We used Borrowdale YHA as our base and had two great days in settled weather on the high hills around the Langdale Valley. The plan was to do some reccying of the hills and route of the Bob Graham Round, a 24 hours Lakeland round of 42 peaks with a combined height gain of climbing Everest.

Gaynor and Yvonne, both strong long distance runners from Saddleworth and Leicester respectively are independently attempting this toughest of long-distance challenges, and two long back to back days are a great way to stack the miles and test the body and soul. Although a windy weekend, the weather was generally clear, with some punctuated sunshine for the 16m on Sat and the 20m on Sunday.

                                                                        Alan Keane and I

The YHA hostel is a little oddly named, as we brought the average age of the Hostel down to around 60!! but this is a fantastic location, more a small hotel with good quality accommodation, low cost meal options and even a bar. The night stay over with breakfast was just £23, a real bargain.

My first Paid run

Today I had the pleasure of undertaking my first ever PAID run today with an English guy Peter Armistead, who lives in Whistler Canada. Peter a keen ultra distance runner over there has a bit of form coming an amazing 3rd in his first ever 50m race. Of course the manicured paths and highly marked trails of the Whistler are not a patch on our own moors and Peter wanted to have a run out and some advice on fellrunning. Having found nobody, he turned to me

Meeting at the unGodly hour of 7am at Ogden Res we ran and talked for over an hour over just 7 miles, a stunningly still morning and apart form a yapping dog and the hum of the M62 perfectly quiet.

I did inform Peter he was the first bloke I had ran with in about six years and he should feel honoured, or at least dress for the occasion, he muttered something about being a metro-sexual? so we left it there...

A really nice chap, good company and just in case the Tax man or James Sheard see's this payment was a bottle of wine, a running book and a banana.

Run No.2 Tanya Haynes - Blackstone Boundary Route.

Latest 50@50 run with the effervescent Tanya Haynes. We had a lovely run round the 13m Blackstone Boundary route, with a special guest appearance from Bruce 'Intercourse' Bridgestock.

We use this route as a late season long distance event for our Club Championships and takes in some stunning paths and tracks around Ogden Valley and the grisly Sandstone outcrop that makes up Blackstone Edge on the Pennine Way. Cool but dry conditions with even a little late sunshine make this a great training opportunity with my birthdate mate.

We covered Life/Work balance, her upcoming navigation course and much much more, but you will have to wait for the final edit for that: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/449186795

Run No1. Nicky Torr 3rd Jan - Castleshaw Canter Route

What a fantastic way to kick off 50at50 with the ever bubbly Nicky Torr. Running around her favourite 7m moorland route (Castleshaw Canter) from Delph, Oldham, we covered everything from her early upbringing in South Africa, her love for her family first and running second and how we as a nation are failing to get to grips with obesity...plus lots, lots more, but you will have to wait for the book completion for the rest I hope you are getting ready for your run?