A day in the Dales

The weather forecast during the week was terrible and with each update on the red button the situation seemed to get worse as the weekend approached. So the attractions of a trundle round the Wharfedale off-road marathon on Saturday began to fade.

However, although the day broke wet and windy and the start from Threshfield Rugby Club demanded sensible wet weather gear the day got steadily better, and drier, although the strong wind persisted throughout. The course was splendid. Plenty of close cropped grassy running among the limestone pavements and some delightful scenery from start to finish made for a most enjoyable event.

Being at the tail end of a small field on a long race can be lonely, with fellow travelers few and far between. It is an event that combines 25 mile and 13 mile events for both walkers and runners and also carries the alternative title of Rugger Ramble.

It is a well organised event and well worth considering for the future. The main aim, apart from the need for a long training run, was to complete a long fell race in order to gain qualification for events that require experience to be detailed on entry forms.

This was accomplished with a finish time of 5hr 21 mins but very close the back of the field, running comfortably.