A hard day's work

The Snowdonia marathon never gets any easier and nor do my times improve.  Saturday's outing, my tenth running of this gruelling race, did however experience one of the event's best weather days, warmish, no wind and only a little cooling drizzle.

On the down side my time of 4.27 was five minutes slower than last year.  All was going well until about mile 20, where I was a few minutes up on last year,  and then the 'wheels fell off'  and I struggled on the last climb.  Surely a sign of a lack of training miles.

The up side was a win in the over 75 category and a lead of  34 minutes ahead of the over 70 winner.  That, tied to a first half marathon time of a few seconds over 2 hrs  and a finishing position in the top half of the field,  made the outing worthwhile and probably meriting a return visit next year.

Weakened Warrior Events - Back o'Fairsnape

The 'Chipping Trigs' outing received mixed reviews - 'too long' and 'too much road' being the main complaints. Back o'Fairsnape will cover some of the same ground, but addresses these two complaints.

It draws the main part of its route from the Fiendsdale Race, which I think is now defunct. Starting from Beacon Fell we cross to Fairsnape summit, then heading north east to pick up Bleadale water which will lead us to Langden Castle (an abandoned shepherd's hut (correct placing of the apostrophe?).

Thence south west up Fiendsdale and over back to the Bleasdale plain and Beacon Fell. Probably 13 or 14 miles in total.

I'll be trying to sort out a date, can anyone who is particularly interested in this proposal speak up so they can be consulted. A Saturday would probably be best as it would suit the few remaining wealth generators in our squad.

See:- https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bleadale+water&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjT26GR1YLQAhVBJsAKHS1UD5QQsAQINg&biw=1600&bih=770 for what lies in store. I'm not sure what the later images on this site have to do with our route, but the earlier ones seem relevant.

SWINW

I have to take SWINW to Bolton tomorrow as she and her sister are off to Welsh Wales for the weekend. So as I am in the area my aim is to be UTUPing on Saturday in the hope that others will join me.

Weakened run

Neither EtU nor myself will be UTUPPing tomorrow, EtU doing high altitude training in the Lakes in preparation for the Snowdonia marathon in two weeks time  and myself recovering from a sore  throat and cold..

If I am sufficiently improved I will attempt to  turn out on Sunday (UTUP of course) to run via White Coppice, Brinscall, Abbey Village, Belmont, Two Lads and Horwich, a total of 21.5 miles If anyone feels like taking a chance on me being fit to run I would welcome their company on Sunday.

A Rather Belated Thank You...

...to everyone for the good wishes, fine tankard and your company on the 30th; I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, despite it finishing with Mat dropping my beer in the middle of Grimeford Lane as he dropped me at the same time; fortunately neither the bottles nor I broke.

Special thanks go to the Johns for organising the evening and to Ian for the following photographs:-

Once again, thank you one and all.

To Ell' and back

As every HTFC fan of a certain edge will know that the answer to "Do You Know Where (H)ell is?" is "'Ell's in Elland Road" (sung to the strains of Lee Marvin's "Wandering Star" from the film "Paint You Wagon". Anyway, at somewhat short notice I decided to do the "to Ell And Back" Challenge Event. The weather forecast had some influence and so it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day in Yorkshire and mere 45 minutes drive to get there.
I did think that one of the registration team was HTFC Manager, David Wagner, moonlighting, until he spoke with no hint of a German accent. I suppose he could take the day off without a worry, being as successful a football manager as you will find at the moment.
Back to running, The walkers had set off at 8.30 so there were just runners milling around when I arrived at 9am. And even then, being low key and no prizes, you were allowed to set off early if you so wish. With no prior experience of the route, I waited and set off with around 15 at the appointed time. This soon reduced to a group of seven, with a quicker group ahead and a slower (yes even slower than me), behind. A camaraderie soon developed as the occasional wrong turnings were almost chosen (the first first section had been changed about three days ago due to path closures). Luckily I had a print with the correct route on it, half-inced off the wall (with permission), so was able to advise those who were shooting off.
The first couple of miles were gently hilly through woodland paths with some tricky wet paths before we dropped to the Calder & Hebble Canal which was then followed to Sowerby Bridge. Some tricky road crossing and ginnels (a la Hebden Bridge on t'Hobble) to return to the canal which was then followed to Luddenden Foot, providing fast running, not much slower than 8 minutes per mile.
Then the climbs began in earnest, gaining views over to Stoodley Pike and for miles around. The "lunch" stop was at Ripponden. I, of course, ensured I had plenty to eat, ensuring I didn't repeat my only ever failure to feed properly where food was available, on this year's 100. This meant I had come adrift of the rest of the group, which did include at least one with route knowledge. However, by this team, we had passed many walkers so there were a few walkers to look out for (although not many - it should be a better supported event). After awhile, I caught sight of two Middleton runners, who who were with our group. They may have had navigational issues. Ok, not may, but definitely did! Hopefully they will not have similar issues in a couple of weeks time on the Snowdonia Marathon. YJ, I told them to follow you. The rest of the route was completed with only a few minutes lost to navigational mistakes, but you always add time checking the route. I ran with them for the remainder of the route to finish in 4:29. The advertised distance was 20 miles. Looks like we did about 20.7. Good home made hot pot pie and peas at the finish at Heath Rugby Club by which time the bar was open.    I noticed a league table was showing, but not for association football but rugby union football - Yorkshire Div 1to be precise. Sadly Heath were next to bottom of the league at this early stage of the season. However, my team, the Old Brodleians, were high flying in third.
As always, with LDWA events, great value at only £9 entry. It is worthy of much better support, maybe a chara next year?
No photos from me but they do have some nice photos on their gallery here.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Tribute

EtU organised a mission to find and pay tribute to a former Horwich RMI Harrier, taken too soon.  A small memorial exists up on the moor to honour his name and a fitting addition to this would be a white heather which was duly planted.  A few shots from a glorious evening on the moor - job done RIP Steve.

 Heading up

 Getting sorted

 

 What now!

 Time for a rest at the trigpoint

Chipping Trigs - Saturday 27th August '16

Although there had been quite a lot of prior interest in this adventure, only three of us reached the start line:- Nic'O, YJ and yours truly. The Settlers were absent due to their leader having fallen down and subsequently gotten up again with injured ribs - could your Angels not have reported for duty leaderless, Chris?

So at 9:15 (not all the delay being due to me) we dauntless three set off for Fairsnape. The weather was warm and dry and for most of the day there was sufficient breeze to make the conditions comfortable. YJ, in his eternal search for extra miles and climbing, approached target no.1 via Parlick summit, but Nic'O and I bypassed it and we regrouped before the col, reaching the trig on Fairsnape an hour and 19 minutes after leaving Chipping:-

In the distance between my companions you can see clearly the tree covered top of our next objective - Beacon Fell.

Descending Fairsnape towards the spreading fields of Bleasdale, we found that parts of our course had been marked:-

Nic'O seemed unsure as to whether we should follow the tape or her GPS, but in the end we agreed to follow our noses.

The route to Beacon Fell did not include too much road and we reached the top an hour and 35 minutes after Fairsnape:-

Looking back, Fairsnape is obscured by me and Parlick by YJ.

Succumbing to the temptation of a coffee shop just a few hundred yards away, it was another 27 minutes later before we set off for our final summit.This included the longest stretch of tarmac (6 miles) that we had to endure and as the weather became slightly too warm for comfort, Nic'O declared, on the stretch called Bedlam Road, that she was losing the will to live. YJ, on the final steep (very) climb up Jeffrey Hill (still tarmac), demonstrated his remarkable climbing ability, leaving us both trailing in his wake. The moorland stretch from the top of Jeffrey to the summit involved very little climbing and we reached the trig two hours and 8 minutes after leaving the Beacon Fell cafe:-

This was probably the best viewpoint of all, with Beacon Fell to the left of YJ's head, Fairsnape the long high ridge to the right of the pillar and Chipping nestling in the centre middle distance.

From there we set off back to our starting point, YJ opting to retrace our steps back to the top of Jeffrey and to stay on the road all the way back, whilst Nic'O used her GPS to help us follow footpaths most of the way back to Chipping. YJ caught us up on the final tarmac stretch and we reached the cars six hours and 54 minutes after leaving them.

Nic'O clocked over 19 miles for our journey and YJ managed to rack up over 21, by avoiding all shortcuts and staying on tarmac wherever possible.

All in all, a fine day out, although for two of us at least, just too much road, especially when surrounded by so much fine hill country. An outing to be repeated - but not just yet!

The biggest disappointment of my day was that the Cobbled Corner Cafe in Chipping had closed at 4:00, just before our arrival back  at 4:09.

Wasdale Wanderings

Precision picking the best weather of the summer, Nic'O, SN and myself headed up to the Achille Ratti Hut in Nether Wasdale.  Arriving Monday afternoon we settled ourselves in before heading up into the evening sunshine for a run over Buckbarrow.  Returning via  Greendale Bridge we chatted with Joss and his daughter and accepted the offer of a beer in the garden.  The weather continued for the next two days with wall to wall sunshine.  A good time was had by all.  Back home to torrential rain at the weekend : )

Looking down to Wast Water and the Scafells from Buckbarrow

The Screes from Buckbarrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The run down to Greendale Bridge

At Greendale Bridge

Snack at Sty Head

Great Gable from Kirk Fell

Scafells from Kirk Fell

Pillar and Scoat Fell with Steeple behind from Kirk Fell

 

Heading to the 'path' up to Wind Gap

 

The view down Mosedale to Wasdale Head from Wind Gap

Steeple for Lunch

Heading back over Pillar summit

On Looking Stead

Enjoying the views

The legs have it - sign of the sunshine!

Chipping Trigs Saturday 27th August

Meet on the Chipping village car park behind the Cobbled Corner Cafe, ready to run at 9:00.

Head northish to Fairsnape:-

Thence south westish (these are orienteering terms) to Beacon Fell:-

There is a coffee shop on Beacon.

Then eastish to Longridge Fell:-

No snow at this time of year?

There's a fair amount of road between each of them, so trail shoes advisable.

Then back to Chipping, where I'm planning to eat a (late?) lunch in the cafe.

Total distance perhaps 16 miles, with the opportunity to head back to Chipping whenever you choose.

I'll be leaving Grimeford Lane about 7:50 and can fit in up to three passengers, four if they are tiny.

Saturday 20th August

I'm UTUPing and hoping for company.

Three Peaks

On Saturday September 10th I am going to run (very slowly) the Three Peaks of Yorkshire. If anyone fancies joining me for part or all of it, you would be very welcome. Accommodation on the Friday night can be provided.

BOFRA

Last Saturday I ran my first ever BOFRA race at Arncliffe gala. For those of you who are not familiar with BOFRA races, they tend to be short, sharp and brutal, and Arncliffe was no exception.
Now short sharp races are not really my thing but Arncliffe is near here and the BOFRA Chairman is a friend of mine, so I entered. The race was only 1.7 miles but had 500 ft of climbing. The first quarter of a mile was along a muddy lane then it ramped up. At the top of the climb there was a tricky half mile circuit around a rocky summit before the plunge back down.  The mathematicians amongst you will have worked out that the climb was about 0.35 miles long and therefore very steep indeed. However, living up here my descending skills have improved, so it wasn't too bad and afterwards I reckoned that I had enjoyed the experience.
One interesting point, there were 12 V60s in a field of 98, showing that old fell runners keep going on and on.

Coope's Dozen

I enjoyed a brief outing on the route last Saturday, great to see folks.  A few pics from the day below : )