Our 3rd annual visit to the lovely Edale area of the Peak District not far from Sheffield. We were reduced in number this year with only the newly installed (and sheared) club President Clem and Tarbo Fukuzawa. Ian Marshall was present in a support capacity and as the President’s chauffeur! Race day dawned, cold but sunny with a breeze in the valley. After a very thorough kit inspection at registration there was a half mile walk uphill to the start field. There were 16 checkpoints to visit some were manned and the rest having to be ‘dibbed’ orienteering style.
There were also 3 cut off times being applied:- Mam Nick (CP6) – 2 hours 15 mins Townhead Bridge (CP10) – 3 hours 05 minutes Path onto Kinder Scout (CP14) – 4 hours 20 minutes
So you have to keep moving! 13 runners either retired or were timed out. The ridge on the horizon in the above photo is part of the route (R to L). To get to that ridge it’s a mile and 1300’ climb from the start, where, once at the top – Ringing Roger checkpoint which is a rocky outcrop – the course goes anti clockwise with fantastic views down from the ‘Skyline’. This year the route was the same as 2018 which was a reverse of previous years. This enabled the large very rough Millstone Grit boulders and the flagstones over Brown Knoll to be tackled early. The summit of Mam Tor was bypassed due to problems with erosion. After the main field was away Ian ran a 6 mile section and on the way back to Ringing Roger before the final descent, the race Leader Carl Bell of Keswick AC came past with a lead of 3 mins. The wind was now a force 10 gale and made the initial part of the descent quite tricky as it is a slight scramble with the wind buffeting you. However, Carl descended the mile just over 6 mins which is phenomenal considering the terrain.
Clem improved on his 2018 time, this was Tarbo’s first attempt “harder than I thought” but no doubt will be back again. A wonderfully scenic course.
Results 1st Carl Bell Keswick AC 2:34:11 80th Tarbo 3:35:56 155th Clem 4:00:58
Ladies Winner (21st overall) 21st Lisa Watson Dark Peak Fell Runners 3:10:44
287 finished 13 retired/timed out
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