Posts Tagged ‘High Peak Marathon’

High Peak Marathon – Triumph and Disaster

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Actually there wasn't any of either but it makes quite a good title.

Pre-dawn blurWe started at 11.01 (pm of course), one of the first teams to go. By the time we got to Moscar (11.5 miles), all other teams had overtaken us except for one. And they passed us at Cut Gate.

Overnight the weather was a mixture of persistent drizzle and hill fog. After dawn the skies cleared to give some hazy sunshine but with a cold wind.

The bog monster was on holiday, it was all much drier than on our recce, and much to our surprise there were only two immersions – me up to my knees, and Carmen up to her thighs (serves her right for taking my advice on a good crossing point).

It was all very, very tiring.

Carmen grabbing some sleep on the wayA little over 2000m ascent and 43 miles. 49 teams started. 43 finished. We were 42nd, in something like 15 hours 50 minutes (a mere 7 hours behind the winners).

Early afternoon sunshine on KinderBut that wasn't the point. We finished, which was our only aim. Despite no training, and a little half hearted reconnaissance, we got to the end. A sterling effort by all. Will, who had never done anything remotely like this before (nor will again if he's got any sense), and did half the course with blisters on 2 toes which were as big as the toes themselves. Alan, who has done stuff like this before, but still wanted to take part – more fool he. And Carmen, who faced with yet another silly idea, just couldn't say no.

And a special mention to Will's parents for kindly chauffeuring us home afterwards.

Roll on next year!

…when we can stay at home and eat pizza instead.

Some more photos here.

Route map here.

Results.

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Posted in Fell running, Walking | 6 Comments »

HPM Recce 3 – The Dark Side

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Alan had a cunning plan. Take 2 cars, drop one off at Cut Throat Bridge, drive to Edale, and then do the first 12 miles of the HPM. An excellent idea, we all agreed.

One other minor detail – this was to happen after work on a Friday, so it wouldn't affect any other weekend plans. A good theory.

Will was one step ahead of us and arranged a prior engagement. So it was just Alan, Carmen and I who set off from Edale in the dark at 5 to 7 last night.

It was actually quite fun, though the fun abated slightly as we waded through the oozing "mud" thoughtfully provided by a field of cows on the approach to the first hill. The skies were clear though, and it was lighter than I'd expected, courtesy mainly of the City of Sheffield.

Hollins Cross and Lose Hill were fun (though a few tumbles left Alan reconsidering his decision to wear walking boots), and the going easy enough to allow some half-hearted running. It was made a bit trickier by the portable hill fog, as every breath was illuminated by our head torches. The ascent of Win Hill was brutally steep but fairly short, the descent from there to Yorkshire Bridge was steep, muddy, and unending.

Avoiding the temptation of a pint or 3 in the pub, it was up the road to Stanage. The path to High Neb is easier to follow in the daylight, and the climbs easier to identify! We missed High Neb slightly, but consulting the climbing guide later I'm fairly confident we'll find it on the night (I'll probably live to regret that statement). All that remained was a boggy yomp along the edge to Moscar, and back down the road to Cut Throat Bridge.

Last year's race times for this section were between 2 hours 10 minutes, and 4 hours 15. We had hoped to take about 3 hours, but took 4 hours 13 minutes. Oops. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that we could have been faster if we'd run more, but on the event we'll need to conserve as much energy as possible for later on.

Got back home about 1.30am. So much for not affecting weekend plans, it's 6pm and I'm off for a snooze.

Less than a week to go…

Vital statistics: 11.5 miles, 980m ascent, 4 hours 13 minutes

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Posted in Fell running, Walking | 2 Comments »

HPM Episode 2 – Attack of the Bog Monster

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Another Saturday, another HPM recce. This time Alan couldn't come because his house had blown down (or something like that), but Will wasn't quick enough with the excuses. We dropped Will's car off at Snake Pass and drove back to Cut Throat Bridge to do the 17 mile section in between. We were having second thoughts as we drove up towards the pass in driving rain and hail, but somehow by the time we left the car, the clouds had gone and the sun was shining.

Conditions were very different from the week before, with the ice replaced by mud, but the sunshine made it feel like Spring, and we made good progress as far as Cut Gate. I even worked out where we'd gone wrong the previous week.

After that though it all went horribly wrong. We'd been up here before, in the Grin 'n' Bear It 2007, and I had memories of bogs. But it was all so much worse than I'd remembered, and any attempt to wade led to retreat through knee-deep quagmire, followed by lengthy detours to get round the boggy bits. And it didn't relent. Every time we began to think we might be past the worst, one of us inevitably started sinking. To make matters worse, the sun had gone behind threatening clouds and a cold winds had picked up. It took us about 3 hours to do the next 5 or 6 miles, but felt like eternity, as we collectively lost the will to live. Navigation up here is going to be a nightmare in the dark.

So bad were the bogs that the 2 miles of peat hags we encountered when we finally reached Bleaklow Stones came as a blessed relief. We even managed to find a path through this area (or at least, an almost continuous channel with a few cairns, footprints, and bleached bones of previous visitors). An hour later we reached the Pennine Way, just below the Wain Stones. A unanimous decision that we couldn't be bothered to go up the hill to find the location of the checkpoint, and we all ran down the PW flagstones towards Snake Pass.

17 miles, 6 hours 10 minutes. If we get through this bit in one piece on the night then we'll almost certainly get to the end! At least the rain held off until 10 minutes after we finally started the drive home.

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High Peak Recce

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

Derwent EdgeLast November, a few of us (Alan, Will, Carmen and I) put a team together and applied for this year's High Peak Marathon, on the mistaken belief that we stood no chance of getting a place (it is always oversubscribed by at least 300%). Sadly our hopes were cruelly dashed last December when we were told that we were in. 40 miles of the finest peat hags our country can offer, starting at 11.30pm on a Friday night in March – should be a doddle.

This weekend, we'd hoped to head for the Lakes for some winter fun before the ice melted, but having established that we were a day too late, we switched at the last minute and decided to investigate part of the HPM route. Will and Alan were both busy due to the complete lack of notice, so it was just the two of us. After a lazy start, we parked at Cut Throat Bridge at about 12.30.

We took a cross-country route to get onto the Edge, to check whether it would be feasible in the dark (it should be). Progress was then rapid for a few miles, courtesy of a paved path for most of the way. After Lost Lad the route leads down to a checkpoint by Abbey Brook (not sure why the route doesn't follow the watershed here, possibly conservation problems, or a vastly increased chance of getting totally lost!)

The next section heads back uphill and regains the watershed. We managed to lose the path at this point, which doesn't bode well for doing it in the dark! A short flat and featureless section follows before we picked up a good path again towards Margery Hill and then Cut Gate, and since it was by now almost 3pm we decided to call it a day and descend to the valley, where we followed a forestry/water board track back. This was rather further than it looks, and hard on the joints as it's effectively road running for most of its length, luckily we won't have to do this on the day.

Got back to Cut Throat Bridge just before 5.30. About 17 miles round trip, and quite fun (except for the valley bit) despite the bitterly cold wind.

Here's the route we took.

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