Training Log Archive: OJ

Peak District 30 Trigs. Plans for a fast Paddy Buckley got thwarted by Math Roberts fantastic new record, so I decided to try something a little closer to home. This seemed like sort of the natural progression following months of trig obsession.

Some background: this is an evolution of a historical 24 hr route pioneered by Dark Peak’s Pete Simpson in 1991. His route extended the more popular 15 Trigs by adding the 12 extra included on the White Peak Harvey’s map. Stu Walker refined Pete’s original idea by adding White Edge (replacing Flask Edge) but sticking with 27 Trigs.

I wondered if a longer link-up might be possible that included a few more trigs from inside the national park boundary. I figured that with a good run 30 might be achievable. My additions were Kirk Edge (above High Bradfield), Flask Edge, Blacka Plantation and Ox Stones. I also opted to drop an outlier near Buxton (that isn’t actually inside the park boundary) to keep the distance manageable and to avoid some busy road running. I also added Lose Hill for good measure, on the basis that it is a great hill and has something that sort of looks a bit like a trig on top.

Unlike Stu, who ran this unsupported (kudos), I had my parents supporting on roads. This made a massive difference and kept me sane whilst traipsing around the back streets of Glossop and the lanes of the White Peak in the dark.

Whilst there is some skepticism about this route/concept due to the amount of road running involved in the White Peak section, I feel that it provides a contrast to the bog bashing of the Dark Peak sections and perfectly captures the essence of the terrain. One of my most memorable moments came on a road up a moonlit dale near Tideswell, where I switched my torch off and basked in the silver limestone landscape. Comparisons to the big rounds is also unfair - this is its own specific challenge with a unique character. I like the idea of the Peak District Trigs as a 24 hour challenge to bag as many as possible, involving a personal selection of any national park trigs.

Amusing moments from my run include: having a near-death experience falling chest deep in a bog near Margery Hill, forgetting to take a compass on the night section across Kinder in rain and poor vis (had to channel Pasi Ikonen and was VERY happy to see Sandy Heys trig), stumbling along a heaving Stanage Edge near the end where I ran past more people in ten seconds than I had in the previous 20-odd hours.

C • Bloody hell 13

Yellow course with a grumpy Alex.

EBOR event at Skipwith. Set off fast but came unstuck quite early and wasted quite a bit of time wandering in some vague, featureless heathland. Pulled myself together after that and ran OK, but surprisingly tricky all the way. I started off thinking that the map was the problem, but came to the conclusion that the terrain is just so vague that I needed to be more careful. Fun course and good to run in such nice terrain at this time of year.