Training Log Archive: OJ

A slightly fuller record of how things went:

Started in good conditions at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon and felt great on the run over to Rod Moor and High Bradfield. There is quite a bit of road on this section, so I was trying to stick to the verges where possible to protect my legs. But it is a nice part of the route and provides a good opportunity to tick off a few quick early kilometres.

Leaving the road for Emlin was the first (and worst) bit of terrain bashing that I had to do, but once up onto the moor I could get moving again and the slog over to Back Tor was not as bad as anticipated. I started to feel a bit weary (already!) on the way up to Margery Hill, but some coffee-brown water from Cartledge Brook perked me up. But not as much as the adrenaline generated by a near-death bog encounter on the short dog-leg to Outer Edge. I felt real fear as I plunged into the murky depths and felt nothing below me, the bank well out of reach. I had to resist kicking and lie flat to flail my way to safety. That would not be a nice way to go. I avoided it on the return by dropping to the Bull Stones - a poor route but better than meeting the bog monster again. My back and hamstrings were gypping a little on the way down to Howden, but it was good to stretch out again on the short road section and meet my folks to replenish before heading up onto Bleaklow.

The next section was uneventful. Alport River went on and on, but I was managing to eat well and I was feeling pretty good again. Dusk fell around Shelf Moor and the half-light held out just enough to find my way over to Cock Hill, where I started running towards what looked like a bright white trig, but turned out to be the top of a tower in Manchester. At least I didn't make it all the way there before realising my mistake. Torch on and down the hill into Glossop, where I met my folks again on the road section to Harry Hut. 

Up onto Kinder and right on cue the rain started. Had a rummage in my pack for a compass to no avail (later found it on the kitchen counter) so ploughed on on a wing and a prayer being super careful with the map reading. Sandy Heys was definitely the trickiest one to find as the visibility was bad with the rain bouncing back the beam from my lamp, but it was a good feeling to see it emerge from the gloom. No issues after that, except that Kinder S edge just goes on for ever! It felt very good to drop off to the Win Hill ridge, where I was still feeling OK and able to run the climb. So far so good, but only if I didn't let myself think about how far or long was left to go. Time was just moving so slowly!

Onto familiar ground up Lose Hill and along to Mam Tor, where the weather got bad again and I was nearly blown off the summit. Stumbled my way down and bumped into a small group of youths in jeans and hoodies trying to find their way up (at 2 in the morning?). People are weird. Met my folk again for a change of footwear before heading off into the lesser-known part of the route.

The main challenge here was route finding across the field systems in the dark. I had planned to avoid much of the road running by taking more direct (but probably slower) routes on public footpaths, but they were often either badly marked, or I was bad at spotting them. Mercifully it was still the middle of the night, so there were no angry farmers to deal with. Just quite a lot of bemused cows and sheep. The trigs themselves in this section (Cop Mine, Bole Hill, Edgerake, Durham Edge) were pretty good though, on nice defined hills and accessible without too much fence climbing. The road running actually felt like quite a nice contrast after the bogs and rocks of the past few hours. Met my folks again at Sir William Hill where dawn was finally breaking.

I struggled on the next section over to Wardlow and up Longstone Edge, which went on for ages with more road running to hammer my tired legs. My L ITB was pretty sore now, but it was bearable once moving and everything else had loosened off at least. The big descent through the quarries off High Rake was particularly horrible, but at least I had some nice gentle uphill running to look forward to on the way to Birchen Edge - an add-on to the original route. I nearly scuppered myself here by taking the wrong turn at the roundabout at Baslow and heading straight up to White Edge, but realised before I had gone too far. Another brief refuelling stop at the main road an on into familiar territory. 

White Edge came and went, delivering me onto Blacka via some horrible heather bashing. A big down and up to the plantation with a few blackberries providing some welcome real food - nothing else was very palatable by now. Houndkirk, over to Ox Stones and great to make it to my most frequented trig. Took the boggy path across the moor to Burbage Edge rather than the road for aesthetic reasons, then stumbled my way along Stanage trying not to look too strange in front of all the tourists. There was a brief moment of satisfaction at High Neb of bagging the final trig and looking around the skyline knowing that I had been up everything I could see. I went direct on the final descent, which meant more tussocks and less road running, but the final few kms down the tarmac were still deeply unpleasant. Managed to keep running at a decent pace, but more to put a quicker end to the suffering than for any more noble reason. 

While I was planning this, Alex had wisely advised me to ‘only do it if you’re going to enjoy it’. I asked myself the question quite a few times on the way round and the answer was always yes, but it was a close thing at times. I was a little intimidated by the distance involved and would have really struggled without my folks meeting me to break it up into more manageable sections. Could I have added another trig? Maybe - there are a few options and there was plenty of time in the bank...anyone?

C • If you are looking to bag more than 30 5

The full list of trigs and splits:
1. Rod Moor: 0.24
2. Kirk Edge: 1.04
3. Emlin: 1.23
4. Back Tor: 2.20
5. Margery Hill: 3.01
6. Outer Edge: 3.14 (bog incident)
7. Alport: 4.30
8. Shelf Moor: 5.10
9. Cock Hill: 5.38
10. Harry Hut: 6.45
11. Sandy Heys: 7.20
12. Kinder Low: 7.45
13. Brown Knoll: 8.01
14. Blackden: 9.10
15. Win Hill: 10.02
(Lose Hill: 10.47)
16. Mam Tor: 11.17
17: Cop Mine: 12.00
18: Bole Hill: 12.53
19. Edgerake Mine: 13.34
20. Durham Edge: 14.32
21. Sir William Hill: 15.24
22. Wardlow: 16.19
23. High Rake: 16.50
24. Birchen Edge: 18.02
25. White Edge: 18.37
26. Flask Edge: 19.23
27: Blacka Plantation: 19.57
28. Ox Stones: 20.29
29. Stanage: 20.59
30. High Neb: 21.30
Sportsman: 22.13

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