Midwinter(ish) 15 Trigs

Having realised that we both had the weekend free, Chris and I decided that it might be amusing to have a bimble around the 15 trigs route. Officially it is a route around the 15 trig points that appeared on a LAMM map, back in the day. A 55 mile (ish) route from Sheffield to Glossop and back- or indeed vice versa if you are fortunate enough to live in Glossop.

It seems the route is generally attempted in summer- or at least not in the depths of winter, and has a nominal "completion time" of 15 hours. The current record is somewhere below 9 hours by the somewhat exceptional Tom Saville. We were not going to challenge this time on nigh on the shortest day of the year in questionable fitness.

Prep. You got the scotch eggs?

Theoretically Chris and I agreed that it would be good to give ourselves some wriggle room- maybe do it on Saturday, maybe on Sunday depending on the weather. In reality, Sunday was totally out as I certainly didn't want to get up for a 5am departure the morning after a Christmas party, and Chris was not going to miss a piano recital by his daughter.
(full disclosure, if the weather was rubbish, we would have definitely given it a miss- we enjoy bashing about on a moor in the dark and the rain- but not THAT much). We decided on an anticlockwise route which would take us across Bleaklow first- the rougher terrain with the longer distance- about 30 miles, which would (theoretically) leave us with better ground and easier underfoot for the second half.

How hard can it be?!

Up early for a 5:30am start. It had been wet recently so the ground was sodden, the clag was down and it was that heavy mist that often gets mistaken for drizzle by those not used to Bleaklow. Head torches on, food sorted out and kit in bags, we said cheerio and headed off into the Dark (peak). I am fortunate enough to live pretty much bang on the route, so we didn't bother going to the Royal Oak to start- we'd touch that on the way back to here to make a full circuit.

Home to Cockhill

Fairly standard line. No problems- just getting into the swing of running at this time in the morning and letting the coffee wake us up properly.

Don't expect the quality of photos to get any better

Cockhill to Higher Shelf

Still dark, clag down- waterproof mitts on. The track across the tops was hard to find, so the minor detour of the massive erosion of the quad track was followed. Not the most direct of lines, but it was the place where we were likely to make the fastest progress. Across to Dog rock, fairly standard, and up the Shelf moor race route to the trig. Claggy, but fine to follow.

See. Told you.

Higher Shelf to Alport

Easy trot to Herne and into the Alport. Clag really down low so we faffed a fair amount with routes in The Swamp. Once on the track, easy going but a bit of faff to make sure we came up onto Alport moor at the right point. Lots of chat about all kinds of stuff, nothing really to note except that it's still dark and fairly grim, low viz and generally good to move over the moor.

Alport. Trig. Really.

 Alport to Outer Edge

Along the top of Alport there was a small choice whether to just do the normal route along to Birchen Hat and down the track to the road- or whether to strike across Fagney and down through the plantation... more direct, but more potential to screw it up. We were enjoying the running and decided that due to the low viz and the general nature of the day out (pleasure rather than speed) we'd just take the path with least chance of screwing it up.
Once down in the trees away from the wind we stopped for the first food of the day. A scotch egg each. Grand food! Hunger suitably sated, we went down to the road where it became apparent that we could switch off and stow our headtorches as it had become light enough to at least run along a road by.
Across and over Slippery Stones and up to Bull stones on a long and slow, heathery ascent before we finally came across the trod to Outer edge trig. A couple of celebratory Tangfastics, and we were on our way- daylight now, so easy nav!

Daylight! At last.

Outer Edge to Margery Hill

Across bog monster territory to Cut Gate and then easy nav to the trig. Shouldn't be a problem. We successfully navigated across to Cut Gate- well, to within 30ft of Cut Gate and I took a doozy of a foot placement and went up to my waist in bog.
Nice. Never done that before, and now, maybe a quarter of the way around a fairly big day, in winter, I was soaked through and mud covered on my lower half. Oh well. Onward and upward. I was a bit concerned about how I might cope over the next few hours in terms of windchill. Thankfully the breeze wasn't too strong (though we were running into it), and it was daylight so there was some hope of drying out. Beyond that, and the clag on the tops, it was easy to get to Margery Hill.

Margery Hill- post Bog monster

 Margery Hill to Back Tor

A bit of a reverse of the line we took for the HPM earlier on this year. Didn't really help though, I mean- when you do something backwards it always seems considerably different. A bit of compass work took us to a grough that led us to where I hoped we would get to- alongside a minor twisted ankle. Then over to the main track where we belted along to Back Tor at a ridiculous speed where my hipflexors really started to complain, and I began to wonder just how intelligent an idea it was to do a 55 miler when not really having trained for it.... (how annoyed would Chris be if I said I can't do it, how annoyed would Lynne be at coming to get me/us and how annoyed would I be about not doing it)? Don't be silly- it's just a minor ache. Get on with it.

A glorious picture of Chris's best side, scrambling up to Back tor

Back tor to Emlin

Off back tor and down into the hollow below it for a quick food break. Pizza! Glorious. Eat when you're feeling good and you'll digest it well. Eat before you need to. So we did, and wow did it taste lovely. Washed down with some haribo we headed north with the wind behind us into the clag to find an indistinct point on the map where we would turn east and vaguely bearing our way across 3km of bog to the next trig. Great fun.
Using cunning and artifice- well, map and compass- we made our way to the right place, took a bearing and used the trod that was going in the right direction. After a while it kind of petered out so we heather bashed, which was fine. Taking into account the hill profile etc we carried on- and then a break in the cloud- about 800m away was a hill that looked the right shape. Took a bearing, decided it was right and homed in on it. Bingo- Emlin moor.

Emlin- with a view

 Emlin to Rod Moor

This section seems so innocuous on the map, no-one ever really talks about it- but in truth, having battered your way there across bog and heather and everything else from Glossop, there are a fair few undulations that it is worth considering. I'm not going to talk about them though- go have a go yourself, you'll see what I mean.

Rod Moor- we decided to only take photos where we weren't looking tired....

Rod Moor to the Sportsman

Again, more undulations than I care to remember, a footpath that was closed due to sewage(?!) which meant a bit of a detour, and finally to the Sportsman.
Midday.
Crikey- that took longer than we were expecting! I was hoping to be there about an hour earlier, but slow conditions underfoot combined with having to be a bit more involved and careful with nav meant that progress had been a little slower. Not a problem, but it was fairly inevitable we were going to be running in the dark at the end of the day... should still have enough time to get home for the Christmas Party though.... We'd done about 30 miles and had covered all the more challenging ground of the route. From now there were a couple of (by Peak District standards) big ups, but it was mostly decent running.
In the Sportsman we were served by a lovely lady wearing a Dark Peak Runners Hoodie who asked where we'd come from "Glossop"..... oh.?- and where are you off to? "Well, we're running back- can we have a couple of Cokes please?". And when we tried to pay, she declined, saying we'd certainly earned them.
On asking if we could please also get some water, I realised that I'd only drunk about 300ml all morning. Not good. Need to remember to drink more this afternoon- but only had capacity for 500ml. I was sure it would be fine.

Ah! More than halfway! (but no pint.)

Sportsman to High Neb

Another section where we looked at Tom Savilles line and thought "well- if you're fresh, and it's dry, maybe- but for us... the path". We took the road and then the path past Stanage Pole and along to High Neb with visibility coming and going all along. Navigation easy, though there was one point where I thought a lady wearing a white coat was the trig point which could have ended embarrassingly.

High Neb- best pic of the day

High Neb to Winhill

There is a line that goes across to Bamford edge and drops off the hill- again, if you're fresh and know the (dry) ground, then maybe. We weren't and didn't. So with increasingly sore legs we took the reverse of the HPM route along the road and down to the crossroads by Bamford before taking in the glorious ascent that is Parkin clough. For the first time since we started, I took off my waterproof as we sweated our way up the hill before topping out to a lovely clear day over the Hope and Edale Valleys. Sun was dappling Bleaklow. Kinder- where we were headed next, was encased in clag. Nice.

Winhill- looks like some cheeky sod has painted it in Dark Peak Colours...

Winhill to Blackden

Easy run down Winhill, contemplating the grimness of the terrain on Kinder, coupled with the route finding amusement of Blackden trig in the clag. It was only about 2pm but it felt like darkness was already drawing in and we were having a discussion as to where we might get to before we needed headtorches again. Up onto Kinder- all uphills had turned to walks a long time back and we looked at water rations- holding up ok- which was good as we needed water in order to finish, but also not good as it probably meant we weren't drinking enough. Up to madwomans stones and then a bearing through a series to groughs in the clag through some pretty rough and crappy ground to attain Blackden trig.

Blackden trig. Turning for home

Blackden to Brown Knoll

No view. A bit darker, haribo being eaten as main courses, and running through aching legs. We turned south immediately after getting to the trig, with Chris putting on a third layer as protection against the increasingly grim conditions.... "where did this rain come from? certainly wasn't forecast". Along the southern edge of Kinder, not really needing to nav now as we're back on common ground, but racing against the daylight. Down and round past the woolpacks and to the Pennine way and out to Brown knoll as it drops dark. Twilight proper as we go along the out and back- now completely paved, touch the trig, and it is definitely time for headtorches.

Brown Knoll. Time for headtorches. The camera makes the light seem deceptively light

Brown Knoll to Kinder Low

A jog back to Edale Cross and then a slog up past Edale rocks to the top. Nothing much to say about this apart from finally the wind is behind us- the clag is heavy, but we nav direct to the trig which looms out of the darkness to greet us. The final stretch beckons.

Kinder Low... let's get this over with

Kinder Low to Kinder Corner (Sandy Heys)

Backwards along the Kinder Downfall route- just ticking off features in the dark, knowing we don't need to concentrate until the fenceline after the Downfall. The funny little steppy bit, red brook, the crazy rocky bit, downfall, the annoying uphill bit, along, and then- the fenceline. Follow up, around, what is that in the mist? Bingo. 14 down, 1 to go. We've been out of "real" food for a while and are down to gels and tangfastics (which, btw I class as real food, but some don't) so we have a short tangfastic break and then carry on.

Sandy Heys- ok so the photos haven't been that bad, have they?

Kinder Corner to Harry Hut

Down the fence line for quite a while (its longer than you think)- before the long awaited downhill section and up to Mill Hill where all but the last 4 Tangfastics are consumed- a shuffle down the slabs towards and past the Liberator wreck continues, we pass the muddy turning to the Grouse butts and the shooting cabin, and take the next right down the final bog section to Harry Hut. I text Lynne to let her know we're on the final bit by Harry Hut and promptly drop my phone in the bog. Arse. Luckily it is a waterproof phone in a waterproof case- but that doesn't mean that I can use the screen when it is covered in bog mush. The reply will have to wait.

Harry Hut with Chris lurking in the background

 Harry Hut to home (via Royal Oak)

Down off the final hill, head torches shining against the fog, we finally come out of the clag about 50 metres from the road. Onto Derbyshire level- well, the climby bit that isn't Level, and the final 4 Tangfastics are shared out. We shuffle along the road and down into Glossop, past the Royal Oak and round the back of the Football pitches, back home.

Quick- make it look like it was easy!

Home- 13hours and 12 mins after we set off- about 57.5 miles.
A fantastic day out! Good bogs, good nav, good food. A bit more than we were both bargaining for in terms of the physicality of it, but neither of us is broken. It isn't a particularly fast time, but hey, the idea was for a decent day out, and we certainly got it. Props to the guys who have done it in close to and sub 10 hours though- that is some going!
I got back in time for the party- but spent most of the time drinking water to rehydrate.
Thanks to Chris for suggesting the idea- I suspect it might be a bit easier when you can see exactly where you're going!

Ok- she's not looking- we can sit down now.

If you're interested- stuff I was using:
Inov8 Xtalon 212
Rooster sock and a pair of hilly thin socks
Running shorts- just random ones that have been sewn back together a few times.
Warm Helly hansen top (helly base with  merino bonded to the top)
OMM Aether smock
Montane prism mitts with Extremities tuffbags goretex over mitts
Petzl reactik headtorch
buff and hat
salomon sense3 racevest (in which: compass, warm top (berghaus hypersmock), Sol Bivvy Bag, Gopro, small powerpack and leads, 500ml soft flask, a handwarmer, a tenner and some food).
Suunto ambit vertical- which is utter crap and stopped recording gps about 3/4 of the way through, but still said it was recording. I HATE suunto at the moment, but am not prepared to spend more than £500 on a Garmin Fenix 6, so I'll just continue to chunter on about how crap the ambit is).

North York Moors Bike Packing Dec 2019

We'd decided a while ago that this weekend would be a good time to head out for an adventure. Friday looked clear on the diary front from mid-morning, the only minor problem was the weather, which was pretty unapologetically rubbish. Wall to wall rain. Unremitting grimness.

In a fit of intelligence, Phil looked at the rain radar map and the weather forecast (the most optimistic one we could find), and it seemed that the only place in striking distance that might work was the North York Moors. A short amount of research brought up a couple of gravel biking routes like the Moors and Shores, and a 3 day bike packing route that Phil had seen online somewhere.
Armed with both routes that kind of did a similar route, but with various variations, we drove through the rain and sleet until somewhere just East of York the rain stopped, blue sky appeared and things began to look up.

What a jolly good idea!

We started at Lockton, 2 mountain bikes and me on the Fairlight Secan- a gravel bike. (the reason for this was because I haven't bikepacked on the Secan before, and thought this would be a nice break in for it). It was about 1pm, so 3 hours of light left - not a whole lot of time, but enough to get a few kilometres under the tyres and try to find somewhere to camp.

Despite the fact that couple of routes that we found both went clockwise around the moors and the Cinder track, we decided that anti-clockwise was the best idea. It would mean cycling towards Scarborough and a bit beyond on the friday. There was a variety of road and track as we made our way towards the coast. The main thing we noticed was a significant downshift in temperature at about 2pm. Nothing drastic, but a certain change in ambient temperature.

Sunny afternoon riding

Onward towards Scarborough, and then a skirt around the outskirts took us onto Cycleway Number 1- the Cinder track, which is essentially mostly an old railway track going from Scarborough to Whitby. Looking at the map, we could see a couple of pubs in towns on the way where we might find some solace, a beer, and potentially somewhere to sleep. The problem was, by the time we got to the pub in question, it was already pretty much dark- at 4pm, and they didn't start serving food until 5:30.
Out feet were cold, it was only going to get colder, so we locked our bikes up outside and wandered in.
The post election analysis was on the big screen TV, there was a lot of "politics" talk going on around us and it cost more than £11 for 3 pints of Taylors Landlord. I was not keen to stay.

A quick google showed another option just a couple of km away, and that was next to a wood which might provide shelter for camping. If that didn't work, we figured dropping back to the trail to see if we could get into a field for the night. If the worst came to the worst, we could come back to the pub for a bite of food, but it might be intelligent to scope out campsites now- especially as it was now 4:45 and it was pitch black.

Lights on and up the road to the next pub. Which was very very closed.
Dammit. And the wood wasn't much cop for camping either. Right- the decision was made to go down the next road back to the trail and see what we could see.
Descent... right into... another pub. An open one.
With a roaring fire, a selection of ales, a decent menu.... and, could we possibly camp anywhere please?
I think they thought we were mad- but they had a paddock which was regularly used as a camp ground in the summer, so on the condition that we would drink their beer (I mean, come on... we aren't savages)- we pitched up for the night and trooped in for the best double burger I think I have had since Poco Loco in Chamonix.
The beer was excellent and the atmosphere convivial. If you get a chance, go to the Hayburn Wyke Inn. It is blinking amazing.

Full of food and good cheer, we retired to the tents and slept well. It was a little chilly, but nothing severe.

Awake at 730 just as the sun was beginning to show signs of dawning, breakfast in bed (as it were), and a pack up of all the kit. Luckily the paddock had a little shed which we locked the bikes up in, so they were dry and ready to go. The tents had a lot of dew on them, (and it might have drizzled for a short time in the night, but I can't remember).

Dawning breakfast

Up and off for bang on 830 with the moon still high in the sky.

All packed and ready to go

We trundled up the Cinder track towards Robin Hood bay, fairly delightful and non-complex cycling for an hour or so, with speeds ranging from slow to fairly fast. The views onto the North Sea were spectacular, but crikey it was cold. Even with neoprene socks and overshoes on, my toes were like ice. The hands were fine, with a set of Primaloft sealskins lobster mitts on, but my feet!

The Cinder Track

Up to Whitby and then inland- the bit we were slightly concerned about as there was a fairly vicious wind coming across from the west, everything from this point on might get a little more challenging.
Just as we left Whitby I noticed a bit of a problem with my steering- something wasn't quite right. Then there was a spongy feeling as I was cornering- ah. Flat.

So we stopped for a few minutes to change tyres and find the culprit (a thorn wedged into the tyre) before carrying on- ideally to find a coffee shop to warm our feet up at. We'd been on the go for a couple of hours, but it was still too early for coffee shops to be open- so we thought.
When we finally came across one, our suspicions were confirmed, except we were out not by minutes, but by months.
Closed til April.

Great.
Through Ruswurp and into Sleights and a most welcome sight. A bunch of carol singers standing outside a Butchers that was selling coffee and mince pies.
We stopped and partook of the food (but not the singing) and stood around trying to get some kind of life back into our feet. It didn't really work, but we felt much refreshed as we contemplated the different routes back down to Beckton. It wasn't all that far, to be honest, so it wasn't like we were going to need to hoon it, but what with the prevailing wind, it wasn't going to be a great idea to go over the tops of the moor if we could help it.

Coffee! Mince Pies! Carol Singers!

A plan formed and off we went, down into Eskdale and before we knew it, Grosmont, a tearoom at the station and a roaring fire. Cups of tea, a cornish pastie and lunch was declared. Feet still cold, but became a little less numb as we sat in the corner of the crowded cafe. A couple of steam engines were puffing away outside, so there must have been some kind of do on.

After a short while we peeled ourselves away from the fire and went to carry on the riding. Bad timing meant that we then stood on the wrong side of the level crossing for about 10 mins while the trains did their moving around business. Not great- as we chilled off a bit, but then, within about 200 metres of starting, Fords.
Not one, not two, but three of them in quick succession. So much for any semblence of slightly warmer feet. Not any more.

Top of the hill above the fords

Off down the valley, with a few ups and downs, and a very picturesque shot of Phil and Chris with a steam train thrashing down the tracks behind them.

Across the way we could see the huge buildings of RAF fylingdales, and the main road that led straight back to Lockton. There was still a couple of hours of light left, and a straight beeline down a ridiculously busy main road was not what we really had in mind, luckily there was a bridleway across the road that would lead its winding way around the back of the RAF base to drop us onto the road a mere 2km from the car. A much better option....

This looks like a good place to ride a bike....

This is the best the track got.

So we started out on this bridleway which quickly turned into a quagmire. Still cycleable. Just, but all in super low gears (which I didn't really have) and with not a lot of grip- (which I certainly didn't have). It took us a fair amount of time to get across the next few kilometres, and it was probably the hardest work of the entire trip- but entirely good fun. Once we hit hard ground, we refueled on haribo before heading around on decent gravel tracks to the base, and then around again until we made it back to the main road.

Haribo stop.

Lights on for safety as we cycled back along the main road to the car, pretty pooped, and well in time for last light.

It took an hour and a half in a warm car with the heater on and me massaging my feet until I had any kind of feeling back in them, and now a couple of days later, my big toes are still a bit numb and tingly. Not great. I might have to invest in some Goretex cycling shoes as most of my miles seem to be in the cold over winter.... never had feet do this before though.

Back at the car.

All in all, a great, short trip. Yes, we could have done the whole route in a day- easily, but the idea was to have a bit more of an adventure. The Secan held up well to the bikepacking thing, I was on 700c tyres, but would love to have a bit of a go on 650bs as an experiment... not going to buy a set just to see if I like them though.
The other thought was to get a dynamo front wheel. If we were out for a few days the Anker powerpack that I use would have powered the phone and the Wahoo enough- but for any longer than that I'd need another one... hence the thought about a dynamo.
We shall see.
Strava routes below:

Treadmills vs Pools and barriers to exercise.

I thought I'd written a blog about this previously, but maybe it was just a rant on Facebook.

Let me start at the beginning. 

A couple of years ago I decided that speed training on a treadmill was a good idea, the only thing stopping me from doing this was the fact that we lacked a treadmill on which to run. Minor issue.
So I did what any intelligent person would do and went to the local (council) gym to use a treadmill. I didn't want to do anything else, just come in, once a week or so, blast away on a treadmill for 20-30 mins and then head home.

I went to the gym and was informed that I would need to take out a membership, costing £20 a month and that I'd also need to wait for an induction to use the gym, and that would cost as well.

Hang on a sec, I'm a runner, I'm fairly competent and I know how to use a treadmill. I don't want to do anything else in the gym and I'm not about to go falling off the treadmill. Well, not a lot.

Make me faster!

Nope. No budging.

I was livid. As you might expect and my brain was going round and round in circles... how could I get onto a treadmill in order to do these sessions? Shouting at people wasn't going to make any difference, but maybe I could appeal to logic. But what logic would be, uh well, logical.

The logical argument

Thinking about it, I came up with the argument I was going to use.
Swimming pools. Council run. You can turn up any time and pay £4 and use the pool to your hearts content. You don't need to prove you can swim. You don't need to prove competence. No-one offers you an induction, they just take your money and you're free to fall into the deep end and effectively drown yourself.
No tie ins. No induction. Nothing.

Yes, there is a lifeguard to stop you from drowning, but there is also always a member of staff on duty in a gym to make sure you don't do anything too stupid (or to sell you personal training sessions)- so not a huge difference in terms of supervision- or at least, not enough to make a 40 minute induction more necessary than an induction to a pool.

Hang on. That's not a pool.

So why can't I just go to my council run gym, pay some cash and jump on a treadmill like I can in a pool?

I put this to someone on a phone, and eventually, they relented. I went to the gym, went to the receptionist, who looked doubtful, asked my name, called some people and then eventually they let me use the treadmill. I did this on a fairly regular basis over the next few months. Then, when I told someone else about it, they tried to do the same thing and got the same response as I previously got.

WHAT??!!
Ridiculous.

So we ended up buying a treadmill.

The long and short of this is the question as to why isn't it a thing that you can just walk in to a council run gym in this day and age and just ask to use the gym without having to enter into some crazy contract? Yes money, yes to all those things, but if you can do it in the swimming pool that is owned by the same company it just seems mental that you can't "pay and play" like you can "pay and swim".

Most people have the ability to use a gym intelligently- maybe I should rephrase that: there are as many people that can use a gym intelligently as there are people who can use a swimming pool intelligently.
It really annoys me that it is a challenge to actually use a gym without tie-ins etc, and with expensive "inductions" that most of us really don't need. We should be reducing barriers to fitness- the swimming pool model seems to be a good one- why can't our gyms be like that as well?

Hill and Fell relays 2019- Leg 3

Chris having number issues

Otherwise known as the "fra relays"- but we're not allowed to call them that- always brings out the "herding cats" problem of trying to get 6 relatively fit and psyched runners to the same place for a race. Thankfully my last year of doing the organising was last year, and this year I volunteered for the team. Chris Webb (yes, he of the "exciting ideas") and I were put on leg 3- the navigation leg, and that was it.
Although the relays were very close to us this year- literally across the moor on the Dark Peak Runners side, the organisers asked that reccying of the route, or of the location was kept to a minimum. Well, to be honest, they basically said "PLEASE DON'T RECCE". Basically because of ongoing permission issues. So we did not. (and to be fair, anyone that did, I'm a bit disappointed in- particularly after they expressly asked us not to).

So we turned up on the day, I cycled over from Glossop, mooched around for a bit, cheered our

The map

runners in and out and chatted with Chris. We jogged up the mandatory section to have a quick look at where the fastest teams might be heading off to on our leg, before checking out the descent line and heading back down to the start pen. We figured we had about an hour and 20 mins to wait before our leg 2 runners came in- and were about right. At 1:26 Tim and Lance came belting around the finish circuit to dib and hand over, and off we went, chasing hard on the heels of the Pennine Young Ladies team.

Bang, straight up a muddy slope, to get the heart beating- what a warm up, and then along the footpath to pick up the maps. As mentioned above we had already looked at the mandatory line which headed straight up the clough for a considerable way, so didn't have to think about anything apart from moving, breathing and looking at the map, working out some decent lines from one checkpoint to the next.

By the time we got to the top of the clough and dibbed the first CP we had already overtaken 3 teams- a direct line over some tussocks saw us have to deviate into even bigger tussocks to overtake another 2 teams. My heartrate was hitting some numbers that I haven't seen in *quite* a long time, so I told Chris to ease back just a little... then we hit flat ground, I recovered quickly and we belted down the path to CP2. Bang, in and out, another team overtaken and straight up the hill through more tussocks towards the next 3 or 4 teams ahead of us.
The terrain across here was classic Dark Peak. Tussocky, hard to run on and easy to decide to walk through. We ran.
Over the crossing point and down the path as fast as possible- this was a place where you could deviate into 2 or 3 different lines- for us it was ohms law- path of least resistance and go as hard as possible- while leaving something in the legs for the inevitable slog across some pretty hard ground later in the race. Down into Abbey Brook- which, to be fair, pretty much everyone was doing- but the path was obscured a bit by heather which seemed to be slowing a fair few people down.
The path along Abbey Brook was fine, and we could see a line of runners heading up the crest of Berristers Tor. There were some runners taking an early exit into the brook and going up the West side of the tor, and others going right the way around taking the very runnable- but much longer route up toward Cartledge Bents.

We decided to go direct up the Tor and hammered down to the crossing point that used to be used for the High Peak marathon, and took as direct a line as possible straight up the crest, topping out and immediately following the trod along the top of Crook Clough to CP3- via a very very gnarly section of Tussocks that someone else tried to follow us through. Bad idea.

Out of CP3- directly west, and the only section where we really had to resort to a fast walk because of the craziness underfoot. Chris went over a couple of times, but it was not long before we were on the trod up toward Robin Hood Moss. We went up a little higher than most (but not by a lot) in order to get a decent descent contour into the checkpoint. Down and through, catching up to the guys in front and suddenly "I've lost the dibber!" says Chris. Dammit.
He stops and looks around.
"Dyou know where?"-
"no".
" no point in looking for it- the checkpoints have orienteering stamps on them as well as dibbing stations so we can record that we have gone through, and we can tell the marshals we have gone through as well. Easy. "
Into CP4, tell the marshals, Chris Clips his number, hunky dory- Down into the brook on the West side of Gravy clough. I took a pretty direct line which ended with me pretty much falling down a rock hole/cliff thing about 10ft deep- slowing my descent with judicious use of heather grasping.... "uh- don't come this way!" I shout, and Chris seeing what happened, made his way around, shouting the same thing to the guys hard on his heels. We get past, and then an Eryri guy behind us does EXACTLY the same thing as me. Checking he was ok, we bundled down the rest of the hill, across the Brook and up the other side. Now comes the fun part- about 2 kilometres of tussock and bog bashing to the next checkpoint. No paths of any description, just moorland. It's like we've been training for this since we joined Glossopdale!

Up the hill and across Poynton Bog, we made good time, hammering the ascent and hitting the tussocks at pace. Around the bottom of the hill where Lost Lad is, and down into CP5. Again, a quick explanation to the marshals, Chris clips his number and off we go, bashing around and through the bogs and quagmire that is the top of Far Deep Clough. Ahead of us is a train of runners- another 5 teams? Maybe, we can get them... I grab a gel and we lurch on a little, catching the back of the train half way around. There is only one really decent line, and that is why there is a train- no-one can get around anyone else without expending some serious amounts of energy.

What's energy there but to be used? Chris and I bash through some truely awful terrain alongside the rest of them, taking occasional rests by running in the trod when the opportunity presents itself, and by the time we've got out of the bog we're pretty much at the head of it... and our collective brain shorts out. We've spent so much effort getting past them that we neglected to look at quite what we were meant to be doing next on the map! 5 or 6 steps in the wrong direction (south), and as I realise our mistake, looking at the compass, someone shouts "over there!"- and we swing back to the right line and onto the last CP. Another explanation and a stamp, and we're onto turf we know- we saw it about 2 hours ago as we wandered back to the starting pen.

We smashed down the final hill, new shoes- new grip- feeling excellent, and down into the final circle to finish and unleash our final leg runner onto the hill.

Final official time 1:24:33- 14th overall on our leg. Unbelievable.
Apparently the guys that came 3rd overall were disqualified for losing their dibber, so I have no idea how we stand on that score, but whatever- we had an amazing run, really pleased with it as my final race as a Senior... V40 next. Crikey.

Smashing run. Hot food. Happy days.

Thanks so much to Dark Peak for putting on a cracking event, to Matt Crompton, the GDH mens captain for dealing with the collective nightmare that is organising teams for the relays (we tried to make things as simple as we could for you), and well done to the rest of the GDH crew- it seems everyone had a fabulous day out.
(sorry, I can't find any photos of us actually running the leg- apparently we aren't photogenic enough).

does no-one do long term reviews now?!

The world of outdoors kit is so awash with new gear that every season we now get inundated with updates of what the latest and greatest gear is. New fabrics, new products, new colour-ways, you name it, everything is out there to make you want to buy new gear.

Gear reviewers get sent new kit to review, and almost without exception, everyone says how wonderful the new kit is. However, these reviews are pretty much all short term reviews. You get an idea of what the bit of gear is like for a guy who has used it for a few weeks... but does any of the gear actually work for a long period of time?

Still own every bit of kit here. Except the shoes.

No-one in the industry- it seems- cares what the longevity of a bit of gear is like.... this time next year they'll not only have a brand new bit of gear to push, but they'll have already gone through the half yearly cycle of changing colour-ways, and they'll already be thinking about what new innovations they'll be bringing you in 6, 12 and 18 months time.

Yes, this is indeed the way the industry works, and no, I'm not saying that brands don't totally ignore longevity when designing stuff, I'm simply saying that making things that last forever is not useful for a company that wants to sell you more things.

With this in mind, maybe I should give you some ideas as to my long term testing garments- what has survived, how it performs and what I might end up replacing it with.... (I know there is a minor problem here- and that is some of this stuff is so old that you can't buy it any more- and maybe that is why there are never any long term reviews.... by the time we realise that a bit of gear is awesome and solid, they stop making it).

Hats

Salomon foldy-hat thing- One of the best things I've bought in the last year- and the most recent thing on this list is a Salomon race cap. It cost somewhere in the region of 20 quid, which may seem a lot for a cap, however- this one folds up into a pocket... and yet still manages to have a decent brim to keep sun out of your eyes... and in my case- rain off of my glasses. What always used to be a very annoying choice of take a cap but always have to carry it as you have no-where convenient to stow it- or don't take one- is no longer a choice. It's crazy light, folds up to nothing, oh- and gets lost very easily.

Long sleeved running top

 - black helly hansen- I have no idea how long I've had these - easily since 2013. There are 2 of them. They are bog standard helly tops and they get used year round. I wash them. They don't smell. They are brilliant.

It might be uncool, but Helly's rule.

Waterproof

OMM Aether smock- This has been my core "main" running waterproof since 2014. I wrote a "first impressions" review then, and having worn it pretty much to death from then, have to say that my initial impressions were borne out. The fabric is excellent, the hood is brilliant, but having the pocket on the inside of the jacket, not the outside, was a stupid thing to do on the part of OMM. Having said that, on subsequent models, the pocket is on the outside. These are getting thin on the ground now, which means that they're either discontinuing them or they have something else up their sleeve. Considering mine has lasted 5 years so far, I'm wondering if I should buy another one, or just keep waterproofing it again...

Yep- still using the Aether

Insulative layer

Berghaus hypersmock - when the original crop of reversible insulated lightweight jackets came out I did a fairly in depth pre-review as to what I thought were the main things to choose from. In the end, it doesn't actually boil down to anything more than packability and ease of getting it on when on a windy hillside. For packability and weight, the berghaus is the lightest and smallest- and also the easiest to get on. I've used it in all seasons since the end of 2015, and it is just about beginning to lose some of its insulative properties.... maybe I need to wash it, or fluff it up a bit... I should probably find out. That being said, it's been brilliant. Lynne uses the Inov8 version... it doesnt pack up quite as small and I find it harder to put on as the fit is quite, um, fitted- but it does the same job.

The only picture I can find where Im actually wearing the Hypersmock. I needed it. Funnily enough, Im also wearing the Aether and the eVent waterproof trousers....

Waterproof trousers

Montane event pants/ berghaus paclite. My pair are the eVent ones and these have been going since 2014 - the Paclites since 2011. The eVents are a bit heavier and a bit bulkier than Lynnes Paclite trousers, so they tend to get used for the occasional Mountain Rescue callout, and when I need a solid pair of trousers on the hill. They are going fine after, oh, I don't know how many years. I put a hole in them and repaired it- and they just keep going. The Paclites I borrow from Lynne when I need a lightweight pair of trousers for a race where I *might* need to wear them. They are bombproof and comfortable. (when I am fairly sure Im not going to need to wear trousers I just use a pair of 10 quid decathlon waterproof trousers.... Theyre light, but horrible to wear).

Full Kit on top of Snowdon. I needed it.

Race vest

-Salomon sense 3-Ive had this since 2016 summer- it has lasted a lot of abuse and is unfortunately just beginning to wear out. That's the problem with lightweight fabrics. It still gets used a fair amount. I like the zippy pockets, I like the big pocket on the back where I stash my waterproof- and the fact that it barely weighs anything at all. I know they don't make this any more, so I don't know what Im going to replace it with when it finally gives up the ghost.

That Salomon vest has been used and abused!

Shoes

Well- I now use something called veloviewer which means that not only can I see how many kilometres I run in my shoes- but the amount of runs I have done, time run, metres ascended, average times and distances... you name it, I can geek out over it.
So here is my table for the main shoes I have worn. As you can see, I tend to use x-talons and mudclaws because they are the shoes which provide me with decent grip on the moor.

Name	Count	Total Distance km	Average Distance km	Total Elevation m	Average Elevation m	Total Time	Average Time
Inov-8 x-talon 2	54	883.7	16.4	41,460	768	115:04:14	2:07:51
Inov-8 X-Talon 212 #3	87	1,148.00	13.2	53,167	611	124:41:03	1:25:59
x- talon #4	46	687	14.9	38,411	835	77:24:48	1:40:58
Inov-8 x talon #5	59	718.4	12.2	37,751	640	87:24:32	1:28:53
Inov-8 x talon 212 #6	48	957.1	19.9	53,191	1,108	113:04:46	2:21:21
Inov-8 x talon #7 blue n red	11	168.7	15.3	7,920	720	16:56:57	1:32:27
nov-8 xtalon 212 #8 black/redlaces	48	701.8	14.6	36,257	755	78:30:55	1:38:09
Mudclaws
Inov-8 Mudclaw 333	49	739.8	15.1	32,587	665	87:54:38	1:47:39
Inov-8 mudclaw 300	57	912.1	16	45,561	799	116:14:04	2:02:21
Inov-8 300 yellows #2	33	633.9	19.2	35,140	1,065	74:11:02	2:14:53
Inov8 300 yellow #3	36	383.5	10.7	21,956	610	50:52:24	1:24:47
Inov-8 Mudclaw the blue ones 275	63	891.9	14.2	55,779	885	106:39:37	1:41:35
Inov-8 Mudclaw rednblack 300	50	813.3	16.3	41,576	832	90:30:41	1:48:37
Inov-8 Mudclaw NEW rednblack 300	32	481.6	15	23,408	732	53:45:33	1:40:48
Baregrips
Inov-8 Baregrip 200 main	16	242.3	15.1	8,034	502	29:46:06	1:51:38
Terraclaws	95	755	7.9	24,270	255	83:03:36	0:52:28
Salomon Fellraiser	57	640.3	11.2	32,794	575	72:16:55	1:16:05

I suppose the thing to see here is that a pair of inov8s lasts me between 30 and 60 runs, depending. I should probably have noted why I retired the shoes- be it lack of grip or destroyed uppers. The Baregrips still had insane amounts of grip left on them, but the uppers were totally trashed. The Fellraisers had no grip to start with, and Im surprised that I did that many miles in them. Most of them were trail, not fell though.

Ah- these were awesome.... but broke pretty quick.

Death of the Baregrips

Im toying with the idea of the new graphene inov8s, but by the looks of things, theyre going to need to last me for between 100 and 120 runs and 1400km to be worth it.

Other notable things

- I have to put in a good word for my Mountain Equipment Ultratherm. It's effectively a really comfy fleece with a wind and semi-rainproof cover. No, there is no insulation beyond the fleecy backing, but it is a brilliant bit of kit that I've had for years.  You probably can't buy it any more, but nevermind. If you can get one, get it!

Love the Ultratherm. It is awesome.

Gloves
Yes- if you've read the blog before you know I have a thing for gloves. Current favourites for warmth are the montane prism mitts. The only problem with them is that after a year or so the insulative properties seem to reduce. I'm on my second pair in 3 years, which isn't great from a longevity point of view. When I got the new ones I was astonished at how much warmer they were than the old pair.
For waterproofness, a pair of Extremities Tuffbags are where it's at. Light. Waterproof (as far as it goes) and very very packable.

Headtorch

Headtorches are getting ever more ridiculously powerful and longer lasting these days. In some cases it's like running during the day even though the light source is on your head. Yes, I like new gear, but if the thing you are using is working perfectly well, do you really need a new thing? No. I'm currently using a Petzl reacktik+ from a couple of years ago. It works well, survived the night when we did the High Peak Marathon and has a battery which is easily changeable if you run out of charge and need a new one. Its a USB chargable battery, and the torch has enough lumens to make your life easy.  Oh -and its comfortable enough on the forehead... something a lot of people forget until they have to wear it for hours on end.
There are a number of torches on the market that are crazy cheap with insane amounts of lumen output.... I know a number of people who buy them saying "well, it's way cheaper than petzl or hope, when it breaks I'll just buy a new one". Which is exactly the kind of thinking I want to get away from. Cheap and pretty much disposable is NOT the way we should be thinking about gear.

So there you have it. The only thing I have had to replace recently was the shoes and the mitts. Consider all this stuff to be good for fellrunning and general hacking about on the hill. Im sure there are other things I could talk about in terms of long term kit reviews... but that'll come at some other point.
The main thing to be aware of is that yes, there is kit out there that lasts. No, you don't need to go out and buy the latest bit of kit and colourway, and even if your favourite sponsored runner is poncing around in new kit, it doesn't mean that you need it as well. Think about the environment. Think about the energy that goes into creating new things. Be intelligent- get stuff that is going to last.