I saw a post on the Glossopdale Harriers whatsapp group from Ian saying "I see a number of people have signed up to Peak Raid in a couple of weeks- anyone need a lift?". I didn't even realise that there was a Peak Raid on, let alone over from Hayfield, so I signed up and shared a lift.
Having not done a decent long run (read: more than 13k) since July (which was Wasdale- sandwiched between 2 100mile bike rides)- and May before that (the somewhat disappointing Pendle Cloughs Fell race), I was looking forward to a bit of nav, a bit of rough ground running, and, considering the weather forecast, a bit of dreich weather over the tops. Not expecting anything particularly spectactular, just 3 hours of decent bashing through heather.
My start time was around 830, and Ian and Tom were starting at the same kind of time, hence the arranged lifts. The start pen was a good couple of km from registration, so a bit of a walk through some drizzle was a good warm up. There was a weather warning out over scotland today, and strong winds forecast for the rest of the country- so a decent southerly was going to be blowing. Taking that into account, I figured that running into the teeth of the wind for a long time was going to get somewhat tedious, so decided that it would be intelligent to do as much south to north running as possible.
I dibbed in at Bowden Bridge, got my map and immediately started running South. Yes- I know what you're thinking having just read that last paragraph, but the idea is sound. Running south in the valley to get some checkpoints before getting onto higher ground and turning north was the plan. It took a little time for my head to get back into navigation and running speeds, so finding the first checkpoint was, while not troublesome, took slightly longer than it should have done.
Equally, as I was running up to the second check I had to stop to make sure I was running on the right track. There was no way I could have been anywhere else, but its good to check and check again. (It just didn't seem right, though it absolutely was). Dib at check 5 and an immediate right, down through fields and onto a path, then off a path and onto slopey open moorland, where I came into check 7 a bit high and had to run down to the broken wall to dib. (It seems from the people that followed me down, this was something a few people did).
From here there was a choice of routes. The thing that seems to take most time is indecision. If you can't decide which is the faster route, the time you've spend dithering is probably the amount of time that was the difference between them! - So staying low and dropping along a trod line and into the clough before the climb out to 15, and a climb up the Kinder Trog line (which would normally be followed down to drop you into Dimpus Clough).
It's a long old climb, that one, so shotblokz were taken as I walked up the hill to Edale Cross, and then straight north as if going to the Trig point. At this stage the wind was very definitely coming from the south to south-east, so it was nice to have a bit of a tailwind. My old-school Mudclaws were slipping around all over the paving slabs, so they definitely felt like the wrong choice of footwear for this section of the race. That being said, with so little confidence in my grip, it did mean that I was taking it a bit easy and not going too fast.
A swift out and back to the West to pick up Cp12, and then up to Kinder Low for CP19, before following a very muddy/peaty trod out towards Noe Stool and up to the Pagoda to pick off Cp14.
From here, you *could* retrace your steps and go around 2 sides of a triange to hit the edge path and run north to Red Brook. OR you could just use a bearing and use some groughs to guide you in a North Westerly direction which theoretically should just drop you slap bang onto Red Brook following the single edge of the triangle. So I did that, and ended up hitting the control dead on.
Now comes another conundrum- do you go along the edge path out and around Kinder Downfall to get to 18 which is on the top- and then do a down and back up for Mermaids pool (16), or do you just grit your teeth and drop down RedBrook and climb back out to the pool and thence up to the top again?
Well, seeing as it was a bit claggy, I took a lower path thinking I'd kind of do a bit of both, and then as the mist cleared, I could see the pool out over to my left, across the valley. Quite a significant down and up, so I dropped and committed. It was a bit of a gnarly descent, and at this point, mudclaws were definitely the correct shoe choice- all the way down to the River Kinder and then back up to the pool, where I came across a bunch of wild campers who were displaying a number of traits I despise of people heading into the great outdoors. Smoking, loud music etc. At least there weren't any piles of rubbish around- I sincerely hope they took their stuff with them. (am I a snob? I dunno, but dance music on a hill? There is a time and a place, and that is not the place).
I digress.
From the pool the uphill trend continued, initally off path and then onto a trod, slowly working my way to the crag at the top of the hill. Coming closer, I could see a runner coming in from the top, thinking it was Geoff, I sprinted in to get the control just before him. (chatting to Geoff at the end, it turns out it absolutely wasn't him... and I spent a good 30 mins wondering who on earth it could have been- Ian cleared up the mystery.. It was him).
From the dib, straight up and over the top of Kinder Sandy Heys trig, and then off down into the Ashop where I followed the wrong stream down the hill. Turns out it's a stream when it rains (ie. today), but is isn't a stream on the map. So it took a little longer to get to and find CP 17 than I would have liked. However, I dibbed it and had a decent line across in a North Westerly direction to Cp20, going up the clough- but was faced with the problem of getting from there to 13.
13 was one of those that if you came from a different angle you'd have better catching features. From 20 it was going to have to be compass work and some dead reckoning (and blind faith). It took more time than I would have liked to make it to the Pennine Way, where I ran along it for a short time before making the decision to break off right and dead reckon it to the checkpoint, using some compass work, but mainly looking at the lie of the land. I dropped into the clough area a little low, and worked my way back up to the South for about 30 metres before I found it, thinking that if it wasn't there, I was going to have quite a challenge on my hands to get it.
Coming into the final 45 mins now, and I'd been wondering if I could hit 11, then 10, then 3 (30,30 and 20 points respectively), rather than missing one of the 30 pointers out. I traversed around Mill Hill and then took the path and trod out and round the Nose of Kinder- Windy Gap very much living up to it's name as I- for the first time, really had to run into the full force of the wind. It wasn't far to the outcrop of rock to get 11, and then I started to make my way back in the same direction I had come, thinking I would go around the top and drop into 10. Minor issue being, I wouldn't really have any way of knowing when to drop in. there were no real features...
Throwing caution to the wind, I hung a left and dropped down the slope into William clough, figuring that I'd come into it at a stream junction, run down to the next stream junction and climb up that stream to the checkpoint. A really good idea in practice, but not when you climb up the wrong stream.
Higher and higher I climbed, looking for the feature, and with maybe 30 mins left, I thought that if I didn't drop straight onto it, I'd have to leave it. It became clear that the feature was not where I was. Across to my left- about 400m away, over some significantly rough terrain was a distinctive knoll. Dammit. I'm meant to be over there. And I'm further away from the finish than I thought- and there is some pretty hard terrain to go over... only one thing to do, and that is to get over it as fast as possible.
Through heather and groughs and bracken across to this feature, where I sprain my right ankle pretty badly as I drop into the checkpoint- a bit of a hobble and a swear on the climb back up to the top and through more heather to the trod that takes you off the hill. Time is ticking down, and there is checkpoint 3 which theoretically is on the way down. I run as fast as I can down the trod, and it splits- grouse butts off to the right... the check is a grouse butt, so I hang a right, trying to calculate times and distances- running past 2 butts before I realise Im going in the wrong direction.... check the map and yes- there is a line of butts that isn't the line I need- argh- bash across a hundred yards of heather to get back to the trod I was on, and then down to the end of the butts- and further beyond where I slow down to make sure I find the ruined one just off to the right and in a stream bed.
10 mins to go. 2k ish- maybe a little more? 2.5? I know most of this though, but there is a final checkpoint that I might be able to squeeze in on the way home. Down past White Cabin into the wind and now a LOT of rain. A left and right onto the Bridleway, and then down to the dogleg above the reservoir- tippy-toe down the really slippy slidey cobbles and out through the gate at the bottom- dart off to the left and over the bridge to get the final checkpoint- just less than 5 mins to go and just over a kilometre back to the start. Do I go back across the bridge to take the road? Do I just stay on this side and take the track.
I'm now soaked through and decide not to look at my map, relying on the knowledge that this track takes me back to the road at the bottom- which it does indeed, and then back onto the road to the end- which is a lot lot lot lot longer than I remembered.
Do you look at the map to work out how far you have to go? No- don't even look at the watch to work out how long you have left. It isn't much time and the only thing you CAN do is run as fast as you can. Looking at the watch takes up valuable time.
Finally the finish comes into sight- and I run in and dib. Then I look at my watch. 2:59:25.
Ah- so I had a full 35 seconds to play with! Close.
So there you go. A decent run out- 21k and 1200m ascent. I took some good lines, and a few bad ones. Even if I had nailed them, I'm not sure if I'd have had enough time to get any more controls though- that would probably have needed a full 10 mins extra.
Good times.
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