DARK PEAK NEWS Summer 2014

Transcription

DARK PEAK NEWS
Summer 2014
Dark Peak News Summer 2014 page 3
In this edition»
est. 1976
www.dpfr.org.uk
President: Eric Mitchell
Chairman
Tom Westgate
95 Stumperlowe Hall Rd
Sheffield
S10 3QT
0114 263 0632
Secretary
Rob Moore
2 Kerwen Close
Dore
Sheffield
S17 3DF
RICE PUD AND THREE-QUARTER LENGTH
SHORTS
…Nicky Spinks shares the trade secrets behind her
phenomenal shattering of the women’s records for
the three big 24-hour rounds. Her Ramsay Round
was the crowning glory in a feminine surge that has
seen the Dark Peak women notching long distance
achievements thick and fast
Girls go the distance, page 19
LITTLE GREEN RABBITS, ALL IN A ROW
...and jumping out in front of Stuart Walker as he
celebrated his 29th birthday in a way that only a
member of Dark Peak could even conceive. Did the
bunnies even exist? Read the chronicle of his journey
and make up your own mind.
[email protected]
07766 520741
Treasurer
Membership
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
How it can affect your running, how to recognise
it, and how to cope with it in the pressure of
competition.
0114 233 8383
Dave’s Training Tips, page 36
Men’s Captain
THA SPORTSMEN TRIG
This is like no other trig point in the Peak District. It’s
portable, it hovers about three feet above the ground,
it’s painted in Dark Peak colours, and it’s waiting for
your caption competition entries. No smut this time,
please.
[email protected]
Page 40
Tim Hawley
Jasmine Cottage
Main Road
Dungworth
Sheffield
S6 6HF
0114 285 1633
Ann Watmore
26 Robertson Drive
Sheffield
S6 5DY
[email protected]
[email protected]
Clothing and Eqpt
Richard Hakes
454A Loxley Road
Loxley
Sheffield
S6 6RS
0114 233 9912
[email protected]
Women’s Captain
Helen Elmore
117, Millhouses Lane,
Sheffield,
S7 2HD
0114 237 6609
[email protected]
Dark Peak News
David Holmes
615, Loxley Road,
Loxley,
Sheffield,
S6 6RR
0114 234 4186
[email protected]
Rob Little
70 Burgoyne Road
Sheffield
S6 3QB
07791 283861
[email protected]
Website
John Dalton
1, Cannon Fields
Hathersage
Derbyshire
S32 1AG
01433 659523
[email protected]
Page 8
WALKABOUTS, BATTERED KNEES AND URBAN
GENNELS
As the relay season draws nigh, we celebrate the
friendly one and consider Dark Peak’s achievements
over the years in the Sheffield Way Relay.
Page 32
THANKS…
To Tim Mackey for designing and laying out another
really great-looking mag, to everybody who has
contributed so generously with their time, their writing
and their tips to the dog, (he knows who you are…
YOU know who you are), and to everyone in the club
who has waited so patiently for this rather late-running
summer edition. The next one is due at the end of
the year, and as ever your contributions will be very
gratefully received.
The bit at the front
Safety first
Back in the spring, I found myself in one of the most frightening situations I’ve encountered
on the hills. I was running off Stanage in the dark in the Three Stones race, aiming at Cowper
Stone over a patch of rough heather. Next thing, I was spiralling into a hidden rock chimney
with my head torch disappearing into the darkness below. Luckily I landed upright on a broad
ledge close to the top. Now what? I could try to climb out into blackness, miles from home,
or I could try to back-and-feet to the faint white blur below, not knowing whether I could get
back out. I found the torch quickly, on the ground about 12ft down, and walked out through
a convenient opening to resume the race. I tell the story now because I think it touches on the
thinking that Willy, Moz and Gavin are kindly doing re safety in club events, (see news, page
4). It was MY decision to be there, it was MY responsibility to get myself out. But if I had
broken a leg or knocked myself out, I would have appreciated a rescue. In my bum bag was a
4G smartphone that would have located me instantly, and on a clipboard in the club hut was
a note of the number. Should carrying such gear be at our discretion, or should we insist on
mobiles in night races? Not an easy decision, and fraught with ethical conundrums. But the
kind of question our three wise men now need to address with everybody’s help.
Meanwhile, let’s talk about running…
The agm in May was dominated by safety and the FRA rules, so having told my little story, I’ll
clear the rest of this edition for more uplifting tales of derring-do. Thanks to everyone who has
chipped in to share their adventures, and to Tim Mackey for slaving to make the mag look so
good again. There are now top-side of 400 of us in this club, and the breadth of our activities
continues to grow alongside our numbers. Where else but in Dark Peak would somebody
decide to celebrate their 29th birthday by nipping out to run 29 peaks in 29 hours? Which other
club could boast such an amazing record of long distance achievements, coming thick and
fast and culminating in Nicky’s outstanding shattering of the three big records? In which other
organisation would somebody wash their socks in the family bidet and be prepared to admit it?
Read on…
The editor’s chair
Great though these stories are, I acknowledge you’ve waited far too long to read them. I won’t
bore you with detail, but family matters have had to take priority since the copy deadline back
in June. Big apologies for the delay, and I don’t want it to happen again. Realistically, I’m at
a stage of life when things aren’t going to get any easier, and I wonder if it might be time for
someone with younger blood and fresher ideas to take the lead role in the mag? I’ll start to get
things underway for the next edition, but if you fancy a fulfilling role in club life, please have a
chat with Tom or me and we can talk it through over a pint…
Dave
News
Working group to consider safety guidelines
The agm in May asked volunteers Willy Kitchen, Maurice Musson and Gavin Williams to form
a working group to give further thought to the safety guidelines that we apply to the club’s
runs and races, (see the initial guidelines issued by the club committee, as reported in the last
edition of Dark Peak News).
This followed lengthy discussion about the extensive set of rules for race organisers that
has been published by the Fell Runners Association. The new rules follow the inquest hearing
into the death of Brian Belfield in the Buttermere Sailbeck race. After this hearing, the coroner
issued a statutory letter asking the FRA to consider what steps it could take to prevent such
a tragedy happening again, (although it should be stressed he attached no blame to either the
FRA or the race organiser for the death). The rules extend to 17 pages of detailed requirements,
and impose an overarching “duty of care” on race organisers to make events “as safe as is
reasonably practicable”.
The FRA document has proved controversial, attracting heated discussion via the FRA
Forums, with some people arguing it shifts the balance too far from personal responsibility,
placing too many mandatory obligations on race organisers. As many of you will be aware,
they prompted Ian Fitzpatrick to step down as the named organiser of the Edale Skyline, which
was then overseen by club chairman Tom Westgate with assistance from others, (see the appeal
for a new organiser below). The club has since been in correspondence with the FRA about its
concerns.
The agm discussion focussed not on calendar races like the Skyline, but on our Wednesday
night runs and on the many unofficial events organised by club members. The meeting
acknowledged that the FRA rules do not apply in these situations, but there was concern
that we may sometimes stray too far from their principles and introduce risks that could be
minimised or eliminated with a bit more thought. The minutes of the meeting restate that we
are all ultimately responsible for our personal safety, but that we “need a consistent system
applicable to all races and runs which should ensure the club could not be sued for gross
negligence”. Willy, Moz and Gavin are now consulting widely to try to strike an appropriate
balance between personal freedom and responsibility on the one hand, and the goal of
minimising avoidable risks on the other. If you have views, they would be delighted to hear
from you.
Wanted! Skyline Organiser 2015
Lets face it, things were chaotic Skyline-wise, in 2014 but happen it did and everybody
enjoyed the race in fine conditions. As for 2015, we already have the framework – the “usual
suspects” – with the likes of Bob Berzins on access, Dave Taylor marshals, Kev Saville on
food and John Dalton liaising with Sportident to sort entry, vetting, payments and dibbers.
It’s a well-oiled race-organising machine that would be the envy of many other clubs, with
experienced people who know the ropes and can be trusted to take on much of the operational
load. We also have all the FRA paperwork on file from last year, and a promise from them
that they will do all they can to make things a lot simpler this time around. All we need to
complete the picture is somebody who is prepared to coordinate the whole thing and agree to
put their name forward as race organiser. We run races all over the country - and in force - and
I think it is right the club is seen to be doing its part by continuing to stage this prestigious and
high-profile calendar race. Put simply, that cannot happen unless someone steps forward. We
really do need somebody to do the right thing and put their head above the proverbial parapet –
please get in touch!!
Tom
New directors, but no change of direction
The club’s behind-the-scenes transition to company status is now complete, after our secretary
Rob Moore lodged details of our new “directors” with Companies House. It’s a legal
requirement that we appoint directors to run the “company”, but in reality the club will still
be controlled by the agm, which is open to all members. Our elected committee members will
continue to steer things between club meetings. All committee members were asked if they
wished to become directors, but the decision was entirely theirs and for all practical purposes
the club will make no distinction between its “directors” and ordinary committee members.
For the record, these are the people who are now directors: Bob Berzins, John Dalton, Richard
Hakes, Tim Hawley, Dave Holmes, Rob Moore, Tom Westgate. As you’ll recall from previous
editions of Dark Peak News, and perhaps from the discussion at the recent agm, we are
becoming a company to minimise the risk of club members becoming personally liable in law
for anything that we do. Nothing we do should change as a direct consequence. So, that’s all
clear then, eh?
Saville successes
Congratulations to Tom Saville, who was selected to
represent the England U23 team in the British Athletics
Mountain Running Senior Home International at Whinlatter
Forest in June. This was quite an achievement given that
Tom is in his first season as a senior runner. He finished a
creditable 19th overall, beating the hour in a time of 57’
57”. A little earlier this year, Tom cracked another challenge
when he finished his first Jura race in 3hrs 43mins, to win
one of the much-coveted whiskey glasses for sub-fourhour finishes. Not to be outdone, Tom’s sister Hannah was
selected as one of the top young cyclists in Yorkshire to
grace the first and last sections of the Tour de France Grand
Depart as it passed from York to Sheffield. And not to be
outdone either, the old man of the family is rumoured to be
planning a 12hr Joss Naylor attempt shortly after his fiftieth
birthday in the autumn. Gavin Williams is understood to be
keeping him company, with his sights also set on the 12hr
challenge.
Training the next generation of Dark Peakers
On a damp, cold Saturday in May I set off for a primary school in Kendal not really knowing
what to expect from the FRA’s Leader in Running Fitness course. I work at a school and
would like to set up an after-school cross country/fell running club for Year 7 students next
year so had booked onto this course to get some ideas for it. It was run by Graeme Woodward
from the FRA and covered all sorts of stuff from analysing running styles to looking at
different energy systems, and of course running around outside playing games on the playing
field. It was so much fun, especially British bulldog (what a game!) and a Grasmere Guides
race in miniature. It was a really good day and I came away with lots of ideas for the afterschool club and also a better understanding of the art/science of running. This was interesting
both when thinking about the students and what I might choose to focus the sessions on, and
also for my own personal running. I’m looking forward to trialling some of these ideas and
hopefully discovering the next generation of Dark Peak!
Claire Prosser
*These FRA coaching courses come with a UK Athletics licence and insurance, and
participants qualify to lead or coach groups in off-road/fell running. They run regularly
from spring through to autumn, and one was due to be held in Sheffield at around the time
Dark Peak News went to print. You can find more details on the FRA coaching page at http://
www.fellrunner.org.uk/coaching.php or you can get in touch with Graeme by emailing him at
[email protected]
Thornbridge weekend
The club’s annual Thornbridge camping weekend was drawing nigh as Dark Peak News went
to print, meaning this will either catch you just in time to remind you to get there, or just in
time to remind you what a good time you had! The plan is/was to kick off proceedings with a
“cocktail evening” organised by Tim Ray on Friday, August 22nd, (recipes rumoured to include
the Massey Ferguson Martini, David Brown Daiquiri, and John Deere Margarita). Roy Small
was scheduled to return from the Alps in time to organise the Ashford in the Water fell race at
11am on Saturday, cake and cava at 4pm on the Saturday, and the beer due to be cracked open
an hour later. Sunday’s entertainment to include the usual “hangover hobble” run up and over
Longstone Edge, and the neo-classic cyclo cross race round the top field for show-offs with
a sense of balance. All organised this year by Andy Barnett – for further details closer to the
time, see Andy’s postings on the website.
Club Champs and dinner
The club championships will take place this year on Saturday, November 15th, with the dinner
to follow in the evening at the Maynard Arms, Grindleford. This is due to be a Triple Crossing
year, but we are unlikely to be using the classic route because of the extensive environmental
work being done on the Kinder Plateau. Ian Fitzpatrick has volunteered to plan the event and
to be (non-FRA) race organiser on the day. Watch the website for further details as the big day
approaches.
From the Chairman
I am glad I can start my report talking about running. Irrespective of any running politics, it
was always going to be a chaotic spring. I made a rod for my own back when, at short notice,
I put on the third running of the 57A in late April. Without delving into my psyche too much I
am pretty sure it was my antidote to the FRA business – 19 consenting adults, a fine run across
the remote heart of the Dark Peak finished off with a cup of tea and cake at Edale Station café.
Can there be a finer way to spend a day on our patch?
Then came the start of the big rounds, (is that Andy Moore I can hear yawning?). Tim
Rippon cracked the Paddy Buckley in early May. I was lucky enough to be there - how these
rounds beast the support, never mind the contender! In mid-May Nicky Spinks put together a
women’s Bob Graham with five contenders from across the country. I do like how Dark Peak
has close relationships with the likes of Penistone based on the shared team goal of getting
everybody round. As it turned out the weather played foul, so all the more credit to Lucy
Wiegand, Denise Mathers (first woman from Northern Ireland) and Ruth Batty for completing.
Next in the calendar came Lynn Bland’s and Tim Hawley’s Joss Naylor. Hands up, I did not
think Lynn had that time in her. Apologies Lynn, and hats off to you both. And what glorious
weather – such a contrast to the BG the previous weekend. Was it the same weekend that Spike
and Jon Morgan won the Old County Tops?
Just before the May bank holiday 24 club runners with partners, kids and friends made
the pilgrimage to Jura and were rewarded with fine weather. Our men, led by Rhys Family
Robinson (as I affectionately call him) won the team prize, Judith Jepson was first woman V40
and on another day, with another system the women could have got the team prize – great to
see so many of the Dark Peak girls out for arguably the toughest race in the calendar. We were
also all privileged to see Hector Haines break the men’s record. On the same weekend Ralph
Skrimshire did a speedy Bob Graham.
Gavin Williams has eyed Snowdon, Scafell and Ben Nevis, public transport style in 24
hours, for a while and was only thwarted by a cancelled train last year with Mick Stenton.
There were no such hiccups this year as he completed his solo jaunt. Nicky completed her
record trio of the big three rounds supported by many Dark Peakers, Penistone runners and
friends. Across fell running there seem few achievements that can match this, and Nicky is in
such remarkable form that the only question was never whether she broke the record, but by
how much. There were also heartening Paddy Buckley rounds from Glen Borrell, Laurence
Piercy and Dave Taylor.
Richard Hakes as ever pulled the club’s BG effort together with successful rounds from
Shaun Hogton, David Lund, Dave McGuinness and George Yates.
The summer racing season is now in full swing and so there is much more to come I trust
from Dark Peak’s “sprinters”.
I am happy to have talked here about the strength and depth of Dark Peak’s running. Space
for the politics of race organisation will have to wait for another edition – I suspect not many
of you will be troubled by that.
Tom
Caption competition
Not that many entries last time.
Maybe those who didn’t get
in fast were intimidated by the
strong early postings? We’d
except Tim Hawley’s “Mrs Ars”
from that observation. This felt
like a ritual entry and kept him
safely away from consecutive
bottles of Jura. Much clever play
on the eyelines leading straight
to Kenny’s naughty bits. Mick
Cochrane’s “Well, it can be
bloody cold on Kinder” raised
a smile, but forgets that the kit
check takes place before the
runners have been on the hill.
Excellent bid from Loxley Crawshaw with “Funny place to hang your compass”. This took
him to second place, but the panel of judges was unanimous in giving the whisky to Dave
Beerling’s “Steady, I only asked you blow your whistle”. This drew beautifully from both
Kenny’s concentration and Stewart’s embarrassed smile.
This time, we offer you a
photograph taken by Richard
Hakes after Moz’s eccentrically
unique Three Trigs race. Your
favourite webmaster poses for
the camera holding a trig point
that may or may not be the real
McCoy, and he stands in front
of a sign that is both misspelled
and broken. Any ideas?
The questionnaire
Dick Pasley
How old are you? If I had been born on the
last day in February of in a Leap Year, I would
be 18. I wasn’t.
How did you start fell running? In my early
forties I got back into hill walking but found it
hard work so started to run a bit to get myself
fitter for walking. After running up and down
Ringinglow Road for a year or so I ended up
running across the moors.
When did you join Dark Peak? 1992
Why did you join Dark Peak? In the
late 80’s I entered both the Saunders,
and then the KIMM. I met a few Dark
Peakers and their camaraderie, i.e.
their mutual verbal abuse,
suited my brand of
diplomacy. It didn’t
have anything to do
with running.
How many
miles a week
do you run?
I suppose I’ve
“run” between 10
and 15 miles each
week recently.
Admit it, what’s your
current weight? About
11stone 10lb.
What’s your top training tip?
Try to enjoy it and vary it.
What’s your favourite race? Alport Race.
It was the first race I did in 1992, and the last
club race I did in 2012. I used to enjoy both
the Langdale and the Coniston.
What’s been your best moment in fell
running so far? Running down from Middle
Fell to Greendale Bridge at the end of my
Joss Naylor, after a super day on the hills
accompanied and supported by my friends.
Oh yes, and puking on the Moot Hall steps at
the end of my BG with someone, obviously a
friend, shouting “quick, get a picture”!
And the worst? Walking back down
Ennerdale after retiring from the Ennerdale
race. It’s a long way.
What shoes do you use? Inov-8
And how do you get your socks
clean? There will soon be a water
shortage after the last few weeks of
drought and the information that
follows will be helpful if you have
a bidet. By the way please
don’t mention any of this to
my wife, Pauline. I know I
can rely on your discretion.
Back to the bidet and saving
water. First of all, fill the
bidet - it doesn’t take much.
Then wash your hair and all the
rest of yourself. Try not to splash
too much water on the bathroom floor;
it could be a give-away, and besides
there would be less water to wash your
socks. If you have been really careful
there should be enough left to wash
your trainers as well. By the way, an airing
cupboard in the bathroom is an ideal place to
dry the socks and trainers.
Dark Peak News Winter 2013 page 10
Frenchman’s Rocks. Most westerly point.
Usually quite wild but with chances of great
northern diver, great black-backed gull and
proper rock doves, (true to northwest Scottish
coasts).
Features
Jura birds
I suppose I’m just lucky that I have to go to
Jura at the end of May each year! At first it
was a one-off visit in 1992 to compete in the
annual Bens of Jura fell race. I was younger
and fitter then, and managed a time of 4hrs
28mins. I have not missed many years since,
such is the magic of these islands; with
failures as well as successes – lost in mist,
broken bones and/or too knackered to carry
on.
Inevitably my race times are slipping
to 6hrs plus; and now that I am one of the
club’s ‘older’ runners, I have to confess that
my appetite for this wonderfully masochistic
sport is slipping a bit too. But when it comes
to Jura, I just can’t imagine not being there.
It is still the race that takes me and my
ever patient wife Elaine to Jura, but we now
use this as a halfway jumping-off point to the
more remote islands to the north and west,
and we combine the race with an annual bird
count of these areas.
As the DPFR regulars know, the journey
requires firstly a ferry to Islay, famous for
its whiskys, (not for me - I don’t like the
stuff!). Here the birdlife is outstanding; Islay
is particularly renowned for wintering geese.
Up to 70% of Greenland’s breeding barnacle
geese and 25% of its white-fronted geese
winter here.
We’ve never been in autumn or winter so
we don’t see these, but our springtime visits
usually result in us seeing in excess of 80
species by the time we leave.
Islay does not have the high hills of Jura
but has unspoilt areas of moorland, peat
bogs, woodlands, scrub, freshwater lochs and
arable land. Coastal areas include extensive
shingle beaches, machair, dunes, marshes
and high cliffs, (Mull of Oa). Last year we
only had about three hours on Islay but in
2012 we stayed on for about a week, basing
ourselves at Port Charlotte and travelling to
the following locations:
Ardnave Point. At the car park there is a
small loch where tufted duck, shelduck, mute
swan and redshank are common. A walk
over the dunes to the headland has wheatear,
almost ground-nesting sand martin and
groups of feeding chough.
Gruinart, RSPB. The centre here is worth
a visit. A small hide overlooks the flats
and here are breeding lapwing, redshank,
snipe, mallard, teal and shoveler. Sometimes
gargany too. Corncrake also breed here but
are far easier to hear than to see.
Sanaigmore. A small northern point. We
recorded twite, great northern diver and a
large 60+ flock of black-tailed godwit on
passage.
Loch Gorm. Occasionally common scoter
breed here and sometimes the odd left-behind
barnacle goose or hooper swan can be seen
when the rest have flown north to their
breeding grounds.
Saligo Bay. If lucky, golden eagle and
peregrine frequent here. Several seen over the
years.
Bruichladdich: a coastal shingle beach
which had a group of four whimbrel. Quite a
surprise to realise that these birds are in fact
smaller than oystercatchers.
Bridgend. This area has coastal flats with
dunlin, redshank, shelduck and sometimes
sanderling at the shoreline. Inland is the River
Sorn with dipper, grey wagtail and the usual
common woodland birds readily identifiable.
The Oa. The south cliffs. This is the place for
golden eagle, peregrine, raven and chough.
Here we spent an hour watching a golden
eagle hacking into an unfortunate ‘something’
(?)
Jura is different again. A small open
ferry battles the current across the Sound of
Islay to Jura. It takes about 10 minutes, then
eight miles of single track road leads to the
little village of Craighouse. Jura landscape
is harsh, unforgiving and rough, but in my
book provides stunning scenery and wildlife.
Craighouse is in an exquisite setting on the
east coast, being sheltered in the beautiful
Three Isles Bay with the spectacular Paps
and the rest of Jura behind. The west coast
is completely uninhabited, no roads and
extremely difficult access, except for the
grey seal. Again, Like neighbouring Islay,
the island is home to excellent bird-life. Last
year we recorded 48 species during our three
days on the island including golden eagle,
sea eagle, hen harrier and short-eared owl.
Twice we have seen common rosefinch (a
very uncommon visitor to Britain). Today
the 5,000 red deer outnumber Jura residents
by 20:1, and otters are often seen along the
beautiful shoreline just north of the village.
eider duck, grey heron, shelduck and mute
swan, often with a trailing line of cygnets,
complement the ubiquitous oystercatchers,
ringed plover, common sandpiper and rock
pipit along the shingle beaches.
Further north, the island becomes even
more remote as the single road makes its
winding way, in sight of the east coast but
through moorland and farmland towards the
small hamlet of Inverlussa. curlew, twite,
stonechat and especially whinchat frequent
this area, and one would be very unlucky if
close views of cuckoo were not seen. Here
again there are good chances of hen harrier,
and often short-eared owl will fly quite close
to the roadside.
During the ferry crossings there are
chances of minke whale, porpoise and
basking shark: and most of the usual sea birds
at this time of year include eider, guillemot,
razorbill, gannet, black guillemot, great
northern diver, Manx shearwater, common
and Arctic tern, and all the common British
gulls.
So, these islands are thoroughly worth a
visit even if you do not intend to participate
in the race. As with all wild and wonderful
places in Britain, be prepared for inclement
weather; and the incomparable Scottish
‘midge’. Don’t believe anybody who tells you
this creature has anything in common with
the midges to be found in the Dark Peak. It’s
actually a unique form of man-eating demon
that can destroy the will to live. If, on your
visit, you find yourself beaten back by the
elements or by the less attractive forms of
wildlife, you’ll just have to keep going back
every year as I have.
Dave Lockwood
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
This started life as a race report from last
year’s Buttermere Triathlon entitled ‘The Last
Hurrah’, but then I remembered the editor
rejects such pieces, arguing that “triathlons
are all the same”, (I don’t remember quite
saying this, Ed.), so I had a slight re-think and
here goes.
It looks like it’s game over for me re
fell funning, as I’ve copped for a disease
in my knee called SONK, (Spontaneous
Osteonecrosis of the Knee). The end of my
femur has died and the most likely outcome
is a replacement knee. Any initial feelings
of self-pity were quickly dispelled, when
I realised there are people worse off than
me - Al Ward, and the boy Hayman to name
but two, both a hell of a lot more talented
than me and a hell of a lot younger when
their running careers were sadly curtailed by
injury. I also have my interest in cars to keep
me occupied, although this brings a twinge of
disappointment as there finally seems to be a
slight influx of fellow petrol heads, (Messer’s
McGuiness & Beerling please step forward),
into the club, who enjoy post-run car talk,
rather than the usual map, compass and trod
discussions.
I’ve just unearthed my first article for the
mag written nearly 20 years ago after my first
few fell races, the first of which – Bradwell
– is still etched in my memory as a horror.
Thanks to Jim for introducing me to the club
all those years ago, but not for telling me to
sprint through the village which I promptly
did, only to ‘die’ on the steps before the climb
had even started.
In the intervening years I’ve gathered
some great memories, which I hope bring a
smile and flicker of recognition from those
mentioned, so in rough chronological order
(apart from the first one)…
• Having the honour of being voted as Club
Chairman (despite not being in the room at
the time) and presiding over the first semi
amiable meeting between club stalwarts
and local landowners.
• My second fell race – Eyam. Far more
civilised, with beer refreshment half way
round.
• My first Terminator, when to Moz’s
disappointment I did not bonk and to my
amusement he had a catastrophic coming
together with a wasps’ nest on Millstone
Edge.
• My most enjoyable Warts run ever with
just Mick and Gav, on a beautiful clear
night in two feet of snow when I overtook
them going down Jacob’s Ladder on the
remains of a sledge.
• An epic one-mile blast down Long Line
toe-to-toe with the current club chairman
Tom, when I’m sure we both topped Tim
Tett’s world record time.
• When Ash joined and there were two now
Bladesmen in the club. But not waiting
for him to arrive late every single week to
discuss.
• Being quietly honoured when first young
Browell, then young Hakes then young
Yates confided that I was the man they
aspired to beat. Thankfully young Saville
has set his sights considerably higher.
• Showering naked with Jackie Lee after a
Black Rocks race. (thinking about it, can
you put this to the top of the list, please
Dave?)
• Visiting Kinder High with Crowson.
• Never finding Kinder Low with Crowson.
• Tony Simpson getting felled by a huge
leaping sheep above Stoney Middleton.
Unfortunately we were in thick mist at
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
the time so I was the only person in the
group who saw it, (at the time we were
navigating using blue water pipes that
were waiting to be laid).
Jim’s all woollen running kit. All his
agenda items that made AGMs bearable.
The WWII jeep.
Winning my first race, a Boxing Day
Bogtrot, when my then very young sons
kindly added many yards to the string
walk in Lady Canning’s Plantation. This
held up the ‘hairy one’ long enough for me
to get back to the Ox Stones first. Sorry,
Mr Robinson – I fully understand if you
want the club results archive amending.
Many club dinners when we had ‘man’s
music’ (Mahogany Newt) and not a
******* kaylee as Tim once so eloquently
put it, nor when kilts were recommended
attire. When Tom cross-dressed and went
as Roy’s partner, when Dave Moseley
went in top hat and tails but with the
briefest green satin shorts adorning his
incredibly long legs. Pertexes to Colin
Lago for taking a TV remote to the Lakes
not his mobile, to Kev Saville for falling
asleep in a layby 100 yards from his BG
support position, and to Ash for going in
search of himself.
Sorting out Bassetts sponsorship for the
Skyline and wearing the Bertie Bassett
outfit at my marshalling point at the
bottom of Lose Hill and the finishing line.
Trying to give away 840 bags of Jelly
Babies, when Bassetts misunderstood the
“a few free samples” request.
When Mandy had unbeknowingly
borrowed my hip flask for a Totley night
run and left it full of sherry for my Warts
run the following night. Then finding it
made a splendid accompaniment to Dave’s
Raspberry Ruffles.
The inside of Mike Bourne’s car. The
inside of Willy Kitchen’s car, (or was it his
garden?). The inside of Ian Winterburn’s
car. In fact the inside of any Dark Peaker’s
car except Messers McGuiness and
Beerling.
• Tim Austin’s driving, Mark Hayman’s
driving, Phil Crowson’s driving. Roy
Small’s driving. Matt Hulley’s driving
• Matt’s love life
• S*****g camper vans. Ash for deliberately
giving me a lift in his to Lad’s Leap.
• Phil Crowson taking his turn cutting
Grindleford playing fields at 2am.
• Innocently asking Ron Fawcett: “So you
do a bit of rock climbing do you Ron?”
(and seeing Keith Holmes crumple when
I said it).
• I could go on but you’re probably bored
already. Happy Days…
So, if I could just sneak in the triathlon
bit. Once again it was on a glorious sunny
day. The one mile swim in Buttermere was an
absolute pleasure and we went up Honister
under a cloudless sky, (the Tour of Britain
went up it the following day in a monsoon).
But half way round the run something clearly
wasn’t right, and so it has unfolded. If it
wasn’t for using my bike as a ‘crutch’ when
I finished, I would have needed carrying
back to the car. Rhys had to even kindly keep
going to the bar for me!
Sadly, I think The Last Hurrah sums
everything up nicely after Buttermere.To
my horror I’ve just read in the new race
instructions that race numbers must now be
pinned to your chest, which confirms my time
has definitely come.
See you soon, but probably in the pub.
Andy
Tarzan clutches a stolen baby to his chest to conceal
his lack of race number in the Longshaw race
A brief history of things we run past - part 10
Stanage
Stanage Edge is a grit stone escarpment
6km. long and 458m. a.s.l. at High Neb. It
is very popular with walkers, runners and
climbers. There are loads of well-documented
climbing routes some of which Dark Peaker
and climbing legend Ron Fawcett pioneered.
The ”Girdle Traverse” which at 5000m is the
longest recorded traverse in these Isles was
Fawcetted in 1992 in 6hrs. 10 mins.
Access to the edge was not always
straightforward. At the start of last century
it was a private grouse moor and part of the
North Lees estate. There was no mention of
Stanage Edge in 1913 publication “Some Grit
Stone Climbs” because of access restrictions,
and climbers would often bribe gamekeepers
to allow them on the rocks.
Robert Smythson, architect of Hardwick
Hall, built North Lees Hall in the late 16C. It
is thought to be the influence for Thornfield
House in “Jane Eyre” as Charlotte Bronte
visited a friend locally in 1845 and many of
the book’s other locations have matches in
Hathersage.
The Stanage Struggle race passes North
Lees Hall on its route up to the Edge. It
continues along a medieval packhorse route
and there are a few stones that look like
they’ve been worn by cartwheels. Runners
pass the recently resurfaced descent to Dennis
Knoll that was part of the “Long Causeway”
from Sheffield to Hathersage. Passengers
would be asked to disembark and they’d
“hang stones from the end of their carts
when going down Stannidge, it having great
descent.” Stanedge Pole (yet another spelling)
was a marker on the Sheffield/Derbyshire
boundary.
A few hundred metres S.E. of Stanage
Plantation is Robin Hood’s Cave, which
the outlaw is said to have used as a hideout.
This has some credence, as his birthplace is
reputedly only 13km away in Loxley and his
mate Little John has a grave in Hathersage.
At intervals on the Edge are at least 30
small troughs with runnels to collect water for
grouse. They are on or close to ground level
neatly carved out of the rock and sequentially
numbered. Stonemasons were paid 7s 3.5d
for chipping them out about 100 years ago,
and the numbering helped ensure nobody got
paid twice.
At the northern end of the Edge are the
remains of an old quarry. Near to the path
there are a number of short stone posts with
WM (Wilson Mappin - Mappin & Webb
family) on one side and WW (William Wilson
- snuff mill family) on the other. The stones
mark the boundary between their grouse
moors, WW being the man who financed the
grouse troughs.
Stanage Edge has suffered from its
popularity. The path is badly worn away in
places, so some erosion control has been
necessary and many of the more popular
climbs are becoming ‘polished’ in places. So
remember to go softly!
Mike Arundale
Team captains’ reports
Women’s report
Dark Peak women seem to have been
focused on individual achievement rather
than the team events in the early part of the
year, and it has resulted in some amazing
achievements. Nicky has become the only
person to do all classic rounds in under 20
hrs, (see page 26, Ed). Read her report for the
full low down, but the amount of suffering
she is able to go through to achieve her goals
is an inspiration to us all. She continues
to be incredibly supportive to her fellow
women runners, hence the organisation of
the first women’s BG weekend in May. This
resulted in success for Lucy Wiegand and
Denise Mathers of Northern Ireland, (the first
woman from Ulster to complete the round
– see her story on page 19), and a blinking
brave but over-24hr round from Ruth, in
truly awful conditions. Hopefully Anne and
Yvonne will also be successful next time.
The only problem with Nicky’s 2am start
was that we missed out on the normal pub
session/campsite high jinks (especially when
Ms Bryan-Jones is involved) that usually
accompany a Dark Peak women’s away
weekend. Early hours schedules may be good
for runners but not for drinkers!
Lynn Bland prioritised social arrangements
and her 50th birthday party day so much
that she even did her Joss a day early so the
celebrations could go ahead on the Saturday
night. But Lynn had trained hard over the
winter and completed the Joss in under 13
hours with a smile on her face pretty much
all the way round, (again, see separate report
from Lynn on page 22, Ed.).
The High Peak Marathon women’s trophy
returned to its rightful Dark Peak home with
an assured performance from Kirsty, Rachel
H, Jenny C and Pippa. Other notable HPM
performances were Nicky’s crew completing
in a time of 9:05, finishing third overall
and just being pipped by about a minute by
Haggis on Tour (Jasmine Paris’ team ) for
the mixed, and Sally Fawcett went round
with Three Runners and a Marshall in 10:18.
Lots more to come from Sally in the long
races with a great result on the Highland
Fling 53-miler along the West Highland
Way, where she finished second. Kirsty won
the Kinder Trial back in January. Sally has
shown she definitely fits right in with being
a Dark Peaker. She was third woman in the
Charlesworth Chase, but turned that into first
by being the first to down a pint afterwards,
(the first and second-placed athletes could
only manage halves - were they from
Totley?).
Jude is making a rapid return from a
serious foot surgery and with her superadapted anti-bunion inov-8’s has already been
back on the podium, winning at Fairfield
and Glamara on consecutive days, (if truth be
told, the “podium” was a muddy field, where
she was handed bottles of cheap wine as
trophies). She’s now very well placed in the
English Champs, leading the V45 category.
The summer races are now well underway
and the successes continue to roll in. Sally
Fawcett has been showing her strength in the
longer races, winning the classic AL category
Holme Moss. The women’s teams are looking
good in the English Champs, especially in the
V40s. Continuing the theme of being an old
git, I was happy to win V40 at the Snowdon
race. And is there no stopping Nicky? She
won the 10Peaks race in the Lakes in 18hrs
26mins, beating the second place runner by
two hours! Let’s hope we can all keep up the
momentum and stay at peak fitness for the
relays in the autumn … and can we really
believe there’ve been no Pertex nominees
revealed so far?
Helen
Men’s report
leading group had apparently gone walkabout
on the descent! Rhys lost some time, but
not as badly as others like Rob Hope. Let’s
just say Greg Rimmer enjoyed his extended,
time out there, and that Ashley finished OK.
Ashley also had to explain to Simon Reed
what the Pertex award is, (see the Dog’s
Diary, Ed.). As now usual at the Northern
Ireland shindig, Guinness and Dark Peak’s
(in)famous fancy dress went hand in hand. I
hope the pictures never see the light of day!
Though there is a good ‘guess the hands’
one, which might make a good website
winter teaser. In the end, our senior men were
second, V40s second too, and a great turnout
of V50s to grab the win. Definitely a great
weekend.
Quickly following, the next weekend was
the first English Champs race at Pendle. It
couldn’t have been a more different type
of race, but that’s what makes fell running
so appealing, eh? I must first mention the
really grand DPFR turnout here. Thanks
all. Unfortunately, and perhaps a little
surprisingly, the winning team were the swift
local-ish guys from Calder Valley. Whilst
many grizzled Dark Peakers were hating
the road run return, there was clearly a big
pack race at around thirtieth place in direct
completion with P&B. It was great to see
Mark Tuckett back racing - finishing 31st
-closely followed by Neil. Unfortunately,
Tom Brunt came out the wrong end of the
battle with P&B runners, though still a good
35th, only three seconds ahead of Pete. Even
with Rhys eighth, and myself fifteenth, we
were just pipped for second open team by
P&B. The V40 team was also third, with the
V50s fourth, (and hankering for the Lake
District races!). Interestingly, this was one
of the first Champs races for a while where
August already. The championship season
is flying by, and it’s turning out to be an
interesting one! It was definitely so after the
first British Championship race in Northern
Ireland in March. We went over to the
Mourne Mountains for the Donard Challenge,
a ‘short’ five-mile race just up/down the
800m+ Slieve Donard peak. We raced from
sea level, but it wasn’t the tropical Bahamas,
rather more like a distinctly claggy November
day on Bleaklow. This clearly had some Dark
Peakers licking their lips (and others less so).
As I somehow stumbled upon the first
checkpoint, Neil swiftly moved past trying
subtly to take no other clubs with him.
Knowing his orienteering expertise and
previous day’s recceing, I thought it would be
a good idea to try to keep up. I couldn’t quite
manage this as the last drag steepened, but
frankly as visibility was down to about 20m
it was just case of bearing and go. I tried to
do this off the top too, but it didn’t quite work
and I ended a good way too far left of the last
checkpoint. Si Patton had strode out this way
too, and as I veered in a more appropriate
direction, back up the hill he came dragging
Dave Taylor along, whilst almost at the same
time Mike Robinson shot past enjoying a
flowing downhill. If you’re in it, you might
as well be in it with your mates! Considering
Rhys was well placed near the leaders close
to the turn-around at the top, I knew we had
quite a good chance. But it was so murky that
we couldn’t piece together the picture until
we started swapping tales after the finish.
In summary: Neil had potentially had the
race of his life, to finish third by navigating
well downhill and giving it all to stay ahead
of a fast-finish Simon Bailey. The whole
the majority of the top 50 were under 40,
though that may be very different on longer
or rougher races.
The second English Champs race was the
classic Coniston route. There was much chat
beforehand re what was the best route off the
Old Man. Would people’s recces and special
map diagrams prove useful? First though,
the long slog up Wetherlam. Conditions were
good for racing: overcast, warm, but lacking
in the clag that some of our navigators would
have preferred. Most of us had steady but not
spectacular runs, digging in to just try to beat
the people who were around us. Rhys was
first Dark Peaker in seventh, with Oli having
a steady run for eighteenth. Top performance
I think was from Tom Saville who was only
16secs and three places behind Oli, with Tom
Brunt then 26th and Neil around 30th again,
possibly pulling Stuart along after recovering
from cold(s). Also good back-up from Rich
Guillaume who scored Champs points in
42nd. Rich is clearly liking running on rougher
stuff, as evidenced by a very good result at
Fairfield later the same month. Overall, Senior
men were third again, V40s second, and V50s
pleased to be third.
So on to Ennerdale in June, but as things
turned out a much-changed Ennerdale. Due to
threats of lightning, the organiser reduced the
usual beasty route by a couple of miles and
to ‘only’ about 4,300ft climb (not the usual
7,500ft) for a safer low-level route. Much
has been written and said about this decision,
but all I can say is a volunteer organiser made
what he believed to be the most appropriate
choice based on data available. Clearly
runners had been preparing for big climbs,
but in the end it still seems the route run
was an appropriate challenge, even if eight
miles undulating valley run return wasn’t
to everyone’s taste. Whatever, I certainly
hope that the results stand for the GB and
English Champs as it appears we won the
open, V40 and maybe also V50 team races.
Great going everyone, and especially to Oli
who found some speed on the return track to
finish a stonking third. After 3rd places in the
first couple of English races this now really
puts us back in the mix. Indeed we may well
now be leading the British scoring, but again
Dollar is going to be a competitive race. This
season certainly isn’t going to be like last year
when the team won 5 races to dominate the
English champs. With Calder, Borrowdale and
ourselves having won a race each it’s going to
be very close competitive racing for the 2nd
half of the season. In fact it may actually be
just as important squeezing 2nd places in races
if a different club wins. Thanks to all runners
so far this season, but more is going to need
to be done if we want to still be top. Your club
needs you! And everyone, not just the top five,
can do their bit.
There have also been usual and many
varied other races occurring, which included
excellent team wins at Yorkshire 3 Peaks
(open and V40s) and Jura. Great to see quite
a lot of people attempting lots of different
things, which has included the slightly
loopy birthday celebration of Stuart ‘Shelf’
Walker, who completed 29 Peaks around
Yorkshire/Derbyshire/Staffordshire for his
29th birthday. Gonna be difficult to top
that in each subsequent year though. Also
special congratulations to Dave Taylor for
completing the Paddy Buckly round in 23
hours 5 mins, and by all accounts looking so
fresh throughout that he gave his pacers a real
workout. Also great efforts from Laurence
Piercy and Glen Borrell doing the same
round in 23:17 in a low key and self reliant
fashion. Nice one chaps. As usual at this time
of year lots of local midweek races going on,
and apologies I don’t have space to mention
more of you by name. Though indeed I find it
interesting seeing runners, particularly newer
members, in results as Dark Peak.
Enjoy your summer
Rob
Been there, done that
Girls go the distance
Last year, it was the Bob Graham relay record that fell to the all-conquering Dark Peak long
distance women. This year – so far – the team have organised their first women-only BG
weekend, a youthful Lynn Bland has conquered the Joss Naylor at the age of 49 & 364/365ths,
and - as you may well have seen in the Fell Runner - the irrepressible Nicky Spinks has now
shattered the records for all three of the big rounds. On the next few pages, we mark all three.
Lynn tells the story of her success, Nicky shares the secrets of how she did it, and first up
Northern Ireland “guest” Denise Mathers pays tribute to the Dark Peak BG machine..
Denise Matthews’ BG
I first heard of the Bob Graham Round I
suppose like most people when reading
“Feet in the Clouds”, but it did not ignite any
ambition - in fact quite the opposite. Needless
my “can-do” husband Dale responded
differently - he immediately said that’s for
me.
I left him to get on with working out how
he was realistically going to attempt it. By
chatting to fell runners here in Northern
Ireland he discovered that Jim Patterson had
completed the BG in 1985 as part of the Dark
Peak club attempt, along with the late Denis
Rankin.
Dale’s next task was to try to persuade
Dark Peak to let him do it. Having read about
the round, he’d learned that familiarity and
navigation were paramount to completion
– not easy when you’re the other side of
the Irish Sea. He contacted ‘Mr Dark Peak
BG’ otherwise known as Richard Hakes.
Understandably, Richard was at first a bit
hesitant to take on an unknown from NI and
suggested a support role as first step. He put
us in touch with Lucy Wiegand who was
attempting an anticlockwise BG in May 2013
and she kindly agreed to have Dale help on
two legs. This was to be our first visit to the
Lakes and we fell in love with the place.
It went well, and Richard agreed to accept
Dale onto the June 2013 Dark Peak round.
Great – but a bit late to start training now!!
Dale completed the round despite the lack
of preparation, and in pretty awful conditions.
I supported him on legs one and five, was
deeply impressed by all the contenders and
came away inspired. I returned to NI and
completed what is known in the Mournes as
the Mourne 500’s the following weekend:
http://mourne500.blogspot.co.uk/
I had the long distance bug, but I didn’t
seriously consider tackling the Bob Graham
until the BG dinner in October. While
chatting to Dark Peakers, I heard that Nicky
was planning the first DP women’s attempt
sometime this year. Dale and I chatted about
it on the way home. He knew it was a big
challenge but was pretty confident I could do
it.
I knew the only way for me to have a good
stab at the BG would be to ask if I could join
Nicky’s team, put in some hard training in
the Mournes and then see what happened. I
emailed Nicky and Richard and they kindly
agreed to give me a go. Serious training
would start in the New Year! I was tempted
to keep it quiet, but Nicky asked me to lessen
the burden on Dark Peak by bringing some
supporters. I would have to ask some friends
to get fit enough to cover a leg or two and the
cat would be out of the bag. Maybe pressure
would be a good thing! I hoped for a good
winter of training.
The Mournes are not on the same scale
as the Lakes but they do have a very handy
22-mile loop over 12 peaks with 10,000 feet
of ascent. That formed my training route with
variations, (clockwise, anticlockwise and
various starts), plus other local race routes.
I lost count of how many times I climbed
Slieve Donard and I may have even been
reported to the “men in white coats” by some
ramblers who met me three different times on
their single ascent. By May I was going well
and I had got there injury-free. I could now
look forward to three weeks of tapering.
Taper I did, but as the physical effort
subsided my mind went into overdrive,
triggering sleepless nights as the anticipation
built. I arrived in Keswick pretty tired but
not too worried as I always seem to tackle
big challenges in a sleep-deprived state. My
supporters were very conscientious at the
campsite. I even caught Hazel and Mary
taking bearings for all the peaks on the
Helvellyn range in case they got lost and had
to make their way back to base, (not for my
benefit, then!).
After meeting all the other girls I tried to
get a few hours kip before getting up at 1am.
Not sure if I got any but I certainly remember
listening to the rain hitting the tent. My worst
nightmare – bad weather. I had been telling
myself all along that this was only going to be
possible if the weather was kind. I was pretty
nervous about what lay ahead.
Dale was the only one of my crew coming
on the first leg, but William, Hazel and Mary
came to see me off from the Moot Hall after
the 2am photo-shoot. The rain had eased
before the start, but soon put in an appearance
on the first leg - Mungrisdale Common was
wet and the ground difficult. Ruth and I
pulled slightly ahead, and as Nicky did not
want to hold us back so she told me to follow
Ruth down Hall’s Fell Ridge. I wasn’t sure
of the route so I needed to keep close – quite
difficult as Ruth flew down the steep, slippery
rocks. I made it down to the support car and
it was all action to get me sorted and back out
as soon as possible.
After a quick change of clothes and some
porridge I set off on schedule in the rain with
William, Mary, Hazel and Ian Winterburn
up Clough Head. I felt sorry for my NI pals
as I had told them how lovely the Helvellyn
range would be. Needless to say not a view
was to be had all day, never mind Helvellyn.
I began to wonder what this was all about
and whether I should just pack in at Dunmail
and blame the conditions. Everyone says you
hit a low patch somewhere along the route
but this was too early - how would I pick up
and continue? The climb up Fairfield nearly
finished me off, but William rescued me on
Seat Sandal with the delightful news that I
was 15 minutes up.
At Dunmail Nicky, Richard Hakes and
Dave Lund were taking over with me and
they looked like they meant business. I don’t
think they would have been too happy if I
were to throw the towel in here. So I got a
good bit of food into me and set off up Steel
Fell privileged to have three such highly
experienced supporters, (Shush Dave – just
accept the compliment. Ed.). Nicky kept the
pace going and I could see that she let me
climb at my own pace but on the descents
took the lead and charged ahead. Thankfully I
kept up and managed to make ground on both
Lucy and Ruth. I was disappointed I could
not see very much all day and really I still
cannot picture any of the peaks I visited.
I had been wondering which way I was
going to approach Scafell. Nicky took me by
Lord’s Rake –not for the faint-hearted and
somewhere you would only go if necessary –
e.g. on a BG Round. It was treacherous in the
wet conditions. It was all downhill to Wasdale
and I enjoyed the scree slope Dale had told
me about, despite having to stop and empty
my shoes at the bottom. Then down to the
car park where my support crew had kindly
got me chips from the hotel. I only managed
about five, but I think Nicky enjoyed them! I
learned here the importance of changing into
dry clothes and having good gloves – Nicky
kindly lent me a fresh pair, and once my
hands warmed up after the soaking I could
really feel the heat returning to my body.
Dale, William and I set off up Yewbarrow
with my leg four navigator Ian Fitzpatrick
and a weather forecast that suggested a slight
chance of the tops clearing. They did. For
about five minutes. But generally the cloud
remained and I could see nothing. Ian was
very encouraging and went out of his way to
explain what lay ahead, (trying to convince
me the climbs were not really all bad). We
met a very cheerful Willy Kitchen at Black
Sail Pass where he gave me some jelly
sweets. Onwards and upwards we went along
with fading light. Anyway, we made it to
Honister in the dark and spot on the schedule.
My support crew of Hazel and Mary
had carefully prepared pasta, soup and hot
coffee and whilst I was not really interested
I was force fed. My main request was for
some pain killers because at this stage my
quads were really sore. With no time to
change any gear I set off on the last leg with
Dale, Hazel, Helen and Tom. I was pretty
confident we had enough time to make it
and I was not too anxious, but I suppose
anything could go wrong and that probably
was in supporters’ minds. I was soon caught
by Lucy who seemed to be going strong up
Dale Head. At this stage our supporters and
navigators thought it would be good to try
to stay together to avoid navigation errors.
We cracked the tricky descent off Robinson,
after which Lucy took off like a rocket on the
grassy track. I tried to keep up but decided
to ease back after feeling cramping in my
calves.
As I hit the road with about four miles to
go I glanced at my watch for the first time
since starting. I had one hour to make it from
Newlands church. Mary came tearing towards
me all eager to get me to Keswick. William
had my Hoka shoes ready at the roadside,
but I ran past them as I knew I hadn’t time
to change. I was also afraid I would cramp.
Lucy and Willy had taken the trail route but I
decided to stay on the road, walking the slight
inclines and shuffling the rest until we came
to the path across the field. To my surprise
Lucy came up behind me. We stayed together
and held hands as we approached Moot
Hall, where a curious mix of local police,
party-goers and a good number of Dark Peak
supporters were milling around. The latter
cheered us as we both hit the green door.
After a few tears of exhaustion/jubilation,
I hugged all of my NI support team. Everyone
congratulated us and Martha had a very
welcome warm cup of tea. After a few photoshoots I was glad to sit down on the street
bench. My legs were pretty shot through.
When Lucy invited me for a dip in the river
I declined - I really had had enough water
for one day, thank you! We began our way
back to our luxury accommodation (not) on
the campsite, and on the way out of Keswick
got pulled over by the suspicious police. Just
what we needed - some warm, soft, luxury
beds in the local police station!
Denise Mathers
As detailed elsewhere in Helen’s women’s
captain’s report, Ruth Batty also completed
the round on the women’s weekend, but sadly
a little outside the 24 hours. That’s still no
mean achievement in the foul conditions.
Lynn Bland’s Joss
Naylor
My reply to the question “Why haven’t you
done the BG?” has always been “I’m waiting
until I’m 50 to do the Joss”, so when 2014
arrived it was time to put my money where my
mouth was. For several reasons I didn’t really
start training until mid Feb, which left me just
10 weeks to get back into some serious running,
something I hadn’t really done for a good few
years.
A weekend in the Lakes in early March with
Gavin made me, (and him), realise this wasn’t
just a short version of the BG for geriatrics. The
schedule at the start was pretty much impossible
into a headwind. I realised I had a long way
to go and decided that a few more days in
the Lakes were essential to have the slightest
chance of success. Over four days in March, I
reccied most of the route but still struggled to
hit the schedule. But having managed seven
hours on my own carrying a rucksack I thought
I had a chance of completing the 48 miles even
if I struggled to do it in 14 hours.
I had long since decided that the most
important thing was for me and my support
crew to have a good weekend, something that
was reinforced the previous weekend when
the DP women battled the elements and the
supporters struggled to do any socialising at
the women’s BG weekend. Ironically I had
also decided to start at 2am but only so I could
finish early enough to get back to Greystoke for
a birthday celebration. As has also been well
documented, (thanks Willy), I wasn’t 50 until
the following day so it wouldn’t officially count.
But Sunday evening is rubbish for a party, and
if the weather was bad I planned to just go for
a run and make an early start on the fiftieth
celebrations.
Part of me was hoping for rain so I could
call it all off but the weather wasn’t going to
give me an excuse so there was nothing else
for it - I was going to have to give it a go.
Gavin, Kev and Steve, a friend from student
days, drew the short straw for the 2am start.
Never great at running in the dark I thought
the first bit was going to be hard, but we only
ever slipped five minutes behind the schedule
and once it got light we made the back-up
and arrived at Kirkstone a few minutes ahead.
The daylight arriving on High Street and the
sight of the campervan in the car park and a
cheery Roy, Marilyn and Darrell with a cuppa
were a real boost. Roy and Darrell joined us
as I set off up the Red Screes like a bat out of
hell and made up a bit more time. Familiar Ian
Hodgson territory. Gavin navigated us across to
Fairfield and as we climbed Seat Sandal, Alice
and Ruth were on the top to cheer me on and
guide me down. I’m normally a notoriously
bad descender, but I actually made time going
down. Things were looking good!
Eating on the go was always going to be a
problem for me so it was good to get a bit ahead
as it meant I could sit down and get some food
and drink down. From Dunmail, Simon lead a
gaggle of DP women past and present up Steel
Fell. Jo B entertained me by offering some
of the most random hill food imaginable and
endless dog chatter with Jo A. The sun was out
and I felt great.
Dave and Bob hadn’t made it to High Raise
as they had been up at the crack of dawn putting
markers on the descent off Great End but we
could see them as we dropped, guiding us the
right way to Rossett Pike. I was now entering
unknown territory beyond the seven hours I
had done in training and I began to feel a bit
queasy. Helen stayed by my side chatting and
it soon passed, then before I knew it I was on
Great End with yet another welcoming party.
Alan kindly offered me some sloe gin and Steve
had left items of clothing to mark the descent
route - his jacket was never to be seen again!
Dave expertly led me down and we arrived at
Sty Head so far ahead of schedule that Bob, Ian
and Kirsty - my support for the next leg - hadn’t
arrived. No need to panic. I decided to take
five, have a sit down with Jeff, and again try
to get some food down. The running was easy
compared with trying to eat enough.
I’d had a couple of days around Wasdale at
Easter and knew I could smash the schedule on
the final climbs when I was fresh. Amazingly I
was still able to do them even at this stage, and
I began to realise that unless I had a disaster
it was in the bag. Kirsty, well practiced at
dragging me round relays, did what she does so
well and picked out all the best lines for me to
follow. Even the descents weren’t fazing me. I
don’t think I ever imagined it would be anything
other than torture at this stage but I was still
enjoying every minute.
We had time for another quick sit down
at Black Sail and then we were on the home
straight. Ann appeared on Haycock amazed to
see us so early and I realised it really was in the
bag. We set off on the ridiculously steep climb
up Seatallan and I was desperate to stretch my
back after all the leaning over on the climbs.
“Stop for a minute,” Kirsty suggested. “No, I’ll
get to the top... Actually no, let’s stop.” It was
a memorable couple of minutes sitting there
with Ian and Kirsty, enjoying the warm sun and
admiring the view, and well worth adding a few
minutes to my final time for.
Kev and Darrell were on the final summit to
greet us and after a few pics we headed down to
finish in just under 13 hours. A few more pics
with the assembled welcome party and Mrs
Naylor, a paddle in the river and it was time to
get back to Greystoke.
I managed to stay awake until after 10pm to
make the most of what had probably been my
most memorable birthday ever.
I can’t begin to thank all the people who
turned out to support me, help me to celebrate
and let me shower in their campervan! I really
wasn’t sure I could do it and I certainly didn’t
expect to be able to enjoy it all the way to the
end and arrive with time to spare. The near
perfect weather and great company made all the
difference.
Last but not least a huge well done to Tim
Hawley. On minimum training not only did
he make it all the way round but he had to do
it at my pace which, at times, must have been
torture!
Kirsty picks out another of the best lines for Lynn to
follow. A pint from the editor in Tha Sportsmen for the
first person who can name the hill they’re climbing.
The piccy in the middle
Exclusive - Nicky’s ultra distance record
secrets
I completed the three UK rounds in 2005 (Bob Graham), 2006/7 (Paddy Buckley) and 2008
(Charlie Ramsay). I then tried a few 100mile ultras, and in 2011 successfully broke the
women’s Lake District 24-hour fell record by scaling 64 peaks in 23hrs 25mins. Buoyed on by
these successes, I turned my attentions to the records for the UK rounds, and with fortune on
my side I’m pleased to say that I conquered all three. I thought I would do a comparison of my
experiences on these record-breaking attempts, asking the same questions about each one so
that hopefully it’s not too long winded!
Details of the round?
Bob Graham, Lake District, 42 peaks.
What was the previous record? 18hrs
49mins. Anne Johnson (nee Stentiford)
When did you attempt the record? July 2012
What was your training? How did it go?
The usual winter races of HPM, Edale
Skyline and Fellsman. I felt it had gone well
but had to have an operation in March which
put me back a bit and then there was a lot of
snow so training had been hard but a bit hit
and miss.
What schedule were you on? How much
support did you have? Eighteen hours. Lots
of support for leg two onwards. A little sparse
on leg one but that was OK as I was setting
off at 4am so would be in daylight. Amanda
Heading was on road support which was key.
What was the weather forecast? Were
there any other factors that influenced the
attempt? The weather was due to come in
– however it was exactly the same as on the
Wasdale race which had been wrong, so I
decided to attempt.
What food did you plan to eat? What did
you actually eat? Planned - the usual rice
puddings, fruit salads, beans, pasta and gels.
Actual – beans, pasta and then a rice pudding
on leg four, soup at Honister and just gels on
leg five.
What clothes/kit did you wear? Set off in
shorts with ¾’s over them, long-sleeved top
with short-sleeved over that. Added a Haglofs
waterproof on leg three and kept it on to the
Moot Hall. Hat and gloves too.
Did everything go to plan? What didn’t and
what did you do about it? The weather was
worse than forecast on legs three, four and
five. I was 20mins up on schedule till leg
three then lost that and more. I felt very sick
on leg four so forced a rice pudding down.
We got hail and wind on legs four and five.
What were your most enjoyable moments?
The parachute drop to Threlkeld. Leg five my
stomach felt better and when I got on the road
I enjoyed being able to pick my knees up and
run properly without slipping on horrid rocks!
What were your worse? Realising that the
rope to the right of Broad Stand was meant
for me; climbing it was horrendous. Feeling
sick on Red Pike. Finishing over 18 hours.
Any funny stories? Looking back, it has to be
the rope on the “Alternative Broad Stand”. I
saw it and thought “What made climbers go
out in this weather”. Then I realized it was for
me! Ian Fitz man-hauled me up and then Tim
Whittaker.
And finally… What time did you do?
18hrs 12mins - which is not good enough.
Details of the round? Paddy Buckley,
Wales, 47 peaks.
What was the previous record? 19hrs
19mins. Anne Johnson (nee Stentiford)
When did you attempt it? May 2013
What was your training? How did it go?
Usual races over the winter but there was so
much snow about that races were postponed
and I did a lot of trudging through snow
which was frustrating.
support did you have? 19hrs 10mins. I
struggled to find anywhere I thought I could
go faster than Anne. The split to the quarries
from Allt Fawr I had done faster in 2006 so
chose that as my lead time. Good amount of
support initially but I lost quite a few people
when I postponed.
attempt? On Saturday it was awful but on
Sunday there was a weather window so I
postponed and rearranged my support. The
weather was fantastic all the way round. No
wind and cool.
What food did you plan to eat? What did you
actually eat? Planned and actually ate - rice
puddings, fruit salads, pasta. It was one of my
best rounds for eating apart from Snowdon
when I was sick just once.
What clothes/kit did you wear? I set off in
shorts with ¾’s over the top, long-sleeved
with short-sleeved over the top. Took the
Details of the round? Charlie Ramsay, 24
Munros, Scotland.
What was the previous record? 20hrs 24mins
by Helene Whitaker (nee Diamantides)
When did you attempt the Record?
May 2014
What was your training? How did it go? I
tried to copy what I did for the Paddy. XC
long-sleeved and ¾’s off on Snowdon.
what did you do about it? Yes, generally
everything went very well. The support
people who I didn’t know were really good
and I made up time on legs where I didn’t
think it possible. I had to keep making sure
I was on schedule and upping the pace when
not fast enough. I was sick once on Snowdon
but with words of encouragement ate again
soon and was fine after that.
Realising that in fact it was all possible as I
was coming into Llanberis with two legs to
go. Seeing the brocken spectres and cloud
inversions on leg five over the Carnedds.
What were your worse? Being sick on
Snowdon – I thought that maybe it was all
going to go horribly wrong and I’d just stop
dead in my tracks.
Any funny stories? Mark Harvey’s
expression when I stopped and he ordered
me to “at least walk”. I glared at him and
walked. We walked and between us sorted my
stomach out.
And finally… What time did you do?
19.02 hours… And no, I’m not arsed about
the two minutes. It is the round that has
always meant the most to me. I had one
miserable failed attempt, then breast cancer
and then a hard-earned successful attempt. To
go back and break the record was the biggest
dream come true for me.
and speed/hill work, long runs and weekends
in the mountains. Lots of recceing in 2013
and a recce weekend in April 2014.
support did you have? 20hrs 15mins. Initially
I struggled for support then loads of people
came forward so I had a lot.
attempt? Very good – easy to plan. Maybe a
shower or two but overall very settled. It was
too hot at midday when I was in the valley.
What food did you plan to eat? What did you
actually eat? With fewer road stops I planned
to have Expedition Foods meals made up
on-route as they pack 500/800kcals in one
packet. So five packets in total. In between
the usual fruit salads, rice puds. I actually ate
about three packets, a lot of fruit salads, a lot
of gels.
What clothes / kit did you wear? Guess
what? Shorts with ¾’s over the top, a longsleeved top with a short-sleeved top over the
top! Took the ¾’s and long-sleeved off on
leg one when the sun came up. Sun hat and
cream!
what did you do about it? On leg one I ran
out of food so felt hungry at the stop. Ate a
full Expedition Foods meal which was good.
But then my next Expedition Foods meal
wasn’t made up and I was too hot and sick. I
had to go onto gels over leg three in the end
as I couldn’t get anything else to stay down.
Leg one … all of it…. the sun rising over
the Grey Corries, eating everything and
anything, running with Jasmin Paris, chatting
to Spyke, descending “Spinks’ Ridge” – it
was all great.
What were your worse? Setting off up
leg two with heavy unresponsive legs and
losing five minutes on the split. When the
Expedition Foods meal wasn’t made up and
I had been looking forward to it. Running in
the valley with lots of people buzzing about
me when I was feeling hot and sick. Then
being sick. All of leg three when I felt sick.
Any funny stories? Running into leg two to
three changeover and seeing Charlie Ramsay
bounding about with his camera like the
paparazzi.
And finally….What time did you do? 19hrs
39mins. Don’t ask me how – my legs just
kept on working when my stomach wouldn’t.
My overall thoughts and reflections at the
end of it all?
When I look back I find it incredible that I
did all those records - time goes past and
everybody moves on to the next thing. People
always ask me “What’s next?” and I think
my reply ought to be “Well I’ve just had my
breakfast and so will wait an hour before
thinking what I might have for lunch”. I like
to take time out to recover, digest and rest
not only my body but my mind as it takes a
lot of organising to do these things properly,
(which is the only way I can do them as
everyone who knows me knows). I am very
proud of what I have achieved; only today
I was out over Outer Edge and remembered
“getting lost” on a fine day while practising
orienteering with points Andy Plummer had
made up for me. That was in 2002. When
will I stop? Hopefully, never. I aim to be like
Andy Harmer, Roger Baumeister and Yiannis
Tridimas when I’m just a little older ... always
on the look-out for new challenges to do!!
The Sheffield Way Relay:
The (not so) meteoric rise of Dark Peak... and
introducing... the Sheffield Way Ultra
John Snowden (with help from Tony Woodard,
Karl Marshall, Paul Fauset, and Willy
Kitchen)
The roots of the Sheffield Way go back to the
Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire and it is
still possible to obtain the official ‘guidebook’
by former Lord Mayor Councillor Peter Price
from 1985, detailing the route which follows
the original Sheffield boundary. Every path,
hedge, gatepost, stile and gennel is described
in immense detail, (as per 1985), from its
start at Don Valley Stadium to Ecclesfield,
Greno Woods, Oughtibridge, Loxley Valley
to Wyming Brook over Stanage and Burbage
to Totley, Holmesfield, Ford, Mosborough,
Woodhouse and back to Don Valley.
At the end of the 45 page ‘guide’ there is
the statement from Councillor Price: “On June
30th 1985, I, along with my son Peter and
three friends Clive Betts, Howard Knight and
Bob Marshall, set off from Tinsley at 6 am to
launch this challenge walk. We arrived back at
11.30pm some seventeen hours later, aching
blistered but triumphant.”
And this is where the challenge begins
for those running the Relay Race. Their first
step is to use the somewhat dated guide and
associated hand-drawn maps to spend a few
evenings and/or weekends recee’ing their
legs of the course. Working out, for example,
the correct stile, gate or gennel based on
a description made almost 30 years ago
!
may make all the difference to completing
the leg, and the entire team finishing at all.
Surprisingly many aspects have not changed
and, to Peter Price’s credit, the ‘guidebook’
also contains some very interesting historical
facts about the villages and other aspects of
the route. I was not aware that the Sheaf Valley
formed the very ancient boundary between
the Kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia,
and where King Ecbert was acknowledged
overlord of England in 829, or that the
Houndkirk Moors were bought by the Water
Department in 1927 to build a reservoir
but instead became the site of decoy lights,
deflecting bombers from the city centre during
WW2. Elements of Hackenthorpe, Woodhouse
and Handsworth date back many centuries and
other numerous historical facts provide some
interesting distractions whilst recce’ing and
running the race.
The Sheffield Way Relay (SWR) has been
organised by the Steel City Striders since
1996. The five legs, of approximately 10 miles
each, are mostly scenic, off-road and do justice
to Sheffield’s fine balance of rugged open
country, hilly and leafy suburbia and industrial
heritage, whether you are in the North, East,
South or West of the city. Leg 1 starts by the
canal near Don Valley Stadium, going through
Ecclesfield and through little hamlets on the
outskirts of Grenoside. The baton passes to
leg 2 runners at Wheata Wood car park on the
old Woodhead Road above Grenoside and
they then take it up and down the Upper Don
and Loxley valleys before dropping into the
Rivelin. Leg 3 starts at Wyming Brook and
takes runners over more familiar Dark Peak
ground along Stanage and Burbage Edges
then Blacka Moor over to Moss Road near
the Cricket Inn. Leg 4 is a refreshingly scenic
and perhaps surprising hilly route via Coal
Aston and Holmesfield to Ford near Ridgeway,
leading into the most ‘urban’ fifth leg where
stunning countryside is blended with historical
townships. This last leg finishes by going
under the Parkway, past the former Sheffield
airport and then through some slightly dodgy
(and not so scenic) alleyways back to the
Tinsley canalside.
The race is on the third Sunday in
September and involves 12-16 teams from
clubs around Sheffield and Rotherham. Teams
consist of 10 runners, with two per leg who
need to finish simultaneously. Categories are
open teams (age and gender unrestricted),
mixed teams (at least two vet men over 40,
at least two vet men over 50 and at least two
women), and womens teams (the clue is in the
name), with prizes for each. The start order at
Don Valley is 8am for womens teams, 8:15am
for mixed teams and 8:30 for open teams.
Rankings include the 15-30 minute handicap.
The course record is 5:46:20 by a Striders team
in 2011.
The day ends cheerfully with a post-race
party at Nether Edge Bowling Club with a
generous buffet (£10 per team) and a bar.
Runners and their families can mingle and
compare notes about injuries sustained on wild
fells and experienced orienteers taking wrong
turns in urban gennels.
So how have DPFR got on?
And what were the excuses?
The race has been going for 17 years, but
nobody seems to be able to remember
whether DPFR were originally involved in
the early ones - there appears to be no record
for most of the last decade. The relay has
been capably organised by John Crossland,
a nice chap who just happens to live over the
road from Paul Sanderson. So in 2011, with
Paul’s encouragement, Willy Kitchen agreed
to become ‘captain’ and put out an appeal
for a strong team (or teams!) to challenge
the dominance of Striders, Sheffield RC
and Kimberworth over this magnificent
circumnavigation of our fine city. Surely this
would be a relatively tame route for DPFR to
reign supreme over other clubs who generally
run on the flat?
Having put the call out for A-listers, Willy
assembled a team with over a century of fell
running experience between them. On the
face of it, Dark Peak should have done very
well. Well, at least we might have expected
not to have got hopelessly lost on the very
first leg. Jim Fulton and Chris Barber’s
courageous attempt to cover all possible leg
1 route permutations between Don Valley
and Grenoside allowed leg 3ers Paul Elliott
and Karl Marshall to take in a relaxed second
breakfast/brunch. Meanwhile, leg 5ers
(Richard Hakes and me) decamped from the
Ford handover to keep warm for a few hours,
sitting in our brown vests in the Crystal Peaks
branch of McDonald’s.
The team finished a veritable eleventh out
of 16 with a time of 7:49:59. Not bad for first
timers, some of whom fully admitted to carboloading with six pints on the Saturday night.
Anyway, as The Who once sang “We won’t get
fooled again”. It was at least a useful learning
experience for future teams to recce the course
beforehand.
So in 2012, I took over from Willy as
‘captain’ with the full knowledge that the
chances of pulling a top-flight team together
were remote. For starters, I would not have
been the so-called ‘captain’, or even had made
the reserve team if we had been remotely
inundated with requests to participate. But as
I had reached my late 40s without captaining
anything remotely sporting in my life, I was
secretly thrilled to take on the challenge. What
I could not provide in the running, I would try
to make up for in organising the ‘best’ team I
could…or at least ten people who would turn
up on the day.
One of the excuses from the previous year
was the SWR coinciding with the Stanage
Struggle on the same morning. The answer
was to structure the team so that keener
runners could run their SWR leg and then get
rapidly transported to the Stanage Struggle
afterwards, thereby providing a sufficiently
vigorous day’s exercise for the stalwarts.
This worked to some extent in that we
scraped eight reasonable runners together,
including two very strong women in Vicky
Chico and Helen Elmore. One last minute
dropout meant that my friend Stuart Laidlaw
had to pay last minute club fees to Ann
Watmore and borrow a brown vest so he
could join the spritely Karl Marshall on leg
3. In an attempt to keep up with Karl, poor
Stuart ran his socks of but also ran the skin
off his knees when he gracefully executed a
double somersault with pike on a particularly
abrasive slab of gritstone. With Karl barking
motivational slogans for the final few miles to
help take the pain away, Stuart successfully
handed over the baton to Tom Westgate and
Tony Woodard with both legs caked with
blood and Burbage heather, (who said that
this race was not hard enough?). The highlight
of the final leg was a battle between Kenny
Turner (with me very much lagging) and the
swift and definitely more athletic pair from the
Smiley Paces ‘A’ team, (who set a women’s
record for leg 5). At the end in Don Valley, the
Dark Peak team came in seventh in 7:07:53.
We technically beat the Smiley Paces ‘A’ team
but, because of the handicap, they narrowly
took official sixth place from us.
The gauntlet was therefore thrown down
for another year, (i.e. not for Dark Peak to win
overall but at least to come ahead of Smiley
Paces). So in the absence of any competition,
I again took the helm with support from
Willy. Our 2013 team had a few familiar
faces: Helen Elmore, Tony Woodard, Kenny
Turner, Dave Holmes. But we grafted on a
few ringers, including Paul Fauset and Carl
Egdell (who had clearly been training for
the SWR by coming first in just about every
Endcliffe parkrun). We also had at last the
experience of Paul Sanderson, whose links
had originally introduced us to the SWR. We
were one female short and thankfully another
unaffiliated friend, Nicki Hall, joined and
borrowed a brown shirt from Ann Watmore
(if nothing else the SWR has swelled new
membership by two!).
Again we catered for those who wanted
to make the day ‘hard enough’ by doing both
the Stanage Struggle and their leg. Willy and
Tony decided not just to do their 10 mile leg
4, but to double the distance by running back
via Holmesfield to their car at the start, Willy
‘bonking’ out in the sweltering heat towards
the end of this self-imposed extension. Paul
Fauset and Kenny Turner, (who had done the
High Peak 40 on the previous day), completed
leg 5 and brought Dark Peak home in sixth
place at 7:36:53. It was a slower time on a hot
day, but, for the first time, we had beaten the
Smiley Paces, so a victory of sorts, (this year
we hope to beat the Kimberworth womens
team who came a comfortable fifth).
The Sheffield Way Ultra
The 2013 race witnessed an evolution of the
race to the first Sheffield Way Ultra, in which
individual runners went the whole distance.
For this first year it was open only to Striders
members and close associates. Three runners
set off at 6am and eventually finished in good
times - Alistair Lawson (8:49), Steve Haake
(9:08) and Ben Heller (9:11) - and they even
went to the evening party. Steve Haake baked
a very nice Sheffield Way cake with inventive
icing sugar recreations of the major landmarks,
which was enjoyed by all.
This year the Ultra is open to individuals
in more clubs, and, as DPFR is now an old
time SWR participant, we have been cordially
invited to join in the fun. The time limit is set
at 11 hours in total, with an expectation of
reaching the Totley stage no later than eight
hours. So you don’t have to be a complete
mountain goat to do it, although, for reasons
of personal safety, it may be better to finish
before darkness descends upon the gennels and
canalside of the lower Don Valley.
More information
If anyone is interested in joining or even
captaining a Dark Peak SWR team in the 2014
event planned for Sunday 21st September,
please contact Willy Kitchen, Paul Fauset
or myself. There is no limit on teams so we
could try to put two or more teams in if there
was enough demand. Paul Fauset is thinking
of putting an ‘A’ team together if there is
sufficient interest. If anyone else wants to be
a mixed ‘B’ team ‘captain’ please let us know,
and I will be more than happy to hand over.
If not, I’ll probably give it another bash, (at
least for another mixed team). Please also visit
the Steel City Striders website which contains
all previous results and other information,
including details of the Ultra for anyone who
wants to give it a go.
Overall the Sheffield Way Relay is a fun
Dave’s training tips
day. The main feedback from participating
club members is that it gets you to run in
parts of Sheffield you may not have ever run
in (or even been to) before – many of which
are surprisingly as rugged, remote and scenic
as our usual haunts. It would be good to keep
improving the Dark Peak ranking - into the
heady heights of the top five this year (we’re
more than capable), whilst not taking it too
seriously and providing some access to club
members who would not normally be part of
competitive team events.
John Snowden
Reference
Quotations and overall route map taken from:
Peter Price (with Martin Olive). ‘The Sheffield
Way’ Published by Sheffield City Libraries,
1986 ISBN 10: 0863210414 / ISBN 13:
9780863210419
Number seven: atmospheric pressure
Training isn’t just about running faster; it’s also
about teaching your body to adapt to its environment,
and in fell running this can change rapidly and
unpredictably. Take atmospheric pressure, for
example. How do you know if it’s low or high? If
it’s low, there’s a chance you’ll get wet. Test this by
going outside. Is there water falling from the sky?
This means it may be raining. If so, you could need
protective gear. But here, things get complicated.
Gortex appropriate for low pressure may be useless
in high, when sun cream could be better. Think
too about altitude. Atmospheric pressure fluctuates
hugely going up and down big hills. At height your
body may swell, and you’ll take in fewer oxygen
molecules per gulp of air. This could explain erratic
performance in hilly races like Moz’s Three Trigs.
Dave.
David Gilchrist is a qualified barman
Fell running in the Falklands
I arrived at Mount Pleasant Complex on
East Falkland at the end of January just as
the summer was drawing to a close, and I
was keen to continue running after a decent
winter at home. I had brought all my kit as I
knew the weather could be a bit harsh from
time to time. One of the first things to get to
grips with is the wind, which seems to blow
constantly and is guaranteed to drop the
temperature a few degrees.
On arrival in theatre I checked in at the
gym and was pleased to see the RAF had
organised a half marathon, taking in the sights
of the 900ft Pleasant Peak. At the prizegiving I was approached by a wiry character
enquiring about my Inov-8s and wanting to
know if I was a fell runner? I had contact
with another like-minded fool wishing to
venture into the wilderness. We arranged to
get out-and-about as much as we could and
ended up bagging a few hills including the
highest peak in the Falklands, Mount Usborne
(2312ft). We also managed a run along
Wireless Ridge to Mount Longdon and across
to Mount Tumbledown which was part of the
route taken by the liberating forces into Port
Stanley. A slightly unnerving legacy of the
wartime years is the need to avoid minefields
when route planning – not something that
crops up every day in the Peak District.
In early March the Port Stanley half
marathon is run, and once again I donned my
Dark Peak vest and took to the streets in what
proved to be a great run out and back to Cape
Pembroke lighthouse. The next challenge
was to enter a team in the Stanley marathon
which was to be run in April. On race day
the weather was a mixture of all seasons
in one day with strong winds, rain and hail
all making an appearance. Once again the
brown, purple and yellow vest was on show
as we triumphed in the marathon team
relay. Next on the calendar was another half
marathon organised by the Army, and taking
in the sights of the military Mount Pleasant
Complex. I had now completed three half
marathons and a marathon relay in the three
months since arriving in theatre, which was
more than I had hoped.
A short spell of R and R at the end of
May allowed me to return home and spend
some quality time with the family as well
as squeezing in Bamford Sheepdog Trials
fell race and getting out on the hills around
Bradwell.
I am now back down here in the South
Atlantic for the final two months of my tour,
during which I intend to keep getting out-andabout or hitting the gym. So far I have run,
cycled or rowed over 900km.
As a serving member of the Royal Navy
I have had the opportunity to run in many
countries on my travels from as far afield as
Hong Kong to South America. I have run
180 miles from Quebec to Montreal (over
five days), and the marathons in Istanbul and
Bahrain.
Mick Archer
Moz’s Lakeland Challenge
I was having a beer in the Millstone at
Hathersage just over a year ago, having
returned from a recce of the new Buttermere
fell race with Penny, Sarah and John. I got
talking to one of the guys from the Fat Boys
and it sparked a little idea. I am always one
for a long day out in the Lakes and it doesn’t
happen often enough, so how about covering
the three main peaks in one day? It would be
mission impossible for most mere mortals
to run the whole distance without taking a
very long time over it, so how about a mix of
cycling and running?
After some quick calculations on the back
of a crisp packet, I reckoned that a good
challenge for a nearly-old scrote like me
would be a target time of 12 hours. My route
started at 6am from Keswick Youth Hostel
in the centre of town by the river. I rode
to Millbeck, locked my bike to a fence in
someone’s garden (GR252262) and set off for
an early morning trudge up Skiddaw, being
the first summit-bagger of the day (just) in
glorious clear blue skies.
The next leg was a ride out to the car park
at Thirlmere GR315170 with a strongish
headwind after climbing out of Keswick up
the A591. I dropped the bike over a wall
and locked it to a fence near a stile. A great
ascent of Helvellyn up the well-trodden path
gave me a superb vista over the complete
Lakes, although I could see in the distance
the weather that the wind was bringing in. A
sweaty swift descent, and I was dipping into
the river at the bottom to refresh myself and
get the salt off my face. As I lifted my bike
back over the stile I saw an ice cream van, so
naturally took the chance to carbo-load.
The next bike section is the longest
and as I went through Keswick, I took the
opportunity to call by the car to restock
with water and eat some grub. I was soon
off again, on a pleasant ride down by
Derwentwater to Borrowdale. By now the sky
had clouded over but the cloud level was still
high. Near the farm at Seathwaite, I found
a large tree to lock my bike to. On with the
Walshes again and off for the long climb up
to Scafell via Grains Gill above Sprinkling
Tarn. Early on this ascent I slipped on some
rocks at the bottom, fell over and gave myself
a painful battering. I limped on a bit and then
started running again.
Just after the Tarn the weather got cold and
wet and I decided to put cag and overtrousers
on. The wet rock along the top to Scafell
Pike certainly slowed me down a bit as it had
become very slippery and I didn’t want any
more injuries. Thankfully things improved
and got warmer on the way back down. At
the farm I put my bike shoes on again for the
last time, aware of the time pressure to get
back to Keswick. My injured knee added to
the pressure by making it difficult to pedal,
but it loosened as I got going and I got back
to the car in a total time of 11hrs 45mins, 15
minutes inside my “back of a crisp packet”
estimate.
Twelve hours seems a good target for
V60s, so what about 10.5hrs for 55 to 60
year-olds, 9hrs from 50-55, and 8hrs for
V40s. Any takers?
Maurice Musson
29 at 29
As most of us do, I have a birthday each
year. This year I was 29, and by means of
celebration I decided to plan a run around
the highest 29 hills in the Peak District. It
turned out to be an epic.
I found a list, got the map out and plotted. The list was surprising. Plenty of hills one thinks
of as big don’t make it into the top 29, and a few of those that did make the list are unknown
little ones in the middle of nowhere. But to my surprise and delight, plotting the hills on the
map gave me a nice circuit instead of the random spatter of dots I had expected. I showed
my plan to Alan Yates who gave it his approval and generous encouragement, and after a few
recces I was ready to go on 21st May. One hill for each year of my life:
1985 At 7pm I am “born” at the Strines Inn. The weather looks a bit wet tonight but should be
good tomorrow.
1986 West Nab is a gentle introduction, and we begin with one of those hills you’ve never
heard of, (it’s just by those masts on the way up out of Bradfield). GR266940
1987 Next, over the Dukes Road to some proper running across to Featherbed Moss. It starts
to rain. A bit of a wet year. GR191938
1988 Margery Hill is next, followed by the bonus hill of Outer Edge, (which doesn’t make it
onto the list).
1989 Dead Edge End marks the start of the mysterious northern section of the route and an
area I’ve never set foot in before. GR124018
1990 Britland Edge Hill is probably the least interesting hill of the whole route, nothing to
entertain even the most enthusiastic six-year old! GR106026
1991 The first of two consecutive county tops is Black Hill at 582m. I’m in West Yorkshire
now, and this is starting to feel like a long way.
1992 Now I’m in Greater Manchester. Black Chew Head is the farthest north I’ll go and after
24 miles and four and a half hours, I turn around and lose all my hard-earned height...
1993 Bleaklow is next, after a big descent to Torside reservoir and a big climb back up. It’s the
middle of the night. I eat a boiled egg and think of Bob Graham as I climb.
1994 I’m chuffed to find Higher Shelf Stones in the dark and the clag, but maybe this wasn’t
the best section to do at night.
1995 Featherbed Top. Not so chuffed, I miss the top this time and I have to climb back up to
get it.
1996 Mill Hill brings daylight and some more good running on the Pennine Way.
1997 Just under 10 hours in I get to the highest point in the Peak District, Kinder top after 44
miles.
1998 I’m a teenager now, but just about awake and not too grumpy as I run the out and back to
Grindslow Knoll.
1999 I try really hard to get the right line up onto Brown Knoll but still don’t manage it and
my bogey hill remains. For the first time I see another runner too!
2000 South Head isn’t a hill I knew, but I celebrate the millennium with a Nutella sandwich
and it’s a happy place. It’s still before 7am but already hot.
2001 At age 16 I can now join a trade union and buy premium bonds. Instead I get lost in
Chapel-en-le-Frith, then climb Black Edge. GR770063
2002 The year I arrived in Sheffield! My first ever fell race was on Burbage Edge, but this time
I’m on a different hill of the same name, just West of Buxton. GR030733
2003 Shining Tor is a great runnable hill, and not long now till I turn north again. Sixty eight
miles done in about 15 hours. My legs ache and it’s fair to say my body feels older than
18!
2004 I got lost on the recce up Shutlingsloe, but this time take a better line through
Macclesfield Forest and successfully reach the summit. GR977696
2005 My 20s start with a bit of a disaster: I try to take a cunning line off the end of the
Roaches but it goes horribly wrong and I end up lost and a mile off route.
2006 Merryton Low lives up to its name. Trying to recover from my mistake I slog up through
the military area. It seems to take forever, there are no 21st birthday celebrations here!
GR041610
2007 I have run out of water and have to knock on someone’s door in the village of Flash.
With bottles filled I climb quickly to the top of Oliver Hill where I zap myself on an
electric fence.
2008 Axe Edge Hill is where tussocks are farmed before being shipped off to all the other
hills. Ninety one miles done and the original 24-hour dream is officially out of the
window! GR035707
2009 A long leg through Buxton on my way to Slitherstone Hill. Running through the town in
rush hour produces some funny looks. A 24th birthday trip to the pub, but only for more
water. GR123820
2010 Lord’s Seat is stunning in the evening sunshine and I’m back in the zone, despite falling
off a wall and getting barbed wire stuck in my armpit!
2011 It’s getting late now, but not long to go as I climb Mam Tor... and I know where I’m
going now don’t I?!
2012 A great run along the ridge to Lose Hill, then a disastrous descent line. I scrabble around
trying to find my way to Hagg Farm. It’s about 8:30, I’m over 100 miles now and I sort
of want to go home.
2013 Lost Lad and I’ve lost it. I’m starting to see things in the fading light and become a bit
fanatical about going the right way. I lose a lot of time obsessing over every metre of
navigation but eventually get to the top of the hill.
2014 Back Tor, the last hill. I am 29 again and just have to run down the track to the Strines
Inn now. It’s quite dark, and as I do so I am surrounded by little green bunnies lined
up along the edge of the path. I don’t care if they are real or not, but I wish they would
stop jumping out in front of me! Then I pass the house at the bottom of the track, then
the road. I force myself to run up the last little climb on the road and arrive back to the
Strines in 28 hours and 9 minutes. It’s closed (there will be no birthday dinner tonight),
but Lorna is there and helps me drive home. The little green bunnies line the road all the
way...
Hill
Distance (miles)
Time
11.2
01:48
West Nab
5.7
Margery Hill
13.9
Featherbed Moss
Dead Edge End
Britland Edge Hill
Black Hill
Blackchew Head
Bleaklow
Higher Shelf Stones
Featherbed Top
Mill Hill
Kinder
Grindslow Knoll
Brown Knoll
South Head
Black Edge
Burbage Edge
Shining Tor
Shutlingsloe
Roaches
Merryton Low
Oliver Hill
Axe Edge End
Slitherstone Hill
Lords Seat
Mam Tor
Lose Hill
Lost Lad
Back Tor
Strines
18.8
20.7
24.1
25.3
33.8
34.9
37.5
40.2
42.9
46.9
50.3
50.6
61.0
65.6
68.2
72.9
77.7
83.2
88.8
91.4
102.0
104.8
106.0
108.2
115.4
115.8
118.0
00:49
02:14
03:15
03:32
04:35
04:34
06:59
07:19
08:02
08:43
09:44
10:10
10:59
11:21
12:55
14:11
14:56
15:59
17:18
19:09
20:22
21:13
23:43
24:29
24:44
25:16
27:30
27:38
28:09
Tried and tested
Photogene and FiLMiC Pro
RRP: Price for both is “less than a tenner”
Appearance
Performance 
This page needed filling and none of you had
reviewed your latest shoes, which left me
limited options. I could review more of my own
(tedious), leave the page blank, or share some
thoughts re the mobile camera technology I’ve
been playing with in the university journalism
department recently…
I still can’t quite believe I carry a little gadget
in my bum bag with more computing power
than NASA’s moon landing, that can guide me
over Kinder in clag, and that can shoot and edit
HD video and transmit it from a wilderness. The
iPhone and others like it really are remarkable,
and they open photographic possibilities that
were previously denied us out in the wilds. You
only need to see the Dark Peak Facebook pages
to see how we’re all getting the bug.
I’ve caught special moments with my
phone when running light, and when there’s
no way I would have lugged a heavier camera.
Sometimes just pointing the little lens and
grabbing eight megapixels produces great
results, but usually I find some extra help makes
a big difference. For still shots, I always push
the image through an app called Photogene
that I picked up through a book on iPad
photography. For 69p (iPhone) or £1.99p (iPad),
this gives you a sophisticated photo studio in
the palm of your hand. It’s far better than the
basic Apple editing package. I find my iPhone
camera invariably underexposes images, but
using just the phone screen and a pair of reading
glasses, (it’s my age), I can quickly enhance the
sharpness and colour in Photogene. I did this
recently while grinding up Mam Tor on a club
run after snapping a beautiful sunset over Lord’s
Seat. I edited it on the hoof, pushed it to Twitter
Value for money

OVERALL RATING 
through 3G, and by the time I got down to Odin
Mine it had already been retweeted. I still find
that mind-boggling.
I love still photography, but most people
get more excited by smartphone video. If
that’s you, I’d strongly recommend an app I
saw demonstrated by a Sky News reporter at a
journalism technology conference. It’s called
FiLMiC Pro, it ships for about £3 for both
Apple and Android, it gives slick control of
focus, exposure, white balance, zoom and sound
levels, edits basic clips on the phone, and will
then upload them to the web. I used this to film
Lucy on her way to victory in last year’s club
champs, and then uploaded it to YouTube using
a 4G link in the middle of nowhere. I also shot
a little panoramic tour from the top of Harter
Fell that you can see here: http://youtu.be/
kPxPPLAil2M
Anyone who values production standards
will realise that both those videos feature
slightly wobbly shots and really poor sound.
You can raise the bar with a hyper-light tripod
and mount, and by attaching a better mic than
the nigh-on useless one that’s built in to your
phone. The photo on this page features a Joby
Gorillapod and phone mount that you can put
together for about thirty quid. You’ll also find
that the top microphone manufacturers Rode are
now putting out nifty gear for phones at budget
prices. For all these and more, I’d have a look
at the American website photojojo.com which
leads the way in sourcing every imaginable
smartphone camera gadget. These included slipon zoom lenses, and even a little table top dolly
for smooth panning. Then have a word with
Father Christmas.
The Dog’s Diary
10 years ago
The Warts Night Race was postponed after snow gridlocked
Sheffield and made it unlikely anyone would even reach the start. The
Margery Hill did take place at the end of January, and featured more
drama and excitement than people had bargained for when torrential
rain transformed Abbey Brook into white water rapids. Some runners
decided it was too dangerous to cross and turned back. Dave Tait
and Mick Cochrane lost their footing and were washed a long
way downstream. Tom Westgate, Jim Fulton and organiser Andy
Harmer also took a dunking. Tim Hawley managed to jump across
to finish first in a much depleted field. Gavin Williams won the
inaugural Moz’s Birthday Run in 2hrs 1min. Mike Hayes won the
Hallam Chase, Tim Austin won the Edale Skyline and was part of
a victorious Dark Peak team to boot. Phil Winskill led the biggest-ever Burbage field to take
the course record by over two minutes, and new member Alice Brockington was first woman.
Bob Berzins reported that the Stanage Forum had decided to open Cattiside Moor (on one
of the routes back from Hathersage Church via Carr Head rocks) to public access, but with
voluntary restrictions on the boggy bit by the road to protect nesting birds.
20 years ago
Rick Ansell’s many adventures included thrashing himself along the
85 mile Ridgeway national trail in 21 hours, thus acquiring swollen
ankles and Repetitive Strain Injury. He also took part in the snowbound
Calderdale Way Relay, which Dark Peak abandoned after John
Armistead and Neil Goldsmith completed leg four to find nobody
could get through to take over. Dark Peak West staged the first
Bigstone Baffler, (anyone recall what happened to it, or them?). John
Myers challenged club members to devise the toughest “pure line”
15 mile route in the Peak District. Mike Browell responded with
“Myers’ Ladder to the Stars”, taking longitudinal grid line 13 from
Winnats Pass to Grinah Stones, and then returning via Round Hill and
grid line 14, (now known as the “Heart of Darkness” run? Ed.). Paul Sanderson’s notes
on the warting winter recorded that an injured Jim Fulton had been filling his van with runners
and driving them away from Sheffield, thus facilitating linear runs back to Tha Sportsmen
on Wednesday nights. The most memorable was from the Ladybower car park, straight up a
wooded crag. The first summer social was to take place at Thornbridge Hall in August.
M
y spies tell me that our esteemed club chairman Tom Westgate may have been a little
too hasty in his rush to get back to Sheffield to watch the recent Tour de France Grand
Depart. He’d been up to the family seat in Sedbergh, and planned to make his return with his
bike attached to the roof of his car, (the bike of course being vital posing gear for the watching
the Tour). All was going well until bike and car decided to part company while travelling down
the M6 at 70mph. Thankfully Mrs Westgate had the presence of mind to call 999 and alert the
police, firstly to the news that the bike was on the carriageway, secondly to the happy news
that somebody had thankfully spotted it and was picking it up, and thirdly to the less happy
news that they seemed to have no intention of returning it. I’m told that Inspector Knacker
responded with impressive speed and swiftly delivered bollockings to both Mr Westgate and to
the light-fingered Liverpudlians who’d been so quick to spot an opportunity .
ou may recall that at this time last year I chronicled various mishaps that befell the
Collier/Patton/Bryan-Jones/Phipps mission to the Hebrides for the Jura race. Simon
Patton had hurriedly returned to base after arriving at the race start without his cag and
Simon Phipps had done the same re his taped overtrousers. Not wanting to be mentioned
in these columns again, Mr Patton did a VERY careful kit check this time around. He
checked, double-checked and triple-checked every last piece of the specified kit, right down
to his customised map of the race route. My source tells me that Simon had cleverly decided
to save space and weight by cutting the race section out of a larger and heavier map. Less
cleverly, he then guaranteed his second appearance in the Dog’s Diary by taking the wastage
to Jura and leaving the race section at home. If you could let me have your email address
Simon, I’ll send you a better map depicting the difference between an arse and an elbow.
oes incompetance on the fells extend to incompetence in the wardrobe? I suppose that’s
one for Ashley to ponder. If he’s in a generous mood, he may decide that Tom Brunt
escapes a Pertex mention as he was not actually in action when he got in his car and drove all
the way to Shropshire for the Long Mynd Valleys race without any shoes to race in. That’s why
I thought I’d better mention it here. Just in case Tom gets away with it at the club dinner
shley clearly has a tough time of it this year as he tries to avoid awarding himself the
Pertex for a third time, but I understand that he may already have a successor in his
sights. He was overheard explaining the concept of the trophy to Simon Reed after the
Donard Challenge British Championship race in Northern Ireland. I won’t steal Ashley’s
thunder, but the tale that has reached me suggests that Simon could certainly be in the
running. Something to do with him coming off the summit 90 degrees out, and not realising
his error until he relocated on a road four miles away…
Y
D
A
Wuff
The kit page
Made in the Dark Peak
You only need the briefest of looks at his infamous moth-eaten thermal to realise what Andy
Harmer needs for Christmas. Should we have a whip-round and treat him to something halfdecent from the bulging Hakes kit locker? With such a stunning range of choice in the Dark
Peak shop, there really is no excuse for going around looking like Compo this Yuletide. Full
details, and some very nifty illustrations, on the Kit page at www.dpfr.org.uk As ever, if you
are going to order anything, it’s as well to check first with Richard re current stock levels and
range of sizes: 0114 2339912; [email protected]
Vests £13 (now logo free)
Sizes small, medium, large, extra large.
Women’s also available in XS
Shorts £16
One size fits all. Metallic green cycling type,
with “DARK PEAK” in yellow down left leg.
Tracksters £20
Blue or green, in medium, large and extra
large. Yellow piping and “DPFR” down leg.
Short-sleeved long-sleeved
vest £10
Running Bear socks, two
pairs for £5
Brown above the ankle, white below.
Guaranteed to be brown throughout after two
runs over the Dark Peak bogs
Dark Peak hoody £20
Available in several colours, including purple
and brown. Choice of design: either ‘Running
Man’ or the painted white trig. Sizes S,M,L
but Richard advises they’re all a bit big.
Personal collection preferred.
Skyline t-shirt £10
Aka. a running t-shirt Lightweight silky
synthetic material. In brown with purple and
yellow bars on front. XS, S, M, L, XL
In blue cotton, or yellow
“technical”. All sizes.
The “Will
McLewin” polo
shirt £15
Long-sleeved vest £17
Sizes S, M, L, XL
£5
Fleece pullovers £22
In blue or black, with club badge on
breast. Toasty! S, M, L, XL. Few left
Yellow t-shirt £10
With club badge on breast. S, M, L
Black t-shirt £10
With “Dark Peak Fell Runners”
cartoon artwork on front. S, M, L, XL
Whistles £1
Orange. Loud. Best used in
combination with a map and compass.
If ever the word ‘iconic’ were
to be used appropriately,
it would be to describe the
Dark Peak brown trig point
that Will pays homage to
on the breast of this equally
iconic shirt. This year’s
must-have Christmas
present and fashion
accessory for those who crave iconic status. In blue, S, M, L, XL
...being the page where we showcase notable Dark Peak
artefacts, oddities and curios...
No 12 The Dark Peak Women’s relay baton
Held by the girls, but on offer to the men!
This is the baton that was made
by Nicky Spinks with help from
her husband Steve Burgess (the
creative one) in 2012 for the Billy
Bland Bob Graham challenge.
This challenge is open to any club
and there are records for Men,
Women, Mixed and Vets. The
challenge is to beat Billy Bland’s
time.
The weather was horrible but the
Dark Peak women completed in a
new record time of 18hrs 51mins.
Last year we attempted the
challenge again and this time in
good weather we broke our own
record and completed in a time of
16hrs 04mins. Dark Peak blokes
are welcome to borrow the baton
for their own attempt if they fancy
the challenge. Anyone up for it?
Front and back: The incomparable Nicky Spinks on
her way to a record-breaking Ramsay Round and a
place in fell running history.

DARK PEAK NEWS Summer 2014

Transcription

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