Ultra Race Peaks

Peak District, Tuesday, August 21, 2012

40 miles

Anna Seeley

I’d entered this race slightly on a whim, as you do when you’re bored on the internet and looking for a new challenge. The word Peaks in the title attracted me and I hadn’t done a 40 miler before so a guaranteed PB as a bonus. As the race drew closer I thought I’d better actually look at it in a bit more detail and discovered that a large proportion of it was along disused railway lines. Now railway lines aren’t notoriously hilly so I lulled myself in the false sense of security that I was in for a fairly flat ride. It was the first time that the race had been held so no previous race reports to go by and although I’d been to the Peak District as a kid my memory of the area was rather patchy.

Day dawned with patchy cloud. Forecast was for sun after weeks of rain, but the hope was it wouldn’t get too hot. Registration at 7 and then we were bussed to the start at Cromford Meadows. The race briefing included a warning not to go too fast over the early sections due to the hills, ok so it isn’t going to be as flat as I first thought it might be.

First mile was along a canal then it was onto the steep climb of the High Peak trail. Even at just after 9 in the morning the sun was already beating down and temperature rapidly rising. After a mile of climbing it was onto more traditional railway track, very slight inclines and declines, punctuated with another couple of shorter but still fairly steep climbs up to checkpoint 1 at 10 miles. I’m no fan of railway tracks as I find them pretty monotonous but I have to admit that this one wasn’t too bad as the surface was very smooth, nothing to trip over, so you could admire the views which were stunning. Unfortunately checkpoint 1 was wasp heaven so it was a quick in and out avoiding being stung.

Shortly after the checkpoint we left the track and headed over fields to join the Tissington trail, another disused line. This one was a lot busier with cyclists so it was a matter of keeping your wits about you to avoid any accidents. There was very little shade and it seemed to be getting hotter by the second. Just as I was running out of water and the will to keep moving because of the heat checkpoint 2 came along with much needed water supplies and coke, ultra running nectar. The sugar in the coke soon kicked in and it was on towards Ashbourne (22 miles), the end of the Tissington trail and the end easy flatness of the railway lines.

Ashbourne was buzzing with people, being a beautiful day in the summer holidays, but navigation was easy due the very clear markings both on the ground and every lampost. The climb out of Ashbourne seemed to go on for ever up lots of steps and at this point my head started to let me down. My legs felt fine but I was overheating badly, drinking loads but not able to face any food. Once the climb was over with the next section had some lovely running through the countryside, along paths and little country lanes and though a few villages with very tempting pubs. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew Phil O was manning the next checkpoint the temptation might have been too much and I might have stopped for a beer but I ploughed on and eventually got to checkpoint 3 (30ish miles).

Onto the last section, the well named Long Lane. Yes it was long and yes it was fairly straight so you could see where you were going but it was unfortunately not flat. The combination of the heat, lack of food and now protesting legs made the 7 mile stretch feel like a marathon all on its own. Only positive that kept us going was the fact that we knew once it was done we really were onto the home straight with just 3 miles back into Derby. Other than a few stiles that the legs weren’t keen on by this stage and some cows that decided to check whether we could still run as they shot towards us the last section was very pleasant and we were back into the city and the finish.

The sense of achievement on finishing was great as it had been a tough day at the office. The race was fantastically organised, had a very laid back friendly atmosphere, with great marking of the course so there were no concerns of getting lost and ever cheerful marshalls at the checkpoints. On a cooler day it would have been perfect.

(Visited 95 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.