I had never run in a fell race in my life and was still of the opinion that hills and the such likes should be walked up not run up. Little did I know what I had let myself in for. I had like a few other striders taken up the kind offer of overnight accommodation the night prior to the race with a nice pint and a lovely curry, A good night was had by all and we all departed to one of the hospitable Shipman residencies for a good nights sleep. The rain continued through the night and I just knew that it was going to be a bit wet and muddy for the race, this was the Pennines after all, whilst very beautiful it can be on the bleak side when the sun isn’t shining. This race is run in 6 legs and covers more than 50 miles, each leg needs 2 people per team. An early start was needed as leg one set off at 8am with registration taking place before hand. I was to run leg 2 from Cragg Vale with Dave Shipman, who was a veteran of these fells having grown up in the area, little did I realise I was going to get a good feel for a fell race that day. We left straight after the start of leg 1 and myself and Flip in one car Dave and the A teams leg 2 people Nigel and Mike plus people to drive cars to the next leg for when we had finished, the continuing theme of rain arriving at regular intervals was not hard to miss. The A team left before us having 2 sets of extremely quick legs carrying the baton myself and Dave set of at the mass start cut off point at 9.45. The start was at the bottom of a hill which had started to resemble a small river with the by now heavy rain, the hill was relentless an went on for approximately 3 miles it took you up the road to the moorland which was a mixture of bog, mud and water. In places it was almost up to my knees. The weather had really taken a turn for the worse as we climbed up to the top and we were battered with driving rain an strong winds.
We eventually got to Stoodley Pike at the summit and were checked off by the marshals making sure nobody took a short cut, Dave at this point was probably wishing he had picked someone a bit quicker to do the leg with. We had having reached the top of our first climb a decent to do, which in all fairness you would think would be nice and quick, think again. The path down was no more than rock and a deep thin carved rut in the side of the hill that didn’t resemble anything like a pathway down and it was a question of find your own safe way down, and at this point wished I had better footwear for the job but I did get to the bottom having by some miracle only landed on my backside once. We made our way along the trail to a farm house once again going down on my backside due to slippy stone slabs the next few miles although up hill where on the road so not boggy or slippy we made our way though the countryside and Mankinholes till we got to the last climb, this was a steep climb and when I got to the top and looked back at where I had come from I was pleased that I had actually got this far (some hadn’t) and also rather glad that I had no more climbs to do on my leg just the final decent in to Todmorden this was a lovely steep path of what can only be described as mud and shavings, luckily a few nice clean deep puddles were on hand to help wash some of the mud off at the bottom. I have to say that this was a phenomenal experience and one I will never forget, the sense of achievement when you complete your leg is fantastic. Leg 2 is just over 8 miles long and has a total climb of more than 1400 ft. The organisation that goes into getting more than 1000 people round this relay Is outstanding. The pie and nice hot drink at the end are a welcome snack as was the pint that closely followed. I would highly recommend people to try this event and hope that I am allowed to represent my club next year after a bit of shoe shopping and some more practise.
Dave Shipman adds:
Thanks and Well Done to everyone who turned out and succeeded in getting 2 x 12 people round a challenging 55 mile relay in wild, wet and windy weather, with dreadful conditions underfoot. The A team was a very credible 46th out of 90 teams, kept the baton into the 4th leg too, and the B team, featuring several Calderdale novices, wasn’t last, just. (87th team!!) Hope folk aren’t too sore and stiff today, especially Denise who fell at least 3 times on her leg and had the cuts to prove it.
PS. Forgot to mention that at the finish, after the pie and beer (thanks Louise) we had the most delicious chocolate and peanut butter cakes, courtesy of Kerry B.
Paul Evans adds:
I’d like to reiterate the congratulations – the passage of the baton into the fourth leg (against some very demanding cut-off timings) marks a record for the club, and achieving this in conditions that cycled between benign and horrible every few minutes (the weather, that is; the ground was consistently bad) is a great achievement. Additionally, if I’m not mistaken, one of the B team is a runner who roughly a year ago was on the C25K course; to have reached the stage where said runner can line up at the start of a very demanding leg against some of the best fell runners in the UK is amazingly inspiring.
Finally thanks to all who helped to make yesterday happen, by participation and logistical support – yesterday was a proper team effort. Now, anyone for the FRA relays in the autumn (in the Howgills), or is this a question best asked once bruises have faded?