photo courtesy of Chris Pollard

I have to report that apart from Gary there was another, slightly larger NFR party consisting of Trevor Wakenshaw and Dave Johnson at the Edale Skyline but it was to be a case of “ne'er the twain shall meet”. We didn't meet before the start thanks to a dubious route choice courtesy of the AA Routeplanner. I think Trevor had accidentally clicked on the option for “Challenger Tank”! As a result only a frenetic dash from the car park (2 miles 1000' AS) got us to the start with less than a minute to spare where I thought I glimpsed Gary in the front row of the starting grid. Needless to say we didn't meet at the end either, in fact I strongly suspect he was already at home when we finished.

I thought it was a really good race, very well organised and with all sorts of terrain and cakes. One criticism though, they shouldn't put pubs, The Cheshire Cheese in this case, in the middle of race routes. Having to pass them without calling in is just too traumatic. My race became a bit surreal at one point, when the group I was running with left the boggy moor for a series of ravines presumably cut in the peat by a stream. It was like running in a badly built WW1 trench system but it seemed to work and got us to Grindshaw Knoll, I think, in quite good time. I especially enjoyed the fast downhill run in where I was involved in a sprint for the line with two other runners. Well, it seemed like it was a sprint to me although I suppose onlookers may have begged to differ.

This was my first run in the Peak District and despite the pub, I suspect it won't be my last.

more photos by Chris Pollard

Dave Johnson