Sunday Morning - Pendle Hill

Sunday was the day for either a long run on Pendle or Winter Hill - and Pendle won.

With Joss in the car, off we trotted down the M65 to Barley. There was frost on the cars when I first woke up, but by the time I got to Barley there was bright sunshine and I was regretting not bringing a vest to wear.

I decided on the Half Tour route, but with not knowing the route for sure I just headed off open minded. When I did the race back in 2010 I think it was, I took great personal pride in running every step of the way from Barley to the summit of Pendle Hill.
Today I wasnt confident I could do the same, but try I did, and with Daz h on my mind I got to the top....if totally knackered. Thursdays hill session was in my legs all the way to the top!

Detailed gate post which I thought was worthy of a snap.

 Blue Skies!

 Lots of dead bracken.

Onwards...

 Winter Hill in the distance

 

Loads of folk were out, and I bumped into a Bowland runner just off the trig and we had a nice chat, before I headed off on the half tour route. After loosing the trod, I found the style and enjoyed blasting along the worn path to on my way to the nick of Pendle.

 



 Well worn trod.

 The clouds are coming in!

 

I de-toured down to the ski club to see if I could spot a friend who teachers there, but with no luck, I shared a mini mars bar with Joss and plodded on. I didnt bother going round the ressie as the race route does, instead went left and took a path I didnt know existed which took me back on to Pendle before joining the race route and ultimately to Geronimo!

 

 Geronimo - Looks so easy!

 

 

A bit of a fall but nothing major, we both made it down in one piece. Then the final mile or so across the fields and back to the car in Barley and a well deserved can of coke!

Cracking day to be out, and left me just shy of 5000ft of climb for the week off 26 miles. Chuffed with that!

Daz h

The fell running community is still in shock over the sad and sudden death of our friend, Darren Holloway.

Daz died doing what he loved, running over the high fells with a friend.

Daz was my No.1 source of inspiration when I ran and cycled, and the world is a worst place for loosing Daz.

RIP Daz, you'll never be forgotten.

Hendersons End – 7th June 2012

 I did this race back in 2010, and along with the top 10-20 of so runners, we all went walk-abouts and made up our own extended version of the race. I eventually finished 99ths in something like 63 minutes, so I was quietly confident I would perhaps “pb”.

Upon arriving at Rivington Top Barn, it was absolutely pouring down, and had been doing non-stop all day. I stayed in my car till it was times to warm up, said a few hellos and joined the start line.

At just under 6miles with just under 1000ft of climb, it’s a fast one! Up the cobbled road, along some tarmac and you start the first climb. Its entirely runable but its abit of a bugger so early in the race. I was lying in forth at the base of the climb, but I noticed the chap who was in 2^nd be passed by the young lad in a bright yellow vest, and seized the opportunity to try and beat him mentally early in the race and also overtook him – It worked because I never saw him again.

Once you’re at the top, you take a right turn before the Pigeon Tower and run along the cobbled Georges Lane. It turned out to be more like a river with the huge amount of standing water. From here onwards I ran my own race. 1^st and 2^nd were too quick for me and pulled ahead, and I couldn’t see anybody behind me.

The next climb takes you to the summit of Winter Hill. It’s a grassy climb and again its runable, but your mind wants to you quit and walk. I was starting to pull back the race leaders and I kept pressing on. By the time I got to the top I was knackered and had no option but to let the leaders zoom off whilst I tried to get the legs to recover and refill the lungs with badly needed oxygen.

One the top the weather was pretty grim. I wore a tshirt under my vest and the tshirt was completely saturated and starting to feel heavy. From here onwards you follow the road for a while, passing the Scotsman's stump which acts as a memorials to the end of a certain Mr Hendersons I do believe? Down the road, across the cattle grid and then back onto the bogs. 

By this point my glasses were in badly need of windscreen wipers. A marshall told me to “head straight for that landrover” in the general direction of Two Lads Stone…but I couldn’t see a bloody thing let along a landrover. I stopped for a minute, took my glasses off and scanned the distance and clocked the big white landy with its lights on…deeeeeer!

I had abit of confusion whether I should actually go over Two Lads, but I did anyway. Then its quite a nice speedy descent down to the cobbled track again, and start the run to Rivington Pike.

The climb up to the Pike is always a tester, and again your mind tells you to  give in a walk, but you just bully yourself to keep running. Around the pike and down the side, before making your way back to the Pigeon Tower. The descent down from the Pigeon Tower is a beaut. Its abit twisty and lined by trees so it will hurt if you get it wrong, but I tried to bomb it regardless…and after a few twists and turns back to the finish.

 

3^rd place in 40:57 – Winner was Tim Ellis of Calder Valley in 39:07, and 4^th place was almost 3 minutes behind me. Cracking race!

Ps - The images are from Google - there was one hardly photographer on the route but I havent seen them uploaded anyway where.