Run Forest Run!

Punch Drunk

2012-01-30T20:51:00.000Z

Kinder Trial 2012

A great first race of the year for Ray and I. The Kinder Trial is a navigation based race, starting from Hayfield and heading up down the Western flanks of Kinder.

In spite of mis-punching a control and having our first ever DNF we had a fantastic day out. It was a real treat being out in the snow and on returning to the scout hut we were rewarded with soup, bread, tea and cake. It doesn't get much better than that. We will be back again for this race.

Many thanks to Andy Howie and his team. You did us proud.

Other highlights:-

Catching up with Tim from globaltherapies and testedtodestruction.

Snow

The cresta run down from Mount Famine

Snow

Meeting Nick Ham

Snow

More race reports from Lynne and Ba Ba

Snow

New shoooos. Inov8 Mudclaw 333s. Very comfy so far.

Snow

Our playground for the day

The Mermaids pool

Surfer dude Tim must be heading for Sandy Heys

Photo by RichT.
Thanks Rich

S.A.D. (Seasonal adjustment on Cader Idris)

2012-01-24T22:16:00.000Z

Monday the16th of January, officially the most depressing day of the year. I guess some of us just didn't notice.

Can you see the 'rock face'

Do I look S.A.D.
Second thoughts, don't answer that.

Bah!

2012-01-06T21:02:00.000Z

Billy checking out the opposition

Diseworth Boxing Day Fun Run

Last race of the year for me and my first ever road race. Also making his debut, in our first race together, was my training partner Billy Bob dog.

This was not just any old road race, it was the highly prestigious Disesworth boxing day fun run ( what do you mean, never heard of it? ). Two laps around the village and a tricky grass verge to negotiate. Each of those gruelling laps being approximately a mile long with ten feet of ascent. It was always going to be a tough one.

Billy DNF'd after the 1st lap. He saw Ali, Tony and Mrs sbrt and made a beeline for them. I think he was fed up with me slowing him down.

Lap two went well but I was mugged on the finish line. I keep telling myself it was only a fun run but it is a bitter blow being beaten by a man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt.

Many thanks to Ali and Tony for having us over. The Christmas dinner, beer, wine, and mince pies made excellent pre-race fuel. It was so good I somehow managed to finish in 15th place. Unless it was the bespoke 'Bah Humbug' hat, made by Ali that made the difference.
Its not part of the usual Milly and Pip range. Ali normally hand-makes, personalised gifts out of recycled materials but if it makes me faster I will have to wear it again. Either that or I should switch from fell running to Fun Running.

Thanks also to the organisers and helpers at the Diseworth Boxing Day Fun Run. For making our run .....fun and to the residents of Diesworth for not laughing at my sparrow legs. Last but not least well done to those who were out there running for a charity. Good on ya!

Hat by Milly and Pip

All the very best for the new year

Steve and Billy

Wait for me!

2011-12-12T10:05:00.001Z

In answer to Kate and her 'soggy blog jog', post. Yep! running is brilliant.

Many thanks to Kate for inviting Simon and myself out for a bloggers bimble. Thanks also to both of them for not laughing at my pace. The pair of them are fitter, faster, younger and better looking than me, so it was kind of Kate to handicap herself by having a hangover and Simon to pretend not to notice.

A couple of hours running around together, getting cold and wet, then thawing out over tea and hot food but surprisngly no cake. Kate is right we are very lucky, to be able to do these things.

He's snow angel. We checked for avalanche hazards by placing a pertex clad Simon, on the snow slope.

Thankfully he did not slide too far

That'l learn ya. Rround one, Hayfield

2011-11-27T17:02:00.001Z

Dark and White Challenge Events, Mini mountain marathon, Hayfield

This was team Ibuprofens first run out since the Rab. Ray had managed to get out to do this years Dovedale Dash and the Roaches Fell Race, while I had only managed to get out for a few local training runs with the hound.

We were expecting to head up onto the edges of Kinder Scout, like we had done the last couple of years.

wrong! No

Unfortunately the Peak Park Authorities will only allow off piste events a few weeks every winter. This meant we would be sticking to footpaths and rights of way, rather than being able to wander around on access land. Never mind. It gave us a chance to check out somewhere new and although we didn't get to run where we expected, there were some cracking views of the Gritstone lump that is Kinder Scout.

Following footpaths, gave the runners rather than the Navigators an advantage. Being equally poor at both, we finished in our usual place, about 2/3rds down the results table.

All went well, only minor confusions and detours. Confusions; The Famous Grouse Fell Race was being run on the same day, in the same area and parts of its course had been flagged. We didn't Know this at the time and were not sure if the flags meant, follow me or keep off the grass. The detours; were just end of race tiredness and our usual divi-ness.

Another well organised, yet low key and friendly event from Dark and White.

Who says men can't multi-task?

Many thanks to all who made our Sunday morning so enjoyable.

Blogz

2011-11-11T19:32:00.000Z

Another look around the blogosphere

More Running Vids on http://www.trailrunning.tv/

End of October, clocks going back, its time for the OMM.

First a run down on the favourites by Nick (Ba Ba).

A bit of controversy over at team inov8

Kate is enjoying her hobby. Loving and hating it.

Ultra runner Nick Ham completed his Run further Grand Slam. Well done Nick

4Winds brings us some more exotic place names from the South West.

Good to see I am not the only one who runs the hills with a bull terrier Albert and Lilly enjoy the fells too. Get well soon Albert.

Talking of hounds, David and Charlie Have not been Marking time

Another stunning slideshow from Carmen Y Alfonso

Good to see John is blogging again. He shows us the contents of his bum bag

Also good to see, Andy is back racing

Dawn is leading the Open 5 series.

Next up for Ray and me is the Dark & White mini mm. Starting from Hayfield

All the best. Have a good un

Steve & Billy

Parklife

2011-11-08T20:32:00.000Z

Control 15, edge of vegetation. Dog in background, climbing vegetation. He is a special boy.

This control is part of a permanent orienteering course on Allestree park. I have been mucking about on this park since I was a kid, it is also part of many of mine and Billy's regular runs. So armed with local knowledge and nav skills honed on a recent mountain marathon, finding this control should be easy.

Wrong. It took lots of milling about and wandering around the woods until we finally found it.

Peak a boo

2011-10-29T08:52:00.002+01:00

Peak District TV
Video by terrybnd @ http://terrybnd.blogspot.com/

If you have not already noticed, Blogger and all-round interweb good guy terrybnd has made the step from competent amateur to professional video maker.

No running stuff yet but well worth a look. Terry posts excellent write-ups, short films and photography of all things outdoors. Most of his work is Peak District based and his has a passion for the National Park shines through all he does.

Here is another one of his vids focusing on Photographers in the Peak District National Park and showcasing some of their work

All the very best Terry and keep up the good work.

Cous custard in the Carneddau

2011-10-06T09:23:00.001+01:00

Like passing ships, Mrs sbrt came home after a week away with work and I headed off to Snowdonia, for this years Rab Mountain Marathon. 'Hi Babe, missed you.' "good luck!" 'Love ya' x.

Friday night; Ray M and I signed on and had a bite to eat at race the event centre/registration. The venue was the Dyffryn Ogwen School in Bethesda. A nice touch was that catering for the weekend was organised by a local community group.

A quick pint then back to our B&B, where we had dropped our bags off earlier. Our home for the night was Llety Pant Teg B&B . The owners Catrin, Bryan and family could not have made us feel more welcome. The beds were very comfy and breakfast spot on.

Catrin is passionate about the Carneddau mountains and seemed pleased that we would be up there enjoying them. Definitely a good omen.

A more typical view

Day one; Saturday morning, wet and windy. A ten minute walk to the start. Dib dibbers, collect Maps and lists that show the days live controls(checkpoints). The list also gives us a map feature, ground feature and points value of each control.

And we are off. Six hours, to get from the start to the overnight camp, finding controls and collecting points. We pick off our first two easily. It is always a relief to get the early ones right, especially for numptys like us.

Next up control 125 ; Terrace on spur, small ruin, inside, south side, 10 points. We tick off features on the way to the spur. Find the cairn that should be right next to the control. We can not see the ruin. More importantly no orange and white kite, telling us we have found the check point. I check the map again and again, using all that I know about map reading and how to relocate (all I know isn't very much so it doesn't take too long). Still no luck.

We are not the only ones and general consensus is, something is amiss.

Ray and I head on to control 121 ; Rocky pinnacle, north side, 20 points. This is a short leg, just over 1k, with obvious features to follow. I take bearing just in case but am I taking the bearing from the right place?

As we climb between Drosgl and Bera Mawr, the rocky knoll of Bera Bach comes into view. Cool! A scramble up the damp, greasy stone to the pinnacle and....... No kite, no control. Oh dear! Or words to that effect.

Again we weren't the only ones, there was quite a few of us scrambling about on the rocks, looking for the elusive 121. Either our brightly coloured cagoules had become like magnets, drawing other competitors to us or the control just wasn't there. Joking aside, this was seriously knocking my confidence. Not being the best of navigators I was starting to doubt myself.

We started getting cold from just milling about and decided to cut our losses and try for another control.

It turns out that controls 121 and 125 had been put in the wrong place and not where they were shown on the race map. Never-mind, character building stuff and the organisers credited the points to all of us who had been caught out.

Normal service resumed all further mistakes were down to our own ineptitude. A slight wobble heading for the next control then no further nav related incidents, just a great days MMing in a great event area.

We are completers rather than competitors so when Ray started getting cramps, I was more than happy to head in early.

Tent up, feet up. Time for food, a cuppa, pampering(taping up a blister) and a doze in the sun.

The neighbours

Dark and White/Rab, did us proud with the overnight camp and as we all came down off the hills, the sun came out. Priceless. The neighbours werent bad either.

Day two; Cool, clear and dry. Porridge and Coffee. The porridge is instant but our secret weapon is a cup (pot noodle pot) of almost fresh coffee, courtesy of Lyons coffee bags.

Onwards and upwards. A sharp climb back up to the Carneddau, bagging two controls and a few wild bilberries on the way.

Heading for Carnedd Llywlyn, Ray points out we may have bitten off more than we can chew. He is right. We chuck a right. Sorry, I mean head west and after a brief diversion, we put the ghost of control 121 to rest. Its live again for day 2 and in the right place.

After that, it's just a few more dibs and a trot/shuffle back to Bethesda.

The guy in the flouro hat confessed to looking at this blog.
Another MM 1st timer. Good on ya fella!

Dry rocks and control # 121 in the right place : )

Ray studying the menu for Sunday dinner

Other highlights and randoms:

Getting completely chicked by Kate and Jane
Mountain ponies
Sipping Limoncello while comparing route choices. Tks & Good to meet you Cat & Ruth.
Chatting to Hanno & Theo, Pennine runners from the Netherlands doing their 1st MM.
Milk stix x2 from Pant Teg B&B I was going to have black tea
Dawn-Sometimes an Ultra Runner Won the ladies Elite class. Wow!

Many thanks again to Dark and White/Rab for putting on another excellent event. As always a very enjoyable course and a great atmosphere.

P.S. Thanks to Ray, for putting up with me again.

Choc Noodle

2011-09-26T08:24:00.000+01:00

Catching a few Rays

Its not all slogging up and down hills. The nice people from Dark and White , found a cracking spot for the overnight camp and even ordered in some sunshine.

Full write up and photos to follow.

Donkey Rhubarb

2011-09-22T20:41:00.001+01:00

I have started packing for Saturdays Mountain Marathon. The kit-list is much the same as last years. I do enjoy the planning and the whole build up but find it a bit stressy. On top of that, tomorrow Mrs sbrt returns from a work trip to the far east. Woo hoo!

So I am feeling a bit like this tonight.

Have a good weekend!

Wobble

2011-09-18T19:55:00.003+01:00

To some the Rab MM may be no big deal but being a Navigationally challenged shuffler, it still puts 'the fear' into me.

Apparently this is a good thing and is normal. A mixture of excitement and trepidation is what I am supposed to feel. Sports psychologists probably have a word for this, bricking it or shitting me sen, is what we used to say when I were a lad.

With just one week to go, it was too late for any serious training so we just headed up to Edale for a Sunday morning stagger. If we had headed up a day earlier, we could have bumped into seasoned mountain marathoner and top smudger Kate. Never mind maybe see you at the Rab?

This one is for Jessie.
I am guessing its the work of pacifist sheep.

Nick nick, from the Nab

Thankfully Billy knows what the squiggly lines on the map mean. I switched off when he started going on about aspect of contour.

Cooling off in Jaggers Clough

Jaggers clough is named after the weathered, gritstone rock formations that resemble the skin of ageing Rolling Stones front-man, Mick 'the cragger' Jagger. Of course the stones below are not really named after Mick Jagger. Those rocks are on Crookstone Knoll ;)

Everyone's a winner (Win Hill)

A slightly dfferent kind ofWobble

Bonkers Bassmeister Jah Wobble and the beautiful voice of Sinead O'connor

Top shelf ( Shelf Moor Fell Race )

2011-09-06T09:46:00.005+01:00

Is there a doctor in the house

I had not planned on any racing this weekend but something about this race caught my eye and I am glad it did.

The Shelf Moor fell race is organised by the Glossopdale Harriers and was a counter in last years English Championships.
The course is a 5.9 mile loop with 1500 ft of ascent. A typical Dark peak mix of steep grassy slopes, peat hags and gritstone. To me it has a similar feel to the Kinder Downfall another favourite race.

Things did not get off to a great start. I got to the race registration at Glossop scout hut, ten minutes before the start. The start being a ten minute jog from the scout hut. Never mind I got to the start on time and well warmed up, if a little flustered.

From the off it is a flat runnable footpath. This meant a fast start, way too fast for me. Heading out along the old Roman road of Doctors Gate, it was a pleasure to see the heather turning the valley sides purple. A similar colour to my face after the long, steep climb up to James Thorn.

Picture by ShaunP of the FRA forum. Thanks Shaun.

Onwards and upwards to the trig point at Higher Shelf Stones, a quick glance at the classic Dark Peak moorland, before the descent back down to Glossop.

About a mile from the finish, my legs decided it was time for a lie down. This did not work out too well as I was still running downhill at the time. ' Oooh ya Bast#*d! ' Fortunately years of crashing motorbikes had taught me how to fall and I only rounded a few corners off.

The rest of the race was thankfully uneventful, those in front were too far ahead to catch and there was no one close enough to push me. I finished well down the field but had agreat time all the same.

A quick paddle in Shelf Brook, then back to the scout hut where Tim and Lynne of Global Therapies, were giving post race massages and raising funds for mountain rescue. Thanks, it was much appreciated (see Tims blog for a far better written report on this race).

It was also a pleasure to meet Noel, another blogger and frequent top finisher of Peak District races. Noels blog takes a slightly surreal view of fell running and the Peak District, it's worth a look.

Chillin

All in all, a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday.

Many thanks to Glossopdale Harriers and all who made this cracking race happen.

UTMB Armchair training

2011-08-29T08:55:00.001+01:00

I may never get to the Alps or run a 100 mile race but I can at least watch the videos. Inspiring stuff

Many congratulations to all who finished this beast of a race. Overall winner was Kilian Journet and first lady, for the 4th time was Lizzie Hawker.

Earlier this year, Kilian met up with Sandra & Miguel for a training session , how could he fail?

Mid week Mini mm.

2011-08-17T20:22:00.001+01:00

Monsal Head & back of Rays head

This year Dark and White had organised a series of midweek mini mountain marathons. Ray and I missed the first two rounds but managed to get together for round three, a two hour score event starting from Monsal Head in the Peak District.

Due to its farmland location, the course stuck to footpaths and rights of way, unlike a full mountain marathon which takes competitors off piste.

In true Team Ibuprofen style, we set off in completely the wrong direction. Oops. After turning the map the right way round we managed to start picking off controls. Summer showers kept us cool and it felt like we were doing OK. Until control #15. We weren't the only ones. A confusion of footpaths had caught us and several other competitors out. Time wasting trial and error led us to the elusive checkpoint. Just leaving us time to head back, picking up a few controls on the way in.

Finishing 43rd of 61, 9th in class, we didn't disgrace ourselves and enjoyed getting out to stretch our legs and exercise our brains.
Another good one from Dark and White.

Saddle up

2011-07-26T23:09:00.004+01:00

Blencathra, Bannerdale Crags & Sharp edge

Sharp Edge

Mrs sbrt and I had planned on getting away for a camping trip. Unfortunately most of the UK was wetter than an otters pocket. Discretion being the better part of valour, we bottled it and after a brief panic, managed to book a cracking little cottage.

We were based just outside of Mungrisdale, ideally placed for a run up Blencathra and a scramble on Sharp Edge.

Mini waterfall. Falling from Bannerdale beck

Thats better. A Herdwick, the right sheep.

the wrong sheep

Eeck!

Also known as Saddleback. The wonderful Cumbric name, Blencathra probably means 'seat at the head of the valley'. The word 'cathra' meaning chair, as in the Welsh Gader Idris.

The short scramble up Sharp Edge wasn't as scary as it looked from below. It turned out to be good fun, requiring hands to be used and a little care to be taken. The reward, was a cereal bar breakfast, on the summit and wonderful views of clouds swirling round the fells.

Fool in the clouds

Billy had a great time too. Taking his frisbee to various lakes, meres and waters. He also made a new friend, Tia the cottage owners dog.

The hand of Dog

Mountain out of a Moelfre

2011-07-08T23:07:00.002+01:00

After three weeks without running, Billy and I are off out tomorrow to try a tentative run, plod or shuffle. I do try to listen to my body but I often dont like what it tells me. Unfortunately this issue with authority, meant no running for me on a recent camping holiday in beautiful Meirionnydd.

Room with a view. Moelfre And Rhinog Fawr

Spot the dog, heading up to the Roman Steps Pass

Q. 'I thought your dog was called Billy ?'

A. "He is"

Q. 'Why did you call him spot then?'

A. "I didn't"

Q. 'Yes you did. Spot the dog heading up to the......'

A. "No! Spot the dog, heading up.... not Spot the dog"

Q. 'But the caption does say Spot'

Ad nausium .

Skinny dipping near the Roman steps

Salty sea dog

The Llyn Peninsular. Yes I know sunsets are corny but I like em.

Heard this blissed out tune the other day. If song 2 is for descending, this one is for ridge running into the sunset or just watching the clouds.

Eyes Be Closed by Washed out

Worth a gleg. A quick look around the Blogosphere.

2011-06-24T08:39:00.002+01:00

I have not been up to much since the Edale Race but out in the Blogosphere, like the summer, things are warming up.

This lovely short film was posted on the excellent http://www.mudsweatandtears.co.uk/ site.

I pinched this idea from Hiking in Finland. Every now and then Hendrik posts a week in review. This is more like,stuff that caught my eye or a few of my favourite things. Apologies to anyone I have not mentioned. There are so many quality blogs out there, I decided to limit this to ten.

So in no particular order:

1. Its LAMMing season over at one of my favourite blogs Tea & Cake. Check out kate's flickr photos.

2.Simon the fellmonkey finally got his arse into gear and hit the keyboard.

3. Andy had a BIG day out but made it in time for last orders.

4. David and Charlie did a Lakeland 55 recce .

5. The post lady delivered some New shoooos to The House of Funderson.

6. Its hard to keep up with Jessie's posting but she managed to keep her Trap-shut , for a while.

7.Another Simon tells us about the Aftermath . His Housman 100 write up is worth a look too.

8. As is Nick's write up of the LDWA's annual 100miler .

9. I am no mountain biker but Toni looks lke she is having fun FUN .

10. Miguel and friends had some great results at this tough sounding race race .

10a. Last but not least. Happy blogday to Just Us and a Few Friends

All the best and Have a good weekend

Steve (sbrt)

太極 Taiji

2011-06-18T17:14:00.004+01:00

Edale Country Day Fell Race

This great little race is part of the Edale Country Day and is also round three of the Accelerate Gritstone Series.

I hadn't planned on doing any racing last weekend, I had picking up a couple of niggles at Cader Idris and had not got back into a running routine. A week of morning shifts didn't help but then Sunday morning dawned and all seemed well again. Cool! 'Edale here I come' .

The route starts from a field below the Nab then follows the footpath up the zig zags, past Ringing Roger and up on to the Kinder plateaux. The next section is a lovely trot along the edges to Grindslow Knoll, followed by a steep, grassy, brain off descent, back down to Edale. Which is basically the last part of the Edale Skyline but run anti-clockwise.

Still buzzing, from the descent off Grindslow

At slightly under five miles long and with only one short climb. No compulsory kit or navigation required, this is fell running in its simplest form. Just run and have fun. Which I did.

The race went well, with almost perfect running conditions. Good vis, only a slight breeze and just a gentle sprinkling of rain to cool us down. The only minor mishap was a shoelace that came undone. In spite of being unable to tie my own shoelaces, my finishing position was nearer the top 50% than it has been of late.

Unfortunately its not all been good this week. Following the rules Taiji (yin and yang), pleasure and pain or Dark Peak gritstone and White Peak limestone. I have put my back out. Oops! Never mind, a couple of weeks of being careful and it should sort itself out. Spare a thought for Mrs sbrt, she is the one who has to put up with my moaning and mardyness.

One for JP and anyone who enjoys a brain off brakes off descent.

'Thumbs up' photo pinched from Accelerate's facebook page

Rabba dabba do, Rab MnM September 2011

2011-06-09T05:22:00.006+01:00

Ray and I failed the auditions, for this video of last years Rab Mountain Marathon. What do you mean too slow and fugly?

Never mind, we had such a good time we have decided to try again. The competition area for the 2011 event has been announced, as somewhere in North Wales. They usually tell us the exact location, one month before the race but frown upon runners recceing the event area after the final notification.

Team Ibuprofen have not done any navigation based racing or training together for a while now. Ray did a solo Mini MM (a 3hr score event), in April and I did a couple of recces for the Skyline early on in the year but apart from that, we haven't had to look at map and compass. Hopefully we will be able to get out in the hills together, for a practice.

Last years race went well, we didn't disgrace ourselves and are hoping to build on that, maybe even do slightly better.

The Kit List will stay the same, with just a few tweaks, which means the only way to improve, is to get out there and 'do some'.

The end of day one. Time for a cuppa tea.

Photo and video from the Dark & White Challenge Events website.

Counting contours, Ras Y Gader 2011

2011-05-31T21:18:00.005+01:00

Top right is Penygader, our turn around point

As you may have guessed from the number of posts about Gader Idris(Cader Idris), this is one of my favourite places and races.

The race is a strait forward out and back course of 10.5 miles(16.9 km) and 3000 ft(0.9km) of ascent. Here is the race map . Starting at sea level, from the town of Dolgellau, well marked and marshalled (no navigation required), just a trot up to the trig point and back down again. Simples.

Dolgllau, the start and finish line

Simple yes, easy no, not for me anyway. The amount of ascent and descent is much higher than any of my local runs or anything in the Peak, also much of the course is pitched stone and rock .

from the start its a sharp tarmac climb out of Dolgellau to the only level part of the race. A mile or so of easy running, which goes through shaded woodland, around Llyn Gwernan and then across the boggy meadow. Even after seeing the runners in front struggle with the marshy section, we all did a little comedy dance.

comedy moment in the boggy meadow

Onwards and upwards

#63 navigationally challenged, backmarker, MV 40+ and numpty. Stephen Burt.
In spite of having "special needs", Stephen manages to enjoy a happy and active life

Moody mountain

From the Car park at Ty-nant it is all up hill. 750metres upwards in 3km, give or take a bit. I don't use GPS or have any digital mapping for this area, so all measurements are thanks to Ordnance Survey map OL23 and a piece of string.

Enough of facts and figures, that's not what fell running is all about. Much as I enjoy looking at maps and pondering routes. Its sections like this that float my boat. the steep climb and the 'brain out, brakes off' dash back down. I am not fast or fearless enough to be a great descender but I love it. Going with gravity not against it, a bit like falling without hitting the ground.

Yep! going up has its own rewards but downhill is where the fun is at.

One up one down

One of the faster runners enjoying the descent off Penygader.

After the drop off the mountain, it was jelly legs and mardy bums all the way back to Dolgellau.

Other highlights;

It was good to see fellow blogger, John, aka Lightning of http://mytrainingandracing.blogspot.com/ and also to meet Mrs Lightning.

All the very best for your plans for this year.

All runners received a commemorative mug.

It didn't rain.

A lovely cuppa tea and a scone.

Back to facts and figures;

This was the 21st Ras Y Gader . Happy coming of age!

Lloyd Taggart won, with a time of 1hr 21min 27sec. Only 9 seconds short of the record.

I finished 4 minutes slower than last year. Taking 2hr 16minutes (oh dear! Again, I really must try harder).

More Gader results and links to race photos from the excellent Mud Sweat And Tears site.

Many thanks to all who made the 2011 Ras Y Gader possible. See you again next year.

The funniest thing I have ever seen

2011-05-17T08:31:00.001+01:00

Midweek on the moors

2011-05-14T09:10:00.008+01:00

Photo By Allen Williams (Thanks Al)

Several friends including Ray (My Team Ibuprophen partner) have done this midweek race in previous years and all of them had said how enjoyable it was. This year Ray and I were both working the morning shift so off we headed to the Dark Peak, for my first Burbage Skyline.

The race is a fast and furious 5 and 3/4 miles. When I say fast and furious, in my case it is more like, not quite as slow and mildly annoyed. The route is over typical Dark Peak terrain, with moorland paths and gritstone outcrops and is a joy to run.

It was good to catch up with Martin Griffiths of Toenails n' Quads . Martin had a great race Knocking nearly 8 minutes off last years time and is looking good for his Bob Graham attempt this year. Good luck Mate!

Unfortunately I didn't get to see Simon, another friend and fell running blogger. Simon wasnt racing but was there taking pictures and supporting his clubmates. You can catch up with what he has been up to and what he has planned @ Adventures of a Fellmonkey

The race went well. After a short climb we all went heather bashing. The leaders were directed slightly off course and the rest of us followed. Many thanks to those at the front for trampling down the heather and making it easier for us shufflers.

More (moor) ups and downs then a lovely run along the gritstone edge. We weren't the only ones enjoying it, there were several groups of climbers playing on the rock.

The final run in was a gentle downhil, on a well made gravel path. For the more able runners this meant a fast finnish. For me it was a less punishing end to a great race.

Many thanks to Ray for driving and Dark Peak Fell Runners for putting on a great event.

Update:

This link from the DPFR shows a Google map of the course.

Results;

354 starters

1st place Stuart Bond 37min 37sec.

211th place me 55 min 50sec (oh dear, must try harder)

Full results here

Well seasoned

2011-05-08T11:44:00.000+01:00

Bluebells

One of the joys of running for me is, seeing the seasons change.This year the changes from winter to spring have been clearly defined and its been a privilege to be out and about, enjoying it.

No mountains in this post, just a few snaps from local footpaths.

Church bells

The local rabbits are now open cast carrot mining

gnarled

Sheep to Ducks " hey up me ducks!" Ducks to sheep " hello ewe!"

Gader again

2011-05-05T12:18:00.001+01:00

The Cader Idris Fell Race comes of age this month. It is the 21st birthday of the Ras y Gader and I have just posted off my entry for this cracking race.

Mrs sbrt and I have been returning to this beautiful area, since our first camping trip together, many moons ago. It was love at first site. Long sandy beaches, the unspoilt Rhinnogs and of course the iconic Chair of Idris (Cader Idris, Gader Idris, or Cadair Idris).

These Photos are from a camping holiday two years ago (2009). I nipped out for an early morning run, stopping for a cereal bar breakfast, at Llyn Cau.

Recycled and Shining Cliff Fell Race

2011-04-26T15:06:00.008+01:00

Thorpe Cloud and the Stepping Stones

Four years ago, on the 23rd of April we picked up a 10 month old, black and white whirlwind, from Just For Dogs . With him being an unwanted stray we decided to call the 'whirlwind' Billy, as in Billy no mates.

To celebrate his Billy-day all three of us headed up to Dovedale.

Bloody graffiti artists. Is nowhere safe from their etchings and lithographs?

It turned out to be an open air art exhibition with pictures placed in the landscape that inspired them.

Unimpressed by his brush with culture, Billy enjoyed himself all the same. A river and a stick, who needs art.

Sunday I managed to squeeze in a local race. The Shining Cliff Woods Fell Race. Organised by David Denton, this six and a half mile(10k) two lap race is unusual in that it heads off downhill first.

The Bear Inn & Hotel(space for compass bearing/bear inn pun..........) at Alderwasley, kindly allowed us scruffy fell runners to use it as race HQ. A field to park in and a pub that serves good food and real ale, cool! I didn't have time for a pint but have eaten there before and can recommend the food and drink.

After a separate shorter race for the kids, we headed off down the side of the Derwent Valley. All went well until near the finish. Three of us Bill, Steve and myself were trotting along together when someone said "shall we make it a race? "The mad dash for 71st place was on.

If you have ever seen the film Chariots of Fire the one with slo mo shots and jangly, atmospheric Vangelis soundtrack. Well!.... it was nothing at all like that. I made I right fool of myself with comedy running, gurning, and wheezing, I finally got to the finish, started dry retching and almost hurled.

Not the done thing when the winner Joshua Bull, had already finished 20 minutes earlier. Good fun though ;)

Many thanks to David Denton and all those who helped out.

Technical training

2011-04-16T09:50:00.000+01:00

No gnarly stuff on our regular runs, this sandstone bank is the nearest thing to anything technical.

No problem though with a bit of imagination things can be spiced up.

Billy enjoys it too.

80% of all accidents

2011-04-11T21:08:00.004+01:00

Heading to the start line

The 30th anniversary of the Kinder Downfall Fell Race.

A week before this race I had pulled my back, changing the sheets on our bed. Doh! A day later the pain had spread into my groin. 'Bloody housework' Thinking that I would miss one of my favourite races, I was not a happy bunny. By Friday things were looking better and after checking with my GP, it was back on. The doctor (a hillwalker who had completed the Welsh 3000 challenge) said to do a test run before and see how it goes. Thanks Doc.

Sunday morning, sunshine and blue skies. The drive out from the burbs to the High Peak was a pleasure the scenery changed from rolling pasture with hedgerows to the White Peak's limestone, drystone walls and finally the Dark Peaks upland moors and gritstone.

Still smiling

Starting from the lovely town of Hayfield, the race is a strait forward 1900ft slog up William Clough to the Kinder plateaux. along and back down. Just under Ten miles, it's a cracking race.

I was just glad to be out there running, in fact I must have been enjoying it too much and should have pushed harder as it took me 7 minutes longer than last year.

The paparazzi

The last climb, From William Clough up onto the Kinder Plateaux.

Dark Peak runner and friend Steve, enjoying the sunshine

Does my bum-bag look big in this?

Back to Hayfield Scout Hut,
For a nice cuppa tea

Thanks to all involved in making this race such a great event. Happy anniversary Kinder downfall.
See ya next year.

BeauTTiful

2011-04-09T06:07:00.002+01:00

If you have to ask why, you wouldn't understand.

The paradox of two weeks in June, that are the Isle of Man TT Races.

Its hard to write anything about the TT without using the same old clichés or sounding pretentious. I failed in the first sentence. The TT polarises opinions and encourages superlatives but one thing it can't be called, is bland.

Its even got a mountain section. Brap brrrap!

Rescue me

2011-03-29T19:08:00.008+01:00

Edale Skyline 21 miles 4500 ft of ascent

A special race for me. It was this video of the 2007 Skyline, that gave me the final push to have a go at fell running.

After three years of fell running and a couple of recces, I was lined up at the bottom of Ringing Roger, raring to go. I started near the back and joined the winding snake up the Zig Zags. This forced me to take it easy which I hoped would mean I had something left in the tank for later on.

Crookstone Knoll to Win Hill was very runnable and it was hard to hold back. Unfortunately near Wooler Knoll I saw Jim of Slog up, stagger down. He had injured his calf and it looked like his race was over.

The slog up Lose Hill

The climb up Lose Hill was the longest of the day. I had run it on a recce but this time it was mostly walking.

Up and along the great ridge, I had to get to Mam Nick before the Two and a half hour cut off. At this point various aches and pains started to compete for my attention. Nothing to worry about, just the usual suspects with no clear winner until later on when waves of nausea came out top.

Reaching Mam Nick in 2 hr 15 min gave me a short lived boost. A saunter rather than a rush up Rushup Edge. Chuck a right at Lords seat then a lonely plod up to Brown Knoll. Fortunately the bog monster had taken the day off and the going was good.

A camera, quick smile and try to look like a fell runner.
Photo by Jonathan Vardy.

Crowden Tower Photos by Jonathan Vardy
Thanks Jonathan

Up Swines back and on to the southern edge of Kinder. This is one of my favourite places to run but this time my legs were struggling with the gritstone rock-hopping.

Next checkpoint, Grindslow then on to the last one at Ringing Roger. That left just the run back down the zig zags. With a big grin on my face and a lump in my throat, I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 20 something ( I forgot to stop my watch ).

Back home for a well deserved bottle of Rescue Ale, or two.

To put my humble shufflings into perspective, Simon of fellmonkey got round in 3:26 in spite of starting with a huge blister. 'Well done Simon'. Race winner Lloyd Taggart crossed the line in a stunning 2:36.

Many thanks to Dark Peak Fell Runners and all involved in making it such a great race.

Next up, one of my favourites from last year, the Kinder Downfall

Route 68, Not quite from the door.

2011-03-23T12:46:00.002Z

We have moved out of our house while we are extending and renovating it. Unfortunately this now means I no longer have a 'from the door' run. Not all is lost though. After a short drive and an even shorter jog, Billy and I can hit the O.S. green dotted lines, which show a whole load of new foot paths to explore.

Not as hilly as our old runs but pleasant all the same.

What have we done

Billy taking his new roll of building inspector seriously

That way
The footpath past Radbourne hall

Internet dating

2011-03-10T09:33:00.003Z

Sunday morning, waiting in the Edale car park with a red carnation in the lapel of my windshirt, Simon had assured me I would recognise him as he is the double of Brad Pitt.

Simon of Fellmonkey and I had been following each others blogs for a while now so it was great to finally catch up with him. We are both doing the Edale Skyline this year and decided to get together for a recce.

Off we headed up to Hollins Cross.

Simon has already done a fine write up on his blog( in which he graciously omits to mention how slow I am) so I will just supply a few more photos.

Simon laughing at my poor pace

Simon legging it up Swines Back

Two more recceteers in the distance

A useful recce, on a beautiful day, in one of my favourite places and with good company.

Result.

Beep beep

2011-02-14T17:59:00.001Z

Another bog standard, damp and grey Sunday run, was brightened up by the first lamb of the year.

Ahh bless!

Flooding and scudding

2011-02-07T11:28:00.003Z

The flood plains of the Derwent....... flooding

Unlike some of you out there no 'epics' for us, no races or trips out this week, just training runs with the pester hound. That's not to say it was without drama. The weekends weather made running in the in the burbs much more fun.

Just in case you hadn't noticed the weather Dawns Open 5 Adventure race and 4Winds, Arnold Lane post give a good description of how wet and windy it's been up in the hills.

On a smaller scale, another mini drama was unfolding. Snowdrops, natures reminder that spring is just around the corner.

Muts, mountains and.........

2011-02-04T13:08:00.174Z

..............Motorbikes

So far I have kept all the posts on here running related but as my profile says; muts, mountains and motorbikes. I thought you wouldn't mind this.

The photo above is of my father and grandfather( During the 1st world war my grandad's brother was a despatch rider who went missing in action), so I guess biking is in my DNA.

For many bikers it's about the joy of freedom but for me it was always the speed, danger, bight shiny colours and exotic metals.

Growing up in the 70s also meant Sunday afternoons watching Barry Sheene on Grandstand.

World champion, puller of humungus wheelies, puller of beautiful girls and star of the Brut adverts. Could this man get any cooler? Amazingly yes. Silerstone 1979, Sheene, now the underdog, stuffs it up the inside of current word champ Kenny Roberts Then casually, flicks the Vs.

Somewhere near the apex for a change

Fast forward to the late 80s. After a few years riding bikes, I finally saved up enough to go racing. I am a better at fell running than I ever was at bike racing, which tells you how slow I was but I wouldn't swap those times for the world.

Park Corner Cadwell

Kwack attack

The only bike that really hurt me.Coming out of Park Corner, Classic late 80s highside, crunch*#*#*# !

Tipping it in, drifting out or just off line as usual. Finally gone diesel. Brap brap.

Fast forward another 20 yrs. No racing nowadays but I can still fit in my leathers, just.

I'm a loser baby, so why don't you run me?

2011-01-30T10:10:00.015Z

The topograph on topo Lose Hill

A couple of days in the Peak with Mrs sbrt was a sure fire cure for the back to work January blues. It was also a chance for a quick recce, of the Mam Nick to Brown Knoll section, of the Edale Skyline (well spotted Kate).

This section is a notorious, almost pathless, bog-fest. Fortunately thanks to freak Peak District weather, the usual thick clag had been replaced with sunshine and the bottomless, Guiness filled bogs were frozen. Perfect conditions for a recce.

I am not sure if it was a confidence boost or has just made me more apprehensive. This is just my normal pre race wobble. A balance that swings from blind optimism and enthusiasm to, what have I let myself in for I am doomed?

Looking to the East, from Rushup Edge

"Hitting the wall"
Nah! Just jogging alongside and using it as a handrail.

Legs of a sparrow

Brown Knoll
Call a plumber, the bog's frozen.

Ringing Roger catching the last few rays of sun

We also got out for a gentle, sunset stroll along the Pennine way. A short out and back, from Edale to Upper Booth Farm. Clear crisp weather and low winter sun highlighted the hills with some wonderful colours. It was a joy to be out.

From Lose Hill (Ward's Piece) looking West.

Win Hill

Mudclaw vs muddy paw

2011-01-17T17:33:00.001Z

Inov8 Mudclaw 270 vs Billy Bob Dog, aka The Dark Destroyer.

Public mudbath

No contest!

Fun size

2011-01-14T21:39:00.007Z

Rab Mini Mountain Marathon, 09/01/11 Hayfield

Bit Chilly. Just bellow Kinder Low

Team ibuprofens first run of 2011, the Rab Mini MM from Hayfield run by Dark and White Events. It was great to get out again but a bit of a shock. I think we had both gone a bit soft over the festive period and our brains had become addled with the Christmas cheer.

The race was a mix of, hitting the controls spot on and headless chicken mode, stumbling about and running wrong way.
Lots of could of, should of, would of's. Which after chatting with others, appears to be what most of us non elite shufflers think of our performances.

Kinder Reservoir

Starting from the scout hut in Hayfield, we chose a clockwise route past the Kinder reservoir, up William Clough, then zig-zagged up and down the south western side of Kinder Scout. It was all going well until we spent too much time zagging when we should have been zigging and had to make mad dash back to Hayfield, missing out on a juicy 20 point control and incuring a 15 point penalty for being 9 minutes late.

Reading this write-up on the Dark & White site, it looks like we weren't the only ones that struggled in the low cloud, that was cloaking the Swines Back area of Kinder. One poor soul ended up in Edale which was several grid squares off the map.

William Clough

onwards & upwards. Ray Laughing at my map reading.

Icicle works

Video pinched from the Dark & White site

Many thanks to all @ Dark & White Events For putting on the event also to Ray for driving and putting up with me.

peace to all men (except snowmen)

2010-12-27T08:32:00.000Z

Oh dear It appears that we own a 'Devil dog'.

Belated Merry X-mas, from Billy and me. I hope you all had a good one.

Dear Santa

2010-12-08T18:43:00.005Z

Dear Santa

This year I have been mostly good so please can I have an entry for the 2011 Edale Skyline .

After doing a few challenge walk/runs and reading Feet In The Clouds. It was this video that pushed me over the edge and got me out there fell running. Finally after a couple of years of racing I have got round to entering this Peak district classic.

Black Rocks, White over

2010-11-28T15:52:00.003Z

From Black Rocks. Overlooking Cromford & the Derwent Valley

An early finish on Friday coinciding with clear blue skies, tempted Billy and I out for a short run and play at Black Rocks. A Gritstone outcrop set aboveWirksworth and Cromford with trails to run/walk and the Black Rocks to climb. It featured in the film Hard Grit and even the Villan himself Don Whillans once came down for a go.

After a quick lap of the blue trail (ok, it wasn't that quick), Billy and I stopped for a scramble on one of the easier sections. Unlike the other dogs we have had, Billy doesn't seem to have grasped the concept of hieght and its dangers, which keeps me on my toes.

We reached the point where Billy's legs were too short for him to go on, turned round and finished off with a couple of hill reps. Not a bad start to the weekend.

Saturday morning, like much of the UK we woke up to this. Cool! Isnt snow BRILLIANT ? We only had time for a brief run up to Bunkers Hill and back but as you can see from the picture below, Billy enjoyed it.

Adventures in Blunder Land

2010-11-20T10:58:00.011Z

Ray on his way up from the Edale Valley.
the backdrop is the Win Hill to Mam Tor ridge (the Great Ridge)

Rab Mini Mountain Marathon, 14th Nov, Edale

No epics, neither of us had to saw a trapped limb off, cut the rope or survive on bracken and Kinder bog water. Just a lack of concentration, scratching our heads and looking at the map when we should have been running.

The truth is, it was probably all my fault. Being last race of the year for us, I took my camera along (a bit like last day of school before Xmas, when kids take games and toys in). Instead of map reading, I was wasting my limited supply of brain cells, taking photos.

Typical Dark Peak Terrain

The Race started from Edale Village Hall. We collected our dibbers and dibbed in at the start line, at which point we were given a pre marked map and a piece of paper with control descriptions. All nicely sealed in a placky, ziplock bag. You can see the course @ RouteBrowser & RouteGadget.

Into the unknown. Looking north east over the Woodlands Valley

The visibility was good, a rarity around Kinder so instead of playing safe, we decided try somewhere new to us. The scary wilds of north eastern Kinder. Its not really wilderness, we could see the A57 Snake Pass from Crookstone Knoll and you are never far from civilisation in the Peak.

We faffed about trying to find the control on Crookstone Knoll ( #14 Crag foot E end of spur summit) but our climb gave us a great view across the Woodlands Valley and after a short run, we could look down to see the re-entrant, that lead us to our next control.
This of course meant we had to run down the hill only to climb back up again, to reach the next checkpoint. The slog back up was not squandered on photography this time. Too steep to run, meant time to plan the next couple of legs and have a swig of water.

Hare today gone tomorrow

I had been concerned about the next section, a short bog trot over Kinder but it turned out to be my highlight of the day. As we started to cross the narrow plateaux, a Mountain Hare appeared. Wow! this was a real treat for me. I had never seen one with its winter coat on before. I was so exited I had to get the camera out to take a blurry photo.

The rest of the race went well. A nice touch was that the last control we visited was just a few hundred metres, from the first one we found, on the first Mini MM that Ray and I did together, back in 2008.

We finished with just 5 minutes to spare. If you take any longer than 3 hours, lateness penalties are incurred and points are deducted. Team Ibuprofen collected 150 points of 315 and came 63rd of 143. 6th in class.

Another very enjoyable event. Many thanks to all at Dark & White Challenge Events.

Dash, dawdle, dash.

2010-11-11T15:07:00.002Z

The Dovedale Dash has been going in various forms since 1953. The Dash is a four and 3/4 mile cross country race. The course is set in one of the most famous and picturesque parts of the White Peak and recent winners have included Simon Bailey, Stuart Bond and Lloyd Taggart.

Ray and I warmed up with an anxious run to the registration marquee. Dovedale is only a short drive for us but being complacent we hadn't allowed quite enough time. After signing on it was strait to the start line to join the 1477 other runners. Looking around, amongst the starters there were plenty of fast looking racers in club vests, a gorilla and a group of Smurfs.

The race started with nearly fifteen hundred of us funnelling downhill into Lin Dale. I had decided to go for it from the off, I love descending, the feeling of only just being in control, letting go and allowing gravity to do its thing, always puts a smile on my face. It wasn't a steep descent by fell race standards but with so many other runners about it was entertaining, with the mud and wet limestone catching a few out.

On to the bottom of Lin Dale and the much photographed Stepping Stones. Instead of using the stepping stones, the organisers gave us the chance to clean our shoes with a wade across the river Dove, Some chose to take a dive and wash all their kit.

The next few miles, fairly steady, at least for me they were. I had slowed to a plod, hoping to save enough for the final climb, from the bottom of the small but perfectly formed Thorpe Cloud, back up Lin Dale. My pace or lack of it, meant I was passed by loads of faster runners but fortunately no gorillas and only one Smurf.

Stuart Bond was first home with a time of 26min 46seconds. I dawdled over the line 325th, 13 minutes later and Ray came in not long after. What pleasantly surprised us was that we had beaten over 1000 other runners. I guess there must have been a lot more Smurfs than I first thought.

Nice county for old men

2010-10-30T07:37:00.011+01:00

Black dog Old Man

I must be due a good soaking, the law of averages can't be cheated forever. Another weekend of good weather in the Lakes, it must be payback time soon.

Sunday morning dawned with a slight frost and a promise of sunshine. Too good to be wasted molly coddling a hangover.

moon set

I often run without Billy if I am out on hills I dont know too well. It's hard enough trying to stay shiny side up while navigating, without the pester hound. Dont get me wrong he is good lad really but its just easier without him sometimes.

It was good having him along, he didn't complain about my route choice, lack of pace or the requests for photo stops.

shiny dog.

I think this was part of the old quarry. Nice water feature.

Blind Tarn Crag from Coniston Old Man

We didnt get to the top of Coniston Old Man as breakfast was calling. Billy and I weren't too disappointed, we are not hill baggers and it will be there for another day.
The run in was lovely, sun on our faces and thoughts of the cooked breakfast meant we kept the pace up. It was good to see a few others heading for the hills. We had had our fun but their time on the fells was still full of promise.

Ashness Bridge

Towards Keswick and Skiddaw

After refuelling with a lazy Sunday morning brunch, we headed out with Mrs sbrt for a slightly gentler stroll, from Ashness Bridge to Watendlath .

The day was nicely rounded off in front of a wood burner, supping a few Blue bird XB's

Jack's back

2010-10-18T10:30:00.003+01:00

Sunday morning, Billy and I had planned on going out for a run before everyone else got up. It turned out to be a good plan. Looking out the window we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise and our first frost of the year.

As usual my planning was flawed. The in-laws had stopped over and the camera was in their bedroom. Never mind I had my trusty steam powered Samsung phone with its 1.3 megapixels.
After a quick cuppa, we raced out the door and headed up to Bunker's Hill which is only about 130m high but gives a good view over the Derwent valley.

The pictures really don't do the views justice. Billy an I were treated to blue skies and sunshine with mist filling the Valley below. We dropped down to the Derwent stopping to admire the sunbeams and then headed home.

Not a bad way to start the day.

Mitz the fellrunning Patterdale

2010-10-08T00:03:00.001+01:00

Spotted this charming vid on Youtube Fell running on Sharp Edge

Team Ibuprophen kit list 2010

2010-10-03T19:51:00.013+01:00

Our evening meal was eaten alfresco.

Researching gear was all part of the fun for me, a chance to express my inner geek. Its mostly based on the NAV4 recommendations and a spreadsheet Norbert gave me. Nearly all the kit was tested beforehand, on dog walks and training runs. I even used the Pocket Rocket and Ti mug to make my morning coffee in the garden, Yeh! I know its sad.

So here is the list;

Clothes worn
Pants; X bionic
Socks; Thorlo Trail
Running tights; Addidas Supernova
Top; Helly Charger
Buff
Windproof; Montane Featherlite Marathon (pertex)
Shoes; Inov8 Mudclaw 270

Clothes carried
Rab Generator Primaloft smock
Helly crew
Hat; Outdoor designs powerstretch beenie
Gloves; Rab powerstretch grip
Socks; as above
Waterproof; Rab Demand
Windproof Trousers; Montane Featherlite

Carried in
Rucksack; Omm Adventure 20l and Omm bottle (back pad pouch, labels and most keyclips removed)

Camping stuff
Tent; Terra Nova Lasercomp
4 pegs upgraded to Alpkit Ti v pegs the rest Ti toothpics
Sleeping bag; Rab Quantum 250
Cut down carry-mat, folded rather than rolled

Stove; MSR pocket rocket
MSR Ti kettle
Lighter
Foil windbreak
Gas 100ml or whatever gas is measured in.

1st Aid/emergency/other stuff and thingys
Scalpel blade
Microporetape
Wound dressing
Triangular bandage
Safety pin
Pain killers
Crepe bandage
Deet wipe
ear plugs
Vaseline
Zip tie
Petzel e-light
Some Tissues In case T-roll runs out
Plastic bags for feet
Duct tape wrapped round chinograph pencil
Survival bag; blizzard foil
Phone; steam powered Samsung
Flapjack bar
£10 note

Bin liner
Plastic bags

Food/cooking
Pot noodle
Cupa soup
Cous cous
Cake bar and powdered custard
Powdered tea with sugar
hot choc (donated by the kind lady from the Kings Arms pub in Shap)
Lyons coffee bag( thanks for the tip PTC)
Instant porridge with pdr milk
Alpkit Ti spoon ( now shortened )

Day food
Cheese portion x2
Cereal bar x2
Flapjack finger x2
SIS Gel x2
SIS Go sachet x4
Bladder for water

Nav
Compass Silva
Fine marker pen red for sat blue for sun

The tent, cooking gear and pens were shared.

Sorry no weights, what do you think I am some kind of geek?

Haweswater

Team Ibuprophen. Rab 2010

2010-09-29T21:38:00.020+01:00

Wow! What a brilliant weekend. That was probably the toughest but most enjoyable and satisfying race Ray and I have done together. A week on I am still buzzing.

Planning, prevents, pish, poor, performance.
It didn't prevent us both forgetting to start our stopwatches. Doh!... Doh!...

It all started two years ago when I had heard or read the phrase Mountain Marathon. Like most people I presumed it meant a twenty six mile race in the hills, I am glad to say I was wrong. A mountain marathon is; a two day fell race/Navigation challenge with competitors carrying all equipment necessary for an overnight camp.

After much research it was obvious that navigation was the key skill and if you will excuse the mixed metaphor. I could not find my way out of a wet paper bag.

While searching the interweb this report by Simon Willis came up. Simon recommended the excellent Nav4 course. The Two day course run by Joe Faulkner was a wake up call for me. The instruction was bang on, covering all aspects of MMs not just the nav but it also made clear to me, I was not up to a full mm. No matter how good the instruction was, what I needed was practice.

The practice came in the form of fell races and Dark and White mini mountain marathons. 2008 also saw the birth of Team Ibuprofen, Male Veterans, combined age 100/109 Ray Mansfield and Stephen Burt.

SLMM 2009

2009 I teamed up with ndm for the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon a very unequal partnership with me being very much the junior. Norbert is a true gent and all round mountain genius, a tough old goat, he snapped his anterior cruciate ligament but still kept on going, ouch!

On to the Rab 2010. During the SLMM Norbert was organiser, navigator, cook and very much team leader (Tks ndm I am eternally grateful) but this time it was my turn.

The weekend went well Ray and I finished 138th of 271 starters but more importantly we enjoyed it and are still good friends, in spite of me nagging and bullying him. Well done Ray! Its easy to forget Ray Qualifies for the winter heating allowance, I hope I am as fit as him in 20 years time.

Next up, Mini MMs with Ray and hopefully the Highlander with Norbert
next year.

Looking down on Brotherswater

A pleasant Sunday morning stroll. Control #129 Steel Knotts

The first and last photos by Jon Brooke of Right place right time

Peak Practice #2

2010-09-14T18:05:00.003+01:00

The mermaids pool

More of the same. This time using some of the controls from the Hayfield round of last years, Dark and white mini mm, visiting a few sights along the way.

I parked at the Bowden Bridge car park starting point of the 1932 Kinder trespass. Heading for William Clough I took the next re-entrant along, to the "shallow spur@ marshy junction head of main re-entrant". Then contoured past Sandy Heys, for a look at the Mermaids Pool.

sheep in the clouds

From there to the bottom of the Kinder Downfall. The previous nights rain meant it was looking good.

A clamber up to the downfall and a run along the edge of the plateaux, before dropping down to Cluther

Rocks, on to Broad Clough and back to the car.

A good run out and the last one before the Rab.

Peak Practice

2010-09-05T17:38:00.005+01:00

After years of using OS maps ( badly ). I needed some practice using Harveys maps. The Rab uses Harveys maps so I marked up a 1:25000 Superwalker map with the controls from one of last years Mini MMs and headed off to the Peak.

The weather was much better than the 50mile an hour wind and torrential rain, we had last November. The vis was good and it was cool enough for running with just a gentle breeze.

The route was up Grindslow, down into Grindsbrook Clough, up to the top, down into Crowden Clough, up the other side to the Woolpacks

then back down Crowden to the Pennine Way and home to Edale. A nice little run with no major mistakes.

Pork life

2010-08-29T09:34:00.002+01:00

I pass J and A's farm on one of my, from the door runs. The pigs are right by the footpath that passes the farm so I couldn't resist saying hello to them and feeding them a couple of windfall apples. Apples seem a bit wrong with the applesauce connection, especially from a veggie but the pigs enjoyed them all the same. I am not sure if Billy thought they were strange dogs or he just likes the smell of bacon.

Further on the farmer had been busy. One of the things I love about running is seeing the seasons change.

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation.

2010-08-25T23:53:00.004+01:00

Can you tell where it is yet?

With the Rab M.M. coming up it was about time for a trip to some proper hills, a bit of running and some much needed nav practice.

We were stopping between Conwy and Betws Y Coed so after a quick look at OL17 (Yr Wyddfa Drffryn Conwy), The Carnedds chose themselves. From the convenient car park N E of Llyn Eigiau, a quick blast up to Carnedd Llewelyn, looking for various crags, tarns and other features. Well, that was the plan.

It started so well. despite the clag. I ticked off the features that I had planned on finding but then had a map to ground interface issue. Yeh, I had fudged my map reading and had just hoped the goddess of random luck that protects idiots like me, from myself, would guide me. Unfortunately it was her day off.

My normal reaction to being lost and disoriented in the rain and clag on a hill I don't know, is to bottle it and try to find my way home. This time, after a stern word with myself, I had a go at relocation, retraced my steps to Craigfawr and tried again

Still not feeling very confident, I trotted off into the miasma.Thankfully the goddess had only had the morning off to have her hair done( goddess style ringlets are so high maintenance). The path to the summit appeared and I stopped to take in the view.

After a few more navigational blunders it was time to head back for a nice cup a tea.

Carrington not C Nesbit

2010-08-08T17:52:00.001+01:00

The 4th Dark & White Challenge Events Rab Mountain Marathon 25th/26th Of September 2010 http://www.darkandwhite.co.uk/index.asp#

"Do you have to wear a string vest then?" asked a workmate. Most outdoorsy folk will think of sleeping bags, or waterproofs, when the word Rab is mentioned but not our colleague. He was asking if Ray M and I had any races planned.

Ray and I may end up staggering and sweating like a pair of comedy Glaswegian drunks but I am sure that its Rab, the Alfreton based makers of outdoors gear, that sponsors the race.

Croatia

2010-07-17T09:08:00.002+01:00

Mrs sbrt did us proud, booking a last minute break in Croatia. Our first abroad holiday for years, she managed to find somewhere with sun, sea and mountains.

After a couple of days of chillin it was time to check out the hills. I had been looking over to the hills every morning while having breakfast and thought I could make out a zig zag path to aim for.

Next morning it was an early start to beat the sun and off I headed for the hills, with just a water bottle and a rough idea of where I was going. By sheer fluke I got to the road below the hills at the starting point for the Ronald Brown Pathway, leading to the peak of Strazisca 701m. Not quite Ordnance Survey but good enough for me.

The Ronald Brown Pathway is named after the American minister for trade whose plane crashed while on an aid mission to Croatia, Killing all on board.

The trail starts as a good path made of limestone rubble, nearer the peak it becomes more rugged but is well marked all the way with roundels and lines, painted in the Croatian national colours of red and white.

met this not so little fella on the peak.

The view towards Dubrovnik.

Inland it was hill after hill.

Back down before it got too hot. Shower, breakfast and tell Mrs sbrt I love her for choosing such a brilliant place.

2pm: Fell Race / Guinea Pig Derby

2010-06-27T13:06:00.004+01:00

What a descision, the Fell Race or the Guinea pig Derby.

The Chrome Hill Fell race was just part of the action packed shcedule of events, at this years Hollinsclough Primary School Summer Fete.

As it turned out I probably would have had more luck with the Guinea pigs.

The Fell Race is a 4mile run from the school, up and along the dragons back of Chrome hill then back to the village, for a nice cuppa tea (tea included in the entry fee).

Not one of my best results, 10th of only 11 runners. I was beaten fairly and squarely by all but one. Amongst those that beat me were, an over 60 veteran and a lad far too young to receive his prize (a bottle of wine, for 1st local runner). Despite my dismal performance it was great to run over Chrome Hill, Its a true hidden gem of the White Peak.

Next year I will take Billy and see if he can do better in the pet show.

Cymru

2010-06-22T16:43:00.003+01:00

Cymru

Mrs sbrt, Billy and myself are just back from a weeks camping in beautiful Cymru. It was about as far as you can get from fast and light camping but much more comfortable.

We stayed just up the road from Barmouth in Meirionnydd or southern Snowdonia. The site was a five minute walk from the beach and a short run to the hills, so perfect for all of us.

The first morning we woke up to this

Then for the rest of the week it was sunshine with just enough cloud for a sunset in the evening. How very British blogging about the weather.

I managed to get out for acouple of runs. The first one from the campsite up to Moelfre

Excellent location, requires some modernisation.

The view from Moelfre towards Rhinog Fawr

Then back to the campsite for brunch.

The next run out was from Cwm Nantcol to Rhinog Fawr. This was even more stunning, I had the hill to myself apart fom a few wild goats.

I got back to the campsite tired, with two horsefly bites, red itchy shins from the spikey grass (I am an allergicky person), hot and sweaty but very happy.

Ras Y Gader 2010

2010-05-30T08:40:00.005+01:00

That was hard work.

I came away from this race satisfied rather than elated and I am not sure why. It could have been the weather, (we were in cloud and rain up on Gader) the long drive or because I aggravated some old injuries.

The race was a 5 mile climb out of Dollgellau round the trig point and back down the same way. I really enjoyed the descending off the peak on the rocky path but the final 1/4 of a mile, tarmac run-in felt like torture.

Results; I managed to finish 127th of 214 in 2hrs 12min. RayM was 140th in 2hrs 16 well done Ray.

It was also good to meet up with John Nightingale of http://mytrainingandracing.blogspot.com/. Shame we were driving it would have been good to have a post race beer with you John.

The View

Eating/drinking a gel. Mmmm fruit flavoured cold snot.

Dodgy Greek dancing

Many thanks to all the helpers, organisers and especially the marshals who were up on the hill, in the rain. See you next year.

Race photos by http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/caderidris2010.html

It's on

2010-05-26T18:44:00.002+01:00

I love Southern Snowdonia, its one of my favourite parts of the UK, so it made my day when my entry for the Cader Idris Race was confirmed last week.

These photos are from last time we were in the area. Not much chance of going to the beach this time and the forecast for Saturday is 'liquid sunshine'. Mudclaws it is then.

Sunset over the Llyn

The Panorama walk.

Billy enjoying a rest and the view of the Afon Mawddach

Beaches with mountains views. The clouds are heading for the mountains.

And ice-cream

Hey up! nice to met you. Please feel free to leave a message or comment

2010-05-08T08:11:00.004+01:00

Hi

Hope you like the blog.

This page is for you to have your say. Feel free to say hello, leave a message or any other random comments.

Cheers
Steve

Blue Mountains

2010-05-04T23:22:00.005+01:00

Unlike Kinder Scout, there is no way this is high enough to be classed as a mountain and its not blue. It's just a small hill with the name Blue Mountains which comes from a carpet of bluebells that cover the surrounding woodland in spring.

With it being just across the river from us and definately saying 'mountains' on the map, I had to check it out.

Not the best of pictures. The old Blue mountain Quarry with namesake bluebells.

Billy rescuing a stick from the Derwent.

Part of this run is on the Derwent valley Heritage way, hence the dark satanic Peckwash Mill. The green stuff is by the side of the path is river garlic.

Acording to Ray M. When the Hawthorn hedgerows turn green again , spring has sprung.

Hot dog.

On the way back the bank holiday rain cooled us both down.

We didn't find any mountains and the bluebells were past there best but we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Trickle at GR 083 889 (formerly known as the Kinder Downfall)

2010-04-28T21:13:00.003+01:00

The Kinder Downfall

I had been looking forward to this one for a while. The Kinder downfall is classed by the FRA as a B medium race and is part of the Hayfield Fell Races.

Kinder Scout, the 600m(sounds higher if you say 2000ft) high lump of Gritstone and peat that is the highest point in Derbyshire. Technically it can be classed as a mountain, some would disagree but I don't care what they call it. Being a Derby lad it's the nearest thing to home turf for me and I love it.

Martin Griffiths has written a fine account of our trot up, along and back down from Kinder http://alwayssearchingfor.blogspot.com/2010/04/kinder-downfall-96m1970-sunday-25th-apr.html

Thanks Martin, So I will leave it at that and let the photos tell the rest.

Still smiling, it must be early on

Purple face contrasting nicely with white legs.

The camera never lies.

I imagined myself as running across the plateau leaping from rock to rock with the elegance of a gazelle and the surefootedness of a mountain goat, in a manly and heroic way of course. The reality was more fledgling falling out of its nest than an action shot from the inov8 catalogue.

are we nearly there yet

Many thanks for the photos taken by;

John Jodrell

Finniganjones

ShaunP

From the door #3

2010-04-15T19:05:00.000+01:00

This starts off like #2 but heads off for Bunker's Hill, the Bridge Inn then home.

I sometimes stop at Bunker's Hill to take in the view.

Anyone know what these are called?

Muddy Feet

2010-04-07T12:37:00.001+01:00

The other week, Stu L kindly Invited Martin of http://alwayssearchingfor.blogspot.com/ and me, along on a Wirksworth Running Club Muddy Feet session. These are monthly off road runs, in the Derbyshire Dales.

So for the second week in a row, we headed up to Wirksworth. At the market place we met up with Stu and other members of the Muddy Feet group, then set off on the climb up to the Black Rocks trig point, dropped down into the Derwent Valley where more Muddy Feeters(or should that be footers?)were waiting.

Quick introductions, along the canal path then up the other side of the valley to Crich, for a cuppa tea and a slice of cake.

Up to the Woofers (Sherwood Foresters/Worcester & Sherwood Foresters) memorial at Crich Stand. Then down the valley and back up to Wirksworth, following a different route.

About 10 or 11ish miles with a fair bit of up and down. A cracking day out, somewhere I had not run before with good company.

Many thanks thanks to Stu and the Muddy Feet group for having us along.

Mug for a mug

2010-03-22T22:54:00.004Z

Probably the only cup I am ever going to win (they were free to all finishers).

Happy 20th birthday! To the Wirksworth Incline.

On the First day of spring Ray M and I headed up to Wussa, for the Wirksworth Incline http://www.wirksworthrunningclub.co.uk/?cat=4.

As we got nearer to Wirksworth, the cloud cleared and the sun smiled on the 20th running of the Wirksworth Incline race.

The F.R.A. class it as a B short at 4 miles and 600 foot of ascent but to me it was more than just that. It was an event with a wonderful relaxed but well organized and friendly atmosphere. The route was well marked and marshalled. Starting with a steep run up the incline, round a trig point, a short loop then back the way we came.

It was good fun just going for it and not having to think about the nav, for a change.

It was also good to see some familiar faces Rob S, even though you and your girlfriend beat me. Martin of http://alwayssearchingfor.blogspot.com/ fame, and Stu L.

The only downer was finishing outside the top 50%. I ended up 63rd of 120. Doh! Ray was first MV 60 home but unfortunately for him there was no MV 60 category. Well done Ray!

105 and 106 not 118 & 118

Many thanks to all involved in running the event.

'Morning prayers' A run to the Priests Hole

2010-03-20T21:25:00.014Z

This blogs header picture was taken in Cumbria last July(2009). We had stayed up in the lakes for a camping holiday, after the Saunders.

A couple of days staring at the hills around the Sykside campsite http://www.sykeside.co.uk/. I could bear it no longer, creaking bones and stiff muscles or not, it was time for a run.

So it was up High Hartsop Dodd.

looked down at the sleeping campers.

Along Black Brow, saying "hey up!" to the sheep. You can take the man out of Derbyshire But not the Derbyshire out of the man. Its a sheep thing.

On to Dove Crag

On to Dove Crag and the Priests Hole. Signed the guest book.

Then just followed the path down Dovedale, to the campsite.

3rd Time lucky

2010-03-12T09:39:00.001Z

Dark & White Rab Mini Mountain Marathon round 3 Macclesfield Forrest.

After being postponed twice due to snow, we finally got to do this event. After two whiteout wipe-outs we had perfect conditions, blue skies and glorious sunshine.

It was good to get out at last, for our first run in the Peak this year. The conditions were perfect, excellent vis and firm ground. The nav was quite easy, just a matter of following the footpaths so it was down to route choice and who could run the fastest....... Which was not us.

We finnished 58th of 87 overall and 5th of 6 in our class.

A good day out, somewhere I had never run before, in beautiful sunshine. What more could you want?

How it started, K2B

2010-02-27T13:30:00.006Z

May 2002, I took part in the annual Keswick 2 Barrow Walk(K2B)

http://www.keswick2barrow.co.uk/home.asp

It all started after a Martial arts grading(Lau Gar Kung Fu http://www.derbylaugar.org.uk/). The grading went well but I would have to train for three years before the next grading. This left a big gap with no short term target.

I mentioned this to a work mate and close friend, Mark S. We talked about maybe doing a marathon or some sort of charity race/event but nothing really inspired us until another workmate, Alan G said

"My brother in law does the K2B ".

That sounded interesting 'tell us more! '

"40 miles in theLake District, you should have a go"

So we did, several times.

Note plastic bag with time card ,fags and lighter.

We joined up with Paul, Mick (aka Flash & Dash), Jeanie and James. Then tagged on to RR Marine, who put us into teams and did a fantastic job supporting everyone over the weekend. I can never thank them enough for giving up there time to look after us. It is much appreciated.

It turned out we were in good company. Paul Mick and James were part of the winning team and Jeanie was captain of the first place ladies team, wow!

Mark and I had an enjoyable introduction to the K2B, with the bonus of our team, RolleRR Nuts winning a prize for most money raised.

I was still in denial, 'we just walked fast, jogged and staggered our way round'......... 'I am not a runner!'.

The Finish. Vickers social club, Two free drinks and a bite to eat.

Its a long way to go for a free pint.

Kinder downfall

2010-02-13T06:05:00.001Z

Just had my entry confirmed for the Kinder Downfall. http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~temples/hc/ It's not till April the 25th but with entry lists filling up fast I did not want to take any chances.

The F.R.A. class it as B medium, at 9.6 miles and 1970 feet of ascent. Not a sprint yet not too big and scary, it should be fun.

Kernow for something completely different

2010-01-30T16:14:00.001Z

Hello my handsome! Roughly translated from Cornish into Derbyshireish is Hey up mi Duck!

We are Just back from a relaxing weeks holiday, in a cottage just outside of Bodmin.
The cottage was great, the weather was mostly good and I got out for a couple of runs somewhere new.

It was really good to meet up with my sister, brother in law and their boys.

Could this be a future mountain marathoner?

I swapped limestone and gritstone for slate and granite on a run to Brown Willy( I had to go just for the comedy value of the name) via Showery Tor and Rough Tor.

Strange sheep down in Kernow

Not an SAR chopper looking for me.

Mud

2010-01-21T18:20:00.003Z

And after the snow comes MUD.

Billy taking his favourite Flying Cow frisbee for a wallow http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-Combat-Extreme-Flying-Cow-Dog/dp/B0002QX3SS

Round 3 Postponed

2010-01-19T18:03:00.002Z

Round 3 Macclesfield Forest http://www.darkandwhite.co.uk/mountain-marathons.asp , postponed.

I hurt my back during the Xmas break, so it was both disappointing and a relief to hear that, due to the weather round 3 has been put back till the 21st of Feb.

After round 2 we have ended up 4th place on the league table, in the Male vets 50 team 101-110 years category. No sniggering! That's our combined age, Ray M is much older than me.

Sounds good! 4th place but the reality is, only four teams have scored in both rounds. The best 2 scores of 3 count in the league so we are expecting to slide further down the table. No worries we are completers not true competitors so just having fun and finding a few controls is cool.

From the door #2

2010-01-08T16:12:00.002Z

We moved house earlier this year so hear is the new from the door/default run.

4.29 miles and 562.93 ft of ascent. I think that makes it a B short. No I didn't count the contour lines and measure the distance with a piece of string, I cheated and used digital mapping.

Nice day for a 'White Peak' weddinng.

2009-12-22T10:32:00.002Z

Congratulations K&A and many thanks for inviting us to your White Peak, white wedding.

We stopped in the picture postcard village of Hartington Friday and Saturday night. This gave me the chance to sneak off Saturday morning, for a short run round my old stomping ground.

What a treat. It's not as spectacular as the highlands or even the Dark Peak but was stunning all the same.

Time to hang up my inov8s?

2009-12-09T16:39:00.013Z

Round 2 Rab Mini Mountain Marathon

I suppose it was a top ten placing. Unfortunately we finished 8th out of 8, in our age group.

It felt like we had done better than in round one. Our nav was better, we scored more points and we spent more time running than scratching our heads this time BUT so did every one else.

Another great day out, many thanks to Dark and White for putting on the event.

Round 3 will be in the Maclesfield Forest area.

Seconds out, round one!

2009-11-27T14:43:00.004Z

Dark and White, Rab Mini Mountain Marathon. Round One Edale.

That was fun. The wind, rain and poor vis, made this 3 hour score event challenging but really enjoyable.

We finnished 5th of 10 in our age group and 74th of 122 overall. The full results with route gadget and route browser files is here http://www.darkandwhite.co.uk/news-adventure-tca-events.asp?news_id=121.

We were both pleased with the results as Ray is 60+ and I am a navigationaly challenged plodder.

Here's one I ran earlier

2009-09-24T22:53:00.017+01:00

I found this route in a Trail magazine running suppliment. Starting
from Edale up Grindsbrook Clough across to Ringing Roger and
down the Zig Zags.

I enjoyed the scramble up Grindsbrook but overshot Ringing Roger and ended up going down Ollerbrook Clough, Doh!

From the door

2009-09-20T08:24:00.007+01:00

This is my from the door run. Its the one I do without thinking.

Its only 3 and a quarter miles and 200 ft of ascent but it gets Billy and me out running.

A couple of minutes and we are out of the burbs and onto bridleways and footpaths.

Finisterre // Technical Apparel for the Surfer

2009-09-05T09:04:00.005+01:00

Finisterre // Technical Apparel for the Surfer

I have been using some Finisterre gear over the last year. Not for running but general outdoorsy stuff, dog walking and casual.

The merino hoodie has become a firm favourite as has the Manatuska.

It's quality ethical gear that also looks good. keep up the good work.

If this sounds like an advert, it sort of is. I try to buy ethical clothing and gear whenever I have to get new stuff. It frustrates me that so many outdoor companies don't make the effort.

So a surf firm has to show us the way with, quality stylish gear, shame on you Bergface.

Thats more like it

2009-08-13T08:15:00.003+01:00

It worked. I have shamed myself back into 'training'. I say training as opposed to running as I have entered Ray M and myself in the Dark and White Mini Mountain Marathon series. http://www.darkandwhite.co.uk/mountain-marathons.asp

Running partner

2009-08-06T15:53:00.003+01:00

My running partner

http://www.justfordogs.org/

Runners block

2009-08-05T17:20:00.003+01:00

Post SLMM http://www.slmm.org.uk/index.htm I am struggling to get back into a running routine. Thought this might shame me into doing a bit.