太極 Taiji

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