Wednesday 8 January 2014

Gravy Pud fell race 5mi. 01/12/2013.

Third year on the trot for me; I had to come back to Tintwistle.

Tintwistle - an old stone-built village bisected by the Woodhead Pass on the edge of civilisation at the foot of the Pennines.

The Bull's Head - a low-ceilinged country pub with open fires that forms race base.

Home-made cakes - post-race food.

Ancient cobbled track - the route we all run up together at Andi's sanction and run down in our own time, in a state of near collapse.

Blue and orange stripy snake - Glossopdale Harriers' new mascot making its weekly outing.

2013 provided the biggest turnout yet with well over 200 runners standing at the foot of that cobbled track awaiting Andi Jones' send-off instructions. The challenge of Lees Hill awaited, and it wasn't raining.

There then followed another personal beasting, pushing to the limit with tunnel vision. Let no extraneous or irrelevant stimulus detract from the job at hand - getting to that finish line as fast as humanly possible.

That's how to run a fell race and the best (retrospective) enjoyment to be had anywhere. If you do it three or four times a week you might see some improvement in race times. I was back down to one a week, so virtually back to last year's time as well. Couldn't complain at 0:48:51 though. Top half finishes are hard to come by.

Quick getaway afterwards sans cake to get one of the runners to hospital after a nasty fall and head injury. Although badly shaken up, he suffered no serious damage, thankfully.

Under starter's orders.

Lees Hill.

Caity wears the mascot.

Here are all the pictures I took.

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