This is a great race, a real tough fell race, and one of my favourites. There is a nice web page about it on the Todmorden Harriers (organisers) site, and a pdf map. The race has been used in the British Championships in the past, and has a bit of everything, including a third of the course which is unflagged.
In 2006, Steve Moss and me (Chris) did this race, and it had snowed the night before, leaving the hills covered in 3 inches of snow. On the Saturday morning, it was a glorious day, brilliant sunshine, and I ran the entire face with that "glad to be alive" feeling. Check out our 2006 results.
This year, it was cloudy and grey, and I was the solitary Spen runner, but at least it was fairly warm at about 8C. I was also looking forward to it in a strange way, although I knew it would probably be the toughest race I'd done in the last 2 years. My sense of urgency regarding the looming 3-Peaks race in April made me want to test my legs out a bit.
The race starts with a short run down a lane to split the field, then it's straight into the first major climb. Then it drops down towards, but not quite reaching Withens Gate (Leg 2 on Calderdale Way) before climbing once more to Stoodley Pike. From there it drops down again to Withens Clough Reservoir, crosses the stream and climbs once more. At the top of the climb, it's onto the unflagged section which is basically across a heather moor, to the first checkpoint (Two Lads) 2nd check point (Little Holder Stones) 3rd check point (rain channel), then it's about a mile of reasonably runnable stuff before dropping back down the first hill, and finishing half way down the lane.
My tactic was to try not to over-cook it at the beginning, which I have a bad habit of doing, and to have something left in the tank for the end of the race. For me, pacing myself is going to be the biggest challenge in the 3 Peaks, so I want to try to restrain myself a bit in the shorter races during the lead-up.
The toughest section was the unmarked crossing of the moor, mainly because the "bog monsters" were out in force! I sunk over my knees a couple of times, and it was really strength sapping stuff. Anyone who's been running on any races over the tops recently will know what I mean, since it seems to me that almost every race is made harder by the ground being saturated from the persistent wet weather we've had over the last 2 years.
So, how did it go? Well, there were bits where I felt good, and bits where I felt bad. For some reason, my descending was a bit cautious (unusual for me) but sometimes it goes that way, I can never tell whether I'm going to be a bit cavalier or not until I tackle the first descent, and today I was not. On the other hand, I climbed the steep ascents fairly strongly (the ones where everyone walks) and I was OK over the rough stuff. I still felt that I had a bit left in the tank at the end, my lungs were good, but the legs could tell they had taken a beating.
Down to the Top Brink Inn for a "Fell Runners Chip Butty" for £1.50 and a pint of Taylors Landlord. Now that's what Fell Racing is all about!
Oh, and my time was unofficially 1:32:10 which was 4 minutes faster than 2006 (and faster than Steve's 2006 time to boot) - can't complain at that!
Full results here
In 2006, Steve Moss and me (Chris) did this race, and it had snowed the night before, leaving the hills covered in 3 inches of snow. On the Saturday morning, it was a glorious day, brilliant sunshine, and I ran the entire face with that "glad to be alive" feeling. Check out our 2006 results.
This year, it was cloudy and grey, and I was the solitary Spen runner, but at least it was fairly warm at about 8C. I was also looking forward to it in a strange way, although I knew it would probably be the toughest race I'd done in the last 2 years. My sense of urgency regarding the looming 3-Peaks race in April made me want to test my legs out a bit.
The race starts with a short run down a lane to split the field, then it's straight into the first major climb. Then it drops down towards, but not quite reaching Withens Gate (Leg 2 on Calderdale Way) before climbing once more to Stoodley Pike. From there it drops down again to Withens Clough Reservoir, crosses the stream and climbs once more. At the top of the climb, it's onto the unflagged section which is basically across a heather moor, to the first checkpoint (Two Lads) 2nd check point (Little Holder Stones) 3rd check point (rain channel), then it's about a mile of reasonably runnable stuff before dropping back down the first hill, and finishing half way down the lane.
My tactic was to try not to over-cook it at the beginning, which I have a bad habit of doing, and to have something left in the tank for the end of the race. For me, pacing myself is going to be the biggest challenge in the 3 Peaks, so I want to try to restrain myself a bit in the shorter races during the lead-up.
The toughest section was the unmarked crossing of the moor, mainly because the "bog monsters" were out in force! I sunk over my knees a couple of times, and it was really strength sapping stuff. Anyone who's been running on any races over the tops recently will know what I mean, since it seems to me that almost every race is made harder by the ground being saturated from the persistent wet weather we've had over the last 2 years.
So, how did it go? Well, there were bits where I felt good, and bits where I felt bad. For some reason, my descending was a bit cautious (unusual for me) but sometimes it goes that way, I can never tell whether I'm going to be a bit cavalier or not until I tackle the first descent, and today I was not. On the other hand, I climbed the steep ascents fairly strongly (the ones where everyone walks) and I was OK over the rough stuff. I still felt that I had a bit left in the tank at the end, my lungs were good, but the legs could tell they had taken a beating.
Down to the Top Brink Inn for a "Fell Runners Chip Butty" for £1.50 and a pint of Taylors Landlord. Now that's what Fell Racing is all about!
Oh, and my time was unofficially 1:32:10 which was 4 minutes faster than 2006 (and faster than Steve's 2006 time to boot) - can't complain at that!
Actual result was the same time 1:32:10, 95th overall out of 248 finishers, with 3 retired. A big leap in overall numbers since 2006 when there were only 110 in the race.
Full results here
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