Edale Skyline fell race
Posted by Sam Harrison on March 26, 2014 at 04:52.
dark peak edale edale skyline fell running peak district
The culmination of the last few week's worth of longer runs, and my first long race back after injury, was the Edale Skyline fell race on Sunday. Whilst the 21-mile route doesn't boast as much ascent as some of the Lake District classic races like Wasdale and Ennerdale, nor is it as long as some ultra events like the High Peak Marathon and the Welsh 3000s, it does pack a real punch in its energy-sapping peat bogs and devilish runnability.
A bitterly cold wind greeted my Dad and me when we arrived, and I was instantly glad I'd chosen to wear my Ron Hill tracksters (the shorts were in the car, just in case!). I checked the required kit list at registration and ummed and ahhed for some time as to whether I should take a bumbag or a rucksack. The bumbag won out in the end, most likely because the sun came out when I was making the decision. As a compromise, I squeezed in a windproof, an extra thermal top, a second thicker pair of gloves and plenty of extra food on top of the required full waterproofs, hat and gloves, map, compass, whistle and 200kcals of emergency food.
Nerves started to set in as I waited in the starting field at the top of the village, not helped by the fact the race started 10 minutes late. The pre-race briefing was followed by 50 seconds of tense waiting for the next whole minute to start the race on, and then GO! We were off. Half running and half walking our way up the zigzags towards Ringer Roger, I was glad I'd positioned myself near the front to avoid the bottleneck. The running gave way to scrambling over broken rocky steps near the summit, before we passed checkpoint 1 and the path flattened out and the devilish runnability I mentioned took hold.
The pace was fast and as I lost sight of the lead runners before the descent to Edale Cross I started wondering whether I was going too fast. I passed my Dad, who had positioned himself strategically at Jagger's Clough to take photos, before embarking on the descent at not-far-off full tilt. As the course levelled off I was reassured that my legs hadn't started feeling achy yet, and the stitch that had developed from the fast descent soon dissappeared. I gained a couple of places on the ascent of Win Hill, still feeling great but already looking forward to the ascent of Loose Hill as a chance to walk for a bit and grab a bite to eat.
I was feeling a bit drained after the steep descent from Win Hill into Hope, but a chocolate bar and some water soon sorted that out. Returning to the half running, half walking method that was employed on the ascent of Ringing Roger gave me a chance to recoup and analyse the race so far; in summary, I was happy that my legs weren't feeling too tired and that my initial concerns about going too fast weren't proving true. There was no hanging around on the summit and it was straight on with the long ridge-line ahead to Mam Tor, which I duly reached in a time of 1 hour 57 minutes.
At Mam Nick was the second water station of the day (the first being in Hope) and I used the opportunity to refill my bottle and consume chocolate bar number two. This fuelled me up Rushup Edge and onwards onto the boggy expanse of Brown Knoll, which was particularly boggy due to all the rain of late. Any energy left from the chocolate bars was soon zapped away and I struggled to keep running over the undulating peat hags that lead to the summit. I overtook a few that were feeling it worse than me, whilst another few that were still on top form sped past me into the distance. Soon after the summit came a paved section to Jacob's Ladder, which I reached in 2 hours 45 minutes.
All the energy in my body must have been going to my legs, as even opening an energy gel on the ascent from Jacob's Ladder was a struggle. The energy gell, despite being two years out of date, certainly worked and I soon found myself overtaking numerous people on the final stretch over Grindslow Knoll and to Ringer Roger once more. I was happy that I'd been able to maintain the fast pace set at the start of the race right until the end, and even happier when I arrived at the finish 15 seconds under my target of 3 hours 45 minutes, in 51st position.
A huge thanks to Dark Peak for putting on what is undoubtedly one of the best (and best organised!) events in the fell running calendar. Bring on sub-3:30 next year...
A bitterly cold wind greeted my Dad and me when we arrived, and I was instantly glad I'd chosen to wear my Ron Hill tracksters (the shorts were in the car, just in case!). I checked the required kit list at registration and ummed and ahhed for some time as to whether I should take a bumbag or a rucksack. The bumbag won out in the end, most likely because the sun came out when I was making the decision. As a compromise, I squeezed in a windproof, an extra thermal top, a second thicker pair of gloves and plenty of extra food on top of the required full waterproofs, hat and gloves, map, compass, whistle and 200kcals of emergency food.
Nerves started to set in as I waited in the starting field at the top of the village, not helped by the fact the race started 10 minutes late. The pre-race briefing was followed by 50 seconds of tense waiting for the next whole minute to start the race on, and then GO! We were off. Half running and half walking our way up the zigzags towards Ringer Roger, I was glad I'd positioned myself near the front to avoid the bottleneck. The running gave way to scrambling over broken rocky steps near the summit, before we passed checkpoint 1 and the path flattened out and the devilish runnability I mentioned took hold.
The pace was fast and as I lost sight of the lead runners before the descent to Edale Cross I started wondering whether I was going too fast. I passed my Dad, who had positioned himself strategically at Jagger's Clough to take photos, before embarking on the descent at not-far-off full tilt. As the course levelled off I was reassured that my legs hadn't started feeling achy yet, and the stitch that had developed from the fast descent soon dissappeared. I gained a couple of places on the ascent of Win Hill, still feeling great but already looking forward to the ascent of Loose Hill as a chance to walk for a bit and grab a bite to eat.
Long line of runners passing Jagger's Clough.
Still smiling!
Onwards towards Edale Cross
Nearing the summit of Win Hill. Thanks to Mossie Net Photography for this one.
I was feeling a bit drained after the steep descent from Win Hill into Hope, but a chocolate bar and some water soon sorted that out. Returning to the half running, half walking method that was employed on the ascent of Ringing Roger gave me a chance to recoup and analyse the race so far; in summary, I was happy that my legs weren't feeling too tired and that my initial concerns about going too fast weren't proving true. There was no hanging around on the summit and it was straight on with the long ridge-line ahead to Mam Tor, which I duly reached in a time of 1 hour 57 minutes.
At Mam Nick was the second water station of the day (the first being in Hope) and I used the opportunity to refill my bottle and consume chocolate bar number two. This fuelled me up Rushup Edge and onwards onto the boggy expanse of Brown Knoll, which was particularly boggy due to all the rain of late. Any energy left from the chocolate bars was soon zapped away and I struggled to keep running over the undulating peat hags that lead to the summit. I overtook a few that were feeling it worse than me, whilst another few that were still on top form sped past me into the distance. Soon after the summit came a paved section to Jacob's Ladder, which I reached in 2 hours 45 minutes.
All the energy in my body must have been going to my legs, as even opening an energy gel on the ascent from Jacob's Ladder was a struggle. The energy gell, despite being two years out of date, certainly worked and I soon found myself overtaking numerous people on the final stretch over Grindslow Knoll and to Ringer Roger once more. I was happy that I'd been able to maintain the fast pace set at the start of the race right until the end, and even happier when I arrived at the finish 15 seconds under my target of 3 hours 45 minutes, in 51st position.
A huge thanks to Dark Peak for putting on what is undoubtedly one of the best (and best organised!) events in the fell running calendar. Bring on sub-3:30 next year...
The winner, Oli Johnson, arriving home in 2:51:46.