Saturday 23 February 2008

Bike + Run - Stoodley Pike Monument

Bike to Mankinholes from Rawtenstall on the roads, locked the bike up quick run up to Stoodley Pike Monument (SD 973 242 - 402m). I intended to follow the route of the fell race but after checking, I realised I had followed it in reverse. Then back along the canal through Todmorden and back up the A681 (nasty climb). Too windy on summit for pictures, so I borrowed this one from this great website: http://www.idonohoe.com/home.asp. The weather seeming much less overcast on this picture.

Stoodley Pike Monument from the Mary Townley Loop:


Stats:

26 miles on bike
2.6 miles running

Click here to view the fell race route map.

Thursday 21 February 2008

Lake District 3 Day Winter Special

During 3 days fell running in the Lake District, we were treated to fantastic weather with heavy frost. To ensure underfoot conditions were passable without requiring full winter equipment, our route stayed predominantly below 2000ft. As such, we didn't come across any snow, although many rivers were still deeply frozen and waterfalls were clad with solid ice.

Views of Skiddaw and Blencathra await:


Day 1

Starting in Grasmere, our route took us up onto Helm Crag (405m). After a steep climb we were richly rewarded with great views from the large craggy rocks littering the summit ridge. The Howitzer is the largest of these rocks, named according to it's shapes resemblance to that of the large military gun. The other perhaps less obviously is named the The Old Woman Playing the Organ.

Me on the Old Woman Playing the Organ.


From Helm Crag we ran over the ridge passing Gibson Knott and the Tarn at Brownrigg Moss. From here we followed the very indistinct bridleway up to Greenup Edge. As this last section was in the large shadow High Raise, the ground hadn't seen sunlight since late October of the previous year. As such we came across some fantastic ice features including piprakes:


Piprakes are tiny columns of ice, typically up to 4cm long. As rocks and bare earth loose heat much quicker than the surrounding vegetation covered ground, ice columns form underneath the rocks. As they cannot grow downwards into the solid ground, they lift the rocks out of the ground. Eventually rocks can be unearthed and can even tumble down slopes. This action can lift rocks weighing up to 5kg.

The views from Greenup Edge were extensive, from here we contoured beneath Long Crag and ran over the ridge to Sergeants Crag (571m) and Eagle Crag (520m).

The View from Greenup Edge


After melting ice for dinner on Eagle Crag we descended on the Wainwright path to the confluence of the Langstrath Beck and Greenup Gill, both were largely frozen over. After a short run along the Cumbrian Way, we picked up the key for the Dinah Hoggus Camping Barn in Rosthwaite were we stayed for the night.

The Frozen Greenup Gill


Overnight conditions of -5 degrees meant the camping barn was a little chilly so it was good to get a hot meal in the Riverside Bar in preparation. Incidentally, this is the location of the Borrowdale Fell Race and the winners times were on the wall from the last 30 years.

Day 2

Very chilly start. Out running for 8:00 onto a tough ascent up Tongue Gill. On the ascent we saw the remains of a slate mine, indeed many of the mining tunnels were still accessible. From the top of Tongue Gill we ascended to the large summit cairn of High Spy (653m). From here there were fantastic views over Skiddaw and Blencathra:

Skiddaw:


Blencathra with it's many ridges:



From High Spy, we ran north over Narrow Moor. As we closed in on Catbells (a tourist honeypot), the number of tourist increased dramatically and our seemingly under dressed selves got some pretty weird looks. From this section, the view of Derwent Water was fantastic (Blencathra beyond):


After this ridge traverse we were very warm and jumping off the pier into the partially frozen Derwent Water seemed like a good idea. The jump in was very fun and was a great experience, but even colder than the alpine lakes of Switzerland. We then ran around the Northern shores of Derwent Water to Keswick YHA.

After checking into the Youth Hostel we went to the CAMRAs best pub in the West Lake District, the Dog and Gun Inn. Then later in the evening, to the Irish Pub for the Football.

Day 3

The weather was nothing like the previous 2 sunny days. It was very overcast and much colder. After a bit of urban navigation we found the path up to Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell.

The colder weather meant less stopping for pictures but we did manage to catch this herd of deer on Armbooth Fell:



After running beneath the crags above Launchy Gill, we located the bridleway and dropped down to Harrop Tarn.

Close to the end at a frozen Harrop Tarn:


Funnily enough, having run around 27 miles at altitudes up to around 2000ft, the worst ice we found was at about 300ft from sea level next to the road. Upon reaching the car park at the Southern end of Thirlmere, I was ready for home but, I've made my mind up that it won't be long before I go running in the Lakes again.

Other Pictures:






Tuesday 12 February 2008

Panopticon Halo - Part 2 (at night)

Quick night run to the Halo Sculpture (see earlier posts) and onto Cribden summit, 5.8 miles. Fantastic cloudless skies with a descent amount of moonlight, conditions were perfect. The legs were a bit tired after Sundays race but the effort was well worth view of the stars from the top of Cribden. A top quality training run.




Sunday 10 February 2008

Winter Hill Fell Race - 11miles 2700ft AM

A well timed winter anticyclone meant fantastic cloudless conditions for this years Winter Hill Fell Race. The views from the summit were extensive including much of the Yorkshire Dales and the South Pennines. The entry form was quiet clear, this was going to be a tough race.

As this is a race, I didn't feel it proper to stop and take any photographs so I have sourced some from a website taken on a different day.


© Copyright Liz Dawson


© Copyright Alan Southworth

196 people lined up on the start line which meant we were all a bit boxed in and nobody could really get into the running flow for the first half a mile or so. The sun was low in the sky, as such competitors were blinded on the tracks up to Rivington Pike and I didn't have a clue where I was going until about a mile later when the sun was shielded by the hills. Over the first stile and we were onto proper South Pennine moorland and I got a distinct feeling I was going to enjoy the race.

Just After the Start:



Looking on the course map, you'd be forgiven for assuming that 80% of the course is run without paths. Thankfully, as a bit of pre race Google Earth revealed, this wasn't the case as there were many unmarked paths. Weather conditions were fantastic, but the same couldn't be said for the conditions underfoot. I was considering myself very lucky when a competitor in front of me went up to his mid thigh in a bog, as I was able to avoid the worst of it, if I'd have known the same was about to happen to me, I may have been a bit more conservative. Harsh and unforgiving underfoot conditions are commonplace all year round in the South Pennines, you should expect a mouth full of mud on at least one occasion. No terra firma today!

If you have a glance at the course profile on John Mayalls excellent website (click here), you'll see that the race hosts multiple climbs, 5 in fact. Each seeming progressively harder.

Critics of the race would say that the course goes up and down the same hill far too many times, considering that you pass the summit, or near the summit 3 times, I can understand where they are coming from. However, brilliant conditions led to a thoroughly enjoyable 2 and a bit hours on the fells. Nothing, even the snapping of my rucksack strap could change.

Approaching the Finish Line:



Course Statistics

Distance: 11miles (17.6km)
Climb: 2700ft (822m)
Starters: 196
Position: 67th
Winners Time: 01:31:27
My Time: 02:05:12

Click here for the Winter Hill Fell Race route. This shouldn't be treated as an accurate route, it may be slightly wrong in some places however all the check points are located correctly.

Sunday 3 February 2008

Panopticon Halo - Part 1

Set on the disused landfill spot known as Top o Slate (SD 793 236), the Halo is a large sculpture overlooking Haslingden. Designed by John Kennedy of LandLab, the Halo is the final sculpture of four in the Panopticon Arts and Regeneration Project. The other three sculptures are all located in Lancashire and are The Atom, Colourfields and the Singing Ringing Tree. From the sculpture you can see Ingleborough, a distinctively flat topped limestone mountain 32 miles away in the Yorkshire Dales.



I walked up to the Halo today partly to recce a night run and was amazed by how quickly yesterdays snow had disappeared, just enough in a sheltered spot for a snowball. Weather was dry but with substantial wind chill on exposed spots.

After dark, the 18m diametre steel structure is lit up using blue LEDs powered by a nearby wind turbine. See part 2 for the Halo at night!

Saturday 2 February 2008

Saturday Morning Run - Winter Special - Cowpe and Top of Leach

Ever warming British winters are making snow a bit of a rarity in Lancashire. This morning however, we were shocked to see around 10cm of snow in the valleys and up to 50cm on the hills. The hills were calling, but so was the Lancashire Schools XC at Witton Park. After much deliberation, we eventually decided to try the roads only to reach the car park after the race had started. So we got our snowy hill run in the end...







Taking on some sugar in a ruined quarry building, excellent shelter from the freezing winds:



Running over Cowpe Moss was tough going as underneath the snow and the tussocks were frozen bogs, incredibly energy sapping; not nice at all!

Frozen Waterfalls en route, we were considering starting the Lancashire Ice Climbing Club:






All in all, a very good 7.8 miles (12.55km) which took slightly longer than expected due to repeated immature endeavours mainly involving snow balls and yellow snow. Snow makes children out of us all you know.

The Pennine Bridleway above Cowpe Reservoir:



Ironically, by the amount of car tracks seen today, people with gas guzzling Chelsea tractors seem to enjoy driving on the gravel tracks in the snow, but it's mainly them who are making snowy winters a thing of the past in Britain.