My First DNF - Sun Mountain 50 Miler 2019

Rain Shadow running 50 k race in 2015 was my first ultra run. Back then I had no idea what I was in for and in hindsight I learned a lot. Since then I have run many other 50 km, 40 mile, 50 mile and a 70 mile race, and I always wanted to run the Sun Mountain 50 miler. But then the race disappeared for a few years. When Rainshadow running announced the 50 miler by email, I was with running friends in a pub after a day long run in the Sooke hills. It didn't take us long to convine each other to register and by the end of our beers, we were registered.

To understand the genesis of the DNF, we need to go back a year to April 2018 in Oldham, England. I had arrived in the UK to run the Oldham Way Ultra, a 40 mile race on footpaths in the Pennine hills. Race morning there was a blizzard, metre high snow drifts and no way the race could go on. It was cancelled.

The race got moved a month forward to May and was run without me in 2018. so in 2019 I decided to go back and use my deferred entry to run the race.  This time it was 26 degrees, and a beautiful hot day and I ran the race. I followed that up with a week of sightseeing, then two weeks of a nasty bug that knocked me out and required codeine and antibiotics to get rid of it.


Race Day - May 12, 2019
The night before loaded on Codeine and antibiotics, and still not feeling great, I actually started to think there was no way I could finish 80 kilometres in 30 plus weather. I felt tired, had not sufficiently recovered from the British race 3 weeks earlier,  and knew the antibiotics were going to cause problems.  Add in the ridiculously hot weather and I wasn't feeling confident.

Race morning I was up at 4 am and really just wanted to turn over and go back to sleep. I got dressed for the run and we headed out to the start line at 5 am.  While it was cool in the morning, I was feeling tired and really not ready for 80 km in what would become punishing heat.

At 5:45 am we all assembled in the parking lot at Patterson Lake Cabins for the pre-race briefing. James Varner, the Race Director provided the pre-race briefing. Then at 6 am we were off - approximately 250 runners heading down Patterson Rd towards Mount Patterson.

When I ran the 50 miler in 2015 the course started at Chickadee Trail Head, and we ran out to Thompson Ridge first, then an aid station called Homestead, a loop up to Sun Mountain Lodge and finally the big climb up Patterson at the end.  This time the route was reversed, which meant we started with a big climb up Patterson, and it meant we'd be hauling our asses up the long slow climb to Thompson Ridge that was so much fun to run down in the opposite direction in 2015.

Start to Sun Lodge Aid Station - 10.6 km
As usual a road start means a too fast start. Once we hit the trail it became a conga line to climb Patterson. At first we were on decent single track trails and were able to hike the steep and run the level. Towards the top it was more of a made up route through the tufts of grass and wildflowers to the summit.

I felt I was struggling to maintain a normal pace for me, with my heart rate higher than it should have been for the effort.  I was gradually falling behind as runners passed me as we climbed. Then Dave Scott came up, mentioned how shitty I looked and then passed me. I imagined I didn't look too good, and probably a bit white and my breathing pretty laboured.  I guess it's not really a good idea to run 80 km with a chest cold and acute bronchitis.  I was sucking air as we climbed but I pushed myself.

Once over the summit, with its gorgeous views over the North Cascade Mountains, we began the long down hill practically back to the start area. I was able to regain my breath and the down hill felt pretty good, but I was holding back and being cautious on the steep trails.  On the climb up I was convinced i was going to DNF at the lodge, but now I was feeling better and decided I would go at least to Chickadee Aid Station.

Once down, we had some beautiful and fairly level single track before the steep but relatively short climb up to Sun Mountain Lodge. I actually didn't feel too bad climbing this, but by now I had found my own pace and wasn't feeling pushed by people behind me.  I made it to Sun Lodge Aid Station 30 minutes ahead of the cutoff.

Sun Lodge to Chickadee Aid Station - 18 km 
Doris Leong was volunteering at the aid station. So nice to see familiar faces. She told me that Dave and Charlene and Karen were only 5 to 10 minutes ahead of me. That made me feel better.  I loaded up on Tailwind, drank some Coca Cola and then set off towards Chickadee.

This section of single track is quite beautiful through the sunflower meadows. Running along here I leaned into a corner and ended up running into a pretty hard branch that didn't give, but brought me to a standstill. It knocked the wind out of me. I recovered, swore at the branch and continued on. At the bottom of the hill the trail was a super winding single track that felt like an amusement park dark ride through the forest. I could see runners to my right but I had to wind my way around to the left before getting there.

Then the cruelest part of the course - actually swinging by and seeing Chickadee Aid Station on my right, but the course forced us to do a left turn, and then climb a mountain, before switching back down and heading back to the aid station.  Again I was feeling tired and slow and at times I just wanted to lie down next to the trail and have a nap for an hour, or half the day.

Finally I arrived at Chickadee Aid Station, with good friends Lisa Large (Aid Station Captain), Andrew Barclay and Kathy MacRae who were also volunteering cheering me in. I knew I would not be able to drop out of the race here. Those three would have refused to let me and would likely have pushed me out of the aid station.  I was still 30 minutes ahead of cutoff, so I wasn't losing any time.

Andrew asked if I had the Sun Mountain tattoo. I must have looked confused, so he explained, a wound on my left arm from hitting the tree branch on the mountain. I showed him, and I was surprised at how much damage that branch had done. It had drawn blood and was already bruising nicely. Andrew said that about 1 in 5 runners coming into the Aid Station had similar injuries from the same branch.  I understand the Race Director went out and cut the branch off before the 50 km and 25 km races the next weekend.

Chickadee to Thompson Aid Station - 30 km
I filled up with Tailwind and coca cola and set-off on the gravel road, before joining the single track and a big switch-back climb.   I fell in with another runner here and we paced each other up the climb. This was a long slow up hill, so I ended up running and walking it. I was actually not feeling too bad here. We had some shade in the trees, but the day was warming up. We were almost at the top and could see other runners on a double track, but the course turned down hill and followed a mountain bike single track a long way back down. Then we ended up on double track and a long climb up to the Thompson Ridge service road.

Amazingly I passed people on this climb. I just kept a steady pace as I climbed, though I did stop in a shaded section, lay against the bank and closed my eyes for a couple of minutes. For this I blame the codeine still in my system - it felt nice to close my eyes. Some runners I'd passed, passed me as I rested. I was soon underway and passed them a a second time. I arrived Thompson Aid Station one hour ahead of cutoff.

Thompson to Meadowlark Aid Station - 45 km
Leaving Thompson I was fine on the down hill but as we progressed on the single track I noticed I was slowing down. I was having trouble running any length and ended up hiking big sections. The day was heating up and I was consuming a lot more water. I had started taking salt tabs regularly as I knew I was sweating out a lot of salt.  My mouth was dry and hard to create saliva, likely dehydration from the heat but also the infection I was fighting.  By now I could not imagine going through East Coulee and over the exposed mountains down there in the hottest part of the day.

I spent a lot of time thinking it through. What was the best thing, the smart thing to do? Did I badly want this race? No. I didn't. Was I digging myself into a big training hole that would be hard to get out of? Very likely if I kept going. With Fat Dog 120 only 12 weeks away I could not afford a long recovery and rest to dig myself out of over doing it.  I had run my 40 mile race three weeks ago. In hindsight it was stupid of me to expect to do a 50 mile race three weeks later. Under normal conditions (cooler weather and not fighting an infection) it would likely be fine to do. But my UK race was also hot and took a lot out of me.

As I hiked the double track towards Meadowlark, I had decided I would drop out at Meadowlark.

Meadowlark Aid Station - DNF
I arrived Meadowlark Aid Station 40 minutes ahead of the cut off. The aid station was in a beautiful location, perched on top of the mountain with a view right over Patterson Lake and Patterson Mountain to the snow capped North Cascade Mountains beyond.  I sat on a bench under the tent, enjoyed the view over the valley and debated what to do. Maybe I should keep going to East Coulee? I only had another 35 km to go to the finish. I could do it. Just keep moving forward and a reasonable pace - half walk, half run.  I felt indecisive, and I questioned why was that? Normally there would be no question; I would just keep going until I finish or miss a cut off, and I would push not to miss a cutoff or be far enough ahead to not worry about them.

After 10 minutes I had convinced myself to keep going. I set off but as I left the aid station, the heat hit me and I looked at the trail stretching out ahead of me and thought "what am I doing?". And then I realized I was done. My frame of mind was defeating any physical effort to move forward and finish. I was mentally checked out of the race.  That is definitely a first for me. In most races I hit low, most runners, if not all ultra runners do at some point. But even then, the mental state has been what do I need to do to get out of this low, pick myself up and move forward.  I walked back to Meadowlark Aid Station and told told the timer I was dropping out.  They offered me a ride to the finish area but I declined and said I was happy to walk back.

As I walked I thought about my decision. It was a really hard decision to make and part of me was hoping to miss a cut off so I would be pulled from the race. Again, a statement of my mental state during the race. The reality is my mind was not in it. I didn't want it bad enough and in some ways I was sabotaging my race by thinking I could not do this.  Deep down I knew I was not in the best shape with the sickness, antibiotics, lack of recovery from the previous race, and maybe deep down I know the best thing was to drop and save it for another day.

On this race there were several times I was feeling emotional. No reason, I just felt I needed to cry. That is unusual for me and another sign I listened too, eventually. I'll never know if I really made the right decision, or if I would have been fine if I kept going and made up my mind to finish - reset the mental state.  So like any race, hindsight is always good for second thoughts, and questioning decision. Every race I have these thoughts afterwards. What if I ran a bit more instead of walking? So easy in hindsight to say I should have done this or that. The reality is I made the choices I did in the moment. The choices I make were a reflection of how I was feeling and what I felt I was capable of at that time in the race. So for that I have to trust my judgement and accept that I made the right decision for me at that time.  Of course now sitting at home I'm convinced I could have and should have finished. But that is based on how I'm feeling now, not how I felt at the time.

Part of me still wishes I'd pushed on and finished,  but deep down I think I know that pulling out of the race was for the best.

End of my racing - walking back to the Finish/Start area after dropping at Meadlowlark Aid Station.  View of Patterson Mountain which we climbed at the beginning of the race several hours earlier and almost 30 degrees cooler in the day.

Finish Line
I enjoyed my walk back to the finish area. When I got to the turn for East Coulee I was somewhat sad I wasn't going that way. I cheered on the lead racers as they headed to the finish line.  Jame Varner was great and said I at least had a good reason to DNF. I also enjoyed watching Avery, Charlene, Karen, Dave (who was looking too good after running 80 km) and Marcus all cross the finish line.

While I didn't finish, I want to thank the race organizers and all the volunteers for such a well organised race.  I will be back and will complete this race. East Coulee I will see you next time. And congratulations to Karen Laberee, Charlene Waldner, Dave Scott, Avery Gottfried and Markus Pirker for finishing. And thank you to Lisa Large, Kathy MacRae, Andrew Barlcay and Doris Leong for volunteering and pushing us out of the aid stations.

Race Report: Oldham Way Ultra 40 Mile

April 20, 2019

I had travelled to the UK in March 2018 with the intention of running the Oldham Way Ultra, only to be disappointed by the weather.  On the morning of the race I had woken up at 5 am to a half metre of snow, high winds and near whiteout conditions. The "Beast from the East 2.0" had moved further west then predicted.  As a result, metre high snow drifts, high winds, and impassable roads meant that the race had to be cancelled.

Fast forward to 2019. The race had a new date, a month later in April, which would hopefully mean better weather conditions.  I contacted the Race Director, Wane Law, and he very kindly deferred my 2018 entry to 2019. With that I booked flights and a small two week vacation around the the race.

This being Oldham, I expected rain. It always rains in Oldham. So when I packed I took running gear for wind and rain.

Race Day: April 20, 2019

Checking the weather forecast, it was showing highs of 22 degrees, sunny and no wind. How is that possible, this is Oldham, and I didn't pack for hot weather running.  I went with my lightest layer of Marino Wool - it was black and long sleeves, but the wool actually cools me when its hot more than technical dry fit shirts.  I also wore my Solomon shorts and my near end of life Brooks Calderas (there's still some tread left), my Ultimate Direction PB 2.0 Vest (really showing signs of wear but I love it and won't repleace it until it falls apart), and my feather light but super strong Black Diamond Carbon Z trekking poles. I anticipated carrying these a lot but there were sections I knew they would be useful.

Oldham Way Ultra Course Map

The Oldham Way Ultra course follows, for the most part, the Oldham Way footpath. This is a way marked route that follows the Oldham Metropolitan Borough boundary.  As Oldham is in and on the edge of the County of Greater Manchester, that means that part of the run will be in the Peak District National Park on the open moors, and part will be in urban areas.  While the route is way marked, there were places where there does not appear to be any way marks, and for this reason a route map, and knowledge of how to use it, with a compass, was a requirement of this race.  The course is not flagged.

Water was available along the course every 5 miles, and food every 10 miles.

Oldham Way Ultra - Elevation Profile

Start to Crompton Fold (7.5 km, 7:54 am)
About 75 runners were at the start line at Castleshaw Centre for the 2019 Oldham Way Ultra.  Castleshaw Centre is old farm used for educational purposes set in a valley just below the Castleshaw Reservoirs and and the beautiful but bleak Castleshaw moors.

Starting from Castleshaw Centre

At 7 am we set off up the lane and as usual setting a too fast of a pace.  We crossed over the dam of the Upper Castleshaw Reservoir, then climbed up a farm track 60 metres to the high point, before climbing over a stile, and then running down hill across a field. There was no path to follow, we just made out way down the hill to the stile at the bottom.

Crossing the Upper Castleshaw Reservoir Dam

Once over this we then ran across the dam of New Years Bridge Reservoir, across the A640, then a gentle up hill through a farm field, that ended at the farm house.  We ran through the front yard of the farm house, and onto the farm road that took us around the village of Denshaw.

Over the stile and across the fields to New Years Bridge Reservoir

We dropped back down onto the A640 and then ran alongside the road for about one kilometre all up hill. I ran waked this and got talking to Anthony on this stretch.  It was his first time on this run, but was confident with his navigation skills. We turned left off the A640 at Cherry Top Farm and climbed up the farm path onto Crompton Moor.  By now there was a group of about 10 of us and we worked together to navigate.  In some places it was not obvious. I had the route on my Fenix 3 watch and often it would be useful to make sure we were on the right course.  There really were not many landmarks on the moors to navigate by. Often we would climb over a stile and have to make a guess as to which way to go as we could not see any signs or markers.

On the Oldham Way Foortpath

On the Oldham Way Footpath - right through the front yard of this farmhouse and out past the car on the other side of the wall.

We came off the moor down a beautiful valley, then a short steep up hill before we dropped down into Crompton Fold and the first water drop.

Crompton Fold to Tandle Hill (16 km, 8:56 am)
I didn't need any water and I was feeling pretty good, so I just ran through and kept going.  Anthony was ahead with another runner and I and a few others followed them. As we were heading up a lane, I  started to think that this was wrong. I looked at my watch and saw that we were ever so slightly diverging from the actual track.  I looked left down the hill across the farm field I was pretty sure I could see a track down there and began to think that was where we were supposed to be.

On the footpath somewhere north of Crompton Fold

Anthony and the other runner had stopped at the top of the hill and were looking at their map. The lane did a gentle sweep to the right and that took use further off course, so I as caught up, I said, "we're off course, we need to be down there". We ran down through the farm field and sure enough there was an Oldham Way marker on the next stile.  We were back on course.  This was a nice path to run, with some up and gentle down hills. It ended on the A663 at the north end of Shaw and Crompton. We crossed the railway line (actually now Metrolink trams) on the A663 bridge, then turned off and climbed up a switchback trail through Dun Woods. Once through Dun Woods we were on Whitfield Hall Farm and the group had stopped wondering which way to go.

With Anthony climbing up through Dun Woods.

I knew the route again, as it was on my watch, so I pointed the way for them. Guess I'm too nice and not very competitive. But the nature of trail running is helping other runners.  It was confusing here because the route was not defined and not obvious. In one place some heavy farm equipment made the actual path hard to see.  Once through the farm yard it becomes easier. This stretch was a nice rolling country run. We got on the wrong side of a fence at Burnedge and had to climb the gate onto the B6194. The Oldham Way signs here were confusing, making it look like we had to climb over the stile when in fact we didn't.

Route finding on the Oldham Way Ultra.  With no obvious paths to follow, a good route map and map reading skills are essential.

Our group of about 10 runners were still fairly intact here, and we had fun helping each other with navigation and chatting.  The footpaths led us eventually to the summit of Tandle Hill and the Royton War Memorial. The group was slightly ahead of me here and went down a path that was different to my watch track, so I decided to stay with the watch track. This led me down a beautiful down-hill through the trees, and as it was starting to heat up, the shade was welcome.  In the distance I saw the group drop down onto my trail from a steeper staircase trail about 200 metres ahead of me.  I came to a junction and to the right down the hill saw the aid station, so I turned right and came into the aid station. The other group may have mistook a marker for the Oldham Way and went straight on, which wold eventually bring them back around. That was the last I saw of them until the end of the race.

Through a farm at Thornham

Tandle Hill to Morrisons (23.7 km, 9:52 am)
I filled up my water and tailwind here and then left running solo. This section was on lanes and there were no obvious Oldham Way markers, so I was glad of my track on my watch. Making a sharp right, I crossed over the A627(M).  (if you find British road designations confusing - this simply means its a primairy route (A road - the A627), but as it only leads to a motorway, only vehicles allowed on the motorways can use it (hence the (M)). I was passed here by two runners who seemed to be going strong and cheerfully told me they'd made a few detours.

Still together as we climbed up to the Royton War Memorial at Tandle Hill

I followed them along the lanes mindful of their navigation skills. Sure enough they ran too far down the road. I made the correct turn, which was not an obvious turn. I don't blame them for getting confused. There was a group of runners running around a park and at first glance it was easy to think they were Oldham Way Ultra runners heading down a path there. The two runners popped out of a side trail further down, smiled and said "another detour".

Running along the towpath of the Rochdale Canal - opened in 1776 this was a busy waterway, now replaced by trains on the adjacent mainline and the M62 motorway. The canal is now used by leisure traffic.

After a sharp left turn I was now running alongside the Rochdale Canal, and would be doing so for the next 6.5 km.  I ran/walked along here, pacing myself. I enjoyed the canal, but after a while the tow path became monotonous. Parts were gravel and easy to run, other parts stone flagging and harder to run and sections were rough cobbled and almost impossible to run.

With Matt alongside a disused canal (a branch of the Hollinwood Canal) in the Medlock Valley near Daisy Nook.

Along here another runner caught up to me. Matt Collins from Royton and this was his first ultra.  He stayed with me as I walked/ran the route and it was good to have company.  After crossing the M60 and rejoining the canal, we came to the water drop where we stopped to fill up.

Morrisons to Bardsley Bridge (32.7 km, 11:05 am)
Leaving Morrison water stop, I mentioned to Matt I just wanted to be done with the canal.  Finally we came to where my watch said it was time to turn off the canal in Failsworth. Crossing through a residential area, the footpath took us into Brookdale Park, then a sort distance on Hulmes Rd before heading back onto a footpath to take us into the Medlock Valley. We added a bit of distance by following the trail along the river, rather an the access road.

On trails in the Medlock Valley

The Meadlock Valley was beautiful. I actually use to live close to the valley further up near its source in Springhead. In my childhood I spent a lot of time playing in and longside the River Medlock.  The footpath climbed up the bank on the east side of the river and then followed it for a distance, before climbing a stile into a farm field. From here we joined a disused canal and ran along the tow path, before crossing back over the M60 and into Daisy Nook Country Park.  We ran through Daisy Nook, climbed up a short steep section to join the tow path of another disused canal (a branch of the Hollinwood Canal) and followed this to Bardsley Bridge.

Bardsley Bridge to Kiln Farm (40 km, 12:29 pm)
The day was starting to heat up quickly and it already felt hotter than the forecast 22 degrees. In fact, it actually hit 26 degrees that day. There was no cloud cover, no wind or breeze so it made it that much harder to cool down.  And there was little shade as most of the route was on moorland or farm fields with no tree cover.

Along side the River Medlock

After fueling up we left Bardsley Bridge, and then I realised something was missing. I'd left my trekking poles back at the aid station. I told Matt I had to go back for them. I ran back got them and then eventually caught up to Matt again.  For the last several kilometres I haven't needed them as its been mostly flat running.  The trail started climbing up and became a nice single track. I had done this section lat year. when the race was cancelled I did my own run and this section was part of it. The difference was that last year it was snow covered and slippery muddy. This year it was dry and much easier to travel along.  After climbing up the side of the valley, the trail dropped down to Park Bridge, where Matt's partner met him with freezes. Thank you Matt, that was a live saver.

Hartshead Pike - just off the course and actually in Tameside (Ashton-under Lyne).

After a beautiful stretch along the River Medlock, we eventually reached Abbey Hills Road (the B6194).  My dad's grandma used to live close to here, and for a while we lived in this area too. So I knew my way around here quite well. Crossing Abbey Hills Rd, we ran along side the road to the junction of Lees New Road. We crossed here then joined the footpath to Hartshead Pike. The stone tower at the summit of Hartshead Pike, built in the 1863 to commemorate the marriage of HRH Albert Edwards to Princess Alexandria, can be seen from most parts of Oldham. Hartshead Pike is actually the name of the hill, though most people refer to the tower as Hartshead Pike or "The Pike". Most importantly for me it was a place I used to go to a lot when I was a child. It was visible from my bedroom window at my grandmas house and we often went up there for picnics. The view from the Pike is beautiful and on a clear day you can see as far as north Wales.

Dovestones and the moors from Lydgate Hill

We followed the footpath across the farm fields climbing up to a spot just north of the old tower. I told Matt I had to go up to the Pike as it meant a lot to me. So we parted ways, Matt continued on the race course and I climbed up the short path to sit on the ledge of the tower.  I spent a few minutes there enjoying the view and silence.

Getting up, I ran down the hill and back on course, following the route down Hartshead Lane, turning right onto Knowles Lane to Kiln Farm and the water drop.

Kiln Farm to Bin Green (53.2 km, 2:42 pm)
I left my poles at Kiln Farm and had to go back for them.  From Kiln farm the route was on some narrow lanes down into Grotton, before climbing up over Lydgate Hill through farm fields. The climb was not too bad and the poles were helpful. The view of Dovestones was gorgeous and the down hill run fun.  The footpath ended at the A6050. A short distance up this road I turned right into a farm yard, through the gate, and then along the path across the fields and down to the A670. A short distance up this road, then over another stile and down hill, over the railway line, then along side it before coming out on a residential street in Mossley, and a surprise aid station set up by the Mossley Runners.

Closing the gate behind on another farm on Lydgate Hill

From here the course followed the Huddersfield Canal for a short distance. Once I turned off I had a 120 vertical metres climb up on farm tracks. From here the course went onto footpaths again, and into the Peak District National Park. I was hot and wishing for some wind and sure enough a little wind came up. That felt so good.  I had muscles cramping by now, mainly from lack of salt I think - considering I hadn't brought any with me.  I had a lot of pickled ginger with me and I ate that, the ginger getting rid of the muscle cramps and the salty pickled juice in it helping with the salt deficiency.

I ran/walked the foot path as it took me into Chew Valley. After a section through a wood, I saw a runner ahead of me and caught up to him. It was Matt. Another runner caught up to us, I didn't get her name. I did at the time but I've forgotten. The three of us ran together along the footpath that took us down to Dovestones Reservoir and around it, crossing over the Yeoman Hey Dam, then up the steep hill to Bin Green.

Bin Green to Finish (65 km, 5:02 pm)
From Bin Green, Matt and I followed the route as it at first followed an old farm track then turned up through farm fields heading to Pots and Pans, a rock on top of Alderman's Hill.  There are a lot of rock formations up here. Pots and Pans is so named because the rock has basins carved into it, most likely by the weather, though there were legends that druids used to use the basins in the rock for other reasons. Regardless, Pots and Pans is another place I used to frequent as a child. I would get the 184 bus to Uppermill and them climb up to Pots and Pans. The view from up here is even better than Heartshead Pike.  There is also a war memorial up here next to the rock.

Saddleworth War Memorial at Pots and Pans on Saddleworth Moor- at 450 metres, highest point on the course (GoPro lens had fogged up by now).

Once we got up to Pots and Pans we stopped and rested against the rock. Then, when ready, we set off over the moor. This part of the run became confusing. At first we had a track on the moor to follow, then we turn onto another track. All was good. Then the track on my watch had us turn off that and cross the moor with no visible track. So we ended up pushing our way through bracken and heather, which was slow going. There wasn't an obvious target to aim for so we just followed the track on my watch, finally we could see a fence line and made for it. We found a stile but it was in bad shape, with the step board being loose. When I stepped on it, it moved, I slipped, my leg cramped, and my had snagged barbed wire. That wasn't fun.  Once I got the leg cramp under control, I tried again to get over, trying not to let the board move and trying to keep my leg straight so it wouldn't cramp again.

Pots and Pans

I had to deal with quite a bit of muscle cramping on this run. I had forgotten to bring salt tabs with me and I'm convinced I was not getting enough salt in me to replace what I was sweating out. I did have a lot of pickled ginger with me, so I ate that which stopped the cramps, plus the salt in it would help replenish my salt stores.

From here we had a nice down hill taking us off the moor and through farm fields. This dropped us down onto a lane at the bottom, which took us through Diggle. then we started the climb up onto Standedge Moor (pronounced stan-age). The footpath passed close to the Standedge tunnels entrances and as we passed a Trans=Pennine Express train entered the tunnel at speed.

Making our way across Saddleworth Moor - going on compass direction here

The Standedge tunnels fascinate me. There are four tunnels that run about 5 km under the moors. One of the tunnels is a twin track busy mainline train tunnel and it carries trans-pennine and local trains between Manchester and Huddersfield. One of the tunnels, the first to be built, is a canal carrying the the Huddersfield Canal 5 km under the moors. This tunnel has been restored and is open to recreational boat traffic. The other two tunnels are single bore abandoned train tunnels. They're maintained and kept in good shape as they are emergency access tunnels for the canal and operating train tunnel. Cross passages connect all of the tunnels together and they all share the same ventilation shafts. Some ventilation shafts have water diverted to rain down them - this brings fresh air into the tunnels - a sort of 19th century form of air conditioning. The rest of the shafts provide ventilation and pressure relief for passing trains in the tunnels.

The climb up to Standedge Moor was not steep but it was a long. At first we were on a farm track then onto a footpath. The path passed by a ventilation shaft for the tunnels which by now were 200 metres below us. The footpath finally brought us to the A62 alongside a small reservoir.  There was an extra aid station here that was welcome and unexpected.

We crossed the A62 and from here we were on farm roads to the finish line. It was mostly down hill and run-able, barring leg cramps. About a mile from the end Matt couldn't run due to leg cramps. I gave him some pickled ginger and went on ahead.  It was hard to run at this point but I kept telling myself so long as the legs don't cramp just keep running, it's almost over.  There were two short hills to go up. Running up the last one I stopped to walk at the top and realised I was so close. I ran again and across the finish line in 10 hours, 2 minutes.  Happy to be done on a hot day and low on salt reserves.

And the after a much needed massage, we were off the the pub for a much needed pint.