Its very daunting to run 32.5 miles and just as daunting to try and blog about it! but I will try and get across the highs and lows!
2:30 am and that’s it I can’t sleep any more, not sure if its nerves or excitement! so I get up for 2 hours and go back to bed and wake up 30 minutes before pick up time. I receive a text from Adam Fletcher to say “make sure you bring your snow shoes” I put it down to a wind up, but sure enough as we wind our way up the valley to the start point Hedgehope and Cheviot are weighed down by a good covering of snow!
Adam was to join us for a few miles and as we ascended Cheviot the snow gradually got deeper and my toes gradually got more numb! the run along the top was clouded in mist until we dropped down a few hundred feet the the stone slabs were very icy and most of us slipped over a few times. After the Slippy stones came the energy zapping mud holes which sucked your feet under and would hardly let you go, but spirits were high and we kept making good ground.
I was still very wary of the 12 miles in Kielder forest as it would be hard on the feet and very boring running with only trees to look at, but tried not to think of it too much.
As it was a LIVE firing day on the ranges (which were only about half a mile way at times) it made for an interesting background noise with a helicopter gunship firing rounds from a few hundred feet above just at the point we could see the girls driving past on the way to the 20 mile refreshment point, but the skoda was no match for these action man wannabe’s, and they soon got away ( bugga).
They must have only got a few more hundred yards before the road was closed due to roadworks and they phoned to say they were going to struggle to get to the checkpoint , which would have been a disaster as the human dustmin Crombie needed filling with coke and chocolate before the next stage.
We got to the meeting point to find no girls so rang them to be told they were driving around desperately trying to find a route through the war zone to get to the A68 to Bryness. We ran south down the main road for around half a mile to eventually see them blazing to our rescue.
4 Chocolate bars, 2 cups of coffee and two sandwiches later and a change of footwear we set off into Redesdale Forest on outr way to Kielder, a really struggled to get going again and it wasn’t till mile 25 before I got back into the swing of things again and i ran the ton of chocolate off. Bruce took off at this point wanting to stretch his legs, and we never seem him again till the end. Myself, David and Sue soon settled into a run and then walk a little routine with Alison always pushing us on from just behind.
At the 6.5 mile mark a familiar figure came over the horizon! my wife had ran out with Leanda to meet us,but leanda decided to run with her hubby and that left Cindy to run with us back to the car, and run she did! none of us by this stage could keep up with her. and the next 3.5 miles felt like 6 miles back to the castle and on the last 50 yards even managed my by now trade mark sprint ( wel slightly faster jog).
What a relief to get there and finally put this route to bed after dreaming it up for the last 3 months.
Thanks to Alison, Sue, David and Bruce for a great day and to Adam for the company on the snowy bit of the route and of course the girls for their great support!
No comments:
Post a Comment