DARK PEAK NEWS Winter 2012 - Dark Peak Fell Runners

DARK PEAK NEWSWinter 2012• The race they said couldn’t be done – Dark Peakersscale the Dragon’s Back and live to tell the tale• Sixteen Trigs – the inside story of how the Dark Peakacquired one extra• On course for success – club members find their way bytaking to the classroom• Off course, lost – the dog pays tribute to Ashley Kay ashe ventures in search of himself

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 2In this edition»est. 1976www.dpfr.org.ukPresident: Eric MitchellRAS CEFN Y DDRAIGThat’s the Dragon’s Back race to you and me, a 200-milemonster down the mountainous spine of Wales. It was run justthe once in 1992 and since then its legendary reputation hasgone before it. Greg Crowley ran in the revived race this yearand survived a lashing from the fire-breather.Page 34ChairmanTom WestgateStumperlowe Hall RdSheffieldS10 3QT0114 263 0632chairman@dpfr.org.ukTreasurerTim HawleyJasmine CottageMain RoadDungworthSheffieldS6 6HF0114 285 1633treasurer@dpfr.org.ukClothing and Eqpt.Richard Hakes454A Loxley RoadLoxleySheffieldS6 6RS0114 233 9912kit@dpfr.org.ukWomen’s CaptainKirsty Bryan-Jones2, Sunnybank Cottages,Jaggers Lane,Hathersage,S32 1AZ01433 650213ladies@dpfr.org.ukDark Peak NewsDavid Holmes615, Loxley Road,Loxley,Sheffield,S6 6RR0114 234 4186news@dpfr.org.ukSecretaryRob Moore2 Kerwen CloseDoreSheffieldS17 3DF07766 520741secretary@dpfr.org.ukMembershipAnn Watmore26 Robertson DriveSheffieldS6 5DY0114 233 8383memsec@dpfr.org.ukMen’s CaptainRob Little70 Burgoyne RoadSheffieldS6 3QB07791 283861men@dpfr.org.ukWebsiteJohn Dalton1, Cannon FieldsHathersageDerbyshireS32 1AG01433 659523webmaster@dpfr.org.ukBUMPS THAT GOT TRIGS OVERNIGHTDid you take part in the Cakes of Bread race in 1992?Remember running past that trig point on Pike Low thatmysteriously appeared from nowhere and then disappearedjust as fast? Twenty years on, we finally reveal the wonderfultale behind Dark Peak’s great trig point mysteries, with thepictures to prove it!Page 10IN THE LAND OF THE BLIND......the one-eyed man is King. Dark Peak members try to showDark Peak members how to find their way round in the hills.Apparently it all has something to do with those pointy thingsand those foldy things. Seriously though folks, these skillscould save your life. The club’s latest navigation course getsrave reviews from those who took part.Page 22RUBBER HATS, GOGGLES ANDSKIMPY SWIMMING TRUNKSSimon Phipps and Nick Collier appearnear-naked as the stars of the new CaptionCompetition, in a photograph that hasof course been reproduced without theirknowledge or permission. Over to you nowto supply the usual stream of filth, tat, doubleentendre, smut and innuendo...Page 8SEARCHING FOR HIS INNER SELF...or was it his outer self, or his upper self, or his lower self, ormaybe his alter ego? Who knows which bit of himself AshleyKay went searching for in the Lake District? He wasn’t evenmissing, but how was he know if no one had told him? Chasepays tribute in the Dog’s Diary.Page 49Thanks to everybody who has contributed so generously to thisbumper edition of Dark Peak News, and especially everybody whosephotographs we have plundered anonymously from the website.Special mention to Mark Harvey for supplying the lovely images fromthe navigation course, and extra special mention to production editorTim Mackey who as ever has worked tirelessly to lay this edition outso attractively and get it to the printers on time. Many of the wittiestcaptions in this edition are also Tim’s.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 7From the ChairmanSadly there have been three deaths associated with fell races this year, all in differentcircumstances. There will be things to learn but individually maybe we should all be assessingwhat kit we carry so that we have half a chance of reacting if somebody is injured. We have tokeep a perspective, for in reality, these incidents over the decades are few and far between. Buthappened they have and learn we should. Most recently Daz Holloway of Pennine died duringthe Ian Hodgson Relay in October. He was known to several club runners at the sharp end,Matt Hulley, Mick Stenton and Ian Winterburn amongst them. It is right and proper that theclub remembers him as he was - our current Skyline V40 champion.In and around Sheffield we all cherish the minimalist approach we have to our club runs andraces. We should fight tooth and nail to keep this ethos but given the numbers we now get andthe spectrum of races, the club does need to settle on what we expect. We can and will investfurther in “personal responsibility” - in other words your safety is first and foremost up to you.If and how this relates to new runners and folk who turn up on spec again is open to morechewing of the cud. My view, as I mention above, is that in most of our races we need to becarrying a tad more kit and that the days and nights when we fail to count DPFR runners acrossthe start and finish line are, perhaps sadly, numbered.As I write, the club has just held its first EGM to answer any last queries and finally voteon the resolution to incorporate Dark Peak. Rob Moore, the club secretary, had received 57proxy votes and there were nearly forty people in the club hut, shivering away in sub zerotemperatures in the name of democracy. Every single vote was in favour. Those who did notvote, I hope you are with us. Rob and his colleagues now have some largely tedious Articles topen. It was agreed to include a “not for profit” element. If we have got things right then this isnot a momentous day as little if anything will change. It was remiss of me on the night not tothank Rob and his colleagues at Taylor and Emmet for all their time and ongoing efforts. AnnWatmore was also instrumental in getting this vote through in 2012 by forcing through thenotice and notifying us all – thanks Ann!The FRA magazine dropped on the doormat the other day. The usual fare, with JohnFleetwood, or was it Yiannis, having managed yet another impossible round. It was hearteningto see our women sprinkled throughout. Page 26 boasted a photo of Judith Jepson, ClaireOliffe, Nicky Spinks, Helen Elmore and Liz Batt, looking as pleased as punch, as they should,as the English V40 team champs. If you press on through the magazine Judith and Helen willperhaps be less than pleased as they gurn for the camera. Next the editor again finds room forNicky’s piece about her BG women’s record in the summer, and in the Results section towardsthe back Ruth Batty and Debbie Smith are seen, DPFR Olympic torch baton in hand, in frontof the Moot Hall before they go off at the start of their women’s team BG record. Our womennow have a momentum to match our men and long may it continue.Tom

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 9The questionnaireDave SykesHow old are you?39 +/- 15 years depending on ascent ordescent.How did you start fell running?I went on an attachment to Whitehaven as amedical student whilst studying in Newcastle.It was the summer of 1995 and very hot. Iarrived too late on my first day to go climbingso decided to run up onto Red Pike fromEnnerdale Bridge. Seeing the sunset fromthe summit I felt very privileged and smug. Ihad it all to myself and it was so beautiful. Isubsequently worked in Carlisle and did moregreat runs but was completely oblivious toracing until I moved back to Sheffield in 2002.When did you join Dark Peak?I think around the end of 2006. From theresults section of our excellent website I firstran as Dark Peak at the Tigger Tor in January2007.Why did you join Dark Peak?I met Ashley at my first fell race. He talked alot and we found we had quite a bit incommon, especially our season ticketsat Bramall Lane. For a long time wetussled as U/A, then Ash succumbedto the dark side. I had started to run inthe Lakes by this time and got toknow the travelling faithful and sofollowed Ash.How many miles a week doyou run?It largely depends on thenumber and length of racesas I don’t find time to trainthat much, if at all.Admit it, what’s your current weightAround 78 kg. I use my pretty steady weight tocalibrate the scales at work.What’s your top training tip?Probably do some.What’s your favourite race?That’s a tricky one. Probably an amalgam ofBorrowdale/Langdale/Wasdale/Scafell Pike/Great Lakes/Jura and Peris. As you can see, Ilike the rocky rough ones.What’s been your best moment in fellrunning so far?I suppose my first championship points at theGreat Lakes this summer. The rough runningand atrocious weather coupled with goodknowledge of the route really suited me.And the worst?Getting heat stroke prior to climbing GreyFriars on the Old County Tops in 2010,although the last few kilometres of the Tour ofPendle last weekend felt pretty bad and thisyear’s Skyline (post ME) was quite hard work.What shoes do you use?A variety of inov-8sAnd how do you get your socks clean?Quick wash 30° prior to normal synthetic/wool wash with pure soap with the rest ofthe kit. Make sure they are turned backthe right way round prior to washingotherwise they are just full of gritand dirt. Jenny says I have sockOCD but at least my socks areclean.

Dark Peak News February 2012 page 10FeaturesTales of trigs, art andmonumentalbullshit“Look upon my works and despair”Will McLewin gobsmacking himselfOnce upon a time the Ordnance Surveysought to lose some of its responsibility forthe care of the country’s many triangulationpillars. They had been built “out theresomewhere, erect upon the hilltops of thisland” to help with OS map making, but hadbecome redundant as the OS lost its relianceon them and turned instead to more moderntechniques like aerial reconnaissance. The OSthought, correctly, that there were individualsand organisations that held the trig points insuch affection that they would be interested inadopting individual pillars and then becomingtheir guardians.Will McLewin felt duly bound to pointout to the Ordnance Survey that a body ofhonourable and chivalrous men and women,both famously and infamously known as DarkPeak Fell Runners, had a most pressing claimto be the guardians of not one but fifteenof the said pillars. DPFR had conceivedthe abstract concept of a trial of enduranceand navigation with the title, in their quaintvernacular, of ‘The Dark Peak Fifteen TrigsRound’, (“Round”, here, indicating not thewell-known precise geometric figure but acontinuous and irregular, while at the sametime surpassingly elegant in both conceptionand implementation, closed circuit).Furthermore, that their affection for the saidpillars and material manifestation for the saidabstract concept had already been revealedby several members having demonstrated theseemly nature of the proposed guardianshipby visiting all fifteen of the pillars in less thanfifteen hours.In anticipation of the doubtless favourableresponse to this guardianship proposal, acarefully planned evening soiree to the pillaron Back Tor by Will McLewin and Alan Yates

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 11successfully achieved its objective of paintingthe pillar brown with a purple and yellowstripe. After a cold vigil through the night tomeditate on their artistry they were rewardedwith the unforgettable, (so far, for both ofthem), spectacle of the resplendent pillar atsunrise. A subsequent early morning visit tothe pillar along from Madwoman’s Stones byWill McLewin was equally successful.Sadly, a proposal to one Stanley Kubrick,that the monoliths featured in his film ‘2001– A Space Odyssey’ be shown similarlyresplendent in Dark Peak colours seems tohave been lost in the post.Equally sadly, in an act of unspeakablevandalism, a few days later an unknowncretin repainted the Back Tor pillar in thefamiliar uniform white. Thus, however,thereby neatly demonstrating the urgent needfor the sought guardianship.The magnificent brown purple and yellowcolours of the pillar along from Madwoman’sStone gradually weathered until, some yearsago, when last visited, only the faintesttraces of its former glory could be found.Techniques for restoration of Dark Peakcoloured pillars are still in their infancy anda fund dedicated to research in this vital areahas yet to be established, though it is believedthat fragments of information on the originalmethods used have been found.Once upon another time, actually atmore-or-less the same time, someone elsewas exhibiting (literally) an affection fortrig points, altogether different but equallyprofound. The sculptor Dick Whall, then alecturer at Coventry College of Art, did notindulge in things like bronze statues of lionsrampant or of generals in their fancy dressriding prancing horses. His interest centredon objects, deposits, artefacts added to thelandscape that become part of it: thingslike driftwood, old mine workings etc, andalso, long before the fragrant Tracey Eminbecame a blot on the cultural landscape,cigarette butts and crumpled sweet papers.Once thought of as simply litter they areapparently the stuff works of art are madeof. A particular interest was dew ponds.Yet another was trig points, concerningwhich he produced some truly memorablebullshit, (well, some people still rememberit). According to Dick Whall, trig points are“contemporary deposits, comparatively recentresiduaries” that have a “geodetic significanceespecially in relation to the hermeneuticssurrounding pre-history megaliths”. They are“an aid to the conceptualisation of landscapeThe contemporary residuary in all it’s geodetic glory

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 12and a device capable of facilitating perceptuallevitation”. Forget that if you can. Bear it inmind the next time you are out running in thePeak and that activity will never be the sameas before, (and good luck with the levitation.)The centre-piece of an exhibition of hisworks at Warwick University, was “TheTriangulation Pillar sculpture”: a fibreglassexact replica of a trig point. After theexhibition closed Will McLewin persuadedDick Whall to lend him the said piece ofart in future exchange for photos etc of thevarious indulgencies and flights of fancy thatmight be concocted using it. Will made acarrying frame for the fibreglass artefact – across between a stretcher and a sedan chair,(actually one of his own works of art, and adevice capable of facilitating replica trig pointlevitation). With the help of Alan Yates andBen Hodges it was levitated to various placesin the Peak that ought to have a trig point, andthence to places like Hunters Bar roundaboutand the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield, (notto mention a dawn appearance on the roof ofBob Seagrove’s car). Another place wherethe artefact was displayed was on Pike Lowon the evening of the Cakes of Bread race.Half the field did not even notice it and halfof those who did seemed to think it was a trigpoint that had always been there.Another notable incident was when itwas conveyed on its bespoke conveyance toFiddlers Green to stand beside the OS trigpoint on South Nab. The three-man partywas spotted by a Peak Park Ranger whodemanded to know what they were doing.They said they were checking that trig pointsin situ were the correct size. It is unlikelythat he believed it, but he pretended he didand made good his escape. The ‘sculpture’had to be returned when it was needed foranother exhibition and Dick Whall said hehad begun to use in his lectures some of thetransparencies he had been sent. To his greatpleasure they had provoked lively interest andaudience participation, but to his considerablechagrin the questions were about DPFRand fell running and not about sculpture.However this verifies what had long beentaken for granted – that all members of DPFRare works of art, (like cigarette butts andcrumpled sweet papers.)A contemporary historical footnote: theOS Trig Point adoption idea was abandonedbecause of legal problems about access,rights of way and land ownership. Attemptsto contact Dick Whall about the fate andwhereabouts of the ‘sculpture’ have beenunsuccessful. Also, it is not known whetherhe subsequently painted it in Dark Peakcolours as an entirely appropriate act ofhomage.A somewhat pedantic semantic footnote: thetrig, (a curious abbreviation of triangular notof trigonometric), point strictly is the point onthe landscape where the triangulation pillarstands, not the pillar itself.AnonThe work of art in the process of ‘levitation’or banging your head against a Dick Whall

Trains, no planes andnational expressDark Peak News Winter 2012 page 13It’s a shameful thing to admit, but havinglived in and run from Sheffield for manyyears I’d got a bit bored with my standardcircuits in the Dark Peak, (1,000 Hail Marys).I’d done them in good weather and bad, inthe light and the dark, in all seasons, aloneand with others, clockwise and anticlockwise,and in combinations of all the above. Inwhat we will loosely refer to as a flash ofinspiration, it dawned on me one day thatthe key problem was the “circuit” bit. Whynot do some linear routes instead? There’ssomething appealingly more committingabout going from A to B, with its implicationthat if anything fouls up you are further fromhelp than if you just go running from the car,(which, for the benefit of the less gifted, isfrom A to A). The logic doesn’t bear closeexamination, but it was a useful starting pointfor developing a summer of new outings.I’ve done a few runs and races from thewest side of the Dark Peak. But I don’t reallyknow it all that well, so I investigated theHope Valley line train stops and planned afew routes. I also found out that it’s fairlyeasy to get up to the north-west, (Glossop andHadfield), via Manchester Piccadilly, so thatset up a couple of additional routes.A bit of Googling revealed that NationalExpress service 350 runs from Sheffieldcoach station and will stop at Langsett,thus replacing the late lamented local 57Aservice. In contrast to the cattle waggons ofthe Northern Rail Hope Valley line it offersthe luxury of leather seats, air conditioningand cheerful imprecations to “now just sitback and enjoy your journey”. This reveriewas rudely interrupted when I was decantedinto the drizzle outside the Waggon andHorses before the puzzled gaze of the otherpassengers who, with few exceptions, wereoff on their sunny holidays from ManchesterAirport.As a finale, it seemed only fitting toconclude with the grandaddy of the DarkPeak runs, the Marsden to Edale. Gettingto Marsden by train from Sheffield is verystraightforward and has the advantage ofvisiting the rather wonderfully restoredHuddersfield station.The routesChinley to Hope (train – train)Footpaths to the Roych, Roych Clough(RH), Colborne, Mam Tor, Lose Hill Ridge,Hope. A bit of tricky footpath navigationand an aggressive flock of geese early on,but a fully extended laminated map providedcomfortingly robust emergency protection. Ireached the Woodbine Café in Hope withouttoo much bother, so I thought I’d be a bitmore ambitious the next week…New Mills to Bamford (train – train)Footpath along Goyt Valley, ShedyardClough, new allotments, Peep o’ Day, reverseKinder Trog to top of Jacob’s Ladder, northside of Edale, Win Hill, Bamford GardenCentre. Overambitious. I completelyunderestimated this outing and finishedde-energised and dehydrated. The highlightlies in the first ¼ mile – the MillenniumWalkway in New Mills, (this is the bestMillennium project I’ve seen). On this tripI first encountered the issue of how to makemyself presentable for making my way homethrough Sheffield city centre on a sunnysummer’s evening, having run through a mud

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 14pot on the way down Win Hill. In hindsightmy answer – waterproof overtrousers - mightbe improved upon.Glossop to Edale (train – train)Brownhill, Moorfield, Bray Clough, MillHill, Kinder Downfall, Crowden Brook,Grindslow Knoll. An early Sunday morningtrain to Manchester – possibly a carriage tomyself? Wrong. It was the first day of theOlympics. Brazil were playing football at OldTrafford and the train was more like a Tokyotube in the rush hour and the old fell runner’s“drifting” elbows, (don’t pretend you don’tknow), were pressed into service. Highlight:crossing Dinting rail viaduct, (on the train- my navigation is not that bad). At the endI caned it down from Grindslow Knoll as Ithought I might just get down to the stationin time for the train to Sheffield that leaves athalf past each hour. And I did, except that thiswas a Sunday and the trains run at half pastevery other hour on Sundays and yes, thiswas the wrong hour. Time for tea and cake inthe café.Edale to home (train)Hollins Cross, Lose Hill, Win Hill,Heatherdene car park, Bamford Moor,Stanage, Rud Hill, Porter Clough. The trekup the bank from Heatherdene onto BamfordMoor was the grimmest section of the wholesummer – head high bracken, waist highbrambles, knee high pine brashings; permany two from three at any one time. Evenat the top the moor seemed to be coveredwith burnt heather stalks, all of which werepointed towards my shins. The scars haveonly just faded. The highlight of the day wasa late evening halt in the sunshine at Rud Hillbefore descending into Sheffield down PorterClough. Too late for a stop at Forge Damcafé.Hadfield to Edale (train – train)Along the Trans Pennine Trail, up OgdenClough to Clough Head, John Track Well,Bleaklow Head, Alport Moor, Oyster Clough,Cowberry Tor, Gate Side Clough, sevenminute crossing. Alport Moor is a confusingplace, (again), even on a clear day. My first,unhappy, acquaintance with the new fencingon Kinder plateau.Langsett to home (coach)Cut Gate, Margery Hill, Howden Edge,Abbey Brook, Lost Lad, Back Tor, StrinesEdge, Moscar Cross, Stanage, Rud Hill,Porter Clough. I’ve been meaning to do thisone for years. The highlight is the sectionfrom the top of Cut Gate down into AbbeyBrook – if you find all the little trods it’sone of the best bits of running in the area.This outing is a lot longer than you expect,(especially if you don’t measure it first).Luckily Forge Dam café was open, but lessluckily I had taken no money thanks toweight saving tactics. I was counting downeach excruciating step on the last ¼ mile -goodness knows what the neighbours thoughtas I finished, (they don’t know that I cancount). I now realise why I’d not done thisone for years.Langsett to Glossop (coach – train)Little Don, Laund Clough, Dean Head,Derwent Watershed, Bleaklow Stones,Bleaklow Head, Yellowslacks. The LittleDon is badly affected by head high brackenin summer. There was a notice saying thatthe path was closed due to erosion of theriverbank but I had to wade the river fivetimes anyway to find a way through! Iremembered to wash my legs in the streamat Old Glossop before the journey homeamongst the glitterati of Manchester.Marsden to Edale (train – train)The old “Tanky’s Trog” route. WessendenValley, Black Hill, Crowden, Torside,Bleaklow Head, Upper North Grain, A57,Gate Side Clough, seven minute crossing.The rail journey involved the dubiouspleasure of a visit to Wakefield Kirkgate

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 15station, which is like something from theBronx after the apocalypse. It is 17 yearssince I last did the race so my memoriesof the route were somewhat hazy, (I thinkthe sunshine introduced a new factor whichconfused me). I was pleased to find the littletrod across Sliddens Moss on Black Hill andless pleased not to find the little trod downinto Upper North Grain from Alport Low. Iwon’t do the run down the side of the A57again – it’s not great in winter but in summerthe verge is covered in nettles and thistlesand you are often forced to run in the road,which is particularly grim when the eveningrush hour from Sheffield to Manchester hasstarted. The alternatives are to drop onto thepath through the wood below the road ordo the Alport Moor/Oyster Clough variant.The end of this outing threw up the mostsurreal moment of the whole summer whenI had to hurdle the legs of a couple lying in apassionate embrace across the descent routedown to Grindsbrook, (well the alternativewas to make a 10 yard diversion and afterover 20 miles frankly that was never going tohappen).I was sorry when it was all over and I’dreached the end of the list. I had been to somenew places and I’d become a lot fitter thanI’ve been for a while. I await my next flash ofinspiration…George DiproseSummer SharpenersScores of Dark Peakers spent summer Wednesday evenings running round Burbage in circles.Some had pointy things in their hands. Some even found their way back to where they startedin the Summer Sharpeners series. Here, survivor Andy Barnett reflects on his success, andorganiser Dave Holmes explains why he inflicted the event on the club.Reflections on Dave’ssummer sharpenersThe Summer Sharpener series has run twoyears now, based on Burbage and run onWednesday evenings. The races are testingnavigational challenges, providing a greatopportunity to brush up on map reading andcompass work.I have completed all of them so far, andhave some some quite distinct memories.For instance, in race two in the 2011 series,I remember being stuck in the forest forabout 15 minutes looking for checkpoint 2,and this after doing OK in the first race. Ireally did think I had blown it both for thatrace and the series with retirement an option.What kept me going were the shouts andexpletives coming from other equally baffledfell runners crashing through the woods,(apparently there was a ”handrail” in therebut I never found it!)Another “You’ve blown it, you idiot!”moment came in race four of that year whenI headed out to get the tricky 250 pointerover at Millstone instead of taking the safer

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 16route in the valley for fewer points, whichstill could have clinched me the title. With acombination of luck, judgement and possiblysome navigational skill I fell upon it and gotback to Burbage North car park just beforethe cut off, thus winning some lovely bottlesof Mountain Rescue Ale.Each race has its own distinct character.We could be looking for trees, boulders,peaks or bogs though actually I doremember rather a lot of bogs – thanks Dave.Competitors are provided with a large scale,full colour orienteering map in return for the£1 entry fee, and are entrusted to have someidea of how to read it.Sometimes it’s a set route; sometimesthere is considerable route choice. The scoreevents offer even more decision making, andtherefore also more possibilities to mess up.For race four of 2012 I only have myself toblame! Tempted firstly by some theoreticallyeasy early points which I couldn’t find, Ithen spent the next 70 minutes on my ownmessing about in the east of the valley withthe constant nagging thought that the runningin the south would have been a lot easier.I’m still haunted by the chest highbracken in 2012 race three, and by myinability to work out a sensible route betweencheckpoints especially when trying to getfrom Houndkirk Hill to near Winyards Nick.Why did I avoid footpaths and trods and takethat direct line? What I have found a comfortregarding this and other navigationallydubious decisions though is that betterrunners and navigators are not immune frommaking similar decisions.This year I think I finished runner up. I saythis because I was awarded less beer than lastyear, but the results haven’t yet appeared onthe website, (but hey, the last race was onlythree months ago).So with a series win and second placingbehind me what is the secret to success? Mytop tips would be in no particular order: doingevery race, sticking with it even when youknow you could have got an equal score bynot turning up at all and, lastly, treating thenavigational element as importantly as therunning.I have come to the conclusion that when itcomes to navigation I am never going to get itcompletely right though I will have some funtrying. These races are a great leveller andwhilst I am not wishing away the cold, darkwinter months I am hoping that Dave will bedoing another series next summer.Andy BarnettDave continues...Thanks to Andy and everybody else forbeing game and having a go, and immediateapologies for that man-eating bracken onthe flanks of Houndkirk Hill. Or should thatbe “woman-eating”? Andy complains thatthe bracken was chest-high, but he’s tall.Sarah Broadhurst found it was over her head,forcing total reliance on her compass bearing.The truth is that I chucked the controls therein desperation as time ran out and darknessfell on the night before the race, and thendecided to use them again because I couldn’tface going back to fetch them.The idea for the Sharpeners came fromthat awful meeting in the club hut whenthe Warts sat and argued about why someof the Sportsman runs were getting stale.I wondered if we could freshen things up,and perhaps help hold the club together, bystaging a series of entirely new runs awayfrom the pub itself, but still ending up thereafterwards. At around the same time some ofus were worrying about safety, and whetherpeople should be encouraged to develop morenavigational responsibility in club events.And so was born the idea of forcing you allto, by putting on races that could only be wonby people who could crack the finer points ofmap, compass and decision making.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 17“Where’s this bloody handrail?”Tim Tett kindly gave me access to theorienteering map of Burbage, and afterplaying around with page production softwareand a colour photocopier, I realised it waspossible to produce finely detailed coursesquite quickly and cheaply. I think the beautyof this area is its variety; we’re spoiled sillyin Sheffield to have such a breathtaking placeon our doorstep. It has everything for thethinking fell runner: high rocky summits,tough climbs and descents, wide openmoorland, intricate crags, concentrations oftricky woodland, varied vegetation, and arich network of manmade paths and relics.That said, with four events per year, (andpossibly a night race early next year ifthere’s sufficient demand?), I did wonderhow quickly we would exhaust the supplyof controls. So far I hope I’ve managed tomaintain some freshness, although some ofthem will inevitably come round more thanonce.As Andy said, some of the courses had setroutes, others gave you the option of tacklingcontrols in any order, and there was a scoreevent thrown in too. Whatever the format, Itried to ensure the optimum route was neverobvious, and it was gratifying to see eventhe top orienteers failing to make their mindsup and arguing long into the evening in ThaSportsmen afterwards. I wanted the keynoteto be individual responsibility.Andy is being very modest; he did sowell in both series through a consistentcombination of sharp navigation, intelligentdecision making, and a good measureof athleticism. So too did the other mostconsistent performer, Karl Marshall, whopipped Mr Barnett to the beer this year. Some,who will remain nameless, demonstratedremarkable ignorance of quite basic mapreading, and a penchant for running round inaimless circles, (but were still game enoughto take part). Others shamelessly tagged on topeople who did know what they were doing,which I’m pleased to say usually slowed them

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 18down and got them precisely nowhere.Many of you showed that you can handlea compass quite competently, but I thinksome Dark Peakers would sharpen their actconsiderably if they got their heads roundthe orienteering principles of attack points,handrails and catch points. This may soundcomplicated, but it’s really not that difficult.The idea is that you run fast towards a controlfor as long as possible without worryingtoo much about fine navigation. But as youapproach it, you look for a reliable attackpoint: somewhere easy to find that you canthem aim off more precisely to hit the control.It helps if you can also find a handrail, ie alinear feature that will guide you between thetwo. And just in case you miss the control, isthere a catch point, ie a feature just beyond itthat will tell you if you have gone too far?You can see these features at play in thejourney between controls one and two inthe second event last year, the journey thatcaused Andy so much grief (see page 15).You could crash down into the valley fromcontrol one without too much thought andthen start running north up the path alongthe forest edge. After a few yards you wouldcross a little stream thatprovided your first attackpoint and the start of ahandrail. Running up it, youcrossed the ruined fenceat right angles at the pointwhere the stream forked.Keeping to the left branchof the stream, you then ranparallel to the fence as itclimbed to the top cornerwhere the control lay.Your catch point was thesecond right-angled fencecrossing. If you reached thisyou knew you were goingtoo far and needed to turnimmediate left.From this control there was a safe handrailalong the top of the plantation to controlthree, but it was also indirect and withindeterminate ground underfoot. A betterhandrail for the navigationally competentwas a combination of the contour line anda compass bearing. You could then run fastthrough the trees until the gradient droppedaway sharply. This was your attack point,with the stream below as the catch point.Enough of the dry tutorial; the best wayto crack these things is to take part nextyear. The series proper will again be in thesummer, but as I say I might drop in a oneoffin the dark, (if I can persuade the clubchairman we can do it safely). Thanks forall the pound coins in the honesty tin – thisenabled a substantial donation to WoodheadMountain Rescue. Andy drops a not so subtlehint about the results for 2012 race four.These didn’t get finished on the night becauseof the killer midge attack. They’re now in acarrier bag which is lost at home because Iwas daft enough to be talked into a decoratingproject. My goal is to find them and get thempublished before the next series starts.Dave Holmes

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 19Willy Kitchen catchinghis attack pointDave’s training tipsNumber five: computer gamesFestive greetings from everyone at Tha Sportsmen,your base camp. Here is my training tip for thecold months ahead: treat yourselves to a Wii gamesconsole and get Wii “Fell runners r us” game, RRP£14.99. This magnificent electronic adventure hassimulated moorland and crags. For the authenticsensory experience go up to Friar’s Ridge and gathera bucketful of rancid bog water. Have this at yourside as you play and you’ll be happy as Larry. If youcan’t be arsed I can give you a bucket of slops fromthe cellar, that will achieve the same effect after aweek or two. This is all a lot warmer and safer thanventuring outdoors too often. Even squirrels storetheir nuts and don’t go out much in winter. Nothingworse than cold nuts and turkey. This will keep youall fit and well for the new season ahead. MerryChristmas and a Happy New Year. Dave.David Gilchrist is a qualified barman

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 20Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Enduranceaka RogainingEnjoyed Dave Holmes’ Burbage SummerSharpener series? Well it’s maybe time to tryRogaining.The object is to score points by findingcontrols located within the mapped area. Sojust like Dave’s events you get a map and ploton it a series of controls that have variouspoints values, and then you have 24 hours,(I did say it was a scaled upped version), tocollect as many points as possible. You needto carry enough food and safety equipmentfor the 24 hours as any support is banned, soalthough you don’t have a tent etc, the rucsacis still fairly heavy. The real killer is that theonly Rogaine event in the UK is always heldin the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland.As we were to discover, the Wicklowsis an area of outstanding beauty thatAndy Harmer has designed in his dreams.Everyone else would have nightmares overit - you know, endless bog, tussocks, heather,bracken, rocks, crags, no trods as even thesheep are afraid of venturing too far intothese hills. The going is tough, to say theleast. At 2pm around 30 teams, includingones from South Africa, Germanyand Belgium, were handed the controllocations and point values. As you needto run as a team of two or more, Tim andI had joined up again after a long breakfrom mountain marathons.We marked up controls that coveredthe entire Harveys map of the WicklowMountains, so it was clear that no-onewas going to bag them all. We werealmost last to leave and headed throughthe forest and out onto the vast moors.At the first control there was a bigchoice. We decided to head into the centralarea, blissfully unaware of what the groundwas going to be like. We were going strongand despite the ground made good progresswithout seeing anyone else. We looped backto pick up another control and again headedback into the wilderness rather than takethe longer but faster road section. This wasa big risk since it would be dark soon andwe had a very tricky, high scoring control tofind before then. It would be impossible inthe dark as the last attack point was over amile away. Relying on our years of ‘warting’we made good progress in fading light andgathering mist and found the small re-entranton a boggy hillside. Phew!Head-touches on, Tim now blazed thetrail and we relaxed and started to eat oursupermarket pasta, yoghurt, bread andhummus during our only short road section.As it was July it was only dark for a fewhours and we ticked off the controls in goodorder. A key to good Rogaining is choosingthe best section to do at night and we hadTypical Wicklow landscape, endless tussocks!

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 21cracked it, or so we hadthought. However, a poorroute choice meant that it tookus over 30 mins to cover just500m of deep heather andbracken in a massive boulderfield, (truly hideous). At thecontrol we met some localswho gave us valuable tips onwhere not to go, includingwhere we had just been. Atday break we headed backout into the bleak moor againlooking for a boulder, perfecttiming. There was not muchchoice now as we picked offseveral more controls.We debated about another outlier butthe lateness penalties in Rogaine are verysevere. We decided not to risk all our hardwork, especially since we were now bothreally flagging and we had a few big hillsand valleys to cross to get back to the finish.Despite arriving back an hour early we hadcollected 4375 points, 175 more than thenext team, (basically two extra controls) totake the overall win for Dark Peak. Racheland Richard Dearden, who had persuadedus to come to Ireland and competeand even given us a lift to the event,came second! This was their bestresult, having done this event threetimes before, so close but so far, eh?As it turned out we won the eventby heading early into the central(rough) area, which was avoided byall the other teams. Who says localknowledge is always an advantage?And thanks to the ‘warts’ for all thetraining. We can highly recommendit as a great event/adventure, in agreat area, great prizes, great BBQfood at the finish and a really nicetrophy. So give it a go in 2013. Will we begoing back to defend our title? I think weAfter 18hrs things start to look a bit oddare busy that weekend, and too much timeplaying in Andy’s dream landscape can bedamaging to your long term health. But thenthere is the ‘Wicklow Round’, a type of trodless24 hour BG-type challenge, for thoselooking for the full UK set.Full details here:http://www.setantaorienteers.org/rogaineSteve MartinPrize giving at the finish in the middle of aforest

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 22Navigation courseOver the years Dark Peak has organised many successful fell navigation courses, sometimesin partnership with the FRA. The importance of mapwork and personal survival skills havebeen underlined recently by a string of “near misses” in our club activities, and by somevery sad events in fell races. So, it was with a renewed sense of purpose and urgency thatpeople gathered for the club’s latest skills course in the autumn. Here, Stuart Bond and IanWinterburn reflect on the event from a participant’s and organiser’s perspective…Course participantBack in October I was trawling the Dark Peakwebsite and came across an advertisementfor a navigational course paid for by theclub. There were four places left. I thoughtI needed to learn more about navigation so Iarranged time off work and applied for one ofthe four places. I was surprised when I wassuccessful.I arrived at Woodhead Mountain RescueCentre at 8:30am on Saturday 20th Octoberto be warmly welcomed by Mark Harvey,Ian Winterburn, Jim Gayler, Dave Taylorand Tom Westgate who were going to be ourtutors for the day. They are all highly trainedand experienced mountain leaders whohave vast knowledge and experience in bothnavigational techniques and mountain craft.The day started with everybodyintroducing themselves to the rest of thegroup, detailing why they were there andwhat they hoped to get out of the course. Iwas quite pleasantly surprised with someof the familiar faces in the room whom Ihad seen at many a fell race over the years,who admitted they had very little or nonavigational skills at all. This put me at ease,and I thought it’s not just me then who haslimited navigational knowledge and skill andwho finds himself lost occasionally whenracing.The group was split up into smaller“Err... is this the right way up”groups. I was paired with Mick Stentonwho is a true champion, both respected andadmired within the fell running community.Our mentor for the day was fell running’svery own equivalent of Ray Mears: no otherthan Mr Ian Winterburn.The day started with a brief introductionfrom the tutors about themselves, what thecourse consisted of and what they as mentorshoped for all of us to get from the course.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 23The first topic coveredwas “the map”. We lookedat the two different mapscommonly used, the firstbeing the Ordnance Survey(OS) and the second beingthe Harvey map.The second topic coveredwas “copying down a courseusing a compass”. We weregiven check points and gridreferences so we could plotour route whilst setting themap with the compass forour practical session later on in the day.The third topic moved us on to the basicsof how to actually use the map and compass.We covered this through a practical sessionthat comprised of the following:• setting the map with the compass• setting the map with the ground• thumbing the map• carrying the map• taking a bearing• running on “the needle”• distance estimation through “pacecounting”• relating the map to the ground• relating the ground to the mapThe day ended with a debrief followedby a questions and answers session alongwith a basic mountain craft and safetydemonstration.The course has given me basicnavigational and mountain craft skills withthe added confidence to go out for furtherand for longer on the fells. I would highlyrecommend it to anyone who lacks thisconfidence. Whilst navigational skills maynot be a requirement in many races, they dobecome essential and potentially life savingif you ever happen to get lost or injured. Notknowing where you are whilst lost or injuredcould lead to hypothermia or even death; aswe all know, fell running can be an extremesport.Thank you to Dark Peak for enabling meand others to take part in an intuitive course.Stuart BondCoursecoordinatorIn our club we have sometalented and some, shall we say“developing”, fell runners. Onething they all have in commonis the love of running in thehills. Now, hill running, unlikeroad running, requires morethan a modicum of skill andcommon sense.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 24It was therefore suggested we help someof our newer, (and maybe some not so new),members by initiating them into the dark artsof navigation and hill craft. The aim was topass on some new skills and to show themthat navigation isn’t that difficult once youlearn a few basic techniques; to give theparticipants the confidence to hold a mapand use it properly rather than constantlyfollowing someone else.The October morning dawned far too clearfor a navigation course. We all met up at theWoodhead Mountain Rescue Team TrainingBarn at Hepworth. After tea, biscuits anda brief introduction to the instructors, weset our targets for the day. Following someclassroom theory we split into groups andheaded off to Langsett to try it out in practice.The first session was micro navigation:setting the map and using the terrain to gobetween various check points plus techniqueslike hand railing, aiming off, target points,ticking off, catching features, using naturalfeatures over “man made” with some pacingand compass work thrown in amongst others.Phew!Back to base for a lunch, debrief andquestion before the afternoon grid referenceswere handed out for plotting on the map.This was to be a much tougher test puttingin to practice all the techniques learnt inthe morning sessions. We went up on toHowden Edge near Swains Head. Herethe only features are natural ones so moreconcentration was needed reading thecontours and the water courses. If you cannavigate here you can navigate anywhere.Back to Woodhead’s barn for more tea andbiscuits and a debrief. We talked about wheremost people make mistakes, (not gettingthe map out being one and not following itanother), and what to do if and when you doget lost.Next we discussed what to do afterthe course and the number one point wasTo boldly go...Practise, Practise, Practise. We encouragedpeople to get the map out and follow it evenwhen going out over a known area or withmore knowledgeable friends.The instructors then gave a talk onmountain safety and kit. This started with theprinciple of self reliance rather than simplyhoping someone else will have some kit. Weconsidered what kit you should always carryon the hills and what to do if something doesgo wrong.Mark then gave a small talk on the presentethos of the club, with the focus on beingmore self-sufficient and being able to lookafter yourself following some near missesover the last few years.I would like to personally thank everyonewho gave their time for free to help on thecourse. Step forward Mark Harvey, whoorganised all the administration and logistics,and instructors Dave Taylor, Jim Gayler andTom Westgate. Good teamwork, folks.Ian Winterburn

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 25A brief history of things we run past - part 7Birchen, Gardom’sand Baslow EdgesA few readers may well remember the RobinHood Fell Race. It was a route with nosteep climbs - just a couple of longish uphillslogs. Runners turned up expectantly a fewyears ago on the evening advertised, but theorganisers didn’t! An impromptu trot roundthe route was suggested as consolation. Thatwas the end of that event!The route went northwest along the pathbelow Birchen Edge at the start, southwardsclose to Baslow Edge in the middle sectionand southeast below Gardom’s Edge on thefinal climb. In doing so three interestinghistorical sites were skirted past, but notnear enough for runners to cop a satisfactorysighting.been given nautical names – Crow’s Nest,Nelson’s Slab, Trafalgar Crack, Topsail etc.On the southern end of Baslow Edgestand Eagle Stone and Wellington’sMonument which overlooks ChatsworthHouse down the valley (though trees get inthe way a bit). It’s a simple gritstone crosswith an inscription which curiously is on theopposite side to the path, so probably unseenby many passersby.As you reach the wall and start the descentto the road (in the race!), there is a path tothe left along the top of Gardom’s Edge. Fivegritstone quarries were worked in the pastand broken millstones are scattered around.There are three stone cairns known as the‘Three Men’ because three men died here in ablizzard in the 18th C.Further on, hidden in trees and bracken,is the site of a three year long archaeologicalsurvey done jointly by the Universityof Sheffield and the Peak District ParkAuthority. They rescued and removed a 4,000year old “Cup and Ring Stone” which theyreplaced with a very convincing fibreglassfacsimile.On the top of Birchen Edge is Nelson’sMonument – a thin stone column topped bya sphere with three large boulders nearby.Each is carved with the name of one of hisships - Victory, Defiance and Royal Soverin(sic - the carver misspelled it in the rock),which helped him to defeat the combinedSpanish and French fleets at Trafalgar. A localbusinessman erected the monument 30 yearsbefore London got its more famous column.Some of the climbs on the edge have sinceAnyone remember the joke about Nelson’sred coat so his men wouldn’t be discouragedif he was seen to be bleeding? As for hisbrown trousers…Mike Arundale

Dark Peak News February 2012 page 26The piccy inTalking of brown trousers...Greg Crowley andLiz Barker on the awesome Crib Goch ridge

the middleDark Peak News February 2012 page 27

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 28Team captains’ reportsWomen’s reportWe have been treated to a fantastic year forBritish sport with the Tour de France and theOlympics and the Dark Peak women havehad a fab year too! There has been success,not just with some amazing results, but in thenumber of women regularly running with theclub and competing. The strength and depthin the team really became apparent in therelays: having 12 people competently runningat a high level over the Lake District fellsfor the BG relay when we only needed 10;and in fielding two teams in the FRA Relays,both finishing in the top 10. (Also, from awomen’s captain’s perspective, they were allvery reliable. No last minute substitutions orphoning round needed!!! Sorry to the reserveswho I promised a run to as “someone alwaysdrops out”...). I must of course also mentionthe fantastic individual and team results in theBritish and English Championships.Below are some of the year’s highlights:British and English Champs – first team inBOTH!Big congratulations also to all the individualmedal winners: Helen Elmore, Judith Jepson,Liz Batt, Nicky Spinks and Rachel Findlay-Robinson.Mention must also go to Heather-Catherine Marshall and Jenny Caddick fortheir impressive results at Borrowdale. And toeveryone who turned up to the championshipraces - thanks.FRA Relays - ‘A’ team third, ‘B’ teamninth (and first ‘B’ team)A beautiful day in Shropshire. Pippa broughtthe A team back in a solid position after thefirst leg, then Judith and Helen had a fantasticrun on the long leg to bring us back in thelead. Kirsty and Rachel E then held on to thelead on the nav leg by the skin of their teeth,being chased down by Carnethy. Liz then ranwell, but as somebody said the other finalleg runners were “half the average age ofour team and half the weight!”. We finisheda very respectable third overall. The ‘B’team also ran well with Claire on first thenHeather and Nicky running another great longleg. Rachel H and Penny nailed the nav legwith Lynn bringing the team home in ninth.We were just pipped by Totley ‘A’ but beatseveral of our main rivals such as Todmorden‘A’ and Ilkley ‘A’.Ian Hogson Mountain Relay - firstAnother amazing day weatherwise with theLakes being at their very best. Our team ofPippa, Liz, Judith, Heather, Rachel E, Kirsty,Nicky and Helen led from start to finish, butthe result became unimportant as we learntof the sad death of Darren Holloway fromPennine. Mention must also go to Ambleside,who finished close behind in second afterstopping to assist.BG Relay - new women’s record 18hrs51minA fantastic night and day with some verystrong running from everyone, (Debbie, Ruth,Heather, Liz, Laura (Totley), Nicky, Pippa,Kirsty, Alice, Penny, Rachel, Helen andClaire).The only disappointment was that Carl andRuth missed the party-in-the-car and showedtheir soft/whimpy side by abandoning thelovely campsite in favour of a B&B/bath/full English! The campsite fairies got theirrevenge as Ruth’s tent mysteriously movedto the far forgotten corner of the field far, faraway.....

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 29Nicky’s BG Record - Nicky broke previousrecord by over 30minsDespite awful weather Nicky still set a newwomen’s record for the BG of 18hrs 12 mins,and we know there is an even faster time tocome from her...Other long distance stuff - lots of milescovered this yearThe year got off to a great start with eightDark Peak women competing in four differentteams in the High Peak Marathon. Nicky’steam, (Three blind mice and a farmer’s wife),came fourth, Heather and Judith’s teamseventh, (Tigger’s brown vests), Kirsty, Alice,Pippa and Debbie won the women’s trophyand Ruth, (Nine nails and a roll of gaffertape), got her three gaffers round.Congrats to Judith on her amazing run in theOld Counties Tops, finishing an outstandingfifth only just outside the mixed record, andto Debbie and Donna for getting their blokesround it!Judith also showed her form over the longstuff, winning first mixed in the LAMM eliteclass.Well done to Julia and Helen Barnett forbeing first women at the Saunders in theKirkfell.A BIG BG congrats to Alice on completionof her round in “fun” weather conditions- very impressive considering how manyclothes everyone had to wear!Well done to Nicky for winning theFellsman, especially after recoveringfrom surgery earlier in the year. Also toFliss Milner who braved the Fellsman butunfortunately was forced to finish part wayalong the route, along with the majority ofcompetitors due to bad weather.Kirsty and Donna were the only womenrunning at the classic Jura race, a real tropicalisland affair this year. Steph was there butexcused from running due to eating toomany pies, (or was it ‘cos she was heavilypregnant?). It is an amazing race. I wouldrecommend it to anyone who fancies anannual trip to Jura - an addictive experience!It would be great to have more womenventure north (and west!) next year.Also well done to everyone else who hascompleted a mountain marathon this year:Penny, Sarah, Lucy, Kirsty, Nicky, Ruth,Rachel F-R...And finally the big daddy of them all: thefive-day Dragon’s Back. Well done to Nickyfor completing this monster of a race!Thank-you’s - it is not just running...A big THANKS goes to Debbie for all herrace organisation and hard work. Lots of ushave really enjoyed the Accelerate GritstoneSeries and of course the Big RunningWeekend.Thanks also to Helen for the Skyline as weknow behind every race organiser there is ahard working partner!Thanks also to Lynn for her years as clubtreasurer, finally handing it over to “Timmytreasurer”and also for her introduction ofcyclo-cross to us all at Thornbridge!Also to Ann for bravely taking over fromGavin as club secretary.Rachel H must also get a mention forrunning Hope Valley Hurricanes, (assisted byKirsty and Helen), and Nicky for her workwith Pennine Juniors, hopefully providingfuture Dark Peak members.Also others who are part of race organisingteams: Nicky-the Trigger, Kirsty, Penny andHilary - Hathersage Gala, Jane, Helen andJulia - Grindleford Gallop, Judith - StanageStruggle and any others I have missed...Navigation Day - no more getting lost…weall learnt how to relocate quickly!Twelve women came to Hathersage foran informal navigation day lured by cakeand soup. It must have paid off as in thenext Dark and White the following all hadgreat results: Debbie and Helen, Lesley A,

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 30Penny and Sarah, Julia and Helen B, SamH, and Jane managed to navigate hubby PhilCrowson round! (More than he would havebeen able to do himself. Ed) Thanks to JennyPeel, Ian Fitzpatrick and Chris Pearson whohelped me as instructors for the day.Kirsty and Martha both ran well in the LakeDistrict Mountain Trial. It would be nice tosee some more Dark Peak women there nextyear - always a great day navigating roundthe fells and good competition.Women’s bids for the Pertex - Helen,Kirsty and Nicky.Helen made a sterling bid for the Pertexthis year for her descent off Fairfield whilstrecceing the race route. Ian and kids werepatiently waiting at the cafe rendezvous inAmbleside whilst Helen happily trotted intoPatterdale. It is amazing how many peopleget Ambleside/Grasmere confused withPatterdale whilst running off Fairfield isn’t itDave, Ruth, Pippa...?Kirsty and Nicky forgot how to countwhen marking up their LAMM map 1,2,4,5.A detour from four back to three then backto four added an unwelcome hour on to analready very long day. They blamed it onthe near death experience of map markingin a dense fog of midgies. Nicky needs toget some good insect repellent as she had asecond midgie mishap this year when she andMen’s reportAfter a good start to the season from DarkPeak senior men’s team in championshipraces, (English: first Lads Leap, secondColedale, third Great Lakes), there was a faintwhiff of expectation in our racing shoes. Butwe knew the second half of the racing seasonwas going to be tough and competitive,especially with the long races to come.Tough and competitive it indeed was atthe British Champs race Arrochar Alps, (fourHelen left their fell running shoes in a fieldat Arrochar Alps after diving into the car toescape the blighters!As for other mishaps, everyone is doing agood job of keeping them quiet…Club Champs - 10 women brave theheatherNicky was the fastest woman home out of theten running, and Ruth won the handicap. Aspecial mention should be made of Steph onher successful comeback following the birthof Ralph, and to Kate Hamilton and MarthaHart for completing their first club champs.Cycling girls - you thought running theThree Peaks was hard enough...Lynn and Jo Jebb both had a successfulThree Peak Cyclocross. We are hoping Jocan turn her cycling climbing legs into fellrunning after she recently won the Mam TorHill Climb, beating past top fell runner, (andDark Peaker), Karen Dalton.Overall, a fantastic year for the girls. Let’shope 2013 is as good or even better. Andyou men had better watch out... On a recentWednesday road run from The Sportsmanthe women outnumbered the men six to two.Mick and Tim Martin were the (un)luckyblokes!Kirsty Bryan-JonesMunros and a fair bit of Scottish wilderness),where knowledge of the best lines provedkey. We finished second behind theBorrowdale guys, who clearly benefitted froma recce. Great efforts from Lloyd in fifth,Oli seventh, Rhys ninth, (3hrs 17mins, 3hrs20mins, 3rs 22mins), John Hunt twentieth,Jon Morgan twenty-sixth and Mick Stentonfifty-first in just under four hours. Veryimpressive times on a route that was eithersteep or very steep!So what would be the chance of us

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 31‘southerners’ beating those Lakelandersat their own Borrowdale race, which theyalways win, as the next English Champsevent? Well, I thought it might be possible,and again with fantastic team packing fromLloyd second (2hrs 51mins 11), Oli eighth(just over 3hrs), Rhys ninth (3hrs 3mins)and Rob Baker tenth (3hrs 10mins), withNeil seventeenth (3hrs 15mins) we managedto do it! Also John Hunt in twenty fourthcontributed by beating Scoffer, and scoredhighly for the V40 team. Mick Robinson justsqueezed in to get some senior champs pointsfinishing forty-eighth. Good efforts too fromGlen Borrell and Dave Sykes racing eachother to just get under four hours, finishingeighty-seventh and eighty-eighth.The excitement in the English Champswas now building. With us and Borrowdaleboth having won two and been second inthe other two, we were level on points. Wehad a chance for the trophy but needed greatteam performances at Weasdale and Kielder.So with a car load from Sheffield, a flightfrom the Isle of Man and a short trip acrossCumbria, Dark Peakers assembled on theedge of the Howgills for Weasdale fell race,(or should it really be called Mud Splash?!There’s a good video of the river and marshcrossing on YouTube apparently). Admittedlyit’s not a rocky route with long climbs likeBorrowdale but this suited us well, as againwe had close racing between the team.Following Lloyd in sixth, I finished a minutebehind in eighth, then Rob Baker in ninthand Rhys tenth, all within 45 seconds. OliJohnson finished the team score coming intwenty-second, just trying to keep movingalong the flatter run in to stay ahead of PeteHodges, twenty-fourth. In his first race ina Dark Peak vest, Steve Pyke enjoyed theshorter race to finish twenty-seventh, lessthan 25secs ahead of Jon Morgan (thirtyfifth),who himself was only 10secs aheadof a fast finishing Mick Stenton. Plus JohnHunt only 12 seconds later in thirty-seventh.Great efforts for V40 points, and after a quickcalculation the very exciting news that thesenior men had beaten Borrowdale.So after five varied races the simple factwas that if we could win the newly instigatedKielder Blast race in September, DarkPeak senior men would be English teamchampions. A shoot-out with Borrowdale!The course looked interesting and a couplewere even salivating at the thought of runningthrough woods! But let’s just say trying towork the route out from the multiple loopsshown on the course map was challenging. Iknew we had a great chance, but we neededour best team. Unfortunately, for unavoidablereasons, we weren’t quite at full strength.With a top Borrowdale team present it wasgoing to be tough, but we’ve never ducked achallenge.The course was fun. Very varied fromhard fast trails, woods and up across boggymoorland. Yet again Dark Peakers werepushing each other around, (Rhys literallygrunting I wasn’t moving fast enough for himapproaching the top!). In the end I was eighth,Rhys 16 seconds back in tenth, and Oli onlysix seconds behind. Neil ran hard to finisheighteenth and Jon Morgan was last counterin twenty-fourth. I should also say that theV50 team turned out in force here and wontheir category. Unfortunately the senior teamwere pipped to second by Borrowdale. A tie!We had each won three and finished secondin three, so it was over to the FRA statisticianto decide the winner based on aggregatescore, (adding up the placing in the countingrace for the five runners in each scoring team- so each runner’s place really did count).After careful checking they announced thatBorrowdale had won the English Champs byfour places. Yes, only four PLACES! Is thisthe closest team championship result ever? Asan example, if I’d been able to run 26 secondsfaster at Lads Leap we would have won. I’m

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 32sure other members can cite similarly closemargins. But “What if?” won’t close the gap.We will just have to try harder next year.The racing season ends with the relaysin October. With our excellent champsperformances we thought we could do reallywell in the Lakeland Ian Hodgson Relay andthe GB relays, this year hosted by Mercia.At the Hodgsons all the team ran theirbest, but Borrowdale were again just toostrong for us and unfortunately we werejust caught by the excellent run from CalderValley on the last leg. Fifth in 2011; third thisyear. We’re obviously going to win it nexttime! Easier said than done definitely, but wecan make it an aim. Borrowdale’s hold onthis race really needs to be broken, and wecan do that if we get our best team out, (notnecessarily our eight fastest runners, but fourpairs who will be best suited for the differentand varied legs). Particular thanks to DanMiddlemas and Will Boothman on the firstleg, making their debut relay run for DPFR.Great start guys to keep us near the front.The GB relays from Church Strettonwould be very different, covering the shortand grassy, but equally steep, slopes of theLong Mynd area. There was good banter onthe start line, excitingly from the town square.The captain went off first and I finishedsecond, importantly with a small gap overour big rivals. But was it enough? John Huntalso ran strongly, as usual, for the V40’s, andMike Nolan made sure his slide down the lasthill kept the ‘B’ team ahead of the leadingwoman. Oli and Rhys took over on leg twofor the ‘A’ team with hopes they could builda lead. A few longer hills may have suitedthem, but they absolutely gutted themselvesto maintain a small lead over Borrowdale,P&B, and Mercia. Third leg as usual actuallyinvolved a map. But the route wasn’t verychallenging for orienteering experts Neil andPete, or claggy enough for them to makedecisive clever route choices.The fasterBorrowdale and Mercia guys reeled them in.Potential controversy when Mercia reportedthe SI punch box wasn’t in place, but it wasruled this had no effect on the race result. Bynow I was quite excited. Mercia, with Englishchampion Si Bailey, went out in the lead andafter Morgan Donnelly appeared (or not) tobe quite ready, recently returned from injuryStuart Bond was chasing hard, also closelyfollowed by John Heneghan for P&B. Quitea set of runners! And all within 30 seconds.No pressure then Stu. Indeed he didn’t seemto feel any, blasting round behind England’stop two Simon and Morgan to bring DarkPeak home third. I got a bit confused abouthow our other teams were doing, but it wasquite clear Calder Valley were very strongin V40, and we eventually finished third inthis category. However, V50 team managedto win. Great going everyone, including aslightly cobbled together ‘B’ team. Greatopportunity for a run next year if you want to,chaps.2012 SummaryMen open: second English Champs, secondBritish ChampsEnglish Champs: Lloyd fourth, Rob Bakerfifth, Rhys sixth, Oli twelfthThird GB relaysV40s: third English, third BritishLloyd first English and BritishJon Morgan eleventh, John Huntfourteenth in English seriesThird GB relaysV50s: English ChampionsEnglish Champs: Mick Stenton third,Gavin Williams fourth, Richard Horsfieldseventh, Keith Holmes twelfthFirst “unofficial” GB relaysCongratulations to Dave Tait for finishingfourth in V60s English Champs, and also a

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 33big thanks to Dave for running his Carshareblog on Dark Peak website, always keepingus up to date with events and results.Also I’d like to congratulate 27 year oldStuart Walker for his Alpine adventure thissummer, covering 1100 miles or thereaboutsin 34 days from Vienna to Nice, basically selfsupported. Luckily Stuart’s navigation abilityhas improved in the last year or so!And finally, well done to Neil for finallygetting his hands on the club champs trophyafter a few years of being close.As always apologies if missed anyone offwho thinks I shouldn’t have.So, 2012 has been a very close andexciting year of racing. Thank you toeveryone who raced for Dark Peak andenjoyed themselves out on a fell. It’s great tosee, and hopefully next year we can do evenbetter. Please do support your club if youcan. As you can see, with such close marginseven just standing cheering on the fellsidecould make the difference. (And come onguys, we’ can’t let the women have all theglory can we?). Indeed many congratulationsto the English and British Champs winningwomen’s team, and to captain Kirsty, who is Ibelieve now handing over the reigns. Nice togo out at the top, hey?See you all at the Skyline in March if notbefore.Train hard and enjoy racing.Rob LittleThe club’s assets, (see p4)

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 34Been there, done thatThe Dragon’s Back, bysurvivor Greg CrowleyNicky Spinks (bottom right) clambering up – go get him!This time last year I was looking for achallenge. I had done some very long runsincluding mountain marathons over two days,but nothing longer and really fancied a multidayevent. Most seemed to be abroad, butthen I heard of the Dragon’s Back, a 200 milerace from Conwy Castle in north Wales alongits mountainous spine to finish at CarregCennen Castle in the Brecon Beacons, stagedover five days. It seemed to fit the bill nicely.The race was to be staged for only thesecond time after its initial running 20 yearsago, since when it had become legendaryin fell running folklore. The original racewas dramatic, with the lead changing daily,including three times on the last day beforethe powerful pairing of Helene Diamantidesand Martin Stone clinched their win. Theoriginal race was supported by the ParatroopRegiment, who entered their own teams. Theyplanned the race as an annual event, but werethen deployed to Africa, and the race becamehistory, until Dark Peak member Shane Ohlydecided to resurrect it this September, withsponsorship from Berghaus.My training started in December. A longrace demanded a long training schedule.I reckoned 100 miles a week running orwalking would set me in good stead and byand large I stuck to this. I also planned a fewraces to provide some relief from the mindnumbing effort of always being out. I alsoplanned a two month taper of two months,with much reduced weekly mileage and afew races to add a bit of speed and keep mysanity. This strategy nearly proved disastrous.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 35Shane was ambiguous about the route,saying only that it would be based on theoriginal, but longer and with more climbing.I tried to fit the puzzle together by scouringpublications, photos and video clips fromthe original and over the next few monthsfelt I became reasonably confident about thepossibilities. A running mate and I spent fourvery enjoyable long weekends exploring. Ientered key waypoints into my GPS to aidnavigation when we were running it for real.These training days took me to places I hadnever seen before, and taught my body howto cope with endurance running after largeamounts of alcohol the night before.My training finished mid July and Iwas well and truly fed up. I now had a fewraces to enjoy as I cut down. First was theLakeland 50, which is the half version ofthe 100. It is the second half of the courseand I had wanted to do this to lay to rest theghosts I had endured during last year’s 100.What seem long and arduous last year nowpassed swiftly and easily. Next weekendwas the Dovedale Dipper, organised byMatlock Rotary. I was running well becauseof dropping my mileage and won the race,pipping my training partner on the descent toHartington, (unfairly really as an injury meanthe couldn’t stride out). The weekend afterwas the Long Tour of Bradwell, a 33 milerun, including a tough traverse of Kinder. Ifelt great, moving through the field towardsthe end, with the leaders in sight. I could getthem if I pushed on. Then, ouch! Somethingreally hurt in my right forefoot. Is this whata stress fracture feels like? There were justfive miles to go, so even though I couldn’tstrike off with my right foot I decided to presson. At the finish I could not bear my weight.Fourth position was no consolation with onlyfour weeks to go until the big event. Panic.Lots of ice and Ibuprofen. No still can’tweight bear. I poled up at the local A&Ebegging for an x-ray, but it was inconclusive.After some pitiful pleading, I persuaded myphysio to see me late in the evening beforeshe went on holiday. After an hour sessionshe concluded it might not definitely befractured, and padded my foot in the hopeit might get me through. I was not full ofconfidence to say the least. Another physio, inmy club, tried to help with some acupuncturejust days before the race. Life has its lowmoments and this was one of them. Why hadI done three races on the bounce? What was Ithinking? You only know you have done toomuch when it is too late.Sunday evening I arrived at Conwywith all expectation gone. We attended amotivating pre race speech by Martin Stone,who revealed that back in 1992 no onewas sure whether doing a five day eventwas possible. It really was a step into theunknown. Helen Diamantides, now Whitaker,was running again, plus three other originalfinishers including the evergreen WendyDodds, now 62. Shane let slip that day onewould involve all the Welsh 3000 footers.What?! That was almost twice as long asthe original day one, and included traversingthe Crib Goch ridge. As if I wasn’t alreadyworried about sleeping that night.We gathered Monday morning inside theimpressive walls of Conwy Castle. A Welshmale choir sang as we sped out of the keepand along the old town walls, providingample photo opportunities, but instead ofgoing south we were actually going north,just to add an extra dog leg. My confidenthunches re the route were already wrong,something that would be repeated numeroustimes over the next five days. We traversedthe Carneddau in glorious sunshine, soon toarrive in the Ogwen Valley, the day’s halfway point. Unbelievably my foot had nothurt at all, (I had printed public transporttimetables to get me back from as far awayas Machynlleth just in case it played up).Everything now was a bonus. Up over Tryfan,

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 36to all the Glyders, down to cross the Llanberisroad and then a steep climb to Crib Goch.At the top was a Berghaus photographerbusy snapping away as we passed him. Itwas early evening with beautiful light and acloud inversion, magical stuff. I was placedsixteenth, and was deeply concerned for thosecoming behind who would have to traversethe ridge in the dark. Thoughts of local MRteams being scrambled, and being on theevening news and in deep trouble with mywife when I got home. I had no phone signalto warn her. We arrived at the overnightcampsite just as darkness fell. The racedirector, having realised the perils of CribGoch with such a scattered field, had stoppedthe tail from going up and given them a 90minute penalty. Even so, half the field failedto finish day one. This race was brutal.Apart from a commercial campsite onday two with warm showers, the overnightcamps were basic with portaloos and just astream to wash in. Food was from a mobilecatering van with round the clock tea, soup,cake, chips, and a vegetarian evening meal.The food was great, but too many lentils weregoing to prove another challenge. The mostdifficult challenge of the week was trying torecover at the end of day one, as this was tobe the longest day, with the shortest recoverytime. It had been long and hot, and beingexhausted and dehydrated it was asking a lotfor the stomach to wake up and take in anynutrition. I promised myself I would drink teaand not go to bed until I knew my kidneyswere working and not disintegrating froma combination of dehydration, high doseanti-inflammatories and trauma. The next dayI was hydrated, carbo-loaded and could goagain.Day two took in the Moelwyns andRhinogs, day three Cadair Idris andPlynlimon, day four the Elan Valley, and thenfinally the Black Mountains. Apart from someclag on day 2 it was wall-to-wall sunshine.The route zigzagged from where I thought itwould go - an extra hill here, a dog leg thereto get off the road. Only once did I pop outin front of the leader who had previouslyovertaken me, saving 15 minutes with acheeky short cut. All the trips to Wales wereworth it just for that! The first three days wereglorious mountain running, with stunningscenery and relatively fresh legs to help themiles go by. The foot pain stayed away, butwas now overtaken by losing skin on theballs of my feet. Mid way through day five Ilunged onto a rock and felt a nauseating popas a blister spread across the underside of myfoot, but there was no way I was stopping.I hobbled up to the finish at the impressiveCarreg Cennan Castle perched high on a rock,with a warm glow of satisfaction. Tonightthere would be beer and meat.It had not been the Dragon’s Back I hadexpected, and was considerably tougher thanthe original, but the changes had been animprovement. I was surprised to come tenthwith a time of 53 hours and 17 minutes, withonly a third of the field finishing the wholerace. The winner was Steve Birkinshaw inan incredible 43 hours - two hours aheadof the next runner, (Dark Peak’s own RobBaker, of course! Ed). Helene Whitaker wonthe women’s race, coming fourth overall,and Wendy Dodds arrived late into the nightto finish in seventy two hours. Really quitehumbling.I had made the event a bit of a fundraiserfor Derby Mountain Rescue Team, for whomI am the team doctor, and received nearly£2000 in donations for which I am mostgrateful.I now need to grow some skin, give mykidneys a rest from anti-inflammatories,and plan my next venture. Racing the wholePennine Way in January in a race called TheSpine should fit the bill…Greg Crowley

Another view of Greg and his newfriend Liz on Crib GochDark Peak News Winter 2012 page 37

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 38Joss Naylor for OAPsI don’t know how we got away with theweather. I’d had this one planned sinceFebruary but the drenching rain in most partsof the country looked all set to continuethrough to the end of July. In most of thecountry, for most of the time, it did. But asluck would have it the Lake District forecastshowed a window of respite includingWednesday, 20th June, my chosen date. So, Iwent for it! (The day after and the followingweek, driving rain returned as we all know.So hats off to Keith Holmes who despite theprudent and sensible decision to call offthe annual club attempt, cobbled together asupport team and completed a respectableBG the following weekend after the floodwaters subsided).A midnight start off Pooley Bridge withBob Marsden saw us cracking a good paceon the first leg towards Kirkstone, with aglorious red sunrise maturing as we toppedKidsty Pike. Alan, (with a Y and he ofinfamous fellsmanship), decided to start withus, (surprise to us all), and hang in as long ashe felt OK. He completed the full route withme and more to the point, willingly to myschedule! Colin Lago took over the supporton the next stint up Red Screes and via achoice of route taking in High Bakestones,just for a change. We got to Dunmail at 8:07,and found it ably manned by Colin Hensonand Roger Baumeister with tea and assortedgoodies.We had a short stop, drank some toxiccoffee, (to my guts anyway), and set off upSteel Fell, now with Dick Pasley in commandand Alison Moseley who had changed intomore functional fell attire, (from her previousday’s ‘wedding dress’. A Gretna Green ‘do’would you believe?). This was a bad time forme due to Dick’s poisonous coffee and theresulting inability to eat anything substantialfor a while.Thankfully by Rossett Pike I wasreasonably back on form. We had taken theFlower Gill approach to High Raise, (Alan’sidea), instead of my usual ‘favourite’ BirksGill, (I think not). At least this offered adistraction from my digestion problem andseemed to involved no extra distance. AfterRossett, I thought we maintained a prettyimpressive pace up Billy Bland’s Rake fora couple of oldies. Then on to the inevitablecrowds at Bowfell summit, amazingly still inglorious sunshine.I chose to come off Great End direct, downthe Band, whilst Alan and Alison reversedround and down the main Styhead - Esk

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 39Hause path. It was nearly a draw but Dickand I just managed to gambol playfully infront! There followed a welcome pit-stopat the stretcher-box with Jeff Harrison andBob Marsden (again) saddling up for the lastsection.Gable, the longest single climb of theroute, took just took 55 mins, so we werevery pleased. But what a difference fromthe 26 mins taken on 22nd May 2000 onthe sub-12 hour run. A sobering reminder ofhow age has made such a difference over theintervening 12 years. Dave Moseley was onKirk Fell to meet us and supposedly guideus in the general direction of the well-usedred gully descent to Blacksail Pass. Alanhad other ideas as usual, so whilst Bob andI found the correct route Alan convincedthe rest of the party to undergo a near deathexperience in an adjacent avalanche gullyoption. At least it provided us with someamusement watching the teetering antics ofthe misguided, perfectly silhouetted againstthe afternoon sky, as we jogged along the nicelittle path below. We were almost on Pillarbefore they caught us up, so unfortunatelymissed the entertainment of their survival‘discussions’.A pit-stop by the wall before Steeple torefuel then out and back to this spectacularlittle summit before descending into the dipand on up to Haycock. Here once again, Alanprovided an impressive encore to his earlierprecarious route choice by declining to godown the easy grass line, preferring insteadto ensnarl himself in the exhilarating screealternative. Again we waited patiently on thepath to Seatallan for him to break free fromhis self-inflicted boulder-strewn world, whicheventually he did, emerging triumphal andunscathed in hot pursuit.From the top of Seatallan we had excellentviews of the Isle of Man and north toGalloway, and with only Middle Fell and thefamiliar descent through the bracken to thebridge to finish. Joss and Mary were there tomeet us, along with our regrouped supporters.The time: 20 hrs and 50 mins. We had doneit quite comfortably with no worrying timepressure, and all due to good weather and abrilliant support team.So that’s it for the full set of R’s (repeats)on the Completions Lists. An ambition I havehad since Joss’s decision to add the 15 hourcategory. At that time I was 59 so, with just afew months left, was in with a chance beforetipping over to the 18 hour time. See attachedtimes list.Of all my fell-running and climbing/mountaineering activities this JN questin particular has been a most memorablejourney, from the first attempt in May 1997,(aborted on Great End in a snowstorm!), toarriving once again on Greendale Bridgethis time. A span of fifteen years in fact,interspersed with numerous other support andrecce trips for DPFR friends and associatedclub runners, many now themselves recipientsof a prized JN Tankard. I hope to continuewith these strange and often questionabledistractions for many years yet, albeit gettingslower and slower. But so what, as long as Ican be out there doing what we all do for fun,I think it’ll be pretty good, eh!Dave LockwoodFootnote: Alan was on the first sub-12hr attemptback in 1997 and, having exercised his usualunpredictablemanship, (all one word), featuredconspicuously on this last one too. Coincidence,careful planning, or accident? We shall neverknow. His intervening and varied exploits however,I will leave for him to relate.SummaryAge category Completed Age Time(time allowed)50 – 55 (12 hrs) 22 May 2000 53 11h - 57m55 – 60 (15 hrs 6 May 2006 59 14h - 21m60 – 65 (18 hrs) 11 July 2009 62 17h - 19m65+ (24 hrs) 20 June 2012 65 20h - 50m

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 40Marsden to Edale reloaded:The TriggerAfter a period of uncertainty, the Peak District classic Marsden to Edale race is back in anew guise, reflecting our current obsession with those redundant pointy things on the hilltops,(see page 10). The “Trigger” takes in many of our favourites as it wends its way from north tosouth. Here, organiser Nicky Spinks and race winner Oli Johnson reflect on the success of thefirst event.Race organiserThe idea for the Trigger was born back inFebruary 2011 over a couple of pints withSteve Burgess, (my husband), and Amandaand Andrew Heading. Talk had come roundto classic race routes and we all agreed thatMarsden to Edale was a clear favourite ofours. Someone mooted the idea of using trigpoints as reference. and this gave rise to lotsof discussion on route choice.Amanda said “Why don’t we run it?” andthe seed was sown. We all gave thought tothe reality of trying to set up a new race andby March had decided it could be possible.Being close friends with many of WoodheadMountain Rescue gave us our cause as wecould use the race to raise funds for the team.Steve took on the task of permissionsand spent many an hour on the phone. Therewas initial confusion as to whether we were“Tanky’s Trog” but we made it clear that nowe were not and that yes there were goingto be two races. Ours however was to be onJanuary 15th 2012. We decided that the racewould start at Marsden and have three trigpoints, (Black Hill, Shelf Moor and KinderWest), two road crossings, (Crowden andSnake), then finish at Fieldhead campsite inEdale. We were very keen to offer as muchroute choice as possible, and when Steveexplained this to the landowners we foundthey were quite keen as it would spread the“footfall” over a greater area. We’re verygrateful to them all and Natural England forallowing the race to go ahead in this way.I built a basic website, www.trigger.org.uk,to have a focal point where we could postinformation and results and updated it withour weekly progress. This seemed to workvery well and I’ve since done the same fornext month’s second race.Woodhead Mountain Rescue weredelighted to receive about £2,502, andimmediately offered to organise and man thecheckpoints. During 2011 they gradually tookon more tasks such as registration, kit check,finish and food.Once the practicalities were underway ourattention turned to results and prizes. Amandaand Andrew Heading offered to sponsor therace by providing prizes from www.Racekit.co.uk. Other prizes were also donated byThe Huntsman at Thurlstone and BradfieldBrewery.The day of the race dawned crisp and clear– an organiser’s dream. Registration and kitcheck went smoothly. The lack of toilets wasan issue which we need to address as wouldbe the lack of inside space if the weather wasbad. Andy Plummer set 169 runners off fromMarsden and I was so happy to be runningpast the reservoirs en route to Black Hill.The sun was shining and the ground frozen.I really enjoyed the race and was able tosee the many route options being taken by

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 41runners especially across Kinder.Overall the race went very smoothly; wehad a couple of hiccups with the trackingsystem but nothing that wasn’t resolvedquickly. The feedback from the runnerswas all positive and there was a brilliantatmosphere in Edale village hall wherecopious amounts of food, (provided byBank View Café at Langsett), were beingconsumed.Oli Johnson won in 3hrs 13mins 49sec,a time that could be hard to beat given theexcellent conditions. Heather CatherineMarshall won the women’s in 4hrs 00mins20sec.The second race is in just a few weeks,on Sunday January 13th, when we hope theweather will be just as good and that thingswill run as smoothly. It’s proved extremelypopular and is already full, so if you’d liketo try this new variation on a Peak Districtclassic in 2014, you’d better get in early.Nicky SpinksMessieurs Bell, Boyle and Patton

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 42Race winnerThis new incarnation of the Marsden toEdale fell race is a variation on and ahomage to Tanky’s Trog, one of the oldestand most revered Peak District races. Withthe Trog cancelled in 2010 due to snow andagain in 2011 due to some insurmountableorganisational difficulties, Nicky Spinksand Steve Burgess and Woodhead MountainRescue stepped in to keep the legacy of thisclassic route alive. Although the route of theTrigger maintains the fundamental conceptof a point-to-point from Marsden to Edale, itadds the additional challenge of checkpointsat three trigs en route: Black Hill, HigherShelf and Kinder West, while dropping theroad run down to Snake Inn. The route choicedilemmas posed by this new format keptmany an entrant occupied by weekend reccesthrough the long dark winter months and ledto much tactical shoe-lace tying come raceday.But those who feared going astray inthe groughs of Bleaklow or sinking in thebottomless bogs of Kinder were relieved tofind that the morning of the race dawned coldand clear with perfect visibility and a thickfrost that rendered the peat ankle-breakingbut firm. The first few miles in the shadedvale of Wessenden were Arctic, and althoughthe sunshine offered some brief respite at thehead of the valley, a biting headwind pickedup over the iced flagstones of Black Hill thatchilled to the bone.A gulp of freezing cold water at Crowdenand off up Lawrence Edge, which had atouch of i’Nam about it with the sound ofgunshots from the nearby clay pigeon rangericocheting around the hills and i’coptersbuzzing overhead carrying material for peatregeneration. I fled up Wild Boar Cloughthen on to Bleaklow, which appeared sereneand silent after the war zone, blanketed witha thick hoar frost that made the trog over toHigher Shelf unusually runnable.From Snake summit people took a myriadof different lines to Kinder West with noconsensus on the best, (or least worst),solution. The concave wall of the plateauloomed steep and posed a tough obstacle atthis late stage in the race whichever way youchose to take it on. The section along thefrozen Kinder River was treacherous withits sheet ice occasionally shattering undera tentative footstep, and the final push overto Grindslow Knoll was tough despite theunusally firm underfoot conditions.The finish and apres-race venue at Edaleprovided hot food and drink, copious amountsof cake and Rescue Ale to aid recovery, allvery welcome after a long, cold day in thehills. After an early battle with a speedyJon Morgan, (eventual fourth place), I hada solitary run all the way from Crowden tocome in first ahead of Simon Harding ofStaffordshire Moorlands and Neil Northrop,giving DPFR a comfortable men’s teamvictory. Heather Marshall came in first aheadof race organiser Nicky Spinks, (who musthave had a tiring weekend!), and Helen Slaterof Fat Boys.The simplicity and point-to-point natureof this route makes it an extremely satisfyingrace, which easily outweighs the logisticaldifficulties of juggling transport to and fromthe start and finish, (thanks to my wife for anearly morning lift to Marsden). Over £2,500was raised for Woodhead Mountain Rescue,who provided extensive marshalling andsafety support on the day. Some great prizeswere provided by Racekit. It’s great to seethat the tradition of this great race is stillgoing strong, and long may it continue.Oli Johnson

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 43Club ChampsRace organiserAn alternative venue or route for the clubchamps has now been in existence since1989, when the club decided the classic triplecrossing of Kinder was becoming so familiarto the initiated that it should be restedfor two years out of every three. The firstalternative back in 1989 was the very steepEdale/Crowden/Blackden route. Since thenGlossop/Hayfield/A628 have been used, aswell as the Derwent Valley.I thought the Woodhead was ready forrevival, accessing Bleaklow rather thanKinder, and providing more challenging routechoice for those unfamiliar with the northernwastes. Bob Berzins and I have both doneraces from Woodhead station, (as was). Thisproduced good routes in testing weather, butthere was a lot of out and back to get over toGrinah and beyond. This time I had hoped tostart and finish at the pub, but the time to getto Horse Stone and back revealed a similarproblem. Hence the idea of starting at theWindleden Edge road and running back.Once the mini bus arrived all went well,though the benign weather, and use ofGoogle Earth, destroyed any chance of masswalkabouts! (A talking point here – doesGoogle Earth amount to cheating? Ed). WillBoothman’s spectacular deviation to Margerywas an exception.The bizarre use of two late checkpointsensured few runners used the track back,although that didn’t stop two seasoned ladsopting for the road finish. In clag, many morevariations would have happened.I greatly appreciated the marshals on thehill. John and Ian had also done sterling worktwo years ago - out in Torside and beyond.I was injured and unable to run so did theorganising on the day, but to time-keep, startand finish - especially the latter - is not a solojob. However the start/handicap is organised,more volunteers are needed to ensure thingsgo well. With that in mind, I am sure Ian Fitzwill really appreciate helpers for next year’sdo, from Edale.Andy HarmerHandicap winnerI was chuffed to win the Handicap at mystage of the game, particularly in the light ofmy recent results - coming in last by a marginhaving set off first on my own. I put mysuccess down to the new system of startingin five groups at 20 minute intervals, and thehandicaps being all individual within thosegroups.My own race was pretty much as I havelearnt to expect, in that I can only maintaina limited effort before I have to rest andregain my breath. Consequently I wasdetached before completing the first climb.Mike Browell is always deceptive becausehe starts so steadily, but then seems to speedup; in fact it’s you slowing down while hemaintains the same pace. The line that I tookto the first control just past Barrow Stonesseemed popular with the chasing group. Butas we came off heading for Coldwell Cloughwe passed plenty of runners jogging up thatway. They had opted for a very different routeto the first control by the fence, and judgingby their speed this was a good choice if youcould run it. Coldwell Clough was reallythe only choice to get back over the ridge.Crossing Laund Clough and running downon higher ground was then the way to go,

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 44but the final route to the second control wasdebateable: did you go for the steep descentdirect, or take the easier but longer diagonalroute? My own route from there to the finishwas a mess, as I set off on the track and thenleft it for a direct rougher line. Certainly notthe best way, but it got me in fast enough toclaim the trophy and I was well chuffed withthat. A fine morning’s sport.Roger BaumeisterJim Orrell bushwacking across BleaklowJurassic Fell Race – Axe to ExeSunday 1 April 2012 (BL 20.1m/3999ft)At the end of February, my daughter Bethand I both came down with pneumonia. Shehad two weeks in the Children’s Hospitaland I had three days in the Northern General.We both recovered and during the next twoweeks off work I planned my running rehab.The first run was at two weeks: the Saturdaymorning run from Endcliffe Park up PorterClough. I managed to run to the end of ForgeDam and back having been left by everyone.What would have taken 30 minutes tookan hour. I just had no go in my legs. Thefollowing weekend I did a slow five hourEdale Skyline to make sure I could get roundand then raced it the following weekend ina time which surprisingly was comparableto my previous one, going down and up toRinging Roger rather than round.The following weekend I took the girlsdown to their grandparents in Somersetwhilst Jenny worked. I had seen in the FRACalender a race that ran from Exmoutheasterly to a place called Seaton via BudleighSalterton and Sidmouth, along the SW coastalpath. I stayed with friends in Exeter the nightbefore the race but still had to get up early todrive my car to the finish, arriving narrowlybefore the coach left to take us back to thestart. The day was bright and sunny but theEsplanade at Exmouth was quite windy. Inthe sun it was very warm but the breeze wascool. This should have provided a dilemmain what to wear but as I had driven to thefinish I had made my rather hurried decisionson clothing and footwear as I left the car.There was one other northern vest, Huw fromAmbleside.The start was slightly surreal: 100-plusrunners charging along the seafront past allthe dog walkers. What was to follow waseven more so. After the Esplanade the routeclimbs onto the cliff top in tight single trackginnels, to the Geo Needle at OrcombeRocks, then runs through a series of holidaycamps and a firing range which provide themeat of the navigational difficulty. Havingtraversed the first headlands you graduallydrop to Budleigh Salterton and run at leasttwo miles along the seafront. Here I realisedmy choice of X Talons was a bad one. Trailshoes or even road shoes would have been farbetter. Once you’ve dodged the Daily Mailand Telegraph reading retirees of Budleigh,a half-mile detour inland to cross the Otterestuary brings you to a lovely gradual climbto the top of a stretch of ochre cliffs.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 45The descent into Sidmouth was nowunpleasant as my feet were beginning tohurt. Another run along the seafront broughtfurther bizarre juxtaposition as did the climbout of town, dodging the Sunday walkersbefore leaving town. There was a refreshingamount of up and down prior to the drop intoSeaton, hitting the beach at one point. A finalclimb and then a flat two kilometres beforethe gradual drop to the finish began. This tookin road running through expensive residentialareas, parcour-like fast feet down flights ofconcrete steps and another esplanade timetrial. I finished 47/101 and was pretty pleasedjust to have done it. Next stop on my rehabschedule was the Teenager, far more to mysuiting but that run off Maiden Moor waspretty similar to large stretches of this race.If this race doesn’t clash with anything I’lldo it again next year and would recommendit (away league, Willy?), but maybe in roadshoes if dry.Dave SykesScottish Island Peaks RaceIn the pub after the Coniston fell race wecame across a mystic gypsy woman withprior knowledge of the Scottish Island PeaksRace. She had long blonde hair, large bulgingbiceps, a furry face, and went by the name ofMikero Binson.Her initial reaction went something likethis: “You’re doing it Wil? With who? Rhys??You’re f***ed!” Further predictions involved“It’s hard to be scared when you’re vomitingthat much”, and that “GET THE KNIFE!”meant bad things had happened. Strangely,we left the pub feeling woozy and wobblingstrangely, a mystical sign of things to come.Two weeks later, having survived somedubious Pennine driving, we’re at the startin Oban. The sailors, (Peter, Farm David andFood David), seem very competitive. Wilseemed to suffer whilst going slowly on thefirst short run around Oban, so much thatAngela Mudge asked him whether he’d beenforgotten. Another worrying sign.It soon turns out our boat is both very fastand captained by a closet lunatic. Excitingovertaking happens as soon as we are onboard,with us sitting waving to the otherteams as we hurtle past them. One catamaranbreaks its bowsprit, (whatever that is). Rhyshas a good laugh at Wil nearly falling out ofthe dinghy during high speed transfer fromthe yacht to Mull.The first seven miles of road on Mull wentwell. Joe Simmonds and Robbie Simpsoncame absolutely flying past after about sixmiles. As soon as the climb up Ben Morestarted, Wil’s body went into hibernatemode, leaving him dizzy and slow. Morepeople started passing us towards the top.Rhys took both bags and a long, long, slow,noisy drag back to the boats occurred, withthe only highlight being re-passing thePennine Boys, (Adam and Muir). Muir, wemight add, might be slightly deranged. Atthis point he shouted many things along thelines of: “The wife’s back at the cooker” and“GMMAAARRRYYEEAAAYH”.Rhys is upset due to Wil being “slow andcrap”. Wil, after 13 years, finally declares hisundying love for Rhys, and promises he willdedicate the rest of his life to ensuring he hasmany female suitors.After an “eventful” boat ride to Jura,which included the phrases “AAH it’s stuckin the bag”, “Peter! We’re only in 4 metres ofwater”, and “S*** P*** F***” being shoutedon deck, Will lets Rhys take the lead on the

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 46boat exit. He falls backwards in a perilousturtle style into the dinghy.On Jura we were back in third placeoverall due to the sailors, and back onfamiliar ground. Mountain marathon styleyomping ensues. Rhys falls in a river.Three hours later a much more successfulrun ends after Wil refuses to give Rhys hisbag, demanding he finish at least one islandunsupported. Simpson and Simmonds havegot past somewhere, so we’re now back infourth.After a three hour boat-nap we emergeto find we have gone about four miles. Ashas everyone else. A slow speed boat raceensues, which slowly picks up pace withthe wind, ending with us arriving at Arranat about midnight in second overall and firstmonohull. With a green Rhys.After another “safe” boat transfer, Wil’sknee hurts as soon as the boat is out of sight.With 18 miles left, the miles left countdownstarts. We’re through Brodick within the hourwithout any sign of anyone following. It stillfeels like a very long way left as we slowlygrind up Goatfell feeling a bit sea sick. Wilis making interesting knee related noises afew metres behind Rhys as the “Blue Chip”runners get past near the top. Panicked looksbehind don’t highlight any other torches sowe plough on.Once on top there is a realisation that wewill now have to run back. An incrediblypainful, slow, tottering descent, (for Wil)begins, and Rhys gets a prolonged lesson inhow to listen to profanities whilst carryingtwo bags. Lights approach from below, andSimmonds and Simpson come belting past,(we’re impressed), closely followed by moreteams.We speed up. This causes louderprofanities which are only stopped in orderto get Wil to eat Rhys’ food. The only thingkeeping us going at any pace is that we’vedecided the sailors deserve a medal, as wewere informed by the Blue Chip runners onthe way up.Arrival into Lamlash is very pleasing asthe running is over and no one else has caughtus. Rhys remembers to get his woolly jacketthen leaps into the dinghy a little prematurely,whereupon Farm David politely suggests hewait until we get it into the water. Rhys thenhas a good laugh as Wil gets engulfed in awave.Once onto the boat, something is afoot- lots of cursing and looking overboardgoes on, and the order “Somebody getme a f*****g knife!!” is shouted fromour generally calm, well-spoken, privateoptician captain. Turns out a boat tied to themooring has got wrapped round ours. He isunimpressed with the kitchen scissors andblunt objects he was initially offered by twonow borderline hypothermic runners.We arrive at Ardrossan as the firstmonohull, third overall just behind BlueChip. Rhys just manages to stay ahead ofa 50-something sailor on the sprint to theclub house, and Wil is no longer capable ofmeaningful movement. Breakfast was a beer,some champagne, and some cheese. This leftus not feeling right good, but a good parkingplace meant we could heckle other runnersand boats on their way into the finish. Grand.To top it all off, once the run times werein it turned out we had eventually smashedthe Pennine boys. By over 65 seconds, whichonce correctly calculated equates to the widemargin of more than one second per mile.Brilliant.Rhys Findlay-RobinsonWil SpainEd adds: It’s a moot point which race ismaddest, this or the Dragon’s Back, which wefeature elsewhere in this edition. But if you’retempted, you can find full details of the raceat: http://www.scottishislandspeaksrace.com/

It may surprise you to learn that I am notparticularly tech-savvy in spite of my relativeyouth, (well, at least in fell running terms). I amno big fan of social networking and I have neverowned a GPS watch. But I have succumbed inrecent years to the obsessive practice of recordingmy every training-related activity online in apublic forum. Not only does this allow me to planand record my training and racing in meticulousand anal detail—something that I have alwaysloved doing—but it gives purpose to my distractedinternet browsing during the working day. It’s allthere, available at the click of a button for all tosee. How far and how long I ran, biked, swam,climbed, kayaked or hiked for. How much sleepI got. What shoes I was wearing to do it. All theinjuries and illnesses I was carrying at the time,not to mention any random thoughts that happenedto pop into my head while I was doing it. All thiscovering the last four-odd years of my life—afantastic resource or a monumental waste of timedepending on your perspective.The tool I have been using to do this is oneoriginally developed for orienteering, but whichhas attracted many top fell runner users, severalof whom are members of our very own DarkPeak. You can look them up if you are feelingbored, and pore over their every waking activity:Rhys F-R (avatar -Rhesus), Rob Baker (RobB),Neil Northrop (Nails), Andy Middleditch(Middleditch), Pete Hodges (Pete), Zanthe Wray(zan), Rachael Rothman (Rachael), Jenny Johnson(JennyJ), and myself (OJ). There are even ahandful of superstars logging on there to providea salutary lesson in what training we should bedoing: Robbie Simpson (Rob S), Murray StrainDark Peak News Winter 2012 page 47Tried and testedAttackpoint OnlineTraining DiaryRRP: Free/$25 donationAppearance Value for money Performance OVERALL RATING (murraystraining), Swiss international MarcLauenstein (Swisscheese), and US ultramarathonlegend Geoff Roes (grroes).It’s not the functionality of Attackpoint thatmakes it attractive - there are a few significantlymore advanced online training diaries out there- but its open, shared aspect. It is an amateurand still-evolving labour of love created by aUS orienteer, Ken Walker, who is receptive tosuggestions of tweaks and improvements. It’s freeto register and set up a diary and if you just wantto ‘lurk’ you don’t even need to log in. An annualdonation of $25 spares you from harmful exposureto advertising and gets you a handful of moreadvanced features including the option to uploaddata directly from your watch. What the site lacksin slick visuals and advanced features it makesup for in simplicity and flexibility. It’s up to youto set your own activity types, effort levels andcolour schemes and to add forthcoming races tothe crowd-sourced calendar or injuries to the everexpandingdatabase.Most helpfully of all, registered users can addcomments to one another’s logs, a feature thattransforms the site into a great source of motivationand advice. Training too hard? Someone will tellyou to take a rest. Slacking off? Someone willharass you to get out and train. Honestly, what isit about Web 2.0 that turns us all into a bunch ofvoyeuristic, interfering busybodies? Whatever, it’sa great way to compare your training with the best,to keep track of your progress and to satisfy yoururge to connect daily with the online hive mind.The more Dark Peakers who are on there the better,so why not get logging? http:www.attackpoint.org/Oli Johnson

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 4810 years agoPete Gorvett succumbed to extreme winds in the Karrimor and wasairlifted to hospital suffering from hypothermia, leaving Phil Coxpartnerless. Similarly extreme conditions during the club’s Bob Grahamweekend meant Mike Robinson was the only one of four contenders tofinish. In better conditions, Chris Ledger chalked up a Paddy Buckleywith just 15 minutes to spare – the first Dark Peaker to do it since PaulSanderson eight years earlier. Helen Thorburn was first woman inthe Dwygyfylchi Race, and is probably still the only club member whocan pronounce it. Mark Salkild accepted filthy lucre by running inthe BOFRA professional fell running series, taking in many of the oldtraditional showground up-and-down races. He was V40 champion. Dave Taittried to encourage Dark Peak participation in the classic amateur races, and set up a new “carsharing” web page to try to help get members to the start line without killing the planet. TomHolmes won the Moosehead at the Dungworth for being first junior and for stuffing his dad.The DPFR caravan opened for business at Cropton, in the North York Moors, after the clubbought it from Andy Moore’s dad. Bizarrely, it was the venue for the Loxley InternationalMountain Marathon.20 years agoControversy in the club champs, which this year featured an extendedvariation of the Kinder triple crossing format. The second control wason Kinder south edge, a large rock feature called Pym Chair, whichis named on the OS map. Very close by is another large rock featureknown locally as The Pagoda, which is not marked on the map. Manyrunners, including fastest finisher Tim Tett and second fastest BobBerzins, went to the wrong rock thinking it was the right rock, andwere subsequently disqualified. The race went to Andy Harmer,who was third back to Edale. Arguments persist to this day. PeteGorvett had a happier time in another wild Karrimor. He and HowardSwindells won the Long Score class, which featured shortened courses because of an earlywinter snow storm in the Lakes. Fellow competitor Roger Baumeister spoke of “an epic ofmagnificent proportions” and said he and Alan Yates suffered “a legacy of mild frostbite”.Tricia and Pete Kohn were first mixed pair in the short score. Bob Toogood shamelessly wentroad running in Birmingham, where he became world V50 10k champion.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 50The kit pageDark Peak kit man Richard Hakes breaks the habit of a lifetime and poses for the camerahere, modelling with pride the new club hoody that he’s just commissioned. It reflects DarkPeak News’ current obsession with trig points, re-running the retro artwork that I believewas originally designed by Dave and Mary Sant. The hoodies retail at the bargain price of£20 and most of them were snapped up eagerly when Richard walked into Tha Sportsmenwith them in a big cardboard box a few weeks ago. Best to check with him whether furtherstocks have since arrived. As ever, he’ll also be pleased to answer questions about all gearand current stock levels: 0114 2339912; kit@dpfr.org.ukPrice listVests £13Sizes small, medium, large, extra large.Women’s also available in XSShorts £16One size fits all. Metallic green cycling type,with “DARK PEAK” in yellow down left leg.Tracksters £20Blue or green, in medium, large and extralarge. Yellow piping and “DPFR” down leg.Short-sleeved long-sleevedvest £10Aka. a running t-shirt Lightweight silkysynthetic material. In brown withpurple and yellow bars on front.XS, S, M, L, XLFleece pullovers £22In blue or black, with club badge on breast.Toasty! S, M, L, XLRunning Bear socks, twopairs for £5Brown above the ankle, white below.Guaranteed to be brown throughout after tworuns over the Dark Peak bogsWhistles £1Orange. Loud. Best used incombination with a map and compass.Vinyl sticker £1Now available as a 5cm vinylsticker or 5cm carwindscreen stickerLong-sleeved vest£17Sizes S, M, L, XLYellow t-shirt £10With club badge on breast. S, M, LBlack t-shirt £10With “Dark Peak Fell Runners”cartoon artwork on front. S, M, L, XLMetalbadges 30pCollector’s items, allfeaturing exclusive DarkPeak designs: ‘Running Man’,‘DPFR trig point’, ‘Mountainhero’, ‘Warts’

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 51Made in the Dark Peak...being the page where we showcase notable Dark Peakartefacts, oddities and curios...No 9 Will McLewin’s Dark Peak camper vanWill’s flair for painting things in Dark Peak colours reached its apotheosis with thedaubing of Back Tor trig, (the story is finally chronicled elsewhere in this edition). Thisvan carried his artistic talents far and wide - to many a fell race in the late eighties andearly nineties, and across the Alps as he bagged the 4,000 metre peaks for his famousbook.* Sadly, its conception owes more to pragmatism than to spiritual inspiration. “Itwas an old van when I bought it and it was red,” said Will. “I thought ‘I’m not drivinground in a f****n’ red van’ so I painted it brown. Then I thought I might as well go thewhole hog and make it Dark Peak.” For some reason these colours picqued the curiosityof HM Constabulary, who stopped him at least half a dozen times, presumably on the snifffor hippy drugs. “Finally I snapped. I grabbed a club vest from the back, gave this youngcopper an earful, told him this is why it’s brown, yellow and purple, now F**k Off anddon’t stop me again!” Amazingly, Will was neither arrested nor ever pulled up again. Thevan finally gave up the ghost after being thrashed round Slovenia as the tour bus for Will’swind quintet in 1992. He then bought a Ford Transit, got the brown paint out again butnever quite finished the stripes.*Although the van no longer exists, the book does. You can find ‘In Monte Viso’sHorizon’ on Amazon, where it gets two five-star reviews. It’s yours for £15.73 if you fancya late Christmas present.

Dark Peak News Winter 2012 page 52Front page: Rob Baker traversesthe scary Crib Goch ridge onhis way to second place in theDragon’s Back raceThis page: John Dalton, ourwebmaster, ploughs a lonely furrowon the Margery Hill race