I only came across the event by chance after seeing an article on outdoorsmagic a few days before the event interviewing the late Jane Tomlinson's husband who continues the great work she started. All profit raised by the event goes to the supported charities so I figured why not! I most likely would have been out in the Peaks over the weekend anyway so I may as well do it for a good cause! Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to do any fundraising due to the short timescale but I'll have to rectify that next year. After pestering my usual walking mate Greg to sign up also I was good to go. Naturally being the super-fit athlete I am (good job you can't see my eyes rolling right now) I signed up for the longest 25 mile 'Dambuster' slog. Also available were 14 and 6 miles version for all abilities. Initially after reading the name I feared a lot of the miles would be following the Derwent and Ladybower reservoirs on the road like tracks circumnavigating them, but I needn't have worried. The route was superb and took in quite a hefty chunk of the Peak Districts' best bits in one sizeable route that turned out according to strava to be nearer 27.5 miles (but no pain no gain right?).
Due to the distance I decided on a light as possible kit list but with everything from a frosty start, pretty warm sun and ending in rain it was pretty hard to cut corners. I won't go into any specifics in this post as I'll review all the kit used in depth another time apart from I've already reviewed obviously. For footwear I thought of using my Meindl Burma's but they're heavy and I'd never trekked this far in them so was a little dubious as they're broken in but not quite at that stage where you'll trust them for the distance to be comfy. I use a pair of Altberg Sneeker boots for military work and they've been used extensively and on slogs as long as this before with no problems. They aren't the waterproof version but are more than capable to fend off heavy rain and quick dunkings and feel like trainers to wear and weigh hardly any more! Needless to say I didn't even feel the start of a hotspot throughout! For trousers it had to be Montane's Terra pants. The vents and DWR coating were both invaluable throughout. Again from Montane the Medusa pack was the pack of choice. It was just the right size to fit the bare essentials of food, water, first aid, compeed etc without too much excess space. For warmth I took my Rab Microlight Alpine and for rain my Rab Volt, both chosen for pack size and minimal weight without scrimping on features. For on the go Helly Hansens classic lifa Tshirt was a no brainer but Rab's Boreas was the perfect super light softshell for 90% of the day.
Enough about kit and onto the day itself! Due to the length of the day and the 11 hour time cut off an early start was to be expected. Registration was at the Hope College at 6:30-7:30 with the start at 7:30. Leaving the house at 6:00 after 3 hours sleep from having to borrow my brothers car after he finished work at a pub didn't help matters due to my trusty steed being due for repairs and limping around horribly! The event seemed to attract quite a wide variety of entrants of all ages and abilities all looking for a socials challenge. I'd guess there must have been at least 200 participants. I may be wildly off but the starting crowd was pretty hefty!
After a quick brief we were off, heading towards Win Hill and straight into the first sizeable climb of the day within 10 minutes. The started to spread the crowd out a little once the initial rush had spread out and the fell runners have sped gazelle like off into the distance. The weather was perfect when we summited Win Hill with clear views over Ladbybower reservoir and along Castletons famous ridge with Mam Tor looking rather impressive in the distance with the early morning light. Once this first obstacle was out the way everyone seemed to find their second wind after a rather long warm up climb (isn't the first always the worst?) and we gradually dropped down into Edale for the first checkpoint around the 7ish mile mark. Once we'd arrived here at what I'd guess to be around the middle of the pack we had a short but welcome 5 minutes rest after checking into the village hall which was being used as the checkpoint post. Water bottles were available to resupply for free and you had the choice to switch over to the shorter 14 mile loop which this was the half way point for.
Feeling fresher after a quick refuel we carried on along the Pennine Way start from the centre of Edale, heading towards Jacobs Ladder which was most definitely the hardest climb of the day and generally a pretty beasty slog regardless of your reasons/method of ascent!
At the top of Jacobs Ladder which was the 13 mile mark we had another quick breather to let the feeling come back to our legs! We'd kept up a pretty reasonable 3mph so far which was what I was aiming for throughout the day. Once suitably alive again we cracked on along the Pennine Way until we reached Hayfield's campsite for the next checkpoint. The last couple of miles up to this point were a welcome relief after Jacobs Ladder to make up some time on the flat ground, and to roll downhill to Hayfield without having gravity do its best to annoy us!
By the second checkpoint I think a lot of people were starting to feel the miles after keeping up a decent pace for about 5 hours! Along a stone wall just next to the check in point a row of what must have been 50 mildly weary looking hikers were sat recuperating for the second half of the trek. I noticed on the map we were at what was marked about 13.5 miles but strava said we'd done nearly 16, which was a little disheartening as I presumed the second half would bring the mileage to nearly 30 miles! My legs were feeling ok, but my head was starting to feel the miles and morale took a little drop over the next hour. With long slogs like this their is always a point where your starting to tire but begin to stop enjoying yourself I find. Theirs a lot to be said for the challenge being just as tough mentally as it is physically and I find they especially true. While building strong legs and lungs in the gym is one think, nothing equates to spending hours trudging along, especially when you feel like your waffled on about everything your brain contains! After leaving Hayfield we climbed up onto the Pennine Bridleway which runs roughly parallel to the road heading through Hayfield then bears off towards Rushops Edge. It's a long slog that feels like it takes hours and being gradually uphill the majority of the way (or it seems to anyway) it starts to take its toll. I think this slog was where I had my morale stoop and Greg started having issues with an old knee injury purely from the hours spent stomping along. Once we reached closer to Rushops Edge I knew the end was reasonably close and we'd broke the back of the trek with roughly 3/4's done at least. We knew the final checkpoint was only a quick hop to the car park behind the top of Mam Tor and the shortest segment was beyond that. I'd ridden Rushops Edge on my mountain bike before but never the Pennine Bridleway so made a mental note to make an off road ride from Castleton to home in Glossop one day soon on what looked to be some awesome, really fast and flowing bridleway!
We'd made good time on the 3rd section even though we were a bit grumpy and sore by know, especially with injuries flaring up so the checkpoint was a welcome stop. Having a slightly shorter break than the other walkers put us ahead of a good few, who had a longer break at checkpoint 2 so we did the same at checkpoint 3. Feeling a renewed sense of energy knowing we had the final, relatively short ridge to finish we set off. I knew we'd done all the proper climbs so there was nothing too taxing to slow us down. Typically when your nearing the end and spirits rise the weather does its best to fix that! The weather had been great all day, with just clouds overhead and the odd sunny spell. I was comfy in a Tshirt and y Boreas without feeling cold or too hot throughout upto this point. In a typically British way though it started to drizzle properly although it had been threatening to do so for the last hour. We were close to the finish and the rain was only very light so I valiantly stuck with the Boreas, thinking I'll keep my shell to stick on at the end as the rain had only been for a few minutes at a time up until now. Naturally I was wrong. Drizzle became rain, hands went numb and I got wet! Being stubborn I stuck with the Boreas and to its credit I soon felt warm, although wet, creating a wetsuit type effect. With the hood up the top did a superb job of keeping the feeling of the rain at bay and somehow I stayed surprisingly comfortable! My hands even regained feeling too! Greg on the other hand had his brand spanking new Montane Sabretooth softshell which kept him surprisingly dry and comfy all day. Must say, I'm mildly tempted by one in the future!
Back onto the slog though! After hopping over Mam Tor it became apparent the view was non existent. We could see the shape of the ridge towards Lose Hill faintly looming in the distance which spurred us on. By this point Greg's knee was starting to give him some proper grief but he carried on regardless, knowing the end was near and soon to be a downhill stroll into the village. Once Lose Hill was cleared we had an easy mile and and half into Hope to the finish line. The rain was easing by now the Greg's knee wasn't and had become much more of a problem as the downhill was seemingly much more painful than the ups...typically when all we had was down to go! With 95% done we slowed down a little and hopped rather clumsily on dead legs over the stiles towards Hope and the finish line.
At the finish we were clapped over the line and handed 'finisher' medals which looked pretty smart and were a nice keepsake. Glad to be done we changed into dry clothes and hobbled to my car, feeling the miles quite strongly by this point!
Overall though it was a brilliant event and something I hope to do next year with a faster time than the 10 hours I completed it in and most definitely raising some money for the cause! For other events around the country go look on www.forallevents.co.uk
Tut tut i can tell somebody didn't use a spell checker before hitting publish. :p
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