14th August Hob Hurst's 2 This time it's even steeper!

For those of you with the memories of an elephant, you might recall a blog from a couple of years ago when I announced with great pride that I had just been beaten in a trail run by a chicken, a giraffe, Robin Hood and a man wearing a head to toe multicoloured flourescent lycra cat suit (a group of runners from Totley AC wearing fancy dress) Two years later the question was which other occupants of Noah's Ark would beat me across the finish line as I once more attempted Hobs Hurst fell race, a nice 5 mile jolly from the village of Beeley, just near Chatsworth House.

As per usual 'TOM' thought I was mad to even think about going out on such a jolly and without looking up from a episode of Downton Abbey simply asked if I had actually made a will yet. Just in case. I bet Laura Muir doesn't have to put up with that when she goes for an evening jog in the hills.

The route itself was, for a fell race, a reasonable one with only one after another of what felt like short sharp lung bursting and calf cramping ascents. Thankfully the fact that large sections of the trail were quite narrow meant it wasn't easy for anyone to overtake, not that that's normally an option in my case. Winding up and up and up along a never ending uphill slope that I had no recollection of running along two years ago, I must admit I was a little disombobulated by the time we hit open fells and the final climb, yes it was still going up, to the turn around spot. 

A quick check of the watch to compare it with my time of two years ago brought the realisation that age had taken its toll. Then it was a steady rather than spectacular descent back into a headwind across the open moors, along a gradually sloping bridle path, down a steep and twisting rock and root strewn trail and finally across the last couple of very steep fields down into the village of Beeley.

Stumbling over the finish line, a quick glance at my watch told me that I had completed the run four mins slower than a couple of years ago but far more importantly, no animals finished a head of me in this years attempt. And that in itself counts as a gold medal winning performance in my book.