I was running this one with a really bad back that i'd developed on the morning of my 30th birthday a couple of weeks earlier- getting old?!?! so i was happy to treat this one as a gentle trot out and a chance to get to know some of the paths i tread less frequently around Glossop and the back of Lantern Pike.
after bumping into Will Meredith i was soon off on my requested 10am start (family commitments) and trotting down the Monks Road towards the first checkpoint. i felt some twinges in my back but was prepared for a little discomfort so plodded through it.
i'd already made up my mind to run my own version of the shorter course (i.e. pick off as many of the near-lying checkpoints as possible then head back to base) so when i saw some of the early starters head off left towards Lantern Pike, clearly on a long run strategy, i knew this was going to be a solo effort as i was on the way to CP4 by Plainsteads Farm which was the closest checkpoint and a quick win, one that i was confident i could link to Whiteley Nab and CP1 from.
as i made my way, the nav was pretty straighforward, i was still in sight of the start of the race so not too far from home. it's always good to get the first dib under your belt (reassurance that you can at least read a map to some extent).
from here it was uphill over some of the Chunal race course and over to the top of Whiteley Nab. It was here that i bumped into John Jodrell and another Pennine runner, and could we find CP1? No!
After i'd been up, down and across the hill i reluctantly pressed on towards Cown Edge in the knowledge that i'd be disqualified from the event, but happy to be out on a clear day. This was the first time i'd been up on the Edge and the view from up here was amazing. I love being on top of Lantern Pike and other high points to the West of Kinder as I can see all the places i've lived in since moving to Manchester in 1999 - from Whalley Range down to Didsbury, Stockport and now New Mills.
i think i only made one other CP that day, at the end of the woods on Cown Edge, i had a look around a couple more but having a niggle in my back coupled with the need to get back to the family meant that once i'd had a good morning's trot i was happy to return back to base for some cracking turkey soup and cakes.
maybe next time i'll team up with someone else and get a few more of those dibs eh?
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