Hadrian's Wall 2012 - Carlisle to Newcastle

Inspired by a similar race that was organised along a similar route in June (but not by its £250 price tag ), we'd originally planned to run it early that month, but my ankle injury  put it on the back burner until the 18th/19th August.

Beforehand there were plenty of unknowns - how would our bodies react to back to back 30 and 40 mile days? how fast should we go on day 1 so we could still have something in the tank for Sunday? would we get blisters? would we keep pace with each other for the whole 2 days? How much food could I physically eat on the train up to Carlisle?

We booked the train well in advance and it cost us £9 to get to Carlisle from New Mills - bargain. We hit the trail round the back of the leisure centre and were on our way. The Wall has been built on, demolished and long forgotten in the immediate vicinity of Carlisle and it would be 3 hours until we caught our first glimpse of what we'd come all this way to see.

Along this first stretch of the trail there were a couple of honesty boxes where you could get water, chocolate and crisps in return for leaving some money. We were carrying plenty of gear and I wanted to be as self sufficient as possible so didn't bother with anything but it was a nice touch.



Despite having known each other for over 3 years, we've only run together once before at last year's Snowdonia Marathon, so 2 days of running side by side was going to be interesting. I was allocated map reading duties (head East!) whilst Nick kept us on pace with his garmin.

The terrain on Saturday was fairly flat with perhaps 2000' of climb, but in a lot of places the mud was ankle deep and even the high ground was waterlogged after weeks of rain. I struggled in a pair of trail shoes and Nick seemed to be having fun too in his road/trail numbers.

Hadrians Wall Path sign

We made it to the pub just in time for last orders on food (steak and ale pie apiece) and plan our approach to Sunday.

After the day's slog over muddy ground we opted to take the road option as early as possible on Sunday to get some traction going and bash out a few quick miles.

Having being tipped off that the first few miles of the second day were pretty hilly, we decided to power walk the first 5 miles to get our legs going again. The section featured some of the best preserved bits of the Wall so it was good to be able to take it all in and admire the views over the moorland.

With our legs nicely warmed up we broke into a trot after 3 miles along a nice grassy stretch of ground leading off the moorland.

Nick came into his own on this section and we were soon doing 7:30 minute miles down the alarmingly hilly road - a sign of things to come!

Seeing this sign below really brought the scale of things home - having an end destination to aim for made things feel like they were drawing to an end, even though that end was a good few hours away!

only around a marathon to go!

The contours on the Harvey's map belied the hilliness of the roads outside Chollerford and Brunton. We'd hashed out a strategy for the rest of the run - get some quick miles under the belt, we were nearly on the last section of the map and could sense the end - when a whacking great 1 in 3 hill loomed into view up the road. This section was really hilly and soon after the heavens opened.

The next few miles were a case of plodding down the side of the road through a contstant stream of water with our heads down, over unrelenting hills with traffic constantly showering us with water from the puddles. We had a quick pit stop in the lobby of a cafe to sort our clothes out, fill up our water bottles and have some of our food - I was starting to get a bit ratty at this point; I could feel the effects of the cold and rain starting to set in so the fact we got some shelter was key to how the rest of the day would progress.

By this stage we had about 10 miles to go and were approaching the outskirts of Newcastle. After running to the end of the main road and over the flyover, we were into the last village before the city limits. Although there were a few signposts, navigation was a bit fiddly round this section and we had to stop and ask for directions.

Having being put on the right course we were grateful of a long downhill stretch, which took us round a corner where the Tyne Bridge loomed into view - the scale of what we'd done was starting to sink in now.

By this stage we'd covered about 60 miles over 2 days and were starting to feel the effects of our running. I was aware of a dull ache in my left leg that would prove to keep me awake for the next 2 nights, and Nick was starting to wobble a bit.

We downed the last of our energy gels and plodded on. By now the Hadrian's Wall Path had become Hadrian's Way and we were in suburbia.

This last section was flat and allowed us to get up a good head of steam. The rain was relentless now and we were both soaked to the bone.

We were still bashing out 8 minute miles during the final run along the quayside in Newcastle, but when the wall path fizzled out and we found ourselves running down the back of a housing estate past kids on bikes and empty pizza boxes, we decided to call it a day.

After 17 hours and 24 minutes of running over 2 days, covering 68 miles, we were at Journey's End - a terraced house in Byker.

Back at the train station we attracted a few funny looks as we:

stripped off in the pub toilets and tried to dry ourselves off - a geordie bloke walked in and asked 'what's going on here like?!'
ordered 2 pints of water at the bar and poured recovery powder into them whilst dripping water all over the floor
boarded the train dressed in bin bags provided from Burger King and shaking uncontrollably (me)

Eccles Pike fell race 3.7 m ~1100'




as short, sharp races go, this one's got the lot. runnable flat sections, muddy paths and a steep climb to the top of the hill that everyone's trying to get to the top of first.

a low key start in the playing field round the back of the Navigation Inn took us through the pub car park, over the footbridge before a right turn then sharp left to start the climb up Eccles Pike.

the good thing about races like this is by the time you've glanced at your watch the first 10 minutes or so have already passed and you're already 1/3 into the race. no time for resting during these ones.

As soon as the race heads off road the climbing is relentless but still runnable, it's not until the final climb up to the summit that you're reduced to a walk. this is one where the leading runners pass you on their way back down as you're still making your way up, but a passing team mate cheered me on and put a spring in my step to help me up the hill. it's not too bad up to the summit as you can see how far's left to climb; I remember thinking that the ~1000' of climb had come about quickly.

from there on in it's a case of how fast you dare go back down the way you came, i gave it a fair bit but didn't want to over do it before Saturday's Hadrian's Wall attempt.

I had a good tussle with a Glossopdale runner and managed to see him off over the footbridge (the Millennium Walkway training must have paid off!)

there didn't seem to be many runners at this one, maybe they were put off by the rain earlier in the day. there certainly were very few Goyt Valley vests on show.

it was good to catch up with Nick Ham who came in about a minute before me. well done Nick.

next stop Hadrian's Wall!

millennium bug

it could be down to the Olympics but this is the only time i've measured my efforts in Metric.

mindful of the old Yorkshire adage "same shite in, same shite out", last Sunday I decided to add some variety to my training with 10 x 160 metre sprint reps along the Millennium Walkway at the end of my road.

the walkway rises about 30 feet along its 160 metre length so there's plenty to test the legs. well i could definately feel it the next day so something must have worked.

Cracken Edge fell race 7m/1450'

I'd done all of this route in separate parts during club training runs and solo jaunts so was pretty familiar with the terrain. at 7 miles this is getting on a bit for a midweek race and the climbing involved meant we were going to be in for a cracker.

despite a couple of showers before the race the weather cleared up to give great views of the hillside above us and back over Hayfield to Kinder as we made our way to the start line.

the first few miles are all uphill but deceptively gentle enough that you end up running them, until coming out on Over Hill Road before the long pull up to New Allotments.

this climb always gets me and i tucked in between a Glossopdale vest and a KMRT runner for a brisk walk up to the top, ready for the section of flat trail to take us gradually downhill to meet the road again and turn back up past Chinley Churn and Cracken Edge.

this race was one of those where i was glad i'd been optimistic and just worn my vest as it was hot work all the way through and my head had a bit of a wobble as we crossed the stile that takes you onto the churn past all the old mine workings.


at this point the lads in front of me started to walk and i made the same mistake; if i'd been on my own or not behind those two i might have gone a bit quicker on this section.

this race is a real tough one, there's no hiding from it as the uphills are runnable for the main part, as are the flats and the last 2 miles or so are all downhill so it's a real intense race.

pretty happy with my run overall, should come back faster next year but a good trot out nonetheless.

my time of 1h07 for a 7 mile fell race says it all really - the most fun you can have (legally) for £4 on a Wednesday night!