Buxton Hilly XC, 4.7 miles, 934'

Staffordshire Moorlands AC - Buxton Hilly XC, Grin Low

More midweek fun in the Peak District, my second event in the Staffordshire Moorlands AC Summer Series.  I missed The Roaches last week due to a rather painful dental infection.

My left leg continues to nag with pain behind the knee.  I have been increasing my mileage steadily and things don't seem to be getting any worse, however I am running only a fraction of the 50+ miles per week that I was running previously.

I was fortunate enough to have the company of Sarah Clough again for this event.  We arrived at Grinlow¹ Caravan Park in plenty of time and registration was more leisurely than the last time we ran together.  My knee felt particularly stiff after the combined Northwich to Stoke, Stoke to Buxton drive.  In consequence I had a stretch and good warm up jog before the start.  Unfortunately the start was about twenty minutes late and, given the chill breeze, the effort was probably wasted.

We set off uphill, under a very grey sky towards 'Solomon's Temple' which was visible from the start.  Sarah and I ran at our own paces this time.  Though I did not feel fit enough to run as hard as I could, I felt that I was ready for a fast cruise (which is pretty much all I ever do anyway, fit or not).  I performed a fast halt at the first stile and big queue, a rather bad pacing decision, I made a mental note to engage my brain before I squandered any more energy.  Shortly, there was very pleasant uphill running over the open, bumpy, sheep cropped grass leading to the 'Temple'.

Solomon's Temple - Grin Low, Author unknown²

The route ran round the Temple then east, down over very bumpy ground before the Grin Plantation.  Quick descent here demanded some care, fast feet and arm counter balance.  In this way my hand made the acquaintance of a passing lady's chest.  Sorry missus!  The descent through the plantation was easy going and very fast, though I think runners in road shoes may not agree with me.  It was pretty much at the limit of where little energy is expended on forward motion and yet real technique is not required.  My C-Lites were very positive on the trail which felt less slippery than it looked.

Descent over, the route turned south west following the edge of the plantation.  The route appears to contour on a map, but in reality there was as much short up and down as level running over the lovely, pine needle strewn, narrow paths.  Tree roots demanded some care, especially as the shade blocked what little light was coming from the grey sky.  For the most part roots just added interest provided one picked one's feet up.  As the way turned south east the descent had to be paid for and the climb got progressively steeper coming out of the woods and into the field where we started.

The event consisted of two laps of the course.  I was a little tired after lap one and felt that I might have overdone it.  This proved to be just a feeling, the second lap was over in what felt like a quarter of the time it took me to do the first.  Familiarity allowed me to crack on over easier terrain which made up for any time lost to fatigue on the more demanding sections.  I managed to regain places lost, by an impromptu 'pit stop', and possibly gained a couple more.

On the hill leading to the finishing field I overtook a lady who had been just ahead of me all through the woods and I opened a very small lead.  I was pretty sure she would come past me on the open run to the finish as she was clearly the faster runner on all but the steepest climbs.  I just managed to hold on to my lead and finished puffed, but able to jog back to the car park.

After a much needed drink I stretched, then had a baby wipe 'shower'.  Sarah arrived shortly.  I was a little disappointed with my time (42.52) for the perceived effort.  Sarah's phone app. reckoned 1500' of ascent which made my time seem much better.  I have since found total ascent to be nearer 934' (still more than my guesstimate (actually my guess was correct, but I had forgotten to double it)).  It seems that MapMyRun gives lowest to highest altitude gain and maximum height.  Neither of these figures correspond to what fell runners would think of as total ascent (I did not notice this for Shutlingsloe which is nearly one single ascent so height gain and total ascent are more or less the same).  My knee fared well but is a bit stiff today.

This was my first lapped event.  I found the idea of travelling all the way to the Peak then running in circles bizarre.  As it happened I enjoyed the event immensely, the two laps meant a second go at the best bits/bits one could improve on and a second look at the view.  I had a good evening out, excellent company and a nice chill in the Travellers Rest.


[1] Re: Variant spellings - Grin Low, Grinlow. I have used names as they appear on OS 1:25,000
[2] No accompanying copyright statement, believed to be fair use. If you are the author please let me know.  I will remove or credit the photo as you wish.

Easing back in and Shutlingsloe Fell Race 06/06/13 - AS

Midweek fun in perfect conditions

My Physio had just given me the go ahead to start running again, following the return of the leg injury, providing I take it easy and build the miles back up fairly slowly.  A two, then three mile run had been followed by a cracking five and a half mile run in my local woods the air heavily scented by bluebells, I have never seen them looking so fine.  All was going well despite my leg being far from pain free, then I caught a cold.  Tuesday's run dragged and left me very tired  so I decided I would give Thursday's a miss.

Bluebells in Watermills wood, Apedale

Then a friend, Sarah Clough, messaged on Thursday morning asking if I wanted to run that evening.  At first I thought that she meant to take up an invitation to join me on my bluebell run.  Then she mentioned Shutlingsloe race, part of the Staffordshire Moorlands Athletic Club Summer Series.  I explained that I had a cold and was under orders anyway, but Sarah said that she was intending to take it easy so I was persuaded.  She had mentioned this series before, describing it as 'cross country'.  I have never run in a cross country event and know very little about the sport.  I had some impression that cross country runners went out into the country then ran round in circles missing out all the good bits (and did so at very high speed).  In consequence I thought that we might run round Shutlingsloe rather than up it.  Fortunately this event was a fell race (in fact nowhere is the series described as cross country).

Sarah asked me if I would pick her up at 18:30 (the race started at 19:30).  We arrived and "parked" in a manner that would have had me tutting if it were someone else's behaviour, with seven minutes to put shoes on, register, pin up, find the toilets and get to the start line.   This was all normal for Sarah who lives her life at a pace different to mine.  


Sarah suggested that she could take it easy and pace me to ensure that I took it steady.  This proved a little difficult in practise.  We ran together for a while then I moved ahead as the gradient increased so that I could  settle at my slowest efficient climbing pace.  The ground levelled and I reined it in, Sarah soon caught up, but by now the path was too narrow to run together.  As the path turned upwards again I moved back to my minimum efficient pace.  We emerged from Macclesfield Forest and started the easy north ascent of Shutlingsloe.  The route then swung right following the path round the hill until we were on the Widboarclough side, here we began a steep climb following the Roaches Fell Race ascent line.  I started to work a little harder, again in the name of efficiency.  I looked round for Sarah, I couldn't see her though she was not far behind.  I had the choice of some tricky overtaking or walking near the top so I settled into a walk as I was in no hurry.

The descent back to Macc' Forest required a little concentration however my familiarity with this path and its stone steps made it easier.  As I couldn't see Sarah I just ran at comfortable trail marathon pace, this was frustrating as I was actually feeling good and felt I could have made a reasonable job of this event.  I reminded myself that it was not as frustrating as the weeks I have spent out of the sport due to injury and resisted temptation.  Most of the descent through the Forest was easy 'falling forward' running, though there was one section on hard packed trail that required true downhill technique.

After exiting the finishing tunnel I chatted with a runner I had been introduced to as we waited for Sarah who was soon in sight.  She took advantage of a free massage provided by a therapist from Leek before we retired to a pub for a beer and chat with other runners.  All in all a great night out.  I was very surprised at the large turnout out for this non FRA event.

I've always wanted to do some short events in the weekday evenings.  The fact that I would spend considerably more time driving than running has been the main reason that I have not. I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to share this particular evening and that alleviated my environmental concerns.   If I can car share again I am very tempted to try the hillier races in the rest of this series.


This race is traditionally 3 miles, ascent not given.  I made it nearly 3.6 miles with 1022' of ascent so AS, using Quo 2 with OS 1:25,000.  Sarah measured the run as 3.8 miles on the ground with her gps phone.  It is interesting to see just how much following the zigs and zags of real paths adds to the distance (I made it 3.52 miles using the same software as Sarah, but  tracing the route).