Run forever trailer

Class is permanent

I'm off to the seaside with Tussock and Sophie today but will no doubt have one eye out for Nicky Spinks' Double Bob Graham tracker

Life on the fells

PPP CX

Photo of Rob Jebb courtesy of Stolly

The Three Peaks bike race has been a big favourite day out for me for a good while now. I've never ridden it (I half-joked in the past that I trained up for the Bob Graham to get out of doing the bike race) but I have been up to watch and support various friends several times

Today Sam came up too and we picked up my friend Dave on the way. He has an old pal James who lives in Switzerland but who grew up in the Skipton area and who is a regular entrant. I'd not seen James for a couple years so it was good to have a catch-up before the start

After watching at watched at Cold Cotes, Ribblehead and returning back to the finish we missed just by a minute or so Rob Jebb win for his 11th time but did see Nicky Craig come in for 2nd place. James did his best time for the event and we had a cheeky pint with him at Helwith Bridge before coming home

I'd been saying all morning I'll never do the event now but a running pal (who coincidentally we saw last weekend said hey you'd be fine. You're a skinny bald bloke just like me. He's obviously not seen me in Lycra lately but it was good to hear. Maybe one day  I'll buy a crosser and train up for what has to be said is an epic challenge

Hill reps

I went over to Ilkley Moor to do a couple of my old BG hill-reps last night while Sam was at the rugby club getting physio for a shoulder injury he picked up last Saturday. Two weeks ago I had a go at the reps, but struggled like hell if I'm honest! Last night I felt a bit better thankfully

It was a mild, breezy but slightly damp night and I tried out my new Alpkit Manta head-torch. The light level is good but it appeared heavy and awkward to stabilise on the head. I think it'd be fine for walking, camping, general outdoor activity but it just felt "clumsy" even at my (very) moderate pace

A tale of two Bobs

If you start to type 'Bob' into my web-browser you (maybe surprisingly) don't get Bob Dylan or Bob Marley. However, you do (not surprisingly) get Bob Graham, but you also get Bob Wightman. Now Bob Graham has had plenty of coverage on this blog but Bob Wightman only occasionally gets a mention

I first met Bob Wightman at Ilkley Moor fell race and it was Brett who introduced us. I suspect I'd already visited Bob's website but it was before he fell off Stannage and started his blog Bob and I ran round the Haworth Hobble one year with Steve 'merrylegs' Foster and it was Bob who navigated leg one of my first Bob Graham and the final leg of my successful round (I'll never forget seeing him in the car-park at Honister). Bob also showed me and Rich 'Mr 1470' around leg one on a glorious Saturday morning; the day I first saw the parachute descent off Blencathra

Bob had a hip-replacement operation this week and I'm guessing he'll be blogging about his recovery over the coming weeks. I guess too that it'll make interesting reading

IanDarkpeak's web-site

Ian Winterburn (IanDarkpeak) from Dark Peak Fellrunners is a bit of a legend in fell running circles. He's actively involved with mountain rescue, is a regular, willing and excellent navigator on the Bob Graham (he helped me on leg 2 of my round), a purveyor of the legendary Rescue Ale and is also just about the most upbeat and smiley guy you'll ever have to privilege to meet on the hill or off it for that matter. His web-site / blog is well worth looking up with his two most recent posts highlighting the threat of hypothermia and looking in detail at winter navigation being particularly strong. Highly recommended reading!

Wedding proposal accepted!

Stef got her certificate (#1804 on the list) last night at the Bob Graham club dinner, which she was expecting. What she wasn't expecting was a wedding proposal from me! I'd spoken to Selwyn and Morgan, who were MC'ing the certificate presentations and told them of my intention and I proposed in front of around 250 fellrunners and friends, many of whom we know. Stef said yes so now we have a wedding to plan for next summer. It was quite a memorable night!

Streaktember is done, bring on Rocktober!

I managed to run every day in September as hoped. As I've posted before many of the runs were relatively short 20 or 30 minute trots round the village, but at least I'm back running (if not really training properly again yet). Stef and I have entered the Hebden and the Grizzly already for next year and Stef had a decent run at the Rab MM last weekend so things are on the up now after a lethargic spell this summer with accompanying weight gain!

It's the Bob Graham dinner in a couple of weeks so that should enable us to get a Lakeland run or two in the bag that weekend. We're both looking forward to Stef getting her BG club certificate plus seeing some of our friends for the first time in a while   

Stolly Bob Graham success

Brian "Stolly" Stallward finished the Bob Graham on Saturday tea-time with six minutes to spare. Stef and I did the last leg with him and his partner Hester plus Brian's collie Harry. No doubt Brian will have plenty to say later on his blog here Well done Brian on a deserved success. You showed great courage and determination on that final leg (along with more than a little stubborness!)

More photos of Stef's Bob Graham

Leg 1 support team

On leg 3

Leaving Honister to start the final leg

Finished and celebrating!!

Stef's Bob Graham success

This weekend Stef and I spent a wonderful 24 hours (well 23 hours and 35 minutes in Stef's case) surrounded by club-mates, "strangers off the internet", friends of friends and dare I say, one or two living legends

Stef set off at midnight on Friday from the Moot Hall in Keswick on her third attempt at the Bob Graham Round and just after half past eleven on Saturday night she'd completed it. 42 Lakeland peaks, around 66 miles of running and walking, and one Mt Everest's worth, give or take, of vertical climb

I watched Stef start and then after a nap in the car saw her through all the rest-stops / road crossings. She was a little behind schedule at the first and I was concerned she wasn't going well. At the second she was ahead of schedule and then my concern was she was going too quickly. At the third in Wasdale these concerns melted away as I watched her climb Yewbarrow, and at the fourth at Honister in the slate mine quarry car park I picked up my ruck-sack, laced up my fell shoes, and set off on the final 10 miles or so with her and a couple of pals to help her get the job done

Three club-mates who had little experience of the round or the mechanisms of getting someone to complete it ,pulled out all the stops, mashing gallons of tea, making umpteen bacon sandwiches, cutting cake and driving around the district from one obscure lay-by to another. They were fantastic 

Around a dozen or 15 folk came along to encourage Stef, carry her cagoule, tells stories, wipe the sweat from her eyes and at times not far off force-feed her with gels, Kendal mint cake, cold boiled potatoes and litre after litre of water and Nuuns. They did what they love doing

These people are our friends; our community; and we're both very proud to be able to say that

Mallerstang Yomp

It was the Yomp yesterday. I much prefer the old name 'Mallerstang Yomp', but as far as I'm aware the challenge is the same: 23 miles walking or running with around 4,300 feet of climb

We ran the event back in 2010 when I was training for my first (failed, two) Bob Graham attempts and that day was misty. So misty in fact that yesterday I couldn't remember any of the second half of the route from our previous outing! The route is unusual in that it seems to have a lot more ascent than descent (I suspect this is because the climbs are ploddy and long; probably just all about runnable) and the descents are fairly steep (the last descent is the second half of a popular annual fell race)

Yesterday was a counter for our club championships ('Extreme' category) and because of that there were six runners out in club colours, which is about three or four more than a lot of longer challenge events we do. Last time we Yomped we did 4 hours 44 minutes but as usual I'd forgotten the exact time. Yesterday we did 4 hours 42 minutes. There's nothing like consistency is there?

Bob Graham rules OK

The Bob Graham Round has become increasingly well known since Richard Askwith wrote Feet in the clouds and with ever more information about it on the internet. This higher profile has led to some mutterings of derision: 'it's a trail race', 'it's not as hard as it used to be', and 'they might as well pave the whole route now' being typical jibes from the non-believers. Perhaps needless to say I don't subscribe to these thought and love the challenge and everything positive associated with it

This weekend we've been up in the Lakes for some training for Stef but also to support Andrew Henderson from Durhan Fell Runners. He'd posted last week requesting help on the FRA forums and I responded saying we could help on leg 4 (and possibly leg 5 too). As it worked out we walked over to Wasdale from Honister on Sunday lunch-time and did legs 4 and 5 with Andrew and enjoyed ourselves greatly in the process. Andrew completed in 23 hours 36 minutes and then proposed to his long-term partner Camilla (who'd done a splendid job with his road support and logistics). She said yes, which rounded off a super day in Lakeland perfectly! 

Wales and dales

We managed three runs over the extended weekend (we'd booked Friday off work for Stef's postponed BG). On Friday we had a relatively fast run over our favourite 'four climbs' route between Upper Wharfedale and Littondale. We did our best ever time for this and celebrated with soup and a sandwich afterwards in Zarina's. On Saturday we had a steady run / walk around the LDWA Walden route with Martyn and Helen (23 miles / 4,500 feet climb) in 'mixed' weather conditions, and on Sunday we went over to Liverpool to meet Yiannis for a run out near Llangollen in North Wales.This was the first time I'd been in the area for far too long and as me and Stef were approaching the car after a really good outing we spotted a male hen harrier! A further treat was the wonderful roast beef dinner followed by apple pie and ice-cream that Yiannis' wife Cath provided for us on our return. All in all a most splendid weekend and a good return to some proper training after a few lazy weeks on my part. Totals for weekend were approaching 45 miles and 11,000 feet climb 

Postponed

We've checked the weather forecasts (MWIS and Met office) regularly all week and kind of knew that Stef's BG wasn't going to go ahead since Wednesday. Last night we postponed until (probably) mid-June. I don't think this is a bad thing because Stef starts a new job on Monday and I suspect it would have been a struggle going in around 30 hours after a near 24 hour fell run. Anyway it's back to the full-on 10,000 feet a week training for a few weeks and I might shed the three pounds I've put on in the last fortnight!

I'm looking forward to a weekend of long runs in the Dales, some quality time with Stef and if the mixed (at best) weather continues, firing up the log-burner. Today was booked off as leave from work so we'll be heading out shortly up to our old stomping ground of Upper Wharfedale for a run, probably followed by refreshment at a carefully selected cafe or pub 

Weather watch

Stef and I spent the weekend in the Peak District. Stef's Bob Graham starts at midnight on Friday so we aren't training to mean anything at present but we did do a nice seven mile walk on Bank Holiday Monday around the Miller's Dale area starting and finishing in Litton. We had a sandwich and a drink in the Red Lion after the walk and I've made a mental note to go back sometime, because it's an excellent pub! 

This week is mainly about planning, logistics and watching various weather forecasts for the Lake District. The forecasts at present suggest a band of wet weather coming off the Atlantic on Thursday and into Friday but no-one seems to want to predict with much certainity yet what will happen on Saturday. I'm just praying Stef has the confidence to go for it and the luck to get conditions which are manageable  

Cockley Beck

The weather was a bit mixed to put it mildly for our break at Cockley Beck, with a couple of stunning sunny days but two or three extremely wet and windy ones too. We managed to do 77 miles and around 29,000 feet of climb, which sounds incredible looking back now!  In fairness this was mostly jog / walked at Bob Graham pace (2.5 to 3 miles per hour or so), but we did run up Hardknott Pass one day over to Eskdale and back

The cottage we stay in at the Beck has no mobile phone signal or internet plus it's six miles to the nearest pub so we always take loads of food and drink and largely are either on the fell or in the cottage. There are some great birds in the area and I usually make a list of what we've seen during our stay. This year's highlights included siskin, swallow, raven, buzzard, red kite, wheatear, meadow pipit, chiffchaff and willow warbler

Stef has her Bob Graham attempt in two weeks time and is about to start her taper after this weekend's Highlander MM, which she's doing with Yiannis. I've been looking forward to a weekend catching up with friends and no (or relatively little) running. I went to the Narrowboat last night with a dozen or so KCAC pals to celebrate Brett's birthday and I'll probably have a walk in the Strid Woods at some point today; hopefully to see a wood warbler or two

Update

A broken computer followed by a week in Lakeland have severely disrupted blogging for a few weeks but I'm back again now. More to follow on our time at Cockley Beck soon

Snowy Dales weekend

Stef and I were going to go to the Lakes last weekend for some BG training but the weather forecast put us off so we spent the weekend a bit closer to home in Kettlewell. We stayed (and ate twice) at Zarina's and we were made very welcome. We managed to get out on the hill both Saturday and Sunday but the snow drifts and strong (and bitterly cold!) wind made movement slow

Spring migration seems to be limited to oystercatcher and curlew at present. I've still not seen a wheatear but on Sunday afternoon we spotted a ring ouzel close to where we saw one last autumn in Littondale. There are a lot of curlew in Wharfedale now but at the weekend they were huddled together and dispersion for breeding looked to be the last thing on their minds