The end of June has always meant the West Highland Way race for me, but after getting my tenth goblet last year I decided to take a year off. With the need to have a back-up crew it's probably the most expensive race in my calendar each year and I'm also starting to feel guilty about press-ganging my family into action for more sleep deprived and midge-infested weekends in Scotland. It will always have a pull for me though, and I'm sure I'll be back. Reading the reports of this year's race has already had me half wishing that I had gone. But I made the decision and looked around for a nice event that didn't drain my physical or financial resources too much but would still be good for the last long day out before the Lakeland 100 a month later.
I had done the GB Ultras Snowdonia 50 last autumn so knew that their organisation was pretty good and their Pennine Barrier 50 seemed to meet my requirements almost spot on. I had always wanted to run the Yorshire Three Peaks course but had somehow never got around to it; the Pennine Barrier completes this 26 mile loop but makes it into a nice-looking 50 miler by adding an approach and return from Malham village.
I hadn't really thought what to do about accommodation until fairly late on, so by the time that I decided a relaxing weekend staying in the vicinity for both Friday and Saturday nights would be best, everything in Malham was full. I booked a room at the Falcon in Arncliffe which was a nice half-hour drive away over the moors, later finding out that the pub had been used as the original "Woolpack" in the Emmerdale TV soap show. All the race registration procedures could be done on the Friday evening at the event base at Malham showground just south of the village, which meant that on the Saturday all I had to do was tumble out of bed and drive over to Malham for the 6am start.
It was clear even at this time that it was going to be a beautiful day, so the compulsory waterproof top was buried at the bottom of the pack and stayed there, it was a tee-shirt outing from start to finish. Most runners were liberally applying sunscreen before the start which seemed a wise move. There was a concurrent 100 mile event which would take our 50 mile loop back to Malham then go onto a second different loop. The 50 or so entrants for this were set off at the stroke of 6am, followed by the 200 or so taking on the 50 a couple of minutes later.
My mountain ultra policy of "run the downhills, walk the rest" was not going to work on this one because although the total climb involved was fairly substantial at just over 9,000ft, it was mostly concentrated in a few obvious climbs with a lot of gently undulating ground in between. I decided that I had to jog all the flattish bits or I would likely be out for the maximum time of 18 hours. Around 14 hours seemed a more sensible target as it would allow me to finish in daylight and get back to Arncliffe for a couple of beers to round off the day, so I joined the joggers, still near the back of the pack, as we wound northwards through Malham then along the track to Malham Cove. The procession up the cove steps seemed to go a lot slower than I would have walked on my own but it gave an early breather. Once clear of the limestone pavement and the little rocky valley above though, the field started to spread out on the fairly even ground of the Pennine Way and each of us could settle into our own pace.
There was a short, artificial out and back just before the tarn to make sure the course topped the official 50 miles, then nice easy jogging around the tarn, still following the Pennine Way northwards to the foot of Fountains Fell, where I dropped into a steady walk to the summit. I had been over Fountains several times before in my Pennine meanderings but never in clear weather, so it was a treat to see the fine views developing as we went over the top. The descent seemed far easier than I remembered and we were soon at the first checkpoint down in Silverdale Road at nearly 12 miles in. The weather was getting warm now, even still well before 9am, so regular water top-ups were necessary.
Off up Pen y Ghent now, steady walking up the easy track. Just before the final steep section a track directly up from Horton in Ribblesdale comes in from the left (often used as the "escape route" on the Spine if conditions on Pen y Ghent summit are problematic), and this is the point where we joined the Three Peaks "loop". Unfortunately, it was where we also joined several hundred walkers out to complete the loop on what was the longest Saturday of the year. Everyone has their own right to be on the hills of course, so we shouldn't complain about others taking their own advantage of the fine weather and beautiful countryside. It was easy enough to pass them and I got to where the "walking field" thinned out substantially about 12 or 13 miles further on. A short rocky staircase led to the top of Pen y Ghent then a wide easy track down the other side permitted faster movement once again. I had always followed this track back down to Horton, so when we reached the crossroads where the direct route to Whernside leaves it, I was onto new ground for the first time.
A few gently undulating miles on an easy-to-jog track led to the next checkpoint at the base of the famous Ribble Head Viaduct. Walkers and runners alike were starting to show the effects of heat by now, but these are conditions that I'm quite happy with, I would much rather be hot than cold. After a handful of sweets and biscuits and a fresh water top-up I was soon away on the ascent of Whernside. This is a long, gently ascending track pretty well all the way to the summit. I'm sure on a round of the Three Peaks alone I would try to run at least part of it, but today it was a welcome rest from jogging and I cruised up at a steady walking pace. The GB Ultras team seemed to have marshals on every summit as well as all the checkpoints, so it was nice to get a bit of encouragement from them on reaching the top, especially as Whernside summit is approximately halfway around the course and from here on the walking contingent really started to thin out. The descent from Whenside was mostly gentle with a short steeper section in the middle, and I was then down in the valley bottom with the rather steep looking face of the next peak, Ingleborough, dead ahead.
I had marked the course on the mandatory OS map but I was using a race vest for the first time ever (making progress into the modern world maybe but only because I won it in a competition!) and hadn't really worked out the best place to stow a map so it wasn't very accessible. It didn't seem to matter because the "Three Peaks" course is waymarked on almost every gatepost and stile you pass so I was just following those. I knew there was a checkpoint before the ascent of Ingleborough but it was soon becoming clear that I was heading up the fell out of the valley again without having passed it. I stopped and looked around and saw runners approaching me from a different direction, so I back-tracked to where they had come from and found the checkpoint tucked away up a road slightly off the "Three Peaks" route. The price of not paying attention, but it had cost me no more than a half mile or so and I wasn't going to let it spoil my day.
Suitably refuelled I set off up Ingleborough, which in spite of its fierce appearance was mainly an easy-angled ascent with just two or three hundred feet of steep ground somewhere in the middle. The view from the top was simply stunning, across the Dales to the east and right over Lancashire to the sea in the west, and with five of the seven significant climbs on the course now done, a great place to reach. The descent from here down to Horton was long but very gentle and I managed something of a jog all the way down, to another checkpoint on the sportsfield in the village. The field had really thinned out by now so I had to get the map out to be sure of the right exit from the village and onto the track up Pen y Ghent. The compulsory map was an OS Outdoor Leisure 1:25000, a huge sheet printed on both sides. Of course the bit I wanted required the map to be completely unfolded then refolded on the other side to get at it. The day had been really free-flowing up to that point and I rather resented the few minutes that this exercise took. I knew I might need the map again right at the end of the course so I made sure I re-folded it appropriately for quick access to this before I finally put it away.
It was quite a pull back up to the gate just below the rocky bit of Pen y Ghent but it went steadily enough and at that point the "Three Peaks Circuit" was complete, with just the final eleven miles or so back to Malham to do. I caught a couple of runners as I jogged down the easy track to the final checkpoint, which was the same as the first one back in Silverdale Road. One more climb then downhill all the way to the finish. I find that however much I try to conceal it, my brain knows when I'm on the last major climb of an event so contrives to make it feel tough; I had enjoyed all the climbs up until now but it wasn't going to let me have a whole day out without exacting a bit of pain to pay for the trip. On the way up I overtook one runner who had almost stopped, but could make no headway chasing four others that I saw ahead, and by the time I got to the top they were out of sight. Ah well, easy now and I settled into a steady jog on the beautifully angled (for descending) path down the other side, enjoying the views and the fine and still warm evening. I got back to within a hundred yards or so the four ahead as we passed Tennant Gill farm but then I could see they had missed the turn to the left that the Pennine Way takes. I shouted and waved but no reaction, then after a while they realised their mistake when I was parallel with them but a couple of hundred yards to the left, so they started to back-track. I carried on jogging from here and never saw them again. Not having to save anything for more hills I kept up a steady jog all the way past the tarn and across the easy ground on the other side to as far as the start of the rocky valley before the Cove. I caught another group here and stayed with them a while.
The homeward route left the outward one at the top of the Cove. Instead of crossing back over the limestone pavement and down the steps we went leftwards and slightly uphill to pick up the Dales High Way heading for Gordale Bridge. One of the other guys had pushed on faster but I seemed to be leaving the others so was on my own again for a bit. At Goredale Bridge we crossed the road to find a really pleasant runnable track leading down to and past Janet's Foss; even at approaching 8pm there were still bathers in the pool underneath the waterfall there.
I thought I might just get back to the finish before 8pm because it only looked about a mile from here, and it seemed I had cracked it easily when I saw the flags and cars on the showground appear not too far ahead. What I realised a few moments later though was that they were on the other side of the river, and to reach them required a sidestep of a few hundred yards to reach the bridge in Malham village, then back out again. Looking at the watch I made a more determined effort for a few minutes and eventually made it to the finish line in 13:55:52 for 102nd place, job done.
It was a fine day out and as a last long training day before the Lakeland, just about perfect. I had got round in the time I set myself without ever feeling particularly pressed, and the weather and consequent views were special. This is one I might do again.
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| At the top of the rocky valley above Malham Cove on the outward leg |
