Dark & White Mini Mountain Marathon #3

The final race in the Dark & White Spring Handicap Mini MM took place in the White Peak, starting from Alstonefield, just west of Dovedale. I'd poured over the OS map prior to the start looking for clues as to what area might be covered - this being a new area for the D&W team we had no hint of what could be in store. Given that it was advertised as Dovedale/Southern White Peak it seemed logical that Dovedale would be the focus. Studying the map I was fairly sure Thorpe Cloud would feature, it being pretty much the only summit with a footpath to the very top. I was certain there'd be a 25 or 30 pointer up there. Here's the map:

As you can see, no checkpoint at the top of Thorpe Cloud, but a sneaky 25 pointer down Lin Dale to push you to the southern limit of the course.

My running partner from the second in the series was with me again, and once we'd dibbed at the start, and had been handed our maps, we had a good natter about what route to take. It wasn't easy making that decision. With very few ways to cross the River Dove in the bottom of Dovedale, and few checkpoints down in the bottom (indicating a low score) it really did look like we might have to run all the way from north to south around both east and west sides of Dovedale. Wow, that was going to be a mammoth ask. We decided on the first few CPs, and then to keep going and at the one hour mark see where we'd got to - then plan the remainder of the time accordingly.

First descent down into Dovedale from CP6

We chose to miss out CP19 after CP17 as there were plenty of options nearer the end to pick up the same value points. As we approached the stepping stones under Thorpe Cloud I spotted the sneaky 25 pointer down Lin Dale and we made the brave decision to push on to grab it....we could after all skip a lower point one nearer the end and be up on points. Even if it made us a minute or two late we'd still be up.

Returning down to the stepping stones it was near perfect timing for the one-way crossing...I slipped past a couple of tourist muttering a 'thanks' for letting us pass - saving us seconds - which proved vital later on.

Down the compact path and up ahead I see John S from Glossopdale. He'd left a few minutes before us and we seemed to have caught him up. Useful - we could use him to pull us along. He's faster than us so his speed would help prevent us slipping into the fatigue pit too deeply. Our next target, CP 21 was up on the south side of Bunster Hill. Mentally I'd got the rest of the route going down hill, but that wasn't to be! I gulped down an energy gel, hoping for some umph to be provided with miraculous powers. I think it worked to some degree.

Thumbing the map....somewhere on the eastern edge above Dovedale heading south

After a short section round a very narrow and limestone rocky path we hit CP18 and the tarmac. I was very glad it was dry today otherwise that section (and a few others) would have been really treacherous in the wet. Limestone + water = no grip. But not today thankfully.

CP21 looking back south to Thorpe Cloud

Now we have about 4-4.5km to the finish (mostly tarmac). I think there was about 25 or so minutes left. At my best pace, on a 5km run (without navigation to worry about), I can do about 28 minutes. It was tight. My partner was struggling a bit and I was starting to take the lead a bit more than usual. A sure sign she was struggling. I told her we just had to go slightly faster than walking pace and we'd be fine. I kept it to myself that it was much tighter than that. Hoping I could push on the uphills and stretch out my stride on the downhill bits a little more than usual.

What was complicating the matter for me was that from Thorpe Cloud I'd been fighting off cramp in my calves. I had the energy gel on the climb up Bunster Hill. I'd drunk what must have been nearly 1.5ltrs, and I'd eaten enough. I couldn't understand why I was getting signs of cramp. Each foot step was a careful measure of how much I could push. There was an occasional walk when my partner took the lead, me fighting the cramp yet knowing I needed to keep going.

View north towards Alstonefield... that was a long stretch of tarmac

John S is still keeps coming into view ahead. He keeps pulling away a little but not leaving us behind too much. We've already passed the small off-shoot for CP 15 and dismissed it - not possible with our remaining time. At Stanshope we decide to take the track and path directly north, with the steep descent/ascent up to Alstonefield. We can grab another 10 points at CP4, and even if a few minutes late we'll still be up. We had considered going round the road via Hopedale to avoid the descent and climb but this seemed the better option and it worked. Just.

yep, it was a forced smile with less than 20mins to go!

With only about 500m to go there's 3 minutes left on the clock. '3 fields to go' I tell my partner at the top of the very final and cruel twisting ascent. Two ladies ahead are caught and passed by us - it was an incentive to push myself, get past them and then keep them behind. Another tactic that worked and got us to the final dibber with just 54 seconds to spare.

Phew. It's over. A hug and congratulations all round. After grabbing clothes to change into we head inside....muddy shoes off and BANG. The cramp struck. My left calf just froze in spasm, if that's possible. Some very kind gentleman grabbed my foot and stretched it out for me. I knew exactly what to do, but the pain was so intense I didn't dare move anything....well anything except my mouth from which exploded a few expletives. Apologies once more to anyone within earshot. I don't know why bad language sprouts at times like that but it was certainly the man stretching my leg which did the best for me. I later thanked him, once I'd recovered. A true gent.

It was good to meet @peawet08 whom I have conversed with on twitter (good recognition skills!), and sorry to have missed SBRT today - thanks for the mention on your blog Run Forest Run, good account of the race as always - and cracking photos.

Even though my partner said she'd struggled quite a bit on the final hour of the race she once more proved her value in pushing me to the absolute limit of my physical ability. I would not have pushed myself anywhere near as much without her there. The race was great. It was tiring, to a greater degree than I knew possible. I had run nearly 22km - almost 4km more than my furthest ever distance.

One page 1 of the results....but still 2 hrs to go.

We were back without any penalties and once recovered could enjoy a cup of tea and very welcomed ginger nuts. Thanks again for organising a great race to the guys at S&W. I know it was a new area for you; it proved very challenging at times but on the whole good paths, and mostly kept away from the tourists that are drawn to Thorpe Cloud and Dovedale. We were definitely lucky with the weather - had it been wet I know we would not have covered such a distance or scored so well. I now wait with eager anticipation to find out the overall series results....will I have won a prize? Even if the answer is no, I had a great time running these three races.

Checkpoints were visited in the following order: 2 - 6 - 7 - 10 - 9 - 13 - 8 - 11 - 14 - 17 - 20 - 22 - 21 - 18 - 4

Total distance: 21.81km
Total ascent: 636m
Garmin track here

Event results are posted here. I placed 55th/131, and it seems I won my category by 15 seconds over the next lass...just shows that pushing a little somewhere pays off!

Link to the first in the series held in Macclesfield Forest, and the second in the Hope Valley.