some Grindleford Gallop pics

Chris Lawrence said:

I did the 21 mile Grindleford Gallop on Saturday with a couple of
friends and took some photos along the way. Would like to have taken
more but it was too cold to keep stopping most of the time. Strangely,
up on the exposed Curbar Gap felt quite mild and a few of the photos
were taken up there.

Here are the pics - http://photos.holosys.co.uk/a/2037

Thanks for those - I did the walk too, but didn't take any pictures.

I went with a friend, and Chris Hill (who'd started by running, 45
minutes later) caught up halfway along and walked the rest of the way
with us. Most of the way, at least - the temptation to beat previous
times (or was it the sight of the gentleman in skintight leopardskin
shorts ?) spurred us to run part of the last couple of miles.
On reaching the end, Jane was delighted to find a sports physio
who gave a very good value leg massage.

The weather was much better than the forecasts had led us to
believe, and I only started to get cold once or twice when the snow
thickened slightly. I think it may have worsened later - Froggatt
edge was disappearing from view as we sat in the pavilion at the end.

I usually stiffen up badly if I rest the next day but had a gentle
12 mile walk planned that I didn't want to miss. It turned out to
be 18 miles but wasn't a problem .. it was still the drive to
work today that had me tottering across the car park.

-adrian

In message <[email hidden]>,
Chris Lawrence <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I did the 21 mile Grindleford Gallop on Saturday with a couple of
friends and took some photos along the way. Would like to have taken
more but it was too cold to keep stopping most of the time. Strangely,
up on the exposed Curbar Gap felt quite mild and a few of the photos
were taken up there.

I was too distracted at that point to notice. My new-found "friends"
were forcing me to run the final few miles.

Quoted message said:

It was cold and damp with small flurries of tiny snowflakes from time to
time. The sun wanted to come out but was beaten back into hiding by the
murky clouds. As in 2004 the ground was very muddy and Ball Cross Farm
lived up to its name as everyone was trudging up slowly through the
steep mud. Even some of the runners were reduced to a crawl and could
be found at the top taking a breather.

Let's be brutally frank about this - it was cold, muddy and bloody
miserable.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

My new eTrex GPS recorded the track but gave up towards the end, stuck
on 18.5 miles for some reason. My old one didn't do that so I'll need
to check it out again because I bought this new one specifically for
recording long tracks.

Odd - Adrian's did something similar, yet my Forerunner never faltered.
I'll send you the .gpx so you've got the full route.

Quoted message said:

Here are the pics - http://photos.holosys.co.uk/a/2037

Ah - brings it all back. Did you try the tomato and lentil soup at the
end? Delicious.
--
Chris Hill

In message <[email hidden]>, Adrian Godwin
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Chris Lawrence said:

I did the 21 mile Grindleford Gallop on Saturday with a couple of
friends and took some photos along the way. Would like to have taken
more but it was too cold to keep stopping most of the time. Strangely,
up on the exposed Curbar Gap felt quite mild and a few of the photos
were taken up there.

Here are the pics - http://photos.holosys.co.uk/a/2037

Thanks for those - I did the walk too, but didn't take any pictures.

I went with a friend, and Chris Hill (who'd started by running, 45
minutes later) caught up halfway along and walked the rest of the way
with us.

Indeed. Despite having been savagely mauled by a sheepdog.

Quoted message said:

Most of the way, at least - the temptation to beat previous
times

Especially when we thought we were only 0.4 miles from the end with six
minutes to go, when in fact we were more like two miles from the end.
Still, it was a very good incentive to get moving.

Quoted message said:

(or was it the sight of the gentleman in skintight leopardskin
shorts ?) spurred us to run part of the last couple of miles.
On reaching the end, Jane was delighted to find a sports physio
who gave a very good value leg massage.

Straight in there, too. I was impressed.

Quoted message said:

The weather was much better than the forecasts had led us to
believe, and I only started to get cold once or twice when the snow
thickened slightly.

Up on the ridge, when the rest of us are freezing - "It must be cold,
Adrian's rolled his sleeves down!"

Quoted message said:

I think it may have worsened later - Froggatt
edge was disappearing from view as we sat in the pavilion at the end.

And thank God we didn't get Sunday's weather.

Quoted message said:

I usually stiffen up badly if I rest the next day but had a gentle
12 mile walk planned that I didn't want to miss. It turned out to
be 18 miles but wasn't a problem .. it was still the drive to
work today that had me tottering across the car park.

Ditto, definitely feeling it today. Despite my whingeing, this is still
a favourite route of mine and I will be back next year. I managed the 21
miles in 5 hours 6 minutes, some of which is down to you and that mad
woman egging me on. I reckon if you hadn't been there it would have
taken me at least 20 minutes longer.
--
Chris Hill

Adrian Godwin said:

Thanks for those - I did the walk too, but didn't take any pictures.

I would have liked to have taken more but it just meant breaking pace
and getting a bit colder and stiffer again. I tended to take them when
I was stopped anyway, such as switching stuff around in my backpack or
resting for a moment on the way up an incline.

Quoted message said:

I went with a friend, and Chris Hill (who'd started by running, 45
minutes later) caught up halfway along and walked the rest of the way
with us.

Ah, I saw Chris right at the start and we all set off as a group but
within about five minutes he'd started to scoot off ahead and I knew
that would be the last I saw of him :-)

Quoted message said:

Most of the way, at least - the temptation to beat previous times (or
was it the sight of the gentleman in skintight leopardskin shorts ?)

Consider my mind boggled.

Quoted message said:

spurred us to run part of the last couple of miles. On reaching the
end, Jane was delighted to find a sports physio who gave a very good
value leg massage.

The weather was much better than the forecasts had led us to
believe, and I only started to get cold once or twice when the snow
thickened slightly. I think it may have worsened later - Froggatt
edge was disappearing from view as we sat in the pavilion at the end.

Indeed, metcheck reckoned it would be overcast all day but loads of
people were talking of snow by 2pm. In fact the small flurries of
snowflakes were more like the sharp ice crystals that were around Kinder
a month back, hitting you in the face as you walked.

Quoted message said:

I usually stiffen up badly if I rest the next day but had a gentle
12 mile walk planned that I didn't want to miss. It turned out to
be 18 miles but wasn't a problem .. it was still the drive to
work today that had me tottering across the car park.

Heh, Eric and I were like old men at work today, hobbling around,
grunting in and out of chairs and hauling ourselves up and down the
stairs by the handrails. I've had lots of monkeybaths[1] since Saturday
and every one helps.

[1] "oo oo aa aa..!"

--
Chris

Chris Hill said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Chris
Lawrence <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I did the 21 mile Grindleford Gallop on Saturday with a couple of
friends and took some photos along the way. Would like to have taken
more but it was too cold to keep stopping most of the time. Strangely,
up on the exposed Curbar Gap felt quite mild and a few of the photos
were taken up there.

I was too distracted at that point to notice. My new-found "friends" were
forcing me to run the final few miles.

Ah yes, the runners. We preferred the term "nutters" and had a bet on
what time the first ones would overtake us - in the end it was at 11.15
the first nutters came past, in pretty much the same place they overtook
me in 2004.

I noticed something about the runners in 2004 and again this year which
bugged me and now I have to ask... how are they able to run and stay so
relatively clean? My walking boots got absolutely thickly caked in mud,
as well as the bottom five or so inches of my trousers with the
splatter, yet all the runners seemed to have light trainers and clean
looking socks! Jon reckons that it's to do with the way their feet move
along the ground at speed, but surely they have no choice but to slam
their feet into the thick mud like everyone else - if there was a way
around it we'd all be taking it.

Incidentally the runners results are in, once again some non-human times
in there!

http://www.outside.co.uk/download/gallop/GalopShortByClasst.html

Quoted message said:

Let's be brutally frank about this - it was cold, muddy and bloody
miserable.

Yes, a shame really, if the sun could just have come out for a while it
transforms the whole landscape into something much more picturesque and
colourful.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My new eTrex GPS recorded the track but gave up towards the end, stuck
on 18.5 miles for some reason. My old one didn't do that so I'll need
to check it out again because I bought this new one specifically for
recording long tracks.

Odd - Adrian's did something similar, yet my Forerunner never faltered. I'll
send you the .gpx so you've got the full route.

Got it thank. I just pulled it into GARtrip and plotted your timings
and speed for comparison.

http://photos.holosys.co.uk/p/52186 -and-
http://photos.holosys.co.uk/p/52187

Use 'Raw image' in both cases to see the full sized pic (and then growl
as Internet Exploder resizes it anyway and you have to make it full
sized again)

Both our GPSs did a great job of elevation, which typically has large
margins of error, and the elevation plots look very similar with just
one metre difference between our maximum limits on Longstone Moor.

The speed plot in the second chart is averaged over five minutes and
shows that you hit at least 6.8mph a few times as you presumably started
jogging, and your - if I may say so - nutter phase at the end is also
amply recorded.

It looks like you took advantage of the railway line tea/drink/cake stop
and less so at Baslow. We also stopped at Hassop Station just to rest
for a few moments - the lads had a brew while I sorted out a slight
rubbing with that blister lubrication stuff on my left foot, and got rid
of a stone in my right boot that had been annoying me since we dropped
onto the railway.

You checked out at 13.10 which is exactly when we hit the unmanned
Edensor checkpoint.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Here are the pics - http://photos.holosys.co.uk/a/2037

Ah - brings it all back. Did you try the tomato and lentil soup at the end?
Delicious.

Yup, fantastic, that soup and crusty buttered bread was a real treat and
it's nice to feel you've really earned it. When I stop aching I'll be
glad I did it - past experience says I'll be grinning about it by around
Thursday :-)

--
Chris

Chris Hill said:

Quoted message said:

I went with a friend, and Chris Hill (who'd started by running, 45
minutes later) caught up halfway along and walked the rest of the way
with us.

Indeed. Despite having been savagely mauled by a sheepdog.

Oh aye? Where you worryin' someone's sheep?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think it may have worsened later - Froggatt
edge was disappearing from view as we sat in the pavilion at the end.

And thank God we didn't get Sunday's weather.

Yup, Sunday morning and the place was covered in snow! It's March.
Snow isn't meant to be happening.

Quoted message said:

Ditto, definitely feeling it today. Despite my whingeing, this is still a
favourite route of mine and I will be back next year.

It's strange, when I did this in 2004 I started getting blisters around
Great Longstone which got worse and worse as I went on. In the end all
I really remembered of Curbar and Froggatt was a never-ending climb and
then descent, and walking on fire and rocks for hours.

So this time I was dreading that part but because I stayed blister-free
(well almost but nothing major) the route up was straightforward and I
really enjoyed it - mentally I was expecting a load of climbing and
suddenly I was at the monuments with the final climb onto Curbar Edge
just along the path. That was a real psychological boost because it was
then that I realised I'd done the walk and it was just the technicality
of getting back down to Grindleford. I kind of rode on the high of that
boost all the way back and everything just drifted pleasantly by.
Already looking forward to doing it next year.

--
Chris

Chris Lawrence said:

Chris Hill said:

Let's be brutally frank about this - it was cold, muddy and bloody
miserable.

I dunno .. the view from the first drinks checkpoint was spectacular,
Chatsworth was picturesque (the sun came out for a little while there)
and the Edges looked great in light snow. Pity we rushed past that bit :-).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Odd - Adrian's did something similar, yet my Forerunner never faltered. I'll
send you the .gpx so you've got the full route.

Mine didn't get stuck - it had some long sections where it lost satellites,
and even longer sections where it was getting a 2D fix so no elevation.
Fourtunately they were all in the second half so Chris' log fills in
the missing bits nicely. I think it might have worked its way upside
down in my sack by then. Or Chris upset it.

Quoted message said:

It looks like you took advantage of the railway line tea/drink/cake stop
and less so at Baslow. We also stopped at Hassop Station just to rest

I think that's where he detached the sheepdog.

-adrian

Chris Hill said:

I was too distracted at that point to notice. My new-found "friends"
were forcing me to run the final few miles.

That's funny .. I thought it was you two fit types dragging me on.
I think it's becoming clear where the blame lies !

-adrian

In message <[email hidden]>,
Chris Lawrence <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Chris Hill said:

Quoted message said:

I went with a friend, and Chris Hill (who'd started by running, 45
minutes later) caught up halfway along and walked the rest of the way
with us.

Indeed. Despite having been savagely mauled by a sheepdog.

Oh aye? Where you worryin' someone's sheep?

No - running down the lane past Dale Farm when a sheepdog ran out of the
farmyard and bit me as it ran past. Not a serious bite, didn't properly
draw blood, but broke the skin in several places and hurt. Was quite a
shock as I've never been bitten by a dog before.
--
Chris Hill

In message <[email hidden]>, Adrian Godwin
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Chris Hill said:

I was too distracted at that point to notice. My new-found "friends"
were forcing me to run the final few miles.

That's funny .. I thought it was you two fit types dragging me on.
I think it's becoming clear where the blame lies !

I think it was more a case of no-one wanting to be the first to stop.
--
Chris Hill