The Unused Map

Forrest persuaded me to enter the Heptonstall Fell Race some weeks ago, before I came down with successive colds and the training program got seriously curtailed. These days, over this kind of distance, it's more a case of simply finishing rather than racing. And that I did. It was 15 hard miles, with 3,200 ft of climb, over a varied mixture of terrain. It was testing, especially the final steps back up to the village. 

I didn't quite get under my target 3 hours but I was happy enough to get around at all, with such poor preparation. Forrest was an excellent 23rd in 2.18. I was way back, 164th in 3.06. There were 241 finishers. It's a superb event and very well organised. Fortunately, I never had to get the map out, the route being pretty much flagged the whole way around.

I completely forgot to take my camera out to get any pictures before or after, thus this shot of the map. I guess that points to where my priorities are these days!