Pennine Bridleway Relay, Sunday 4th February 2007

Now in it's 4th year the Pennine Bridleway Relay is a 47 mile fell race round the Mary Towneley Loop in the South Pennines. The route is divided into 5 legs, and each leg is run as a pair. So that's 10 runners per team.

After 60 forum posts, many emails, and random meetings at training sessions to distribute race numbers and info the big day finally dawned (well, it dawned for the Leg 1 runners anyway - I was still in bed!) and what a day it was with clear blue skies and only a light wind. A perfect day for running.

Leg 1 (8.5 miles, 1361 ft of climbing)

David Waterhouse

It was a bright, crisp start for the first of five legs of the Pennine Bridleway Relay. Five pairs of runners were to do one leg each making up the 47 miles of the Mary Towneley loop. Before the race, a car had to be left at the end of the leg so that we could get back to the start after our exertions. So at 7.30 am. I met Ruth and Dave Moon up in the hills near a wind farm. Becky was busy at the start doing the registering. On approaching the starting point I saw a couple of Mountain Rescue Landrovers which made us wonder what we had got ourselves into, particularly as most of the other teams were specialist running clubs. At the start we then had our kit checked for compass, whistle, map and waterproofs which is mandatory under fell running rules. We didn't have to wait long and we were on our way with a mass start at 8.30am. There was a warning in the briefing that there were around 40 gates to open and close on our leg, but this didn't prove a problem as there were plenty of runners around us, so the gates stayed open as the competitors streamed through. This also meant that the route was easy to follow - the Mary Towneley blue symbols with an acorn in them were clear to follow anyway. However Dave M. shot past a couple of them as he didn't have his specs on! The first leg was almost exclusively on tracks and gradually went upwards. We could see the wind farm near the changeover from quite a long distance, but I didn't realise that there was a valley to descend into and climb out before we got there. The final climb was a sting in the tail as it was long and steep. Eventually we reached the road and after a short stretch of tarmac passed on the "dibber" to Dabbsy and James Smith. I would definitely recommend the race and would like to see what one of the other legs is like next time. The scenery was excellent and it was nice to race as a team.

David Moon

I was up at 5am to walk my dog, panicked when I saw how thick the fog was. Ruth called just after 6, then off to Eccles to follow Becky through to Waterfoot. Then to Long causeway road to meet up with Dave Waterhouse. By this time the day was dawning crisp and clear. Back to the start for gear check and the start. Fantastic frosty sunny run through paths and fields. Lots of crack with girls from other teams. People were cheering the girls but not us boys. The last hill was definitely a sting in the tail. A good day out.

Team	Runners	Leg Time	Leg Pos	Overall Pos
Horwich	Pete Haworth Paul Green	00:55:56	1	1
MTC	David Moon David Waterhouse	01:25:45	52	52
MTC Ladies	Becki Baldwin Ruth Hurrell	01:48:32	68	68

Leg 2 (12.5 miles, 1560ft of climbing)

Jonathan Dabbs

The early running was downhill and James set off like a gazelle, obviously keen to make up some places - his pace was more in keeping with 1.25 than 12.5 miles. After jumping a couple of streams (us big jessies can't get our feet wet now can we?), the terrain changed to uphill and a more sensible pace ensued. We'd just overtaken a pair of "Darwin Dashers", but obviously more used to the hills, they took us back again on the hill. We'll get them on the downhill we thought, but it was a long gradual hill so that would be a while before that would happen. At least we've done a fair old bit of the climbing we thought anyway...

Leg 2 was the longest one at 12.5 miles, but with some stiunning scenery it felt an awful lot shorter. The route took us past 4 reservoirs, all like glass, and with the sun shining, it would have been an ideal photographic journey - but alas there was not time for that as there was plenty of people to chase down including a pair from Chester Tri that we'd seen go out earlier - this was a "must chase down" pair, and we did with and a nod and a wink as we ran past them. The best thing about leg 2 was that there was always someone to chase - and when you took one pair, there was another target to focus on, which certainly helped keep the pace up - including the Darwin Dashers who were just managing to stay about 100m ahead of us. The terrain was undulating, nothing majorly steep, but enough to know you were in a fell race. At 11 miles, there were 5 pairs in front us, we saw them all, but didn't notice why - until we got onto the same hill as them - most of them were walking, and so they'd all bunched up. We continued to run, and gradually took the walkers, but everything seemed in slow motion - it was that steep that running was barely quicker than walking. But even at this slow pace we took 4 pairs (including retaking the Darwin Dashers) before finally resorting to a brief walk ourselves, quads on fire! Darwin Dashers were off running again, so we did too, took another pair before finally reaching the top and then someone cheerily shouted "It's all downhill from here", and so it was, with just a mile to go with Darwin 5 metres behind. James responded again, and without any care for falling AOT, twisted ankles, slipping on boulders, running into spectators, or taking mountain bikers out, he flew off at unfeasible pace, and it was only when the path turned to concrete that I could catch up with my running partner again, Darwin still in hot pursuit. At last the hill levelled off, and we were within touching distance - just a busy road to navigate, which made life interesting, a sprint to finally leave Darwin behind, and hand over to Rob and Chris. Vision was a bit blurred here, all I saw was someone thrusting a jumper at me "look after this" and the dibber was taken from my hand - "Ah that must be the next two then eh" - and they were gone. Damn sociable this relay eh! Oh well, we could have a chat to the girls anyway....

Team	Runners	Leg Time	Leg Pos	Overall Pos
Horwich	Colin Rigby Russell Maddams	01:18:54	1	1
MTC	Jonathan Dabbs James Smith	01:25:45	15	37
MTC Ladies	Viv Slack Bonnie Hopkins	02:12:47	67	65

Leg 3 (9.5 miles, 1570ft of climbing)

Rob Harper

We all arrived at the 2nd changeover with plenty of time, had our kit checked then settled in to await the arrival of the Leg 2 runners. Then two flashes of red and black were spotted rounding the corner as Dabbsy and James Smith hurtled towards the finish. Jon had obviously put in a mind altering effort at the end as after he'd dibbed the dibber he looked around in panic "where are they, where are they!" - even though Chris and I were standing right next to him!

Anyway, dibber successfully passed over, we set off on the run. Leg 3 is not the longest but does have the most ascent of any of the legs, and this made itself felt right from the get-go with a long switchback climb up through woodland onto the moors. Towards the top of the climb we overtook a pair of Darwen Dashers, and also pulled away from a pair behind us, mainly to get out of earshot of their mildly disturbing heavy breathing...

All of that height gained was now lost again with a long descent into Lumbutts. About halfway down the Darwen Dashers, who we thought we'd left way behind, flew past us - damn! Soon we were climbing again, first up a long straight road then back onto a track round the corner of the moor. Ahead we could see quite a few teams and we steadily picked these off as we went up the climb. At the top there's no time to settle in, back downhill again - there's no flat running on this leg. Once again the Darwen Dashers, who we'd passed again on the climb, took us on the descent - memo to self; must practice running downhill!

And so to the third and final hill of the leg, worryingly noted as the "steepest hill on the route" and "a real sting in the tail" in the route notes. It certainly is a bit of a beast, and about a third of the way up, with quads screaming and heart rate through the roof, I looked back to see... everyone else walking. Might as well join them I thought, seeing as I was probably only going about 2% quicker anyway! It was a joyous moment reaching the top of this final climb, but no time for patting ourselves on the back as there was still a mile to run, all downhill, and places to be gained. On a good track we picked up the pace and gave it legs towards the changeover - and there was no way we were going to let the Darwen Dashers past this time! The changeover was now in sight and with dibber already in hand we reached the timing point, dibbed, then passed on the baton to Guy and Karl who were perfectly placed at the front of the crowd - those sprint relay boys could learn a thing or two from us.

Team	Runners	Leg Time	Leg Pos	Overall Pos
Horwich	Darren Kay James Logue	00:59:17	1	1
MTC	Rob Harper Chris Diggle	01:15:28	22	25
MTC Ladies	Sarah Lees Helen Sloman	01:29:22	51	66

Leg 4 (5.5 miles, 753ft of climbing)

Guy Dobson

I woke up to a beautiful sunny (if a little cold) day at 9am. Perfect Weather. It was quite surreal thinking that the Race had already started and I was only just getting up.

Karl and Jo, Anne and I got to the start of our leg early and we had plenty of time to prepare for the our race. It was a little daunting looking at some of the serious looking athletes getting ready.

After we got our kit checked, we (well me anyway) spent the time joking nervously about the coming run, wondering how the others were getting on. After a while Karl and I thought we caught a glimpse of Rob Harper and Chris Diggle about a mile away coming down the hill. Wow! Those Man Tri running vests really stand out. They're great!

That's it! It was our turn! Just a few moments to prepare ourselves mentally! Rob and Chris were in. In the quickest transition in history, we were off! 5 minutes later I remembered: I meant to take that box of tic tacs out of my bum bag before running! What a mistake! The most annoying noise ever! Every Step! Rattle Rattle Rattle!... Poor Karl was a star, he didn't swear once and he encouraged/dragged me along all the way! Once we got moving it got very hot very quickly, especially up some of the hills. By half way I was dying of heat stroke... We stopped briefly for me to take my thermal top off, then got going again. After a surprisingly short time, we spotted the car park where our team mates would be waiting to take over! Nearly There! We went faster, trying to spot them!

We got to the finish expecting to pass on to Rob Harvey and Michael 'General Grievous' Hunt, but they were nowhere to be seen. We searched, we shouted their names... Nothing... I decided to phone Rob! Where was he?!! Well Now! It seems the nearest pub was just a few minutes away... I can only speculate as to what they were doing down there, but rumour has it that Rob ran out of the toilets swearing and shouting that we were already in! A few minutes later we see them and after a short 14min transition Rob and Mike were off!

The great news is that they both did very well and they overtook everyone that passed us while we were waiting! The other great news is that Chester Tri were still standing around waiting for their teams to arrive.

Once the race was over we all went to the pub for a some well deserved dinner and a drink. All told this was a great race. This one is definitely on my list for next year.

Karl Cannell

We arrived at the change over point between legs 3 and 4 and got ourselves ready (feeling slightly over dressed compared to the fell runners) for the arrival of Rob Harper and Chris Diggle.

Our leg is the shortest leg with the least amount of climbing (5.5 miles climbing 753ft), but we hoped to make up for this by getting a good time.

After watching some runners come and go we eventually spotted to Man Tri vests (they certainly stood out) in the distance so a quick check and we were ready to go.

The hand over was very fast and a few quick breaths we were on our way, the route was good mainly on newly laid paths and tracks but the last section was quite boggy, There were plenty of way marking signs on this section (plus other runners to follow), which passes close to Watergrove reservoir at Wardle and then via the Ramsden road and skirting Brown Wardle Hill to Whitworth.

The changeover point is near to Lobden Golf Club which we could see from a good distance, this spurred us on, we were to hand over to Michael Hunt and Rob Harvey who we trying to spot as we approached the change over point, unfortunately there was a break down in the change over and our leg 5 runners were nowhere to be seen, a search took place and then a phone call was made to a surprised Rob who didn't think we would have finished by this time.

After a while Michael and Rob arrived for their equipment check and the change over of the baton, which I was glad finally glad to hand over.

Team	Runners	Leg Time	Leg Pos	Overall Pos
Horwich	Paul Massey Alistair Murray	00:34:48	1	1
MTC	Guy Dobson Karl Cannell	00:52:28	43	33
MTC Ladies	Jo Thomas Anne McDonald	01:12:58	67	66

Leg 5 (11 miles, 1390ft of climbing)

Michael Hunt

The pre race preparations had gone well. Waterproofs - check, Hefty bumbag - check, combo whistle & compass (cool eh?) - check! I'd even managed to recce the 11mile route on the Fri/Sat before the race and was quietly confident that me and the legendary Boy Harvey could cause some serious damage.

And so to race day... we met the girls at the agreed spot - the finish and settled to have a quick brew and browse the Pete Bland stand. We set off to the start of leg 4 in what we thought was plenty of time and pitched base camp at the Red Lion (at the bottom of a huge hill that led to the start.

(delete as appropriate)

Alternate story #1. Whilst enjoying a light soft drink in the bar Rob and Mike were kidnapped by the locals and held hostage until the girls team paid a ransom of 5 pieces of coal (a common method of trade in the foothills of Rossendale). Unfortunately the girls had no coal to hand and as an alternative offered a piece of Kendal mint cake a couple of jaffa cakes and an energy gel.... The locals seemed confused yet agreed and released our brave brace of athletes....unfortunately due to the ordeal they missed the start by 14mins.

Alternate story #2. Whilst in the pub the locals mistook Rob as the mythical Rossendale God of beer drinking and accordingly, proceeded to ply him and his gallant partner in crime with a concoction of alcoholic beverages. In a moment of inspiration Mike began to retell one of his famous running stories and proceeded to bore the locals to death and a quick escape ensued.... unfortunately due to the ordeal they missed the start by 14mins.

Alternate Story #3. The lads scr!@wed up and missed the start!!

Anyway... To the race - it was a mediocre start as Mike was blinded by sunlight and the brightness of Rob's shorts in the first mile. Once settled however, the boys picked up the pace and started to reign in rival pairs. The steep climb after 3miles was tough but Rob & Mike looked like sherpas heading off up the Himalayas... a breeze!! The views from the top were amazing and the pace continued as the boys continued to pick off pairs (NB Many thanks to the Rossendale Team for closing the gate behind them as we reigned them in..!!!) And finally a 1 in 20 hill to finish... I saw 2 more pairs in the distance and turned to Rob thinking that we had a chance... The look Rob gave me confirmed that there were 2 chances... Fat chance and No chance... Anyway a respectable performance given the pre race traumas that we had both endured!!

And so to the post race celebration 2 mince pies a brew, fruit cake... a brew...a scone, a brew (you get the picture).

All in all a fantastic day and great to meet more members of the club. Roll on next year and yes... we will get to the start on time!!

Sonia Harris

Things couldn't have been easier.. early meet up time with Rob and Mike at the finish.. quick cup of tea/ coffee.. few lav stops.. gorgeous day... quick resume of the leaders to date (strange to think leg 1 and 2 had already finished!)... quick check on how many compasses we had?.. and why we both need a compass anyway... because if one of us breaks a leg you aint going anywhere...!!!

Anyway after small deliberation about what time we should head to leg changover we set off. Thinking the golf course would be chaos we parked in the infamous Red Lion car park, not 200yrds down a hill from the changeover, and then set about putting all our layers back on (as we were in the shade). Had a few more toilet stops, counted the number of jaffa cakes to add to the pack (Mike?), and then... "Quick, quick, they're in..." shouts Rob running out of the toilet!!! Blind panic as clothes and safety pins flew around the car park! A quick warm up run up the 1 in 4 hill to the start (which we hasten to add was in blazing sunshine) and to a not too amused Guy and Karl with their dibber/dobber or whatever it's called ticking away (some 15mins I think by all accounts)!!

The lads soon set off into the sunshine leaving Guy and Karl to rue the teams missed chance and to fill us in on their tic-tac torture experience! (I'm sure Rob and Mike will have their own version of the day!!!!)

We hung around for 30 odd more minutes. Any red shirts coming in? No, OK mass start it is. First in line to dib/dab and we set of over the golf course only to be overtaken by a wily pair of blokes - very amusing as they went wrong at the first track split and then shouted at us for not telling them - cheek of it!!! Should have read the map properly, haven't they got a compass!!! Only another 3 overtook us, but we'd get our revenge! We'd run the hill bit before, which was a mega bonus as we knew exactly what horror was in line for us!! Amazingly it was far easier than the week before (note no beers or curry had been consumed the night before this run!) and we kept a great constant pace over the cobbles and stones for the 3-4 miles of up and up and up some more (thanks goes to Dabbsy and Nick for their hill and scramble sessions)! I was really chuffed we managed to see off a women's team at the start of the climb, then a mixed team, and then a male vets team by the Top of Leach (the highest point of the MTL). Felt great, and what a fantastic view for miles around down to Manchester & Rochdale and out over the moors to the North.

Anyway Jude did her usual 'We're now going to get those red/orange striped women' pointing at a pair ahead... oh jeepers! These had started before the mass start so we were already ahead of them time wise but Jude wasn't satisfied with that!! From the high bit you skirted around a darkened and icy quarry route until relief, the down bit. 1.5 miles of pure down, on stony-painful farm paths... excellent! However they were obviously 'fell runners' and sped away after seeing us coming. We even tried a few Cagney and Lacey vaulting some farm gates to catch up (don't think it worked, but the cows seemed quiet amused). Finally into Waterfoot they'd gained a few yards, luckily (?) a horror of an incline was waiting for us. Jude rained in the lead striped lady, just got to get the second one I thought... come on I'll never be forgiven if I don't. Yes got her, she then stopped running - bless! Around another corner, a beep and a wave from Rob and Mike (sitting in their car - ostracised already?) and through the finish gate. Brilliant, on entry a huge cheer greeted us from the MTC team; wow, it was such an brilliant feeling to finish with such support, especially as many people had finished hours beforehand!!

After lots of smiles and chit chat about all our experiences we headed off to the Owd Betts Pub for some well earned scram!! Overall I thought the womens team did fab considering all the changes to the team, running with beanie and never having done this type of thing before!! In summary it was a well organised (centrally and by Viv and Rob for MTC), enjoyable day with great company; obviously the weather helped but it was great to be part of a team, and to top it off the majority made it for a tip top pub tea! Great!!

Team	Runners	Leg Time	Leg Pos	Overall Pos	Overall Time
Horwich	Brendan Bolland Chris Heys	00:59:20	1	1	04:48:15
MTC	Michael Hunt Rob Harvey	01:25:01	36	33	06:31:44
MTC Ladies	Sonia Harris Jude Wall	01:29:28	43	64	08:13:07

Post Mortem

So great efforts all round from the MTC runners. Although it's worth noting that without the infamous Leg 4/5 changeover costing about 14 minutes the Men's team could have been as high as 26th! Congratulations must go to the Horwich team, who not only won overall by 12 minutes, but set the fastest time on each leg and broke 3 leg records - I think that's what you call a convincing victory!

Thanks to all the runners for making it such an enjoyable day; to the organizers Rossendale Harriers for thinking of and arranging such a crazy event; and to the weather gods for blessing us with the most beautiful day to be out running in the countryside. Roll on next year (3rd Feb, get it in your diaries).

More photos here

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