Day 16 - Canals and stinging flies!

Lock 3 of 12...

As I have done most of my Juneathon runs starting and finishing from home, I thought I would drive up to the office early and go for a run on one of the many tried and tested routes. I had planned a 7 mile loop, going along the Macclesfield Canal, out on to the A54 and back through the village of North Rode. I ran the 1.5 miles down to the canal which deposits you at lock 1 of the 12 Bosley locks. This lock system drops the canal down over 100 ft and makes for a very nice stretch of canal. Most of the gates were in the 'up' position implying that a boat had recently 'driven' upstream.

Whilst running along I was 'attacked' I should say 'flown at' by a kamikaze 'fly'. Now I'm not fussy in digesting the odd fly or two but this was rather a large boy (maybe a horse or dragon fly). As it headed straight for my mouth I quickly spat it out whereupon the said 'fly' stung my lip, ouch!! I am quite susceptible to biting insects and have on occasion had bites that have swollen up to gargantuan proportions. I could feel the lip swelling but this had reduced considerably by the time I got back to the office. The things we have to go through in the name of Juneathon!

The culprit?

Anyway, I digress, back to the run. Another feature on this stretch of canal are the old stone mile posts, which give the distances from Marple on one side and Kidsgrove on the other. These probably date back to when the canal was opened in 1831! and provide a good marker for monitoring your speed along the canal!

I got to the turn off point on the canal to head back up the very busy A54, decision time. Do i a) go on the intended route or b) carry on down the canal and 'wing it' with the aim of going out toward the next village and back towards the office on the less dangerous Macclesfield Road. The answer was b) and so I carried on for another mile and got off the canal at the 5 mile point. Glancing at the map on my phone I roughly figured where I needed to go through the estate. With one slightly wrong turning which I figured out after a nice downhill stretch (back up the hill) and on to the right route, I came out on to the Macclesfield Road at 6.5 miles.

Although it is a main road there is a nice footpath set off to one side, sometimes on the other side of some trees. I knew there were approx 3 or so miles back to the office, so this was going to end up as another 10 miler! Just before the 8 mile point I turned off the main road and down the more pleasant country lanes towards North Rode before the final mile back to the office.

Stats

Distance: 10.06 miles

Time: 1:18:15

Juneathon Total Distance: 140.92 miles