Janathon Day 20 - Numb on the Gritstone Trail

With the close proximity of 200 miles on the horizon, an effort of around 13.5 miles would see me make my 2nd century. My plan was to drive to the office early and then head off up the 'office hill' for a run of around 10-13 miles. I awoke to rain bouncing off the windows, this was going to make it interesting! A quick cup of tea and some weetabix and I set off, pulling up outside, the wind and rain was bouncing off the car. 'Whose idea was this, I thought?' The office is at roughly 450ft with the 'office hill' rising to around 1350ft.

So off I went, the first couple of miles down to the main road, not too bad, maybe this won't be as bad as I first thought! I headed along the road on the small pavement, with the oncoming cars and rain, it made it feel like a tightrope! The wind was coming in from the side, this meant it would be blowing across the ridge and would make for some ticky running later on. At the 4 mile point it was finally off this tack and up the long and winding lane/track to the summit of the hill. The lane rose 800 feet over the next 2 and a half miles. Time to get my head down and grind out the hill!

The hill rose gradually past a few farms, winding its way through some woods and then joined the Gritstone Trail. Once out of the shelter of the trees I was now out in the open and spent the next 2 miles fighting my way along the ridge. The clouds were now all around me, I was being peppered by the rain driven by the wind and now the left side of my face became numb!! I seem to remember muttering something that rhymed with 'Clucking Bell' and carried on. The track finally wound its way to the top and I was grateful to be heading down slightly. The slope down to the road was now like a river and it became easier to run on the grass verge.

The trail now crossed the A54 Buxton Road and next up was a half mile climb across a bog to the transmitter atop Croker Hill. I was following the 'G' signs (above) and found myself wading across a field but I couldn't find the stile on the other side, after backtracking I eventually found it far off where I was expecting it to be. The summit finally came after 8 miles of running. At last I was heading down and getting out of the weather, the downhill track was tricky to negotiate as it had become a torrent of water. Half way down just before the farm I spotted 4 deer in a field! They turned and looked towards me and jumped a high fence and headed off in the opposite direction!

Off the trail and back on the steep country lane I was deposited on to the canal at 10 miles and 90 minutes on the go. I knew from this point it was about 3.5 miles back to the office which would give me the distance to get to 200 miles. The canal was a welcome change and sheltered but very waterlogged. I trudged along and finally on to the final lane up to the office. The last mile ended up being the fastest with the whole run just short of the 2 hour mark. I was keen to get in the warm and had an immediate cup of tea before hitting the shower. An epic start to the day and on reflection another great run.

Stats

Distance: 13.77 miles

Time: 1:59:03

Janathon Total Distance: 200.01 miles

Streak Total Distance: 1823 miles