Ladybower 'half'

Race: Ladybower 25k trail

Time/Position: 1.59.46 (17th from 605 [1st V50])

I wouldn't normally do a commercial 'trail' race (I don't even like the americanism, generally speaking). But this was another rather nice prize, chosen after my category win at the Nantwich 10k earlier this year. Even better, I thoroughly enjoyed the outing and felt much better than I have done recently, in fact it ended up as perhaps this year's most enjoyable race. This was largely because it was such an excellent route, very well marked and organised, and perfect weather helped (very lucky again, as it rained all day on Friday). A big field set off at 9am (early pre-6am start from home) from Bamford along the old railway (which I remembered from the Half Tour of Bradwell a couple of years ago). Then a climb up to the dam wall at Ladybower, and a mixture of trails and paths led north along Derwent Lane as the lake becomes quieter and more remote. Eventually, it left this and headed steeply up the slabs by Grindle Clough. After a boggy traverse path a superb descent (dry, sandy and very fast) led to the road up to Hollow Meadows. From here, the route stayed high and scenic, heading up to Stanage End - the 'remotest' part of the famous crag and a place of special significance for me, as it was here that I did some of my first rock climbs in the late 1980s. No time for nostalgia, however, as the path across the top of Stanage followed (more memories, this time more recent ones of the Full Tour of Bradwell ultra in 2018). Running alongside gritstone edges is often tricky, with deep puddles and lots of tricky boulders blocking easy progress: especially today after Friday's deluge. At the end, though, a fast descent down Long Causeway and a rapid final section via Coggers Lane back to a circuitous finish in Bamford. I thought I was much higher up the field, perhaps 7th or 8th, so was rather surprised that so many runners were ahead of me. The runners behind were much closer than I thought too! Winning my category was a bonus though, especially on such a great race. It reminded me strongly of the Red Kite trail race in mid-Wales, on which I also had a good outing a couple of years ago - around the same distance, a similar combination of runnable but tough terrain.