Saturday 23rd March, ...And Snow on Northern Hills

18 (fool)hardy runners gathered at the Lantern Pike in Little Hayfield for the day’s Tally-Ho! trail run. A few feet of snow and the odd snowdrift wasn’t going to deter this lot. Good company and a good run over testing ground were promised…..it would be rude to turn down such an enticing offer.

I was supposed to be camping at Little Stretton in Shropshire for an O.M. meet this weekend but I had to pull out, I had too much going on. To be honest, although I like my camping, the idea of a weekend under canvas in these weather conditions didn’t float my boat too well.

Anyway, back to Tally-Ho!
Tales of derring-do were exchanged even before the run began – some of the journeys to the pub were quite eventful. Whitworth, Shipley and Whalley relied on a snow-plough ahead of them, clearing the road to enable the Whitworth-mobile to get through. Whitehead couldn’t even escape his hometown of Buxton, such was the depth of snow. Even the journey from Timperley had it’s problems – my idea of getting to Hayfield via the A57 was thwarted by snow-blocked roads.

The tops from Birch Vale

John Wilson had set out early to lay trail, he did a superb job of laying a shorter route than normal, around 6 miles, a sensible move considering the weather conditions.

The Taylor vs Murray pre-run fancy hat contest

As I left the pub to follow the sawdust trail I met Whitworth, Shipley and Whalley running back to the pub. They had been turned back by impassable snowdrifts and hooley-driven snow on the climb up Middle Moor. This wasn’t looking promising. Although I was equipped with map and compass in case I missed the sawdust trail, they wouldn’t help me if I got bogged down in deep snow.

The wind strengthened as I climbed up over Middle Moor. Trail was increasingly difficult to follow, wind and snow had done their best to either cover up the sawdust or just blow it away.

A (successful) attempt at keeping sawdust trail in place.

The going became harder the further I got until it became clear that it would be plain daft to attempt to continue further. Indeed, as a solo runner in these conditions it would have been downright stupid and irresponsible.

 I hadn’t even got as far as Kinder Reservoir but at least I’d had a damned good try. Just over an hour after setting out from the pub I arrived back, cold and a little down-hearted. If I’d gone off with a group I’d have almost certainly got round the route. Going off on my own it just wasn’t going to happen.

Back at the pub I changed and had a mug of coffee to defrost my bits – then it was time for a pint in the bar with the other runners who had made it back. Up until this point the only runners back at the pub were those that had been driven back or had thought better of continuing further.

   The Lantern Pike, Little Hayfield

The few runners that had made it all the way round began arriving back – more tales of derring-do! By 3.30pm everyone was back. The tin bath wasn’t used, everyone just wanted to get out of their wet running gear and into dry clothes so they could warm themselves by the pub’s blazing fire. And have a beer.

 Burston and Murray on the final run-in

Cold and knackered runners back at the pub

An excellent meal of steak & kidney pie and chips followed by apple pie and custard  hit the spot. This pub’s food has certainly improved over the last couple of years. The Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was excellent, it was just a pity I had to drive.

This is where we should have gone:

6 miles, with ups, downs and snowdrifts – map courtesy of Eastwood

In better weather this would have been a superb route – especially if it was extended by a couple of miles. Just a shame conditions were as they were.

More photos here.