Surely the done thing to say straight after a gruelling, overnight 42miler around the Peak District is to profess that ‘I’m never doing that again’, ‘that was hell’, or ’thank heavens that’s over’. Our reactions of ‘we should definitely recce that section for next year’, ’that was great fun, I wish it wasn’t over’, or ‘I think we should be called Haggis, Meatballs, and Champagne* next year’ seem distinctly out of place…
A still, starlit, and slightly chilly night gave near perfect conditions for Team Haggis on Tour (Iain, Jon, Jasmin, Konrad) to head down to Edale for the 40th High Peak Marathon. This was unexplored territory for me, both physically (I’d never ran anything like that far before), and topographically (Jon and Jasrad had done the race before and I’d never even been to the Peak District before!), so I was feeling some slight trepidation before the race, but a steady routine of alternating Percy Pigs**, Fudge, and Caffeine-loaded jellies, kept me going to the end. Thanks to the rest of the team putting their faith in such a liability! Highlights for me were
– the sunrise and inversion on Kinder Scout
– finding a checkpoint on a misty, snowy Bleaklow by echo-location – listening to hear the checkpoint marshals!
– getting cheered on by Jasmin’s parents in the snow and mist at 6am coming off Bleaklow: kudos to them for getting up at that time for the chance glimpse of us!
– the relief of realising we’d came 2nd overall and won our class, just 40s ahead of Nicki Spinks’ experience, local team! Results
* We had amazing spaghetti and meatballs at Jasmin’s folks house before the race, and celebrated with the Paris family when Jasmin’s brother found out he got a lectureship in New York. Konrad was feeling distinctly giddy after having some wine with dinner as well…
** Other types of chewy sweets are available
Iain Whiteside