Punk Panther Nidderdale Way Challenge, 23rd October 21. 57.83 miles, event 2021.2184 m of ascent. 14 hours 39 mins 08 seconds. Joint 10th of
Pateley Bridge to Birstwith CP1 10 miles 2 hours 13
A 7 am start so we were up at 5am before the 45 minute journey from home. Quick registration, I was a little stressed that I have few pockets so didn’t know what to do with my tracker, I put it beneath my hat an gloves and hoped I didn’t pull it out or press the SOS button by accidently pushing it when pushing stuff back in. We were both surprised to see Rachel with Jelly at the start line, she didn’t think she’d be up for 8am to see us through Dacre Banks. She has chatting to Becky in Australia but I was taken by surprise and concentrating on what was happening at the start so didn’t say much when the phone was put to my ear. We ran through the Nidderdale showground to the road behind to get onto the Nidderdale Way. It was dark but we were showered by light from other head torches so I didn’t use mine much. We knew once off the road it was a sharp climb up to Yorke’s Folly above Guisecliff. People still had headtorches on which cast shadows and made it hard to see what was rocks, luckily most listened and turned them off as it was light. A great run over the moor and down to Dacre Banks, I was surprised to see Rachel was there, we slowed a little to say hello, Jelly was keen to run with us. They met us again a few miles further on and then near checkpoint 1 which was lovely. The checkpoint was well stocked, i g some water forgetting it was just 4 miles to the next checkpoint. We’d recced this section with Jenny and Ken and it was good to see the sections we’d gone wrong on then and how much easier this next section was. We chatted to Caroline who is doing 1.5 laps so was concentrating on this section knowing she’d be doing it in the dark next time round. We over lapped her a lot through out the race with her leaving checkpoints just as we arrived.
Birstwith to Ripley CP2 4 miles (14 total) 55 minutes (3 hours 6)
This next section was straight forward with a few gentle hills, quite a bit of road then track which made it so quick. I’m sure we did something different on the recce that took us up an awful walled track that was very overgrown, but not today! Crisps, water and coke at the checkpoint
Ripley to Brimham House CP3. 8.5 miles (22.5 miles) 1 hour 49 (4 hours 57)
On this section we were quite confident except the last section towards to checkpoint which was a little confusing. I seem to remember going closer to Brimham rocks when I did the whole route many years ago. Rachel met us in the woods, she said something about she’d done quite a lot of walking to find us. We weren’t sure how good the trackers were as its a different type and company to the ones we used before. The next checkpoint was a mile further than we expected, again I went for crips and coke but also a babybel.
Brimham House to Pateley Bridge CP4. 7 miles (29.5) 1 hour 45 (6 hours 42)
Andy said a few times it was downhill to Pateley Bridge, each time was after we climbed yet another little bump. The route twisted and turned, on and off road, down walled tracks but easy to follow. The temperature was good I was happy to have leggings on but did feel warm a couple of times. It was good to get back to Pateley Bridge feeling quite fresh and bouncy. Andy went to the car, I stayed at the registration tent as I was happy to just fill my water bottles, I’d only eaten a chia charge crisp bar and a few packets of crisps so didn’t need to top up my pack.
Pateley Bridge to Bouthwaite CP5. 4.5 miles (34) 1 hour 14 (7 hours 56)
We know the next section really well as it’s the start of the Frostbite 30 as we headed out to Gouthwaite Reservoir. It’s mostly flat until along side the reservoir but then undulating really. Just before we got to Bouthwaite checkpoint Casper appeared as he headed back to Pateley bridge to win the single lap race, Andy worked out he was 15 miles a head of us.
Bouthwaite to Scar House Reservoir CP6. 8 miles (42 total) 2 hours 27 (10 hours 23)
The Frostbite route has changed a few times so I was surprised when we didn’t head straight up the hill and onto the moor, instead it felt like a low level run to Lofthouse where the ice cream shop was shut!! We knew there were going to be hills but these came after the dry fords which I remember being full of water in the past. There were a few very steep climbs which came as a shock after the gentle rises. Finally we got views of Angram reservoir at the head of the valley, beyond the skies looked dark and cars on the road coming alongside the reservoir had their lights on. We didn’t get any rain until we came close to the reservoir. We stopped to put waterproof jackets on as a cool wind dropped the temperature. My watch lost satellites for a while and I was also very aware that the battery level was low, it showed a quarter so I didn’t want it wasting more power finding them. Using the GPS line would be needed when it got dark so I tried not to check any details as although I have a power pack I didn’t have a watch charger! It was lovely to finally get down and onto the dam, the checkpoint it’s self was off route to the left so we got to see people like Caroline leaving it and getting back on route. I enjoyed the peanut breakfast bar!
Scar House Reservoir to Bouthwaite CP7. 6 miles (48 total) 1 hour 43 (12 hours 6)
We both still felt good and strong knowing although we’d slowed we were on course for 4 miles an hour, we knew the hills of this section weren’t our friends. Another climb about the reservoir and then I knew it was easy route finding to Middlemoor but the track was going to be rocky, luckily there were sections of grass on the side which gave us chance to get a good pace at times. I love the tree near Middlemoor with views of Gouthwaite Reservoir. We knew it wouldn’t be long before it got dark. Through the lovely village of Middlemoor and then off road down to Stean Gorge but road side. I remember we went through a caravan park before climbing onto the hill, they were having a bonfire which was just being lit, we heard the fireworks later but didn’t see them because of the trees. We mostly found the way in the dark but a few times misjudged the line of the path. I was glad I had the powerpack as Andy’s phone with the map on power wet to 1% because of the cold, I tried not to be anxious about route finding in the dark. Finally back to Bouthwaite and another peanut breakfast bar.
Bouthwaite to Pateley Bridge finish. 9.83 miles (57.83 total miles) 2 hours 30 (14 hours 36)
We knew we still had a few hills to climb, Andy had printed out the profile and the climbs were steep. I knew there were a sections I’d recognise such as the caravan park and the mine. The mine wasn’t as easy to find our way out as I thought it would be, I remembered it being a good track but in the dark it wasn’t easy to follow. We were soon up high and on the road heading back to Pateley Bridge. The moon was rising but we didn’t really feel like we were heading due east. We nearly missed the turn off the route as instead of following the Nidderdale Way we turned and headed straight into Pateley Bridge half a mile before the finish. I expected there to be a punk panther sign to guide us. We made it! 57.83 miles instead of the 55 we’d expected, our average pace was 15.12 minutes per mile so only a little bit slower than our hoped 4 mile an hour. I was really pleased as I had struggled a lot on our last long run but felt strong today just starting to get tired before we finished. It sounds like a few people had dropped out but when there are 4 races going on simultaneously it’s hard to know who was on which race, we’ll find out later if we were 10th in the one lap, I missed out on being first lady over 50 by 19 minutes. A nice medal we’d chosen not to get Tshirts but did ask in case any were going spare. A quick change then the 50 minute driver home with protein shakes to fill us. Back by 11pm, a very good day out. All in all very well organised, regular checkpoints meant we didn’t need to carry much and the weather held other than those few drops of rain
Making lifes adventures - Sarah Norman 