Bogfest Trot.

Sometimes I feel that you can tell the quality of a fell race by the vests at the start line. On display today there were plenty of Pennine and Dark Peak vests, both are strong fell clubs who seem to target the harder courses. Actually, the presence of a large number of Dark Peak vests was perhaps unsuprising as they organised the race...

Bogfest Trot is a new race for this year, and is run alongside the Moors for the Future Bogfest conference, held in Edale. All money made from the race goes into village charities. The race is graded AS, meaning that its tough and short, and is about 7k long (4.3 miles).

The start was at Shaw Wood Farm. I registered, had a quick warm up, then waited. I had already reece'd the route a couple of times in the week before, so I knew exactly what to expect.  At 11am we were off, after a brief briefing. Across fields, cross the Pennine Way, then the walking started. Through a gate, under some trees, then up. And up. Steep. Hands were needed, pulling on tufts of grass avoiding (hopefully!) the sheep droppings. Over a drystone (mostly flattened) and onto a plateau. A quick check with the compass confirms that we're all going the right way, hopping over tufts heading for the next checkpoint, located next to a pond. Now we carry on towards Grindslow Knoll, not actually crossing over the top but veering left circling around until we hit the main path following the edge. Follow the edge for a short way, then plummet down the bank to Grindsbrook Clough. The going was steep, very steep. I slid down most of the way on my bum, which worked rather well although I had to be wary of hidden rocks. Once in the Clough we had to climb out, just as steep as the way in. Hand again were pressed into play, grabbing grass and bilberries, making our way around rocks and onto the edge. Now we headed east, past Upper Tor and Nether Tor, then up onto Ringing Roger. The way off was steep and rocky, and to be honest this was the part of the course that I was least looking forward to. Still, it was soon over, then onto easier running until The Nab, and the rocky steps back down into Edale. Across a sheep field, cross a bridge, down the road and to the finish at the Moorland Centre.

I ran my own race today, kept my own pace. I finished in 1:08:31, a time that I am quite happy with, in 48th place out of 71 runners.
Great route, great race, great fun!

A couple of photos, taken from the recce's;

Across the plateau, by the pond. The Knoll in the distance.

The descent into the Clough as seen from below.

Paul.