Saturday 15 March 2008

Wuthering Hike

Today I had the pleasure of joining a large gaggle of folk on the Wuthering Hike. The Wuthering Hike is 32 miles traversing gritstone moors around Haworth, Todmorden
and Hebden Bridge. It is a challenging run, mainly due to the terrain but also due to a few navigational difficulties!

I also had the great pleasure of meeting 4 fellow WHWRers at the race (photos below). It's great to be able to put a face to the names and it will be nice to see some friendly faces in June.

I felt quite strong throughout the race, although there are some long ascents which I had to walk up. Not too bothered about this though as there'll be plenty of walking on the WHWR. Managed to find the correct way into Hebden Bridge this time down the little footpath and over the bridge.

I finished the race in 5:45ish. Did it last year in 5:20, but it is 2 miles longer this year due to a change of start/finish.

Positives


  • Felt strong all the way round.

  • Problem knee not too obvious (although few niggles)

  • Met some great WHWRers

  • Recovered really well tonight without too much stiffness

  • 'Fueling' system seemed to work ok -drank lots of carb stuff prior to race and didn't feel energy lack.

Negatives



  • Not happy with trail shoes - bashed toenails and bit of blistering

  • Slight groin niggle, think just poorly warmed up



Here is the start of the race in Haworth:





Here is the route of the race:





And the elevation:



Here are the WHW lot:

Marco, Debs and Brian:




Andy Cole enjoying a well-deserved bowl of chilli at the end:




Here I am at 20 miles looking worse than I felt!:




All in all a great day's running.

5 comments:

Paul said...

Well done Phil, sounds like a good run out - not a bad tiem either! Did you avoid the rain? I've just got back in and the wet made it feel really cold....!

Paul

Phil Robertson said...

Thanks Paul,

Time was ok. It was good weather all the way round really. Bit foggy up towards Top Withens, but isn't it always?! Only started raining as I crossed the finish line! I imagine it will have got pretty cold and miserable after that. A few walkers were taking part so they'll have got pretty damp!

Marco Consani said...

Hi Phil,

Great to meet you. Sounds like you had a positive race.

Well done.

Speak to you soon.

Marco

Phil Robertson said...

Cheers Marco.

You seemed disappointed not to break 5 hours, but 5:02 was a great time.

Brian Mc said...

Great to meet face to face. Hope the journey home was good and you warmed up well.