Flaming March

The forecast for the weekend was wall to wall sunshine and they weren't wrong as far as today was concerned. Normally, I'd be desperate to get out on the bike for a long ride but this year is different, with the marathon only a week away. I'm looking after my legs. Forrest was running the Howarth Hobble (a 50K fell race) and there was a need to drop off a copy of Offcumdens in a bookshop in Hebden Bridge, through which the race passes, so I floated the idea to E that we could get the train there and walk to Todmorden, over Stoodley Pike, reversing the route the race was taking.

The plan worked rather well. I think we only missed the leader running down into Hebden, after which a trickle of very serious looking athletes were encountered, followed by a dribble of runners looking like they were actuyally enjoying themselves, with lots of determined but smiley faces, including Forrest who appeared pretty much when I expected him too. He was still running well at the 22 mile mark, with about 10 miles to go back to Howarth. His legs fell off a bit on the last few hard climbs but he still finished in a very creditable 43rd place (out of 645 finishes) in a time of 5 hrs 12 mins. No comparisons available as it used to be a pairs event and the only time I ran it my partner got crocked and I finished on my own, never recording an official time. 

After seeing Forrest on his way, E and I then continued following the route of the field on an increasingly warm afternoon. The runners and walkers kept on coming, in all shapes and sizes and ages, almost everyone smiling and enjoying their day out. I was reminded why I loved these events so much in the day. Outside the first few runners, everyone is competing with themselves and helping each other along. It's a celebration of the human spirit. 

I took loads of pictures of Stoodley Pike, runners on the skyline, descending, ascending, but this shot - the last I took all day - captured the day best of all. It was amazing to see so many people in shorts and T-shirts. I had to check and it's amazing to think that it was six years ago now since we had temperatures in the twenties in February.