Friday, March 29, 2013
Snow Joke!!
As I wasn't able to do this year's Charnwood Marathon due to family commitments, I decided that as it's an ideal training walk for the Three Shires Challenge and I have the route description from last year, I could just pop along and do it any time... so planned it in for Wednesday as I had taken a couple of extra days off work.
Although we had a fair bit of snow last weekend, it's nearly all gone now, and so as I parked up in equally snowless Quorn and locked the car, I assumed I may see a little bit of snow but not too much... yeh right...
The first part of the route, through Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eves, was easy, if rather muddy. I stopped at the village shop in Woodhouse Eves for supplies and the climbed towards Broombriggs Farm... oh how pretty, look- there's a dusting of snow here!
The route climbs the hill in the distance, before describing a large circle back to the track. As I climbed, the snow became deeper, and skirting the field at the top I realised that I was having to wade through nearly knee deep snow- pretty tiring! It made me feel a little apprehensive as to what was ahead...
The track up towards Beacon Hill was a mixture of ice and snow, which made for an interesting descent. The summit was relatively snow free but as soon as I started to descend the other side, I was walking through snow at least ankle deep. Of course, I didn't have my walking boots on, just my running shoes, and they quickly became sodden.
Sculpture At Beacon Hill
The 'Old Man'
Highland Cattle Near The Summit
As I descended and the climbed again the snow became progressively deeper, and I ended up walking through drifts. This is incredibly tiring- one minute you are trudging along fairly happily and then all of a sudden you plunge into the white stuff up to your thigh.
As I struggled through the next few miles, I started to wonder whether it would be feasible to try to complete the whole 27 miles. It was already taking me a lot longer than I expected and fighting my way through endless banks and drifts of snow was making me feel pretty tired.
I walked past a reservoir, surprising a stoat, and climbed through snow and mud towards the kissing gate onto the road opposite Mount St Bernards Abbey. As I neared the gate I noticed a little snag...
... I had to some how get round this little lot, and then over the drifts which had completely covered the gate. As I struggled to the gate, a passing group of walkers had an incredulous chuckle over my predicament. I noticed that someone had made it over the gate without sinking in, so tried to follow their footsteps as best I could. One of the walkers whipped her camera out, saying 'I want to get a picture of you coming over the gate!'
The Gate!
Thankfully I didn't sink.
As I had a coffee whilst sheltering in the toilets at the Abbey, I decided that a change of plan was called for... I would walk through the Warren Hills and then instead of climbing to Bardon Hill I'd cut down the road to Copt Oak.
But first I had to negotiate the Warren Hills... the path started off easy enough but quickly became blocked by an endless series of huge drifts.
Some were higher than me! I dropped height towards the road and followed a path someone had made along the lower slopes, before leaving the hills for the road.
This was harrowing- although it's a country road, it's quite straight and it's surprising the number of motorists who think it's perfectly acceptable to whiz by walkers at speed and give them about 2 inches of room...
Along the crest of the road the snowploughs had obviously been at work and sheer cliffs of snow rose high above me.
Finally I made it to Copt Oak, and then to Ulverscroft Priory by fighting through more drifts, walking on snow covering slippery mud and climbing fences as most of the kissing gates where blocked by the snow.
There was less snow from now on... just oodles and oodles of wet, slippery mud instead...
The cottages at Newtown Linford were a spectacular sight, with icicles hanging from roofs and windows. I hope that the occupants of this cottage are careful coming out their front door when it starts to thaw!
I decided not to climb up to the Old John and trudged the tourist route along the road to Hallgates car park. I was feeling exhausted and my body was struggling to retain any warmth, but I still had a few miles to go. The last part of the walk was the worst- this particular track always feels endless to me, but today it was just an endless mess of water filled, slippy mud. I'm afraid my language deteriorated at this point and I had a bit of a rant to myself about how there's no pleasure in walking anywhere at the moment as everywhere is so depressingly muddy! It's true though- I reckon we need a good six month dry spell to repair the damage that's been done.
I am a bit concerned about the Three Shires Challenge next week. If the Charnwood Hills have had this much snow, The Peaks are bound to have had more- the walk goes right into the heart of the Peaks, and paths over places such as The Roaches may be rather dodgy. The good thing about the walk is that if conditions are severe I can decide to cut out the longer loop options when I reach the checkpoint at Wildboarclough and complete the shorter 20 mile option. We shall see...
Although we had a fair bit of snow last weekend, it's nearly all gone now, and so as I parked up in equally snowless Quorn and locked the car, I assumed I may see a little bit of snow but not too much... yeh right...
The first part of the route, through Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eves, was easy, if rather muddy. I stopped at the village shop in Woodhouse Eves for supplies and the climbed towards Broombriggs Farm... oh how pretty, look- there's a dusting of snow here!
The track up towards Beacon Hill was a mixture of ice and snow, which made for an interesting descent. The summit was relatively snow free but as soon as I started to descend the other side, I was walking through snow at least ankle deep. Of course, I didn't have my walking boots on, just my running shoes, and they quickly became sodden.
As I descended and the climbed again the snow became progressively deeper, and I ended up walking through drifts. This is incredibly tiring- one minute you are trudging along fairly happily and then all of a sudden you plunge into the white stuff up to your thigh.
As I struggled through the next few miles, I started to wonder whether it would be feasible to try to complete the whole 27 miles. It was already taking me a lot longer than I expected and fighting my way through endless banks and drifts of snow was making me feel pretty tired.
I walked past a reservoir, surprising a stoat, and climbed through snow and mud towards the kissing gate onto the road opposite Mount St Bernards Abbey. As I neared the gate I noticed a little snag...
Thankfully I didn't sink.
As I had a coffee whilst sheltering in the toilets at the Abbey, I decided that a change of plan was called for... I would walk through the Warren Hills and then instead of climbing to Bardon Hill I'd cut down the road to Copt Oak.
But first I had to negotiate the Warren Hills... the path started off easy enough but quickly became blocked by an endless series of huge drifts.
This was harrowing- although it's a country road, it's quite straight and it's surprising the number of motorists who think it's perfectly acceptable to whiz by walkers at speed and give them about 2 inches of room...
Along the crest of the road the snowploughs had obviously been at work and sheer cliffs of snow rose high above me.
There was less snow from now on... just oodles and oodles of wet, slippery mud instead...
The cottages at Newtown Linford were a spectacular sight, with icicles hanging from roofs and windows. I hope that the occupants of this cottage are careful coming out their front door when it starts to thaw!
I am a bit concerned about the Three Shires Challenge next week. If the Charnwood Hills have had this much snow, The Peaks are bound to have had more- the walk goes right into the heart of the Peaks, and paths over places such as The Roaches may be rather dodgy. The good thing about the walk is that if conditions are severe I can decide to cut out the longer loop options when I reach the checkpoint at Wildboarclough and complete the shorter 20 mile option. We shall see...
Monday, March 25, 2013
A 'Spring' Walk!
It's supposed to be Spring... shame nobody told the weather!! To think that this time last year it was really hot and sunny during the Charnwood Marathon... it was almost too hot to walk!
Yet this year I found myself walking through snow that was quite deep in places- here's a few pics of my walk round Holme Pierrepont and the nature reserve...
Training wise I haven't done too badly, I have got in a few hill sessions, with some long climbs which I managed to run (well, heave myself upwards in a forward motion which may have been slightly faster than walking...) I have also been doing some gym work.
I just need to find a hilly 27 mile-ish walk this week and then it's time to start tapering for the Three Shires Challenge- I just hope the weather is going to improve before then! Less mud would be a welcome improvement too...
Yet this year I found myself walking through snow that was quite deep in places- here's a few pics of my walk round Holme Pierrepont and the nature reserve...
I just need to find a hilly 27 mile-ish walk this week and then it's time to start tapering for the Three Shires Challenge- I just hope the weather is going to improve before then! Less mud would be a welcome improvement too...
Monday, March 18, 2013
Jogging On...
Well I'm still here... still training... okay not doing as much as I could as life just gets in the way sometimes and I do want a bit of a social life!
I was hoping to do the Charnwood Marathon this weekend but have a family 'do' now so will have to give it a miss- so will need to plan in a walk of equal or greater length or toughness if I am to have any chance at all of cracking the full 29 miles of the Three Shires on April 6th (Can you believe it's the middle of March already... where is the year going!?!)
I have been jogging- back up to around 5 miles which is great. And keeping up the longer walks at the weekend. Last Saturday saw me back at my old stamping ground, Bradgate Park, doing my old circuit which takes in all of the steep climbs, before going to tea at my friend's house in Loughborough.
This weekend I chose a 17 - 18 mile route I have done once before. Starting at Radcliffe-on-Trent and taking the Trent Valley way along the cliff top and river towards Shelford. It was wet and miserable when I started out, although it did improve later on. I appreciated the flask of coffee I took with me.
After Shelford there is a very muddy bridleway (two brave riders past me on rain streaked horses and we exchanged a cheery 'hi') before a steep ascent to the road.
Still following the Trent Valley Way, the route plunges downhill, past the remains of a windmill and a cross country course, before climbing again to descend through woodland to a main road.
Once across this, I entered East Bridgford and followed a 5 mile walk from John Merrill's book 'Short Walks in Nottinghamshire'. This takes in the cliff path above the River Trent and the views are excellent.
East Bridgford
The weather was looking a lot brighter, but as I started to descend towards the bridleway that would take me back to East Bridgford I encountered my old enemy. No, not cows, or even stairs, but mud. Really slidy, slippery mud.
It took me about 10 minutes to gingerly creep sideways down the hill, grabbing hold of anything that might give me some traction. When I finally reached the bridleway it wasn't much better. I can only hope that walking uphill whilst desperately trying not to slide back down again is good for the fitness!!
Views From The Cliff Top Path
It was a relief to see East Bridgford again and retrace my steps to the windmill and the road, stopping to admire a couple of riders put their mounts through their paces over the water jumps on the cross country course.
I took the bridleway past RAF Newton and its abandoned army buildings, there seems to be some kind of development taking place here but I am not sure what.
I actually managed to run along the A52, all the way back from the hamlet of Saxondale to the centre of Radcliffe, which pleased me as I had also managed some other shambling little trots between bouts of mud. I was undecided as to whether to present my mud splattered self in the local Co-op to get a few groceries but decided that the village probably needed a little entertainment...
I was hoping to do the Charnwood Marathon this weekend but have a family 'do' now so will have to give it a miss- so will need to plan in a walk of equal or greater length or toughness if I am to have any chance at all of cracking the full 29 miles of the Three Shires on April 6th (Can you believe it's the middle of March already... where is the year going!?!)
I have been jogging- back up to around 5 miles which is great. And keeping up the longer walks at the weekend. Last Saturday saw me back at my old stamping ground, Bradgate Park, doing my old circuit which takes in all of the steep climbs, before going to tea at my friend's house in Loughborough.
This weekend I chose a 17 - 18 mile route I have done once before. Starting at Radcliffe-on-Trent and taking the Trent Valley way along the cliff top and river towards Shelford. It was wet and miserable when I started out, although it did improve later on. I appreciated the flask of coffee I took with me.
After Shelford there is a very muddy bridleway (two brave riders past me on rain streaked horses and we exchanged a cheery 'hi') before a steep ascent to the road.
Still following the Trent Valley Way, the route plunges downhill, past the remains of a windmill and a cross country course, before climbing again to descend through woodland to a main road.
Once across this, I entered East Bridgford and followed a 5 mile walk from John Merrill's book 'Short Walks in Nottinghamshire'. This takes in the cliff path above the River Trent and the views are excellent.
The weather was looking a lot brighter, but as I started to descend towards the bridleway that would take me back to East Bridgford I encountered my old enemy. No, not cows, or even stairs, but mud. Really slidy, slippery mud.
It took me about 10 minutes to gingerly creep sideways down the hill, grabbing hold of anything that might give me some traction. When I finally reached the bridleway it wasn't much better. I can only hope that walking uphill whilst desperately trying not to slide back down again is good for the fitness!!
It was a relief to see East Bridgford again and retrace my steps to the windmill and the road, stopping to admire a couple of riders put their mounts through their paces over the water jumps on the cross country course.
I took the bridleway past RAF Newton and its abandoned army buildings, there seems to be some kind of development taking place here but I am not sure what.
I actually managed to run along the A52, all the way back from the hamlet of Saxondale to the centre of Radcliffe, which pleased me as I had also managed some other shambling little trots between bouts of mud. I was undecided as to whether to present my mud splattered self in the local Co-op to get a few groceries but decided that the village probably needed a little entertainment...
Monday, March 04, 2013
Event Report; The Belvoir Challenge
It's amazing how fast this year's going already! I couldn't believe it was already time for the Belvoir Challenge...
This is a local event for me, and as I noticed that there would be less parking available than usual I decided to leave the house to drive to Harby quite early to get there in plenty of time. This turned out to be a good decision, and I was able to park in a pub car park that was being used for the event, but by the time I had changed my shoes, hoisted my pack on my back, secured the car and left the car park the race marshals had already put up a 'car park full' sign and were turning people away.
Registration is at the Village Hall, and was quite manic as this is an extremely popular event- as well as the 26 mile route there is a 15 mile option which attracts the majority of people. As the event is run to raise funds for the village primary school, quite a few school kids were attempting the shorter route.
I grabbed a coffee, wandered around a bit and then joined what must have been the longest ever toilet queue for the line of porta loos in the car park. It was only after I reached the head of the queue that I heard someone say that the loos in the school were open and there were no queues at all... d'oh!
It was almost time to start- there are no route instructions as the route changes each year and is marked by signs and red and white tape. The two routes were to follow each other for around 5 miles and I hoped that we would not encounter many stiles...
Suddenly we were off to the strains of The Proclaimers 'I would walk 500 miles' (I hoped that this was a slight exaggeration of the day's challenges!) and heading towards our first muddy track. Last year saw the driest Belvoir Challenge I have ever known but I wasn't holding out hopes that this would be repeated this year...
We set off!
After walking along a track away from the village, we turned off it, across fields and heading towards the ridge of the Harby hills. We came up against a couple of stiles here- and inevitable queues- I followed a break away group who appeared to know where they were going and found a gate further down.
After a fairly steep climb we were on top of the ridge and walking along a fairly flat track to the point where the routes would split. As usual, most of the people around me were doing the 15 mile route and only a very few people were actually going my way!
After passing through Goadby Marwood we joined the Jubilee Way across fields to the first checkpoint at Scalford. Mercifully it wasn't too muddy, although it was freezing cold and grey, with the odd snow flurry- it was to stay like this all day.
I timed it just right reaching the checkpoint as someone was opening a huge tub of cheese sandwiches, so I accepted a coffee and lingered for a little while, before forcing my gloves back on and mentally shoving myself back out into the cold.
The route climbed through more fields and skirted the hamlet of Chadwell, with a great view of the Waltham Mast, one of the main radio transmitters for the East Midlands, set within rolling English countryside.
Ponds at Chadwell
The Waltham Mast
Waltham is a lovely village but we didn't have time to stop today... just passing through with a quick photo of an old converted windmill...
Then we were heading into horse racing country, walking across a huge wide green field alongside the gallops (no horses today though). Now the next part is the bane of my life when it comes to challenge walks in this area and I should have known when I saw that the half way point was to be at Croxton Kerrial... every challenge walk worth its salt seems to like to approach the village by way of a horrid track, filled with really deep ruts no doubt courtesy of motorcycle riders, completely filled with water or the most slippery mud!
THAT track!!!
Once the track has been negotiated with a lot of slipping and sliding, there is a long march around fields to the village- which you can see in the distance and which never seems to actually get any closer!
Croxton Kerrial, when I eventually reached it, was a peaceful haven... more so because I was the only walker there, and as I heard one of the helpers tell her son that they were starting to clear up now that it was 'near the end' I had a sudden panic that I wouldn't get back in time... for some reason I looked at the clock and although I had taken about four and a quarter hours to reach this point my befuddled brain told me I would run out of time...
I forced a cup of coffee and a couple of cheese and pickle sandwiches which had by now gone rather dry and curly and route marched through the village. I knew the next part of the route to Harston as it's part of the Ponton Plod so I have done it many times, so forced myself into a little jog, encouraged by the sight of people ahead.
After Harston I was rather dismayed by a long track full of slippery mud, and managed to convince myself I was feeling ill. As I slipped and slided, feeling increasingly sorry for myself, it started to snow harder and it was the lowest point of the walk for me.
It was such a relief to descend steeply into Woolsthorpe and the next checkpoint at 18 miles, I must say it was a most civilised affair as there were crackers and stilton on offer- only the best! My mood was boosted even further by the prospect of actually overtaking a couple of people.
Belvoir Castle
The next part of the route was last year's in reverse- a slow climb up towards the castle before reaching the road and picking up a track. Only this year we followed the track right to the woods. This is really open country and you can see for miles- you can see why they decided to build a fortification here!
There was a steepish climb up to the woods, well it felt steep to my legs, which by now were grumbling pretty loudly. I expected the woods to be muddy, but was quite pleased to see that quantities of pink stone had been tipped onto the track and levelled to make a dry surface.
My elation was slightly short lived though when this new surface ran out. Obviously they are intending to resurface the whole track, but until they get around to it they had dumped huge piles of stone all the way along the rest- which made for interesting walking!
I was quite surprised to see the next checkpoint, in a lay-by at Woodlane (22 miles). They were brewing coffee so I rested a while with a cup and relieved them of more delicious cake- wouldn't want them to end up with too much at the end!!
After a cheery goodbye and bolstered along with cries of 'only 4 more miles to go!' I entered the woods again- this time on a stone free but sadly not slippery mud free track. I was quite eager to get out of the woods before dark, and so slithered on as quickly as I could. The ground dropped steeply away to my right and I could see across the whole of the Vale of Belvoir, as well as what I fervently hoped was Harby.
The Woods
After lots of sliding and slithering, plus ten minutes of panic when I realised I hadn't seen any route markers for a while, I finally found my feet on the metalled road into Stathern. Now Stathern is a lovely village really but I don't really give it the appreciation it deserves as I am usually passing through in various stages of hurt and discomfort. And today was no exception.
I thought I was almost home, but there was one more sting in the tail yet... my heart sank as I found a piece of ribbon jauntily tied to a footpath sign and realised that I would have to go straight through a deep pool of glutinous, wet mud...
There was no way around it so I just had to suck it up and get on with it- I marched through, saying through clenched teeth 'you cruel b*stards!!'
Yeurgh!!
I think they took pity on us after this instead of following the usual muddy tracks into Harby the route mercifully skirted the village through comparatively dry fields. It was a relief to see the village and sink down into a chair with a coffee and bread and butter pudding... my only criticism here is that the puddings and custard are put out on a table ready for folks to help themselves, but they have often been sitting out for a while and are cold.
They were packing away as I left, and one lady begged me to take some sandwiches from a huge tub she had left. Frankly they were past their best and the edges resembled court jesters' shoes, but I dutifully took one to help her out. 'Have more' she beseeched, 'go on- take some home with you!'
My time was a fairly respectable 8 hours 31 minutes and 57 seconds, which meant that I just about had a negative split for about the first time ever. It took me nearly that long to clean my shoes the next day... As usual the cakes were superb, and I probably consumed more calories than I burnt!
This is a local event for me, and as I noticed that there would be less parking available than usual I decided to leave the house to drive to Harby quite early to get there in plenty of time. This turned out to be a good decision, and I was able to park in a pub car park that was being used for the event, but by the time I had changed my shoes, hoisted my pack on my back, secured the car and left the car park the race marshals had already put up a 'car park full' sign and were turning people away.
Registration is at the Village Hall, and was quite manic as this is an extremely popular event- as well as the 26 mile route there is a 15 mile option which attracts the majority of people. As the event is run to raise funds for the village primary school, quite a few school kids were attempting the shorter route.
I grabbed a coffee, wandered around a bit and then joined what must have been the longest ever toilet queue for the line of porta loos in the car park. It was only after I reached the head of the queue that I heard someone say that the loos in the school were open and there were no queues at all... d'oh!
It was almost time to start- there are no route instructions as the route changes each year and is marked by signs and red and white tape. The two routes were to follow each other for around 5 miles and I hoped that we would not encounter many stiles...
Suddenly we were off to the strains of The Proclaimers 'I would walk 500 miles' (I hoped that this was a slight exaggeration of the day's challenges!) and heading towards our first muddy track. Last year saw the driest Belvoir Challenge I have ever known but I wasn't holding out hopes that this would be repeated this year...
After walking along a track away from the village, we turned off it, across fields and heading towards the ridge of the Harby hills. We came up against a couple of stiles here- and inevitable queues- I followed a break away group who appeared to know where they were going and found a gate further down.
After a fairly steep climb we were on top of the ridge and walking along a fairly flat track to the point where the routes would split. As usual, most of the people around me were doing the 15 mile route and only a very few people were actually going my way!
After passing through Goadby Marwood we joined the Jubilee Way across fields to the first checkpoint at Scalford. Mercifully it wasn't too muddy, although it was freezing cold and grey, with the odd snow flurry- it was to stay like this all day.
I timed it just right reaching the checkpoint as someone was opening a huge tub of cheese sandwiches, so I accepted a coffee and lingered for a little while, before forcing my gloves back on and mentally shoving myself back out into the cold.
The route climbed through more fields and skirted the hamlet of Chadwell, with a great view of the Waltham Mast, one of the main radio transmitters for the East Midlands, set within rolling English countryside.
Waltham is a lovely village but we didn't have time to stop today... just passing through with a quick photo of an old converted windmill...
Once the track has been negotiated with a lot of slipping and sliding, there is a long march around fields to the village- which you can see in the distance and which never seems to actually get any closer!
Croxton Kerrial, when I eventually reached it, was a peaceful haven... more so because I was the only walker there, and as I heard one of the helpers tell her son that they were starting to clear up now that it was 'near the end' I had a sudden panic that I wouldn't get back in time... for some reason I looked at the clock and although I had taken about four and a quarter hours to reach this point my befuddled brain told me I would run out of time...
I forced a cup of coffee and a couple of cheese and pickle sandwiches which had by now gone rather dry and curly and route marched through the village. I knew the next part of the route to Harston as it's part of the Ponton Plod so I have done it many times, so forced myself into a little jog, encouraged by the sight of people ahead.
After Harston I was rather dismayed by a long track full of slippery mud, and managed to convince myself I was feeling ill. As I slipped and slided, feeling increasingly sorry for myself, it started to snow harder and it was the lowest point of the walk for me.
It was such a relief to descend steeply into Woolsthorpe and the next checkpoint at 18 miles, I must say it was a most civilised affair as there were crackers and stilton on offer- only the best! My mood was boosted even further by the prospect of actually overtaking a couple of people.
The next part of the route was last year's in reverse- a slow climb up towards the castle before reaching the road and picking up a track. Only this year we followed the track right to the woods. This is really open country and you can see for miles- you can see why they decided to build a fortification here!
There was a steepish climb up to the woods, well it felt steep to my legs, which by now were grumbling pretty loudly. I expected the woods to be muddy, but was quite pleased to see that quantities of pink stone had been tipped onto the track and levelled to make a dry surface.
My elation was slightly short lived though when this new surface ran out. Obviously they are intending to resurface the whole track, but until they get around to it they had dumped huge piles of stone all the way along the rest- which made for interesting walking!
I was quite surprised to see the next checkpoint, in a lay-by at Woodlane (22 miles). They were brewing coffee so I rested a while with a cup and relieved them of more delicious cake- wouldn't want them to end up with too much at the end!!
After a cheery goodbye and bolstered along with cries of 'only 4 more miles to go!' I entered the woods again- this time on a stone free but sadly not slippery mud free track. I was quite eager to get out of the woods before dark, and so slithered on as quickly as I could. The ground dropped steeply away to my right and I could see across the whole of the Vale of Belvoir, as well as what I fervently hoped was Harby.
After lots of sliding and slithering, plus ten minutes of panic when I realised I hadn't seen any route markers for a while, I finally found my feet on the metalled road into Stathern. Now Stathern is a lovely village really but I don't really give it the appreciation it deserves as I am usually passing through in various stages of hurt and discomfort. And today was no exception.
I thought I was almost home, but there was one more sting in the tail yet... my heart sank as I found a piece of ribbon jauntily tied to a footpath sign and realised that I would have to go straight through a deep pool of glutinous, wet mud...
I think they took pity on us after this instead of following the usual muddy tracks into Harby the route mercifully skirted the village through comparatively dry fields. It was a relief to see the village and sink down into a chair with a coffee and bread and butter pudding... my only criticism here is that the puddings and custard are put out on a table ready for folks to help themselves, but they have often been sitting out for a while and are cold.
They were packing away as I left, and one lady begged me to take some sandwiches from a huge tub she had left. Frankly they were past their best and the edges resembled court jesters' shoes, but I dutifully took one to help her out. 'Have more' she beseeched, 'go on- take some home with you!'
My time was a fairly respectable 8 hours 31 minutes and 57 seconds, which meant that I just about had a negative split for about the first time ever. It took me nearly that long to clean my shoes the next day... As usual the cakes were superb, and I probably consumed more calories than I burnt!
