Barley is a lovely setting for a race and I signed on early on Saturday morning for the 18mile epic that covers Pendle. There are loads of checkpoints which see you transversing back and forward until you finally run back down into the village.
Its a tough race but apart from a couple of the steep climbs it was quite runnable. The race set off very quickly and I had in my mind that I wanted to be in the first group. I wasn't and settled in just behind the leaders who flew ahead.
I settled in after the first climb in a group of four and we didn't split until after checkpoint 3. Then it was two of us together until about checkpoint 8 and then I was on my own for the final part of the race.
All was going okay until the final drop back down into Barley and then bang for no reason I fell over quite badly. After a few seconds I got up and just carried on and finished the race with a graze or two.
4th place overall which was okay but I should of had an extra Gel or something on the second to last climb as I was feeling it near the end.
This race sees you pass by Judith's Cairn ( more of that in a later post). I donned my cycling cap in respect to Judith as I passed by which was in my mind since I had thought of doing the race.
Some terrific support en route with some good friends along the way.
Not the most straightforward route on the fellracing calendar.
The knees responded quite well to antiseptic wipes and a scrubbing brush. ( Ouch)
Great organisation from Keiron Carrs of Clayton Le Moors and all his team.
If your looking for a nice long race try it.
I've seen about as many bloody knees as I can take
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