White Bear Way

I teamed up with Maggie Slamin today to run the White Bear Way, which is a long distance walking event but quite a few people run instead of walk. There was a choice of a ten mile route or a twenty-one mile route and, of course, we chose the twenty-one miles. 

Also out today were John and Ed Swift (both running the 21 mile route), Kev Latham (running the ten mile route due to another event later in the day), Gordon Stone (who was walking the 21 mile route rather than running due to a recent injury), Ali Murray, Nick Leigh (both running 21 miles) and Derek Kay (running 10 miles). I also noticed Tammy Harrison-Round at the start but I'm unsure whether she was doing the 10 mile or the 21 mile and I didn't get a chance to say hello (sorry Tammy if you're reading this!). Michael Kay was one of the organisers of the event and I must say, it was very well organised and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The start was at Adlington Scout Hut and after a nice sit down and a natter with John, Ed and Kev it soon got to our 9.30 start time. The walkers had already set off at 8.30 for the 21 mile route and 9.00 for the 10 mile route so the 9.30 start was for all runners on both routes. 

We headed down onto the main road and then soon were running along the canal. The weather was glorious and only a few minutes in we were already feeling the heat. Maggie and I turned off the canal, at which point John, coming up behind, called to us asking whether we were sure this was the right way as there were a couple of girls in front of him who carried on straight ahead. We said it was definitely right and John followed us. Later on, we heard from a marshal that a couple of girls had gone wrong and ended up in Standish and we can't help wondering whether it was the two girls John mentioned who went straight on along the canal. Probably! 

After leaving the canal we ran through some woodland and farm fields, eventually coming out at Suzannah's in Blackrod and then running a short way along the road and then down by the side of a farmhouse. I'm glad I wasn't on my own as I would have thought I was trespassing at this point because the route went right through the garden of the farmhouse. 

We came out on the road through Blackrod, crossed over and then ran down through some fields and a small wood before crossing the train line and the motorway, eventually coming out on the main road at Anderton. We then crossed over and ran up Dryfield Lane, turning off and making our way to the first checkpoint at the car park near Rivington and Blackrod School. We didn't have any food at this one, just a quick drink and carried on on our way. The next checkpoint was only a few hundred meters away at the Castle and this was the point where the ten mile and the twenty-one mile routes split. 

We then continued along some of the paths through Rivington, crossing over Rivington Road. At this point, I was already starting to flag a little. I had done a very hard speed session two days before and raced two days before that and my legs were feeling very sore from it. My quads and calves were really tight. I stopped for a moment to retrieve a gel from my bag for some much needed energy. We then ran down the track to the back of the school and from there we ran a very short way up the concrete road (Pike Race route) before turning off on the right and heading down into Tigers Clough. Down Devil's Steps and up the other side, we then ran along the back of the Ormston's Farm and towards Wilderswood before turning left and heading up to George's Lane for the third checkpoint. I put some more suncream on here and had a quick drink and then it was off to climb the Pike. Once on top there was a nice sense that the hardest part was now over with. I'm not going to lie, I was feeling incredibly sluggish today. 

We ran down the steps side of the Pike then along to the Pigeon Tower then followed the track around to the right. As we passed the bridge on our right which takes you up the diagonal to the trig point, my Garmin beeped at me telling me it had lost satellite. I'm not sure how given that I was in the wide open with no trees or anything around. It wouldn't come back on though and so when we got to the next checkpoint at Hordern Stoops (where we had some pork pies and a drink) I turned it off completely and back on again, at which point it found satellite straight away. Stupidly, I then forgot to press start again so it wasn't until we were at the top of the 'diagonal' heading towards Higher Hempshaws that I realised and started it going again so I probably missed about three quarters of a mile in total. 

We followed the path around Higher Hempshaws which eventually leads into Lead Mines Clough where we then ran up to the Bomber Memorial and then headed over to Jepson's Gate. This is where we bumped into Gordon who was walking the twenty-one mile route. There was another checkpoint at Jepson's Gate so we stopped for a quick drink (I also had a cheese roll by which I mean like a sausage roll but with cheese, as opposed to cheese on a bread roll) before descending the road and then passing through a field and dropping down towards Anglezarke. We then came out at Waterman's Cottage where we stopped so that Maggie could ring her other half to let him know an ETA for picking us up later on. Gordon again caught up with us and we stayed together up to the cairn at Healey Nab. 

At this point, I actually got my compass out of my bag and used it! The directions told us to take a path at a 330 degree bearing so I used my compass to find out which path it was as there are a few different ways you can go from the cairn. We ran down the path and then made our way through fields to the Black Horse at Limbrick for the final checkpoint where we had another drink and some jaffa cakes. 

Not far to go now! 

We turned off the road at Cockers Farm and eventually came back down onto the canal. The directions said we were to come off the canal at bridge 70 but it seemed to take forever to get there and by now I could barely manage a shuffle. My legs just didn't want to work any more. After what seemed like a lifetime, bridge 70 appeared and we came off the canal and then headed back to the Scout Hut the same way as we had left it. 

The hotpot which greeted us at the scout hut was extremely welcome and tasted so good that I had to have a second helping! 

John was already at the scout hut when we arrived and had got there about 12 minutes before us. He left us for dust at checkpoint 1 and we didn't see him again until the end. 

What an excellent day out! I really enjoyed it, despite my lack of energy and found some good new paths which I can run on that I didn't know about before. I'll definitely do it again next year! Highly recommended. 


Total distance - 21 miles recorded but probably another 3/4 of a mile on top of that due to lost satellite. 

Also on this day... Michele Sunter completed her Joss Naylor Challenge!  Well done Michele!