Here’s my perspective, as road support. It’s a bit long!
Three days before the race the weather forecast was blue sky and crisp snow. However, this subsequently changed to all-day rain/sleet, which sadly turned out to be true.
The Bongo almost failed to get us to Marsden at all, because I had not secured the coolant filler cap, and we had to stop on the rainy dark hard shoulder of the M60 to pour all the water from our water bottles into the engine. Everyone was commendably relaxed/resigned (at least outwardly) to missing the race, losing all their water, and spending the day being rescued back to Macc . . . but the Bongo got to Mardsen in the end, after another water stop at a garage. We even had a few minutes in hand to register!
The start was typical rainy Mardsen at dawn. Philip Barnes lost his gloves in the press of people, but managed to borrow a pair of thick woolly SuperSoak™ gloves guaranteed to carry his own weight in water. The order at rainy Crowden crossing, about 6 miles in, was:
• Mark Messenger/David Lawrance (chatting)
• Graham Brown (‘How far ahead are they?’ [5 min])
• Rachael Lawrance (‘Graham is just ahead isn’t he’ [Yes, 2 min])
• Richard Applewhite (‘It’s not as bad as I thought’)
• Philip Barnes (‘Arms feel heavy’)
Snake Pass was a seriously different climate from balmy Crowden. Just-above-freezing mist and drizzle, chill-to-the-bone gusts of wind, visibility less than 100 m, piles of melting snow. And this is for the difficult Bleaklow navigation. Runners emerged from the mists in dribs and drabs – very different mood from Crowden. Two races were checkpointing at Snake Pass: Marsden-to-Edale (Trigger) going South and ‘The Spine’ going North. It was Day 1 of The Spine (5-day race of the entire Pennine Way including carrying your own bivvy kit, and presumably also bivvying in it). The Spine competitors each had satellite trackers, and hot drinks at the checkpoint. The Triggers had a pat on the back and a Haribo. At first a few Triggers mistakenly thought the hot drinks were for them, and the Spine marshalls were concerned for their stock of hot water, but after the main rush (same peak time for both races, so it was busy), they became more relaxed, and several bedraggled hypothermic Triggers benefited from a bit of respite in the Spine shelter. The Harriers order at the Snake was:
• Mark Messenger/David Lawrance/Graham Brown (all together; stopped to add layers, but too late for Mark who returned 2 minutes after setting off to resign the race and sit in the Bongo)
• Richard Applewhite (Didn’t say much and probably thinking, ‘Much, much worse than I thought’. However, he wasn’t hypothermic and he carried on)
• Philip Barnes (‘I fell into a bog up to here <indicates upper chest>, I’m freezing, and I’m out’. He resigned the race and went off to sit in the Bongo)
• . . . .
• <anxiously awaiting Rachael>
• . . . .
• Rachael Lawrance emerged from the mist, with Margaret Markley (Perfectly Happy, Smiling Not hypothermic, ‘Went a bit wrong, but we’re good to go’) So off they went
I drove back to Edale with Mark and Philip and couple of others who had dropped out and needed a lift (one Pennine and one Dark Peak). The order of Harriers at the finish was:
• Graham Brown (1st Harrier
)
• David Lawrance
• Richard Applewhite
• . . . .
• No sign of Rachael
• . . . .
• The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way
• At last, amid the gathering gloom: Rachael Lawrance emerged, with Margaret Markley (Perfectly Happy, Smiling, Not hypothermic, ‘Went a bit wrong, but we’re good’)
And then we drove home in the thick mist.
by mhlewis » Wed Nov 09, 2016 10:20 am 
