I chose to start and finish in Ripley as the previous runners had. Felt a bit empty to start with but knew I just had to get through the first 15m to Pately Bridge as the first ‘checkpoint’ so I could resupply in the Spar with coffee, water and a banana.
Next stop was Lofthouse, where I met a friend to top up on water and food. By this point (21m in) the sun was high and was already feeling the heat. Legs felt okay but I was still running cautiously in fear of pushing too hard early on.
The next section had a lot of climbing around the reservoir in the midday sun, with a long tedious descent which took its toll on the quads.
I then met up with Imogen at Bouthwaite to run the next section together, past the lake and through the mines into Bewerley. The fresh legs and company gave me a boost but it was short lived. The fatigue soon returned and the hills around the mines were all walked instead of ran.
Another refuelling stop at Bewerley, where I left Imogen and continued alone over the moor into Summerbridge. Hot, tired, thirsty and underfuelled, this was a grim section without any wind across the tops. Pushing on to Summerbridge I was looking forwards to a change of shoes and ready to start the last stint.
Re-met Imogen in Summerbridge for some Sourpatch Kids and Lucozade. With new shoes on I felt a new lease of life, running on adrenaline alone to Birstwith, where I picked up Imogen again for the final 4m back to Ripley.
1 final hill out of Hampsthwaite then the final sprint into Ripley where I collapsed on the curb, finally able to lie down, job done!
A swift shandy in the pub garden went down amazingly, before returning to a BBQ and drinks.