First outdoor climbing of the year: Stanage Plantation

The weather was finally right for an outdoor session in the peaks, and what a beautiful day it was for it. Last year we went out in February but it was bitterly cold and we got snowed on whereas this was such a gorgeous day it was easy to forget that it was still only March.

After a quick Parkrun (new PB, natch) and breakfast at The Pie Parlour Liz, Kelly and I headed out to Stanage Plantation to meet up with Ed and Kelly.  It looked as if everyone in Sheffield had also decided that it was time to hit the peaks and we were worried about finding parking, but as we pulled into the car park​ we saw Kelly who had just arrived and quickly nabbed a spot before a short walk in.

With no major ambitions for the session other than to get used to rock again we headed to the Pebble area and started getting to grips with some nice gentle problems on the back of The Business Boulder which all went fairly easily before Big Business had me defeated as I just had no confidence cranking on the big flakes. It was then on to the Bullworker and then the Crozzle Block, where I started pushing myself a bit more.

The Crozzle Slab (f5) went on-sight, but I had to really work at the Crozzle Wall which was rated at Font 6a+ so I was really pleased when I finally got it sent.  Others in the group had got more, playing at other harder and more well known problems, but I didn't have the confidence for a lot of them as I need to get my rock head on again.

We moved on to Crescent Arête which I chickened out of even trying, instead noodling around some smaller boulders nearby, when suddenly an Andy appeared.  He was running from Sheffield to Fox House and was crossing Stanage when he heard voices he recognised so dropped down to say hello.  He didn't stop long as he didn't want to drop out of the zone, but we did formulate plans to meet him at the pub later.

We were all getting tired now so packed up and walked back to the car park, driving over to the Fox House where we had got drinks in and arranged enough chairs outside when Ceri turned up to collect Andy.  As the sun dropped in the sky the temperature reminded us it was indeed only March and a rather tired looking Andy turned up.  Now huddled in all the warm clothes we nattered and relaxed, heading back to Sheffiewld as darkness fell. All in all a good day's climbing and already looking forward to the next one.

Check out my full log over at my UK Climbing logbook for the day

Peakrunners Langsett 10k Trail Run

My first foray into trail running.  I am not really sure how I got in to this - I signed up in January off the back of the Resolution Run which had an unexpected muddy uphill at a time when I had never run 10k and my target for the YEAR was to do a 10k.

My plan for this was to run with Liz, and this time actually stick to it - it was new territory for both of us.  Kelly was on the same course this time, but likely to be going much faster than us as was Andy who had joined us for this one.  On the day were we both uncertain about what faced us, Liz somewhat apprehensive about the hills and me again being annoyingly perky (hey, it's a skill!).  We somehow managed to bag the last space in the Langsett car park, and appreciated the warmth of the barn for registration and the inevitable hanging around.

And then we were off. Fairly standard gravel trails to begin with, my legs were really not ready for this but we were doing a nice steady pace and just covered the distance. After the first kilometre it started to get interesting, hit a very steep downhill where fear of (a) knackering my knees and (b) falling over and suffering severe injury meant I took it gently and slowed down.  And then it was 2.5k of uphill which was really rather hard going, some were walking but I didn't want to stop running in case I struggled to get going again - this wasn't really a problem as I was going the same speed as walkers.

Once the uphill slog had finished we were up on top of the moors, and running through glorious mud.  It was wet, it was slippery, it was sticky, it was GREAT FUN! At one point I lost my feet and ended up face to face with the stuff but picked myself up and carried on.  People fell from time to time and those around them always made sure they were ok and encouraged them to keep going, really was a fantastic atmosphere.  We eventually found a downhill stretch that wasn't muddy, but it was so rocky that you had to watch every step and couldn't really let go and fly.

At one point we passed a marshal who gave a reassuring "It's all downhill from here... Well, almost"; at the bottom where we rejoined the reservoir we discovered why he added the caveat as we ran in to the woods and while watching out for roots zigzagged uphill again before finding the road and stretching our legs a bit and getting the pace back up to sub 6:00/km. Crossing the dam was particularly refreshing before a final cruel uphill to the finish where Andy and Kelly were there to shout "encouragement".


Over the line, official result 1:15.55 (60th out of 79).  Two slices of cake and a cup of coffee while we wait for the prizegiving, then off in hunt of breakfast.  We manage a cup of coffee in Stocksbridge but are too late for lard so head off again, but not before signing up for the White Peak Trail Run in May - did I mention this was addictive?  Still needing breakfast we went to our favourite post Parkrun haunt - the wonderful Pie Parlour Sheffield to finish our recovery.


This was a really great event organised by Peakrunners, I'll be back next year and am on the lookout for other events by them - really tempted by the Dambuster 10 but I am not free that weekend.