Bolton Abbey Trail Run
New member Kim Brown completed the Langdale marathon earlier this year, and has since decided to look for off-road and particularly hilly races as part of his training plan. Yesterday’s Bolton Abbey Trail Running Festival caught his attention and below is his report.
The day is organised by Sue Ryder and has 5 races to choose from – 2 miles, 10K, Half Marathon, 15 miles and 20 miles. I entered the 15 mile race at the cost of £26 per runner. The races all start together from near Bolton Abbey itself (apart from the 2 mile race, which started a lot later). I was worried about this aspect beforehand, but it was fine on the day.
We all set off and headed west for the first 3.5 miles up a road towards Halton East hamlet before a long, rough climb up to the edge of Barden Moor. This is where the runners split into 10K, Half Marathon etc and all followed their respective signs. We had a lovely downhill section on the road before another rough off road section around Barden lower reservoir. The signs were ok, but sometimes it wasn’t clear which way they were pointing and I certainly hesitated a few times on approaching them. I even went the wrong way at one of them before luckily realising my mistake!
After dropping down to the river Wharfe we crossed Barden Bridge and endured a torturous climb up from the northern river bank to the woodland at the top. I was now mixed in with the half marathon runners too. A lovely undulating section through the pretty purple heather up on top of Blubberhouses Moor was a particularly enjoyable section of the race before a welcome drop down through the hamlet of Storiths and eventually over the bridge at Bolton Abbey and the finish.
To sum up the day, the race was fairly organised but could have been better. At one section a man was supposed to open a gate for me but he was sat in his Land Rover and hadn’t noticed me approaching. I climbed the gate instead and asked him which way to go and he didn’t know. I just had to guess! I climbed over around 10 gates on the course altogether! The support was non existent but that never bothers me personally. Water stops were plentiful for those who needed it and the medal was quite unusual in it being made from wood and in the shape of a running shoe. There were no prizes for anybody regardless of placing which was a real shame. I assumed this was because the money goes straight to the Sue Ryder Charity.
I enjoyed the race and it was perfect as part of my marathon training plan. I would certainly enter it again.
Congratulations to Kim, who had a fantastic run to win the race in 1 hour 51 minutes.