Dark Skies 2017

My tenth running event round Kielder and my first one in the dark. I was due to run this last year but I had to miss it because of injury. Last year storm Katie hit the area during the race and everybody got very wet and battered by the wind, so in the end I wasn't too disappointed to miss it.

This year the weather forecast was excellent, clear skies to see the stars and little wind.

I drove up in the afternoon after taking it very easy at Durham parkrun in the morning as the tail runner. I got there pretty early as I wanted to park at the event rather than a mile away and have to wait for shuttle buses before and after the race. I stopped to take this photo shortly before the scout camp where Race HQ was located

There was loads of people I knew at the event, clubmates, 

old work colleagues and Hardmoors runners.

I checked out where the start was 

which turned out to be right next to the main buildings. There seemed to be lots of entrants, over 300 ?

The Lakeside Way around Kielder is not quite marathon length so we were sent round the grounds of the scout camp 

before turning to do a clockwise loop of Kielder Water. Later we had a short out and cak section presumably to add ore distance. I started off very steadily as I had been having one or two issues with both my knees and my right hip. The aim was to get round without having any issues - I was lucky my body behaved itself. 

We reached the bridge over Lewis Burn fairly quickly

and the climb up the other side had the same lovely view near the top

Very soon it was getting quite dark for taking photos but I managed one last one

There was an official photographer at the viaduct

I seemed to be running quite steadily. I was walking the hills as I usually do at Kielder. I finally got my head torch out just before checkpoint 2, an hour and half after the start (the race started at 5.30). I realised I hadn't checked the fit pretty rapidly and I had to fiddle around in the dark trying to sort it. The stars started to come out slowly and I seemed to be making steady progress and passing quite a few runners. I thought that maybe I would come in under 5 hours which is what I have done on eight of the previous nine times I have run round Kielder.

We finally reached the dam and there was a little breeze in our faces here, but nothing to slow us down. It seemed noticeably colder on the south side of Kielder - I had a long sleeved base layer, tee shirt and thin gloves, capri shorts and calf guards on at this point - it was my top half which was feeling the cold. Looking at the temperature later, it must have been zero or below at this point. At about 20m, just about the start of Bull Crag, I put on my running jacket, but I couldn't get it to zip up which was frustrating, but it still had a beneficial effect and I also put on my new Inov8 mittens on top of my thin gloves. These mittens were a purchased after suffering with cold hands up on the moors at Saltburn. They worked well although it is harder to do things with mittens.

I ran as much as I could round Bull Crag, though passing fewer people. Finally I approached Leaplish which is where the October Kielder marathon finishes. I just wished I was finished at this point and I think I was a bit low at the checkpoint at Leaplish. I also knew now I wasn't going to be under 5 hours. The checkpoint staff told me there was just 1.8m to go and that helped quite a bit and I ran most of that back to the finish, past the fairy lights which had been put up to direct back to the finish.

The route had been superbly marked with flags and reflective tags and occasional signs so I am sure people who hadn't run it before should have been able to find their way. I had paid for a meal at the end and it was vegetable curry (very nice) cake and tea. I was surprised how hungry I was.

I had thought of sleeping in the car and had everything ready for that, but the shuttle bus coming and going and the cold made me think I would drive as far as I could. As it turned out, that was all the way and I got home at 1.00 am which turned rapidly into 2.00 am as the clocks went forward.

Would I do it again ? Not sure, I have a habit of stopping doing the same event more than ten times (parkruns excluded). I have run the Great North Run and the Windermere marathon ten times, but then stopped, so maybe I need a break from Kielder. Although it was good to see the stars, I think I would have preferred to run round during the day and had the views.

Finally another photo from the organisers from the start