Smuggler's Trod 26m 2010

This turned out to be a lovely run

Up at 5.00 as it was an 8.00 start at Robin Hood's Bay. The weather was sunny, but with a bit more than a cooling breeze, but it wasn't up to a gale.

The start was across the main car park at Robin Hood's Bay and the it turned uphill pretty quickly. I decided that it wasn't runnable so I walked as quick as I could, turning round every now and then to see the lovely view south down the coast

There was a limit of 350 entrants and it looked line about 100 were runners which is a much higher proportion that I had seen at recent LDWA events. The other unusual thing was the number of checkpoints. Fifteen in total for a 26m route ! Some were self clips, others manned with no refreshments and some with lots of hot and cold drinks and lots of food . Some of the helpers at the checkpoints were dressed as pirates and lots of the signs were decorated with the skull and crossbones.

The route directions which I downloaded a while ago were pretty good so I knew where I was going most of the time. The course was also marked, so I never needed my Satmap (GPS), map or the route directions.

Great views of Whitby when we got onto the moors. Some of the paths were overgrown with heather or bracken so it wasn't always easy to see where you were putting your feet. Most of the ground was pretty dry, but on the moors there were some boggy bits

We came off the moors a few times into some lovely North Yorkshire hamlets, but then there was the inevitable climb back up again to the moors.

From about 17m to 20m it felt a long slog upwards and I thought I might have run out of steam. But once past the the high point at 20m, we descended and ran along an old railway line and I was fine there. Then there was descent into Robin Hood's Bay and the finish was the climb out of Robin Hood's Bay dodging all the tourists Some finish ! Finished in 5hr 20min 35sec

Pie and peas (again!) followed by rice pudding and peaches at the finish.