shutlingsloe

Clare

Having completed the 3 Shires twice previously, the 29 mile route last year and the 22 mile route in 2011, I was back on familiar territory and in an event that was virtually on my doorstep.

As I arrived at the Community Centre, the walkers were about to set off at 8am, I was met by a cheery car park attendant, shown where to park and registered for the event in the Hall where I was offered a cup of tea. After chatting to a couple of other runners, my nerves were starting to take over, I checked and double checked my rucksack and made two trips to the loo before we called to the start. After a few brief words, we were off on this lovely spring morning, heading upwards to Gun Hill.

As the sun was shining, I’d opted to leave my softshell in the car but still carried my waterproof in my rucksack. I was wearing a long sleeve base layer from Aldi  and an old faithful Adidas technical t-shirt, Outdoor Design gloves, long Sub-4 running tights and Inov8 x-Talons.

After summiting Gun Hill, we headed across to the Roaches climbing up on to the ridge past the Don Willans Memorial Hut to the Upper Tier, Doxey Pool and the trig point to descend along the paving slabs to Checkpoint 1 at Roach End.

It was here my Sea to Summit folding cup was invaluable as no cups were provided (we were warned!), I had several cups of squash and grabbed my now traditional 5Jaffacakes. A standing joke from last year’s event with my friend Lou, who I was running with then, who guiltily said she’d eaten 2 Jaffacakes until I laughed and confessed to eating 5!

Setting off again heading down towards the Back Forest, the ground was frozen solid and very icy in places together with the remaining snow, making it treacherously slippy at times. The route then dropped down to the River Dane, a feature which we would see on a number of occasions throughout the day.

Upon crossing the Dane we headed to Gradbach Youth Hostel and onwards towards the 3 Shires Head. It was whilst heading down this old bumpy track with the sun in my eyes, I put my foot on what I thought was a rock, but in fact it was ice and took a tumble. Never mind, I picked myself back up very quickly, carried on and thought my pride was intact as nobody had seen, only to be caught up by a couple of guys a few minutes later, who asked if I was ok as that was quite a tumble!

3 Shires Head
The meeting of Cheshire, Derbyshire & Staffordshire

We crossed the 3 Shires Head, an old pack horse bridge, where the 3 counties of Staffordshire,Cheshire and Derbyshire all met then headed towards Shutlingsloe, where we had the option to climb up to the summit or head straight to Checkpoint 2. I chose to add the additional two miles and made my way up the steep but delightful climb to the summit for the impressive views where we could see for miles. As I climbed I had a couple of handfuls of trail mix (chocolate coated raisins  nuts and seeds) just to give me that extra boost of energy before dropping over the summit and down the slabby path before heading back towards the road then the slight ascent up to Checkpoint 2 at Wildboarclogh VillageHall.

On the way to Shutligsloe

On entering the Village Hall, I was greeted by LDWA members and offered a variety of lovely cakes, buttered scones and cheesy oatcakes. I (sadly) declined the oatcakes and opted for a scone, which I knew was more digestable on the run.

After a few minutes rest and rehydration, I thanked themarshallsand made my exit and set off on the Cheshire Loop.

I overtook a couple of the walkers but then had no sight of anyone else on the event for about the next 5 miles. I’d only ran this loop once previously last year and knew it was quite intricate route finding and didn’t want to make a mistake on the navigation. I nearly come a cropper when I went ankle deep in some mud and felt myself wobble backwards for a second. I shouted ‘No!’ out loud to myself and in an instant managed to regain my balance. Phew, thanks goodness for that!

The landmarks on this section were the three pubs that we passed. Firstly, the Hanging Gate, where I dreamt about the fabulous homemade bread and butter pudding consumed on a previous visit, when I’d ran part of the Gritstone Trail with a couple of friends. Secondly, the Wild Boar and then finally the Crag Inn before heading back to Wildboarclough Village Hall and Checkpoint 3.

Another scone, or was it two, and several cups of squash later, I headed back out of the village hall for the final 7 miles. The route then climbs up steadily and crosses the main road before what is normally quite a fast descent on a track heading towards Gradbach Youth Hostel again. This year, there was lots of snow which made it slow going under foot as it was starting to get quite soft but my Inov8 trainers provided plenty of grip.

After the Youth Hostel, we met with the River Dane again and ran along an adjacent  path which was ankle deep with mud in places. The route picked it way past Luds Church, a gorge in the rocks and a place of historical worship. We then headed past the Hanging Stone before dropping back down to Danebridge. As I ran past the Wincle Brewery, I started to dream about an ice cold beer! Continuing through the fish farm and catching up with the River Dane again, crossing it beside a small but impressive weir. This was where we parted company with the river. After a short, steep climb my legs were beginning to tire. I was dreading the concrete track that was coming up as  I seemed to remember it felt unrelenting as it was slightly up hill.

On this occasion, I caught a glimpse of two walkers in the distance and this motivated me. I focused on catching them up. Little did I know, that one of them was Darren, who had ran from home to meet me. He had stopped to chat to a guy as he walked the last little bit. By this point I was at 28.5 miles and had my head down and it was only when I heard ‘Come on Miss H, not far to go now!’ did I realise it was Darren. Nice surprise!

I ran past them and turned onto the final stretch of road at which point Darren caught me up. Pulling me along for the final stretch, we ran by several walkers who were on the shorter routes, to the finish.

Back at the Village Hall there was a warm welcome. A lovely spread had been laid on for the finishers, which included a variety of delicious salads, lovely bread followed by a selection of very tempting puddings. Mmm! Just what was required after running 29 miles. My time was 7 hours 20 minutes, which was a little slower than last year but I was happy with that given the underfoot conditions. A great event, which I thoroughly enjoyed and as it’s a local event, I’ll be back next year for more

3 Shires LDWA

Some Photo’s courtesy of Brian Fisher