Getting suited and booted for the Hardmoors Trail Marathon

The other evening I checked my emails to find one from the Hardmoors Race Director, Jon Steel... basically it was a little reminder that the weather looked like a scene out of The North Face film (if you haven't seen it, watch it!). Bitterly cold with wind that would strip the paint off a Humvee. For a while I'd been thinking about what kit to take with me but it was time to consider bringing more options. It looked like a warm front was closing in on the North Yorkshire Moors but you never know... you have to expect the unexpected on the hills!
As it happened I had planned a run with Dave Taylor of Fell Running Guide, an extremely well qualified and experienced mountain guide and fell runner Dave knows the Peaks like the back of his hand. So I promptly ran about the house trying to find some Bridgedale socks that were on test and gather together the clothing and kit combination I wanted to try out... oh and the new toys... Salomon S-Lab XT Wings 5... ahem, more of that later.
I was expecting a little bit of snow and ice with strong winds and general coldness, well I was half right! Meeting Dave in Edale we started making our way up Grindsbrook Clough, I can't get enough of this trail... as you get near the top it feels more and more like a rugged alpine trail with large boulders scattered all over the place and a watery torrent tearing its way down next to the path.

The higher we got the more ice there was, although it was pretty slushy, then snow... and more snow and... hold on a minute... we started to climb up a steep snowy slope which could have easily warranted  an ice axe. Fortunately the snow was soft enough to kick steps in and we scrambled our way up. You know that feeling when you realise the shoes you left at home would have been more appropriate? Yeah... I had that. I can't knock the new XT Wings for comfort, cushioning, support and grip on the trail but in this snow? Salomon Speedcross or Spikecross would have been a much better choice. Oh well, better learnt now than on the race! Dave was wearing some Innovates which left footprints of little piranha-teeth-like stud patterns with SealSkinz socks. I over-heated fairly rapidly, an Aclima Woolnet base layer with a thin Salomon Clima Wind top under my Haglöfs Endo Jacket was being a bit too thermally efficient. It was food for thought as we ran along the Kinder Plateau trying to dodge the deep snow. Running along the top was a little like russian roulette, you would be going along quite happily then suddenly voom, a leg would be engulfed into the soft snow, a seconds pause would let you know if there was water at the bottom, which there often was and a quick struggle to get out and onto (more) solid ground.

Leggings, should have worn leggings... the calf guard/short combo was great apart from my knees were a bit chilly and getting a good battering from rocks and ice every time I fell into the soup... which was a lot. I kept my Rab Powerstretch hat on for a bit but it soon became too hot as well... oh well could be worse, could be cold! As we headed west I looked around me, it was the same in every direction, snow with tufts of grass poking out here and there, I could see how people could get lost in poor weather very quickly. Crossing streams became a fairly easy decision as our feet were already soaking, but we got better and better at avoiding the really deep parts... I say better, it still caught us out every now and then!

If you're looking at coming to the UK and taking a run in the Peak District then it's definitely worth contacting Dave via his website for a guide. As well as knowing the area well he offers a variety of training for running and racing in the terrain - including navigation, fitness kit and race recce's.
So after a well spent morning with Dave I now had a much better idea of what I was going to take for the Hardmoors Trail Marathon, watch this space for a race report, what I chose to wear and how it all went!