A long way to go for a 5 miler? Not in the eyes of the 5 Striders who travelled to Derbyshire for the race on Saturday. It starts with a hands on knees climb of 70m in the the first 150m of the race, before a run along the dragons back ridge south of Hayfield, taking in the peaks of Mount famine and South Head, a swoop down into Dimpus Clough, then another strenuous climb back up Mount Famine. Back on the ridge the route retraces itself back to finish at the recreation ground in Hayfield, even including 200m of road, to please everyone. Conditions were again very good, with Simon Bailey of Mercia finishing some 4 minutes clear of the next finisher in 40'33", a new record. The Striders packed well, Neil Bradley being first home, 106th in 64'26", followed by Sarah Colbert, 111th in 65'20", John Williams, 112th in 65'22" and Malcolm Savage, 141st in 71'42". Wisely, Andy decided to save himself for the more arduous outing to Lletty in the Clwydian Hills next weekend.

Our next trip to this excellent series of fell races from Hayfield will be on Sunday 13th June for the Kinder Trog (16m/3490').

The Midsummer Madness weekend in Hebden Bridge follows (18th - 20th June), which is an ideal introduction to fell running for anyone interested. There is some info on the notice board as well as on the chat board, and it would be good to take some newcomers along (accommodation has been booked).

This is closely followed by the Orion Fell race on Friday 25th June.