The Hobble.
The Howarth Hobble is a 33 mile run over the moors and
surrounding Bronte countryside. The one disadvantage (besides the 33 miles) is
that you have to set off at 8am which means a 5am start from
Uphill
and along the lanes and then down to the first checkpoint ‘
On the way up
to the summit at the fifth checkpoint the black peat got deeper and heavier - a
bit like the track over to County Pot but ‘uphill ‘. At one stage I sank up to
my knees and had to crawl out. “How much further” I thought, but at last came
the downhill run to the checkpoint with tea and orange juice, Bronte biscuits
and Mars bars - as much as you wanted.
A pleasant
well greased track then heads you down to the Todmorden
valley and a stiff climb up to Mankinholes Youth
Hostel follows. Again we munched our way through soup, cakes, biscuits, and the
drinks supplied to fortify us for the next climb up to Stoodley
Pike, a huge Victorian monument (built by public subscription!) with a stone
spiral staircase in the centre - but you would need a torch to go up it.
As we ran
down from the pike we could see a church tower on the skyline, which is where
the next checkpoint is near, the only trouble being that there is a large
valley to cross to reach it. However even more to worry about was the row of
cottages looming up along the track ahead, each having its own resident savage
dog. They were on chains but Val and I are not very brave when it comes to running
a gauntlet of seven dogs - this was the most frightening part of the run but it
quickened our pace downhill to Hebble End and the
delights of
The rain had
started again as we set off up a 1 in 3 cobbled lane, the steepness of which
gave us time to appreciate the ‘olde worlde’ village of Heptonstall. A
pleasant downhill run followed through old oak woodlands to
As we Jogged
through Hardcastle Crags Wood Val said she was
getting a little tired but we had only 10 miles to go now, mainly farm fields
and tracks with a final steep uphill to Top o’t’
Stair which was now in mist. Then a final run down to the Leeshaw reservoir with
After
checking in at the community centre, our time being 8hrs. 26mins, we hit the really muddy section —
the ladies changing room! Finally to round off a good day out another ‘tuck in’
You really can put on weight with this sort of run.
Sandra Wilkinson
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