This was entered back at the start of the year, a farewell bash to say Bon Voyage! to fellow Grantham Runnning Club club mate Paul. He likes his long off road events; better still if you can throw in some stunning scenery. The Baswell BootBash satisfied all those criteria: principally a 26 mile walk that allowed runners to run rather than walk, the event began on the grounds of Chatsworth House in the Peak District and took in an advertised 26 miles of mostly off-road fun. There was twelve of us in total, some opting to take part in the easier, but still demanding, 14 mile option.
With eight checkpoints to navigate, the onus was on competitors using their map skills to complete the course. I opted instead to use a bit of 21st century cheating: using a gpx file that someone had uploaded after the event last year to follow a black line on my Garmin Forerunner. As we lined up at the start it was evident I wasn’t the only one to use this tactic, but plenty were opting for good old fashioned paper map. Indeed my running rucksack, which was purchased especially for the event and turned out to be a very comfortable acquisition, was probably far sparser than the organisers had intended – carrying a bare minimum of spare kit and first aid essentials.
We started at 9am prompt and I found myself jogging along in second position. This event was never intended as a priority event, so I’d aimed to compete at all times at a steady/slow pace and try to enjoy the run and the scenery. Being in second place made it tempting to pick up the pace but I resisted the temptation, even when I took the lead on the first of numerous uphill drags.
I had around a 30 second lead a I took on the first lengthy descent at 3.5 miles. Halfway down the hill and my lead had evaporated and I was in third. My non existent off-road descending skills were shown to their fullest by my nearest competitors who, it transpired, were experienced local fell runners. They were also wearing the correct footwear; I’d made a late change from mine to my Nike Pegasus road shoes when told the majority of the course would not benefit overly from trail shoes. This turned out to be more or less correct but I did struggle on some of the muddier sections.
I stuck with the two fell runners through the first two checkpoints to around 11 miles. It was actually more a case of taking it in turns to take the lead – I would pull away on the uphill sections, they’d catch and pass me on the downhill, and we’d run together when there was flat terrain.
Following the second checkpoint where I tried to eat biscuits when my mouth was parched (It was a mostly cloudy day, but very muggy), the fourth placed runner appeared just as we were leaving. I was a little concerned as the two I was running with appeared to be heading in a direction my watch did not agree with, but I bowed to their local knowledge and stuck with them. A couple of miles later we began to head back towards the route I think we should have taken and on a technical descent I lost contact with them. They were just about in sight on a flat section when I tripped on one of the numerous protruding limestone rocks. A high side type of fall, my head was perilously close to taking the full brunt of a fall on rocks before the body’s survival instinct kicked in and ensured that I twisted to land on my collar bone and then elbow instead. Initially more embarrassed than hurt I picked myself up and dusted myself down, no damage done other than some cuts, and road rash on the collar bone.
I’d lost a stack of time and was not enjoying the terrain so opted to take it easy for a spell, stopping to tighten my shoe laces. Worse though was to come a couple of miles later when I came to a National Trust Car Park and took a slight wrong turn which saw me basically at a dead end with the option of running through some trees surrounded by plants. Whether I’d hit my head when falling I’m not sure, but the folly of deciding to run through this 50 meter or so long stretch was fairly instantly apparent when my legs began tingling insanely with multiple stings from what were chest high stinging nettles. Fortunately (and partly for this very reason) I was wearing my compression socks so the shins and calves were fine, but the knees and thighs were on fire. With no time to stop and lick the wounds I had a five foot high wall to scale and jump off…. Thankfully this unnecessary commando style action saw me back on the right route and with no lasting damage done (although the thighs are still stinging and scarred three days later…)
Fourteen to twenty one miles saw some of the most pleasant running – especially a section on a converted railway line which I loved as I took on some simply stunning views. It was though mostly uphill, and this meant that I was able to make gains on those ahead of me – passing the initial leader of the race on one particularly long hill. I was expecting to be repassed on the subsequent descent but he must have been tired as there was no further sight of him until I reached the finish. Unknowingly as well I’d passed the second placed runner (He was fourth but took a better route after the second checkpoint to take the lead briefly). He had slowed to a walk and wished me well as I passed.
I, conversely, was feeling good and strong. There had been a stack of climbing and descending but it was all done well within my comfort zone. There was one final sting in the tale at around 25 miles – an off road climb far too steep to consider climbing. At the final checkpoint I’d caught plenty of the 14 mile walkers, some of whom I followed on to the road, where I was taken slightly the wrong way back into Baslow – sticking to the road rather than taking a footpath. My main concerns were dehydration – causing a headache and a little disorientation – and the Garmin saying I’d covered nearly 28 miles, rather more than the advertised 26!
Into Baslow and with the finish somewhere in the village, I mentally lost it – unable to work out what the triangle and the black line on the Garmin meant in relation to making it to the finish. Finally, several minutes wasted, I worked out which road to take and I was soon at the end – 29 miles covered in 4 hours 22 minutes – a new personal distance and time spent running record. I also finished second, five minutes behind the winner, although there was no official results.
An enjoyable run in a stunning part of the world. Not enough to convert me permanently to the joys of fell running, but enough for me to want to try a similar event at some point in the future.