During my first year of uni, way back in 2001/2, I was best mates with a guy called Jim. Well, I last saw Jim in 2003 for his son's christening. 7 years later Jim emailed me (after finding me via this site!) and we decided we needed to meet up again.

NOTE: As shown in the video at the top of this page, I didn't actually film any of the run which is a shame. However, I went back to the 3 Peaks by myself a couple of weeks later and ran it again, this time with my camera in my hand the whole way. Be sure to go watch the video!

At uni Jim and I had done quite a lot of running so rather than just meet up and have a few beers like you'd expect we decided to go for a run. The Yorkshire 3 Peaks seemed like a good idea. Jim drove up on Saturday evening and on Sunday 25th April 2010 we set off nice and early to Horton in Ribblesdale, the best place to start and finish the 3 Peaks.

I'd walked the route a month earlier with a couple of friends and I remember wondering if running it was such a good idea, given that it really is a tough route. During that walk I also got a nasty bubble blister on the front of my right big toe which shot a load of pain into me every time I stubbed my foot on something. Running it WAS going to be tough. But so what, Jim's a fireman and I'm partial to the odd bit of long distance running here and there so we knew we had what it would take. Our manly egos would not let us fail!!

The map below shows our route except for the red area which is where we got lost for an hour when we should have been on the red route next to it. I scanned over Google Maps for ages trying to work out where we actually went in that time but nothing seemed to match. Oh well.

I've written up a bit about the run below the map. SO READ IT IF IT INTERESTS YOU TO KNOW MORE!!

Preperation

Right, well, you don't just head off and do something like this without taking a few supplies. By coincidence the London Marathon was taking place that very day but this was going to be much tougher than that. For a start we were running at least the same distance (it turns out we did several miles more than a marathon) and we were running up and down three totally seperate peaks. We were also self-sufficient; no one was going to hand out water and jelly babies to us like they do on official races, so we had to carry everything we were going to eat/drink/wear.

Then of course there's the fact that as well as being nearly all up and down the run was also on a whole range of terrain. There was grass, stone steps, loose scree, peet bog, rocks and streams as well as bridleways and roads. Running on different surfaces, many of which are not very dense, is extra tiring on the muscles and also increases the risk of injury.

Jim and I both packed about 3 litres of water, a load of bananas and some gummy sweets. I also carried chocolate bars and flapjacks (dense carbs, fat and sugar). Our bags were pretty heavy to start with, thanks to the amount of water we were carrying.

I was also wearing my new Innov-8 RocLite 315 trail running shoes that I'd bought a week earlier. I've always suffered blisters when I've done long distance in the past and I was really hoping that these trainers, combined with my twin-skin socks and a number of strategically placed plasters would reduce the amount of skin damage I usually get.

Off we go: 1st Peak - Pen-y-ghent

Setting off from the carpark at 8:45am Jim and I jogged past many other walkers setting off on the hike too. In less than 10 minutes we'd started on the hills. Running uphill, no matter how gentle the incline, takes its toll so much faster than flat running. And Pen-y-ghent is not exactly a gentle incline. It was also raining a bit and misty so we couldn't even see the peak until we were on it! It took us 40 minutes to reach the summit. On a clear day you can see Ingleborough from the top. Maybe it was just as well we couldn't see it at that moment because then we'd realise just how massive the circular route really is!

Getting Lost

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks route is pretty straightforward to remember if you've done it before. Except for one bit. When I'd walked it a month earlier we'd got stuck in some peet bogs. Well this time around I wasn't going to let that happen so I led us down a path to the side, basically covering two sides of a triangle. However, this part of the route is awkward at the best of times, with no clear pathways marked for about a mile, and today was foggy. Basically Jim and I ended up running across marshy grass for a long time, going back on ourselves a bit and not arriving on any footpaths that I could have SWORN were supposed to be there. Fortunately we came across a group of walkers who -even with their maps and compasses- were as lost as us. We then ran ahead and found more lost walkers. Eventually we hit a path and found out from a local sheep farmer that we were on the Penine Way, a mile or so from where we should have been. The mist had cleared and we were back on track, though we'd spent an hour running around in circles which was a bit of a waste of energy.

Whernside

Miles and miles and miles further we found ourselves approaching Whernside. Passing the viaduct and then the railway station we carried on alongside the river. The annoying thing about Whernside is that you can see the route very clearly from a long way off so you can see exactly how far you've got to go and how it is one constant slog uphill without any breaks. The steeper parts of the peak really started getting to me. Jim was powering ahead, jogging a bit, then walking a bit, jogging a bit then walking. I was not jogging. I could only walk those bastard steps at that point. By the time we were at the top we were in cloud. Fortunately as soon as we started jogging downhill I got my energy back. The route down gets steep and there's a million sharp rocks to slice you up if you trip.

Inglebrough

With just one peak to go we felt pretty good. However, my energy really was sapped by now and as soon as we hit the proper slopes again after the Guesthouse on the main road I realised just how far away the top of Inglebrough was. Once again, Jim was a machine whereas I felt battered. The really steep ascent on the edge of Inglebrough was absolutely killer. It felt like it went on forever! I've never felt so low on energy whilst knowing that I had so far to go. It was not a nice feeling.

Finally, after an age, we got to the top (Jim had waited for me at the level area of Inglebrough) and we sat in the shelter for a little while. I could have so easily fallen asleep up there, although that probably wouldn't have been a good idea. A couple of flapjacks and a load of water later and I felt my energy coming back a bit. We now had 5 miles of descent to get back to the car park. This was soooo much easier than everything we'd done beforehand. Obviously because it was downhill but also because we knew it was the last leg of the run. My only complaint about that last section of the route is a very misleading sign post. It says that there's 1.5 miles to go until Horton-on-Ribblesdale -raising your hopes- yet after about a mile more of running you pass another sign post saying that there's now 1.25 miles to go until Horton. Outrageous!!

Getting over the brow of the last hill and seeing Horton is a GREAT feeling. Once down in the village Jim and I sprinted the last 200 meters back to the car park and there was much high-5ing to be done. Some walkers asked us how far we'd done and were very impressed when we told them we'd just run the ENTIRE THREE PEAKS! It had taken us 6.5 hours which isn't too bad for a first attempt but I'm sure Jim could have done it in about 5 if I hadn't been slowing him down. Like I keep saying, THE MAN'S A MACHINE!

We chilled out a bit, ate some food, drank a lot of water, washed our faces to get all the encrusted salt off of them and then set off home. But we got stuck in a traffic jam somewhere and so decided to pull over down by some field gate and get an hour's sleep. It was EXACTLY what we needed!

An awesome day doing some hardcore exercise with a fantastic old-skool buddy! A GREAT SUCCESS, ME THINKS!

NOTE: As shown in the video at the top of this page, I didn't actually film any of the run which is a shame. However, I went back to the 3 Peaks by myself a couple of weeks later and ran it again, this time with my camera in my hand the whole way. Be sure to go watch the video!