Challenge Stu

After a successful and beautiful early-morning 3 hour outing last weekend without much more than a little niggle of the adductor pain I've been struggling with for a month or so, I decided to up the ante this weekend. Ox Stones sunrise last weekend One of the many fantastic things about Dark Peak Fell Runners is the wealth of experience in the club, so when you fancy a hilly 30-ish mile route to make your Sunday more interesting, a quick visit to the DPFR facebook page or website will give you a few options. I decided on the "Kinder Killer", a route invented by K Jones and currently marketed by Ian Winterburn. The idea is similar to another classic route, the Kinder Dozen, involving a zig-zaggy loop of Kinder Scout, alternately visiting the plateau and the surrounding valleys. There are seven climbs as opposed to the (obvs) 12 of the Dozen, but the Killer route is different and I think slightly longer overall. Ian also suggested that it's a nicer route, so I too...

It's that strange time of year around Christmas and New Year, when every day feels like a Sunday and you wonder just how much more cheese you can eat. In short, a perfect time to write a blog. And at the turning of the year, 2016 seems the obvious subject, and it's been an interesting year! There's nothing new here though, so I'll keep it brief and try to include some good photos. Please also forgive me for being selfish; this blog is already too long without mention of the amazing achievements of others in 2016, including British Champion Rhys Findlay-Robinson, Nicky Spinks' double Bob Graham round, my brother's epic Frankfurt marathon experience, and all the great achievements of my team mates at events throughout the year. Well OK, only that much mention of them. Cheers for the inspiration. Here we go then... Sunny valleys in the early season Last January I was living and working near St Martin de Belleville in the French Alps. The snow conditions ...

This post is a very brief celebration of the unexpected delights in life. Today, until I opened the fridge to get some cheese for a sandwich, I'd completely forgotten I had leftover lasagne for lunch. This completely changed my attitude to the day, from feeling sick of looking for a job, tired and grumpy about doing a hill session later, to positive and excited about both! So there we go.

Good morning friends, This moring is an exciting one - it sees the launch of my charity, Runners against Rubbish . When out running, I am often disappointed at the amount of rubbish I see discarded. Some of it is general rubbish, but some is clearly dropped by those of us out enjoying the hills (Gel tops are a classic example). In an effort to try and do something about this, I have founded RaR. We hope that runners will sign up and take our three-point pledge: 1. I will never drop any rubbish and will always take my rubbish to a bin 2. I will encourage others not to drop rubbish 3. I will pick up rubbish when I see it and am able to do so Of course, the vast majority of runners are conscientious and would never drop rubbish, so this pledge is nothing new, but it's all about raising awareness, and eventually making it so socially unacepptable that even those who currently do drop rubbish can be reached. The way we propose to do this is through the tried and tested mediu...

First some other stuff, then the Dark Peaks 30 Ultra... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 1: Other stuff. We arrived back from France about a month ago now, and via a weekend in Wales (including a fun run up and around Sugarloaf Mountain) spent the next fortnight with family in Herefordshire. After the Portes du Soleil, the Wye valley was a bit of a shock - undoubtedly beautiful, but very FLAT. Out early one morning - Bridge over the river Wye After a couple of weeks down there we moved another step closer to a final return to Sheffield, and we're now living in the village of Litton in the "White" side of the Peak District (i.e. the Limestone side, rather than the Gritstone of the Dark Peak). Returning to the Peak District has reminded me how much I do love it, and after recent events has made me feel even more proud than usual to be a member of Dark Peak Fell Runners. The club has had an incredi...

So, it's time to leave Chatel. In fact, it's time to leave the alps, and even time to leave France. Over the last few days I've frantically tried to fit in all the little bits of running I haven't quite managed to tick off yet... And I nearly did it! Two summits on my map remain unvisited, but they are relative piddlers out here (1808m and 1627m) and I'm not as annoyed as I thought I might be not to tick off the lot. It's been a fantastic season, and Friday and Saturday cemented that fact as I undertook an overnight trip up to the Refuge Dent D'Oche (via another five "ticks" on the way). The weather was pretty rubbish during the day and by the time I reached the refuge at 11pm, having started much later than planned, I was quite damp. However, the rain stopped just before the top and the view of Lac Leman and Lausanne was stunning. Unfortunately the refuge was closed - I knew it was "sans guardian" but I thought there would be a room op...

We're coming to the end of our time in the Alps now, and after the busy French school holidays in August, Chatel is now a very quiet place... Things are reaching a close: I have a tourist map on the bathroom wall with maybe 40 summits on it, about 35 of which now have ticks against them, and with a bit more time on Saturdays I was able to travel to Switzerland and race for the first time since the Trail des Cretes du Chablais . The race was the Trail de Bellevue, a 40km trail race with about 2500m of ascent. The majority of the ascent comes straight off the startline as the race climbs from the start in the village of Collombey to the summit of the Pointe de Bellevue. It was a beautiful day, and after some debate at the start about the kit requirements (basically there was no requirement, but you HAD to carry a backpack... no bumbags allowed!) we were off starting to climb. Go! Up! There were quickly a group of five of us at the front, including two brothers in full Salomon...