Race Date: Sunday 13th September 2015

Gritstone Trail Ultra 35 Miles 5,300’ of Ascent

Someone posted on Facebook, ultra in September, cheap £19, read Didsbury, near Stockport, not far 30 miles/45 mins drive, entry in. I did not read board coach at 7:00 am or think about the area, Cheshire is flat, I thought Trans Pennine Trail, not 5,300’ of ascent. Billed as a low key Ultra, you park at Didsbury, coach to Kiddsgrove and then run back. Route is a mixture of canal path, then onto a mixture of short road sections, trail, similar to Dronfield Way, heathland/Moorland and tracks. Route is fairly well marked with symbol above BUT does cross roads etc. and needed a map to get back onto the trail, one nasty turn off the Biddulph trail, which we were warned about but sign was in dip, luckly I got called back as I went running past. Three manned check points with drinks/snacks and 5 self check points. Great views over the valley, basically if you can see a hill, you will climb it. The only downside for me was serious underarm chafing, never had before and was using established clothing, recommend investing in some sudocrem.
A special mention to Simon Bayliss on his first ultra, finishing 11th.

There were 114 runners in this Ultra. The race was won by Charlie Sharpe (unattached)  in 05:12:17. First woman was Jo Miles of Macclesfield in 6.50.56.

Striders Results