Race date Sunday 9th December, report by Andy Fry
While the organised fell running Striders were battling it out in the final race of the 2018 fell championships at Litton, those of us without a pre-entry (just me then…) headed across the Pennines to Old Glossop. The Shittern Santa Saunter, if you were wondering, taking its name from Shittern Clough which is raced up to take the runners onto the moors. I did, however, only spot one Santa and not much sauntering!
The route is a fantastic 5 miles of eyeballs-out running encompassing the 3 classic sub-specialities of the sport:
- The uphilll – with a few short descents to trick you into thinking its over…
- The bog of doom – only knee deep!
- The switch-off-brain descent – hold on tight.
The race, organised by Glossopdale Harriers, is marshalled by members of Glossop Mountain Rescue (thank you marshalls) and one Clown, who was no doubt the cause of many bemused double-takes!
Race HQ is hosted by the Howard Town brewery and all the finishers are treated to homemade veggie chilli and a pint of their excellent ale. Altogether this is a top-drawer event and comes highly recommended. It’s in my diary for 2019 already!
First male over the line was Simon Bailey (Mercia) in 37:56 and the first female was Caity Rice (Ribble Valley Harriers) in a time of 44:25.
