Saturday 19th November 2022

The Rivelin Running Events’ Ladybower 50 race series is a well established series of races including distances of 20 miles, 35 miles and 50 miles (the actual distance of the route is 50.9 miles, 35.8 miles and 20.7 miles respectively).

The route is usually a looped circuit of the Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs. 1 x 5 mile and 1-3 x 15 mile laps depending on the race you enter. The terrain is a mixture of trail, track and a small section of country road (hardly used). Although the elevation of the route is mainly flat, there are undulations. The route is easy to follow and will be clearly marked out on the day. This year, the forestry work in the area meant that part of the road on the Western side of the reservoirs was closed. This meant that the route turned around just after Slippery Stones and returned along the Eastern side of the Howden and Derwent reservoirs. This is the last time that this event will take place, and was also Rivelin Running Club’s final event. Their support was excellent – hot tea and coffee for finishers and a fine selection of food too.

There were Striders represented at all distances. I ran the 20 mile event and was pleasantly surprised to win a bottle of wine as first MV50 home. Hannah and Tessa were first and second FV40s home in the 35 mile race and Dan was the first male finisher one the 50 mile distance. The 20 mile race was won by Daniel Pritchard in a time of 2:51:53, the 35 mile race was won by Mark Thompson in a time of 4:39:37 and the 50 mile race was won by Haley Bellerby in 7:26:39.