Sunday 11th February. Let me see, which should I do: two laps of road round Exmouth in the Fulfords 5 or seventeen miles round the Sid Valley with "an obscene amount of climb" (as the entry form put it) and only half a mile of road? Some poor souls might have taken more than a millisecond to decide but not me!
Eighteen of us toed the (invisible) line outside Sidmouth Sailing Club with the waves breaking over the sea wall for a low-key visit to the four trigs around the lower Sid Valley. The first one was on Weston Cliff so along the beach, p'raps? Er, no! The waves were crashing against the cliffs so we all climbed the hill over to Salcombe Mouth. I pulled away from James (Jackson) and John (Keast) near the top, slid down the other side and ended up on the beach, despite having planned to go over the top for that stretch as well!
The beach was about 20' wide with the shingle making reasonable going so I got on with it while keeping an eye on the cliffs above. After half a mile the shingle disappeared underneath a boulder fall ('fall' as in 'come from above', probably not all that long ago!). Pausing to brace myself against the rocks whenever a wave crashed about my legs I scrambled over the rocks thinking "This is exciting!" Then I was over them and could see a nice stretch of wide beach ahead with the cliffs set reassuringly far back. But between me and that haven lay about 50m of cliffs and sea with the beach showing only when a wave rolled back just before the next came crashing in. Having come so far I was reluctant to turn round so pushed on after a particularly big wave had expended most of its energy, running ran as fast as I could (which wasn't very under those conditions!) I made it across, only being swept over and submerged once. ("Oerr!" thought I as the undertow tugged. "This is even more exciting!")
I climbed up Weston Cliff, surprisingly without seeing James and John, found the trig point in the mist and climbed on top (as is my wont when visiting climbable objects!) before heading out to Weston car park where the organiser (Nick Keast) told me I was first through. After a quick chat it was "On On!" round some donkey fields (half a K further to avoid unnecessary road) and over the main road. I was closing a gate a mile or so later when I was surprised to see James and John coming down the path. They had taken the road option instead of the donkey fields (wimps!) but it not only gave me company for the rest of the run but John knew exactly where he was going (most of the time!) so I could stop worrying about navigation and just enjoy the run.
The undergrowth was very dense as we climbed Buckton Hill so we followed some of the new paths that had been cut, zigging and zagging our way to where we thought the trig would be (and was). Then it was down into Sidbury via a field with a couple of bovines of indeterminate gender - I think they were bulls but they stood still, possibly 'cos they were stuck in the glutinous mud! After another quick chat with the organiser we made the long, soggy climb up to White Gate (this would make superb Grizzly territory) where I had my first drink, an hour and a half into the run. (I hate carrying water.)
The third trig on Harpford Common was no problem but I was glad John knew how to find the checkpoint on the old railway bridge in Harpenden Woods as it was a maze of paths. I tired on the long leg back to the coast and even had to be reminded by John to climb the trig on High Peak (not one to fall off - the checkpoint description said "Don't go too far south!" since a few metres in that direction would see you very rapidly losing height before becoming at one with the beach below!). Then we were on our way home via one last climb and Sidmouth Beach, returning to the sailing club in 2:49.
All in all, it was a cracking run complete with shower, hot pasty, coffee and cake, all for the princely sum of three quid, half the Fulfords entry fee - excellent value, methinks. Well done, Nick!