SportsShoes Blog

The Shepherds Skyline runs from the Shepherds Rest pub on the hillside above Todmorden and is a real classic fell race - 6 and a bit miles long with an uphill start then a long run along the skyline (believe it or not) to Stoodly Pike monument. From here you drop down a steep hillside to London Road before turning and pulling right back up to the skyline and retracing your route to the finish.

I’ve done the race a few times and really enjoy it and this year I was even more motivated to run well as my lads, wife and dog all stayed to watch.

More than that, both my boys ran in the junior races before the senior race and both did brilliantly so the pressure was really on dad to perform!!

The junior races at Shepherds are fantastic - proper fell courses even for the Under 8s - which I think is superb. The looks on the faces of the kids who ran proved to me that given the chance to get muddy, wet and tired - THEY LOVE IT.

My youngest son ran in the Under 10 race which featured a long steady climb from the start followed by a sharp descent into a stream then a hands and knees scramble back up to the highest point of the course before a plunge down the hill to the finish. As an under 10 Ben had to complete the lap twice and showed real determination and commitment to come home in 4th place. He also had his friend Jack with him who raced around the course to finish a very creditable 10th place - well done to both of you!! 

Max then ran in the Under 12s race which started in the same way but then after the steep downhill they had another serious climb straight back up the moor before dropping down and looping round to the finish. Max did exceptionally well especially as he was up against the under 14s who ran the same course. His sprint finish (which he won by a nose) was superb - but what was even better was that the lad he beat came straight over and shook his hand - a true sporting gent!!

My race also went well and I felt strong all the way around finishing in 14th place out of 263 starters. Full results here http://www.todharriers.co.uk/shepherds_skyline/skylineres2009.htm

No racing next week as it’s the second weekend of my Fell & Mountain Running Coaching Course.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Andy Nicoll, Diaries & training blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.