Saddleworth 10 Res Marathon, 2 Mar 2024

The Saddleworth 10 Res race is a self navigation marathon on the Saddleworth Moors, with 1200m elevation and visiting 10 reservoirs (although 9 this year due to a closed footpath). I was excited by the idea of this as I've never done a race requiring navigation before, and I'd heard the terrain is challenging with a lot of bog (which I like!).

We were out in Buxton on the Friday evening prior to the race, and the snow was already falling on the surrounding hills. I was grateful that I'd recce'd the most difficult part of the route in beautiful clear skies the weekend before, and knew the compass bearings I needed if it was claggy.

The atmosphere at the start of the race was very relaxed and they even had pre-race tea and toast on offer. We had a short 5 minute walk to the race start where we were given a briefing, mainly about a small route change due to the river being too high to cross. At this point I was excited rather than nervous, I'd really been looking forward to this. Then suddenly everyone was running and the race had begun (I didn't hear 'Go!).

The route started on roads and tracks around the first three reservoirs of Dove Stones, Yeoman Hay and Greenfield. As this part was so runnable, it unfortunately left me further back than I'd hoped, which meant I got stuck in a traffic jam going up the rocky scramble that came next. This was a shame as I definitely could've moved faster over the rocks, but it was a bottleneck with few opportunities to overtake.

The rest of the route was pretty much high moorland bog, some of which did have some tracks and slabs. The slabs made for faster running, however they were quite treacherous and icy. It was also difficult to overtake on the slabs, as if you stepped off the path you easily fell knee deep into semi-frozen peaty mud (I learned this the hard way!).

Before I knew it I was on the climb up to Black Hill. This was a long climb in white-out conditions with very few people around. I was working well with a man called Matthew though, who seemed to be a similar pace. The compass bearing I'd remembered ended up coming in very useful at the trig, as I could barely see the horizon with the white sky merging into the snowy ground. Something that can be quite disorientating. A couple of people overtook me as I was taking my bearing, however I forced myself not to just follow them. Turns out they were right, but I was happy to be sure.

The next section was the bit I'd recce'd the week prior, and I was so glad for this. It's tough underfoot and very barren. I couldn't see much at all. I knew I needed to head in a general south direction, and there was a runner ahead which gave me confidence I was correct (he kept looking at his compass so looked legit!). I got a bit excited on the descent and so sadly didn't see Matthew again after this point.

There were three manned checkpoints along route. I'd passed through the first two without stopping as I had enough food and drink in my bag and didn't want to get cold. However running into Crowden at 19ish miles, and with a big climb ahead of me, I decided I'd have a small break. It was at this point that I got competitive! Crowden check point is an out and back on the route, and as I was running down the road to enter the checkpoint, I saw two other women running back out after their visit. I dibbed, grabbed half a jam sandwich and a flapjack, and kept moving, jogging and eating simultaneously.

It took a while to catch them. I was flagging a bit on the climb up to Laddow Rocks, so just took my time and made sure I got the food down me. After the climb was another expanse of pure peat bog. Every puddle a risk of being swallowed. Here I ended up catching a fairly big group of about 10 people and we all laughed at the absurdity of the conditions. Soon enough I passed Chew Res and reached the road for a fast steep downhill to the trail towards the finish.

I seemed to have more energy than expected here and managed to pick up the pace. Annoyingly though I got complacent with the map and made a couple of wrong turns within about a mile of the finish. The second detour must have lost me a bit of time as when I got back on route a man had just overtaken me, and I saw another woman fast approaching! Something kicked in and I ran hard for the finish. No way was I being overtaken for my stupid nav error!

I came in at 8th woman out of 119. I was so pleased with this effort for my first proper big fell race. As it was held at the rugby club, upon finishing I was treated to a shower and changing rooms, which was amazing. I met some really lovely and inspiring women in the changing rooms who were talking about their Lakeland Classics, Fellsman and Old County Tops experiences. Some I'd love to achieve one day, and suddenly believed (for the first time maybe) could be possible. I then got myself a free pie with mushy peas, unlimited tea and cake, and soaked it all up.

Georgia Roberts