21 - 22nd June was the Pennine Challenge again.  29 miles of running, 100 miles of mountain biking then another 29 miles of 'running'.  Like last year the weather was a bit grim, but unlike last year I actually managed to finish the course, taking about 33 hours in total.

The day started quite well, the first 29 mile run took about 5:15, a few light rain showers towards the end but nothing to bad.  The time was quite a bit quicker than last year and I was also feeling alot less knackered when I transitioned to my bike.

Up until then I'd been running with another duathlete, Tony, which was good for a bit of company.  I left him here, and rode off at a moderate pace expecting him to catch up soon.  Unfortunately he made a few navigation errors and I didn't see him again.  I rode on alone for the next 40 odd miles in increasingly heavy rain.  By the time I got the checkpoint that Ali was on the other remaining duathlete, Patrick, had caught me up.

By the time we got to the start of the second lap it was starting to get dark.  I tried turning my light on but nothing happed, other than some random flashing lights on the controller.  I think some water had got in during the first lap - this was going to make riding the second lap, almost entirely during the night a bit trickier.  Determined not to pull out earlier than I did last year I managed to bodge my head torch onto my helmet using some emergency cable ties that I had in my bag.  This at least allowed me to ride, if not at the sort of pace that I'd like to.  Adding to the problems were my rapidly wearing brakes.  The Peak District has a particularly abrasive mud and it wore through the pads, and the backing metal of my nearly new pads by the end of the first lap.

I plodded on round the second lap at a greatly reduced speed.  Riding at night in heavy rain, Fog, high winds with very limited braking and only a head torch isn't much fun particularly on some of the more technical trails.

Dawn was a welcome sight, along with some drier weather.  The final 'run' started at about 5:30am.  I felt good for the first 6 or so miles, running most of the downhill sections, however after that things got progressively harder.  The final 20 odd miles turned into a zombie like struggle, with the navigation become more and more difficult.  I eventually made it back to Glossop in a total of about 33 hours.

I just about managed to hobble over to Patrick to congratulate him before falling asleep in the van.  He seemes keen to do it again in an attempt to get round in under 30 hours.

I managed to record the first run and first bike lap on my GPS....

First Run: 29.0 miles, 956m of climbing

First lap of bike: 44.25 miles, 1415m of climbing

So a total of 58 miles of running, 88.5 miles of biking, 4740m of climbing, and over 16000 calories estimated to have been burnt!

More pics in the Gallery...