Three Rings of Shap: Ring Three - Great Asby

After earlier in the day wondering whether or not I'd be able to keep my motivation going after the First Two Rings, I'm now leaving to set off on the third one, which makes me feel like I can do this. There's only about thirty to thirty five kilometres left in this beast, and the hardest part of the entire day was always going to be setting off again after the Second Ring, and here we are doing exactly that.

Despite how I was feeling earlier, being absolutely exhausted and struggling with the pace, taking a break, having some dinner and just recharging the batteries has worked wonders. I'm sure I'll have another crash before the end of the day, but the main thing is that the end of the day is now in sight, albeit very, very far away.

The fact that the three of us have left still as a team has also mentally helped hugely, meaning that stopping and sitting down left me at no point contemplating whether or not to bother. Sally mentioned she's keen to take this section quite slow, which I'm keen to do as well to make sure I can pace evenly and get there without too much drama.

We set off this time heading south along the road then turning off East again. As both the other guys have done this before and Sally also did a recent recce of the later section of this Ring, we're unlikely to struggle with the navigation, though we're all still being vigilant in case of any changes.

The first section is quite simple as it's also an out and back to the beginning of a loop, so the guys have both done it in each direction already. We reach a railway footbridge, just further south than the earlier crossing on Ring Two, and then follow a few fields along to reach the motorway bridge, with some intensely solid gates, again the next one south from the earlier crossing.

Like the beginning of Ring Two there is again a fair few field crossings and just a steady uphill over a million or gradient to get over the other side of some downs.

Basically we're aiming for a couple of trees and when we get past there it's a bit flatter around uneven ground. When around the other side of that we drop down a short and sharp incline to a quarry access road which we promptly cross, with the gaping yaw of industry directly to our left opening up the countryside.

Now that we've been going again for a short while I can start to feel some blisters that I hadn't really noticed before. I had been debating whether to swap shoes at the last checkpoint, but decided not to for a few reasons. Firstly I couldn't be bothered, always a stupid thought process. Secondly, the shoes I would have swapped into are my Skechers GoRun Ultra, which are lovely and squidgily comfortable, but huge and terrible for proprioception, so worried me a little on the uneven ground, particularly with night approaching. Thirdly, if I get them wet it'll be a grim bus ride home as I've no more pairs.

Now, however, I can feel some good blisters forming and wonder how well I'm going to cope with the Inov8 Race Ultra 290's, which I love but haven't tested any longer than I've just done today. The pace is high, though, so there's not much for it other than to ignore the issue and press on as, so far, I don't want to have to stop all of us to fix the situation.

We soon arrive at a small village call Oddendale. The guys point down the opposite road and tell me this is where we'll appear back from in a few hours. Past that it's a kilometre or so along a dirt road next to some woods across very open land. It's still relatively flat so we keep pressing on. The next couple of kilometres disappear easily like this, though Sally is starting to flag a little, not having been able to eat at all for a while.

The directions say this section is quite hard to navigate in poor visibility, however as it's broad daylight still, and we have our GPS telling us exactly where we need to be, it's pretty easy for us. That said, without those factors it would be pretty tough as there aren't really very many easily distinguished features around.

We reach the corner of a wood then there is a fairly sharp uphill section. Although it's brief, I catch my shoe on a rock, which jars my blisters and makes me yelp. The others check on me, but I tell them I'm fine and hobble on up the hill.

The path winds its way around and at this point I'm getting a little confused by the directions, though the guys ahead are making sense of it so I'm not too worried. We head downhill for a while to cross the river again then a steady climb back up again. Most of this leg so far has been easily but steadily uphill, so I'm looking forward to when the tides turn.

There's quite a long section here of just following a wall around for a kilometre or so, apparently past Robin Hood's grave, though I'll be damned if I have  clue which ditch he supposedly is in. We just press on and carry on just slogging out the miles for half an hour or so here. It's a little bit mind numbing for a while here, but it gets a good four kilometres or so in the bag.

We reach a road, the first actual anything that we can use as a bit of a landmark to get bearings. The route description says we are to cross over and go around the side of a plantation. Both the guys just followed along on the road here the last time they did it. I'm not terribly bothered, but generally keener to follow the correct route during an event wherever possible.

We all sort of stare at each other for a few seconds then just head off the road towards the plantation. We stop to walk as Sally is eating some Babybells. Adam hasn't noticed and is heading a bit ahead and I'm sort of in the middle not straying too far from either of them. Adam notices and slows down and we regroup a bit, Sally saying we should keep running and Adam unsure whether to go or not as she is still eating.

We reach the plantation and do get running again, then when we come around the other side of it, we see a pair of runners coming up the road we were debating whether or not to go down. Oh well, it was a nicer view this way. We slowly make our way up to rejoin the road at an intersection and the two guys are just ahead of us when we reach it.

We take a right turn up a fairly steep hill. Along the way, two more people come past us. We haven't seen anyone for hours and now we see two groups of people at the same time, bizarre. There's small talk as they pass and not too long after we're reaching the top of Beacon Hill. There's a monument here of a cross, something to do with a Jubilee, though I'm unsure what. Adam points out that those two people took the road option as well.

Beacon Hill

Sally calls out as we're cresting the hill she thinks we should go on without her. I don't really know what to say as I'm really keen not to drop her, or any of us if possible at this point. At the same time, it can be hard feeling rough and sometimes people just want a bit of space on these things and I don't want to overcrowd or force anyone to run with us if they're not keen to.

Adam and I look at each other, unsure what to say, then just feebly ask what she means, pretending we don't know. We slow down to a walk and just don't say anything, which seems the best option. I guess sometimes people don't need you to say awesome things to make you feel better, they just need to stick by so that's what we do. Sally picks up again and starts running again down the other side of the hill and we all just carry on, leaving it at that. We've all been there, no harm in it.

We then head down through some fields until we reach the Great Asby nature reserve. We go through a fence telling us when we have reached the entrance and it's a steady downhill section here. As an unspoken thing, we all just cane it right down this. Total focus is going on here, it's a nice little area, with good views down the valley, but keeping a good pace like this steadily for a long time takes some real mental focus so none of us talk we just run. Adam does point out a white spot in the distance on the next hill and says he thinks that will be the checkpoint.

We head through the gate at the bottom of the reserve and carry on running straight down the path and then a straight lane soon enough joining a road. It's still slightly downhill so we just keep on running, though I mention now that it's quite a fair long section we've just moved down. We all agree, it's good to open the legs up and remind them what pace is like. It's so easy to forget this late in the day.

There is a bit more of a dip then a climb back up to the checkpoint. The two other guys who passed us are just leaving as we arrive. It’s just a tent set up in a field, but is perfectly suited to what we need at this point of the day. I'm pretty shattered after the speedy descent so I quickly fill my bottles, grab a cheesy fruit loaf thing and take a seat to catch my breath.

Adam looks keen to push straight on, but I think both Sally and I need a little rest. We chat a bit to the volunteers, who are beyond chirpy, which is a nice pick me up to remember that it's actually a nice, fun thing we're doing, though it may seem easy to feel miserable.

After a few minutes we leave again, mentioning we'll need head torches out in the not too distant future. Just as we leave, Sally stops and has to be sick again. We move a little further along to give her a bit of space. We're worried she may want to drop at this point, being at a checkpoint, but it's the last one and we definitely don't want to leave anyone behind now so close to the end, so we just wait.

She comes round and we start walking again and I mention how well I think she's doing to slug it out. I'm not sure if it helps or not, but it's some seriously impressive, fierce determination I'm witnessing right here. The next part is another fourteen hundred metres along the same road, staying mostly flat, so we just ease back into it after having stopped.

My blisters are really starting to hurt at this point, I can feel them spreading all over, especially after the fast downhill section. It's generally fine if I follow the normal step pattern, but if I slip or put too much pressure on a side that doesn't normally get it, I can start to feel them like fire. I just have to keep ignoring them and hoping they won't hurt too much before I can sort it out at the end.

We go down off the road briefly to pick up another one and follow that along for another kilometre or so going steadily up. We walk it, then leave the road again to drop down a small hill. When we get to the bottom we realise we were supposed to be in the next field. Bugger. There is some dodgy barbed wire fencing between us and where we need to be. We creakily mange to wobble over and jump down to the rock pool at the bottom where we were supposed to be and climb up to the correct stile which is quite a slippery little mission from this angle. Particularly slippery for me with my dodgy blisters, but we get over the stile and continue climbing.

Next up we have bout a kilometre of confusingness. I can't quite work out exactly which direction we're supposed to go from the directions as I can't pick exactly which instruction we're up to. My watch is showing me easily and the other two are moving confidently in the right direction but all the same I always find it a little unnerving not knowing where I am on the page.

The terrain here is extremely uneven. It's not particularly technical, just uneven and that's always even harder to see in dusk. I start to fall back behind the other guys as my blisters are getting shredded and it's absolutely agony. I try to keep as quick a pace as possible to keep up with them but I see them slowly getting that little bit ahead of me. When I finally see Gaythorne Hall ahead and can tell that the punishment my feet are getting is about to end I breath an audible sigh of relief.

We exit the fields and onto the even farm road into the property. It's a grand old building, with some outhouses. It looks like it's been kept well too and when we leave the other side, trying not to make too much noise, we find an immaculate dirt road winding up the adjacent hillside to the main road above. Just as we set off down here, Sally stops again so we go a bit further up to the gate to give her a bit of privacy.

Sally arrives back after two or three minutes and she's having a bit of a bad patch mentally, saying she's finding it really tough. Bloody fair enough if you ask me, in all honesty I may well have given up some time ago feeling that way, but she's still doggedly pushing on. The end is in sight now...

Again it's a steady walk up the hill to the main road, on the perfect farm road completely even and an exact gradient, for which I'm extremely thankful. We reach the top and the main road and turn right to follow it up a little higher for a few hundred metres.

When we get to the highest point in the road, we leave it and get the head torches out as the guys tell me this next section is a fast downhill. Once we're all set, we start running down. I have no idea where we are and can't really see anything, but they tell me this bit is pretty much just a massive straight downhill, so I put my directions away and just follow them, hoping to keep up.

Sally has taken the lead now, so after purging all day seems to have picked up a hell of a lot and again it's my turn to struggle. There's about two kilometres just straight down on a path and then on an asphalt road. Again, this is an unspoken section as we all just get down to business.

We come up on the two guys we saw earlier pass us on the road as we were on the trail. They've stopped to check the map and look confused as we whizz past and I again silently thank the fact that I've not only been able to keep up with these two, struggling or no, but that I've also the good fortune that the two I managed to make friends with both know the route really well.

About a hundred metres later I'm even more pleased as I see Sally take a small diversion that looks like someone's driveway off the road.  On my own, as may well have found that with my watch, but the fact that I'm with these two who just knew to go down there without the map gives me massive peace of mind.

A couple more turns later and we're on the road into Crosby Ravensworth, a small quaint town at the apex of this valley. Well, it seems quaint, it's a little hard to tell as it's now completely dark.

We make our way through the village, cross the river then back out the other side. Next up is the long climb the guys have been telling me about all day, saying that it's really boring. I'm not too daunted by it as we can walk so it's an easier pace, but that said, our walking pace today has still been pretty solid.

It's a lengthy section straight up the road out of the town. About a kilometre and a half later is a couple of houses, the end of the road and the start of the final thirteen hundred metre climb back to Oddendale at the top.

We're so near the end, but it's still quite exhausting and we just slog it out. We make the odd bit of chat, but mostly just press on. Nearer the top we go through some fields as well and it's nice to get a bit more of a break visually.

Finally, we reach Oddendale and the top, then make our way back to the quarry access road and over it. I'm falling behind a little bit again here and see both of them looking strong getting that little bit ahead of me and again wonder if I should drop off the back to let them finish strong.

But instead, I just keep at it and hope for the best. We're getting to the very top of this section now and start heading down the other side, but look to be going a bit off course. I ask the guys if they don't think we should be down below the high section we're on now, but they seem certain we're right, though quickly change their mind and we scramble down to the path a little lower down. We then run along back towards the motorway bridge, passing three walkers just setting out for Ring Three as we go past, and we all smile and say hello. Those are some pretty solid people still cracking on at this time.

We get down to the motorway bridge and cross over, the well sprung gates that little better sprung this time around. We move down the hill across three fields with the lights of Shap directly in front of us.

At the bottom we move along to the rail bridge then down the narrow lane back to the main road, where we up the pace and shoot down the road back to the Memorial Hall, Neil's joviality, a warm shower, food and sleep.

What a journey. My third time doing the distance, but my first hundred kilometre finish and it feels satisfying. We finished just over sixteen hours and I clocked an extra six kilometres. I seriously don't think I would have done anywhere near as well if it weren't for the Adam and Sally pushing me along through those so massive thanks to them, not to mention the fact they're great people so a pleasure to run with.

The event was amazing. Very cheap, perfect organisation that catered to all those tiny things most don't and really add up, lovely food and people not to mention the great varied course. It may be hard to get to, but I may well be back here next year for another crack.

Tracking is here.

Three Rings Of Shap: Ring Two - Lyvennet, Leith and Lowther

With Ring One done, it feels like things are properly under way, but as I often have issues with stomach problems on events, I've planned ahead this time, so leave the Memorial Hall with a six inch Subway in one hand and the route description in the other.

I'm not intending to run whilst eating something like this, but didn't want to just sty seated so decided to walk the first bit while eating. This time out off the hall I turn right up the main road. I get immediately confused as the instructions tell me to go behind the hall, which doesn't look an option at first until I find the path to the playground at the back.

I get to the far end and climb over a stile and turn left down a lane to a gate onto a road. I carry on a few steps up the road then realise the lane in the instructions was the one I was just on not the one I'm now at so double back and turn down the farm road. This starts going back toward Shap and just doesn't feel right so I double back yet again to realise the correct turning was the fourth exit at this small intersection, the only one I haven't taken yet. I head up it and take an immediate right turn, satisfied I'm now on the correct route. I need to focus more on where I'm going than how damn tasty this sandwich is.

The path reaches a rail bridge, which I get over to take an immediate turn down the dirt road where the next instruction is an immediate turn right. There are two possibilities, the first of which looks decidedly private so I head over to the next, but that doesn't look like an actual path, so I double back and go up the muddy driveway to find a sign pointing me in the right direction.

There's a muddy and slightly uphill section here down a very narrow path with overhanging branches and leaves so I have to be quite careful not to slip over. I reach a squeeze stile at the far end and find myself in a narrow field. It broadens and the description says to bear half left up the now massive field past a pylon. I head diagonally up the field but the pylon is behind and to my right so I'm starting to get confused. I get to the edge of the field and just don't feel right so I get out my phone to take a GPS positioning and see another runner coming up behind me.

I wonder if she's just following me and I've gone completely wrong, but when she arrives she points ahead in the direction I was going and tells me it's the right way, she did the event last year. I then realise the pylon referred to, is the one at the far end of the field so no wonder I was getting confused.

We start chatting about the day and she tells me that the last time she did this it was for her birthday and went to the pub the night before, finishing in seventeen hours. I commend her on an effort like that as I'm pretty damn certain there's no way in hell I'd run a hundred kilometres on a hangover.

We cross over another field, this time bearing right and slightly down, to cross the motorway over a massive footbridge. We carry on roughly in the same direction for a while, chatting away and it's nice to have some company again after a relatively longer stretch on my own, as nice as that was. I find running with other people also helps keep me a lot more motivated and keeps my pace that bit higher so it's a win/win situation so long as the other person can put up with my drivel.

We pass through Hardendale, not a town just a farm and carry on over more fields. I'm telling her about the cocky people last night making all the noise, then lo and behold the guy comes along passing us. I wait until he's out of earshot before pointing out that this was the guy I was just saying about. He's going at a quicker pace and I’m happy to let him go and keep chatting at a casual pace.

We're going over a very large area of open land now, heading towards a road in the distance and woods beyond. It's quite a striking image seeing the trees ahead all perfectly lined up behind the road like soldiers awaiting a battle in the middle ages.

Rock pools on Ring One

We get closer until we're crossing the road and looking for the path. As someone else was ahead, we've aimed for the correct part of the woods and find the signpost with no issue and make our way up a small rise with the canopy towering above.

We reach the edge of the woods and are back on open land, with the route description mentioning a large quarry lake. I look around and can see nothing. Weird, you would think that would definitely be something I'd notice, but I can't for the life of me see it. Then as we get a bit further along and can see past the edge of the wood, there it appears, most certainly massive, just hidden by the woods. Confusion over.

We turn left down a very long and very straight dirt road and just keep the pace ticking over steadily. The sun is now out and it definitely feels quite warm. Quite a change from the clag earlier on Branstree and I'm certainly not complaining.

Again, there is a wood looming ahead and as we approach the corner we're caught by someone else who chats to us briefly as we turn off into the woods. It's a slightly downhill section here through the wood, bursting out onto open land again.

Heading towards Truss Gap on Ring One

We're going down the left hand side of a field here and I notice another herd of cows to our right. There's about twenty of them all bunched together, and this time they don't look quite as docile. I think I'm the only one of us who's noticed and I don't want to cause alarm, but these bastards look like they want to know what we're up to.

One takes a few steps forward, jostling others, and I can see this is potentially about to get ugly. It's a barbed wire fence to our left, though there is a tree stump we can use to easily fly over it. I point the cows out to Sally, who's as scared of them as I am it seems and we make a break for the stump just as the entire herd starts charging at speed.

I reach the stump first and am just about to jump over when I notice the herd break and move towards the fence further along from where we are. I stop on top of the stump, hoping it's not as urgent as I thought and that we can get over it carefully rather than risk cutting ourselves on the barbed wire.

They continue on that same trajectory and the one at the front doesn't slow quickly enough and collapses into the fence, while the others stop up just in front of it. So it turns out they were just inquisitive, but it's still bloody scary when you see twenty cows hurtling towards you so we still clamber over the fence.

Just behind us is another guy in an orange shirt who casually plods along to the end of the field as intended in the route to go over a stile then over to this side a few metres later. We're stood there working out where to go, having lost our place on the page and when we work out we're to go down towards the farmhouse ahead, the guy has caught up to us and we all joke about the cows and what has just happened as we all set off together.

There's another field with yet more cows and after the last little bit I'm wary, though the new guy is quite confident they're just inquisitive. As we make our way through one starts at me though and I fly over the barbed wire fence next to me quicker than you can say 'Bessie the Bastard Cow', and carry on the other side of the fence for a bit until I feel confident I can jump back over and rejoin the other two.

The herd still continue to run around the field coming towards us, but do seem to be just playful. Still, I'm pretty damn pleased to reach the other side and get the hell out of here.

We carry on back up the other side of the low valley towards the main farmhouse at Reagill, following the dirt road which confuses both of the team, who both have done this before with it having gone through the woods rather than the road.

When we get to the couple of houses at Reagill, we take a right turn to go across more fields that then take us into a wood. This one is a little different, however, as it's recently been felled, meaning there's not an easily visible path. We jump over a ditch to get into the brush and are forced into a walk as it's quite hard to get any sure footing with all the dried bracken underfoot.

We've no easy way of knowing exactly where to go, other than forwards so we just push on in that direction. The guy from earlier arrives from our left to join us, having gone further that way looking for a path.

We do find a post, but there's no path around it so we just continue along, stepping over the logs and trying not to get too many scratches from the bracken or twist an ankle in the many hidden potholes.

A few minutes later we do make it to the road and we're all quite relieved when we do. It was quite a short section of only a few hundred metres, but quite hard going so it's nice to have a road underneath us again.

We head down towards a T-junction and can see the loud guy ahead again looking lost. The route description very clearly states a right turn here, but he must be looking a step behind at the left turn out of the felled wood as that's the way he goes. He's too far ahead for us to shout him back so we just have to watch him go with pity. We get there and turn right.

It's a nice little windy downhill part here past a farm and down to cross the River Lyvenett and follow it along for a kilometre or so to the next road. We're still chatting away, but now that there is three of us there's not really any slackness, we just all keep going at a steady pace.

We reach a stile and on the other side find the next drinks station. It's definitely a fine candidate to represent the phrase 'does what it says on the tin' as there is quite literally two tubs of water and a tin of biscuits.

We stop to fill up and watch the river pass by just below us and as we do Mr Loudandlost arrives, sheepishly mentioning his wrong turn. We set off up the farm road and leave him to it.

We carry on snaking around farmland crossing various footbridges and getting confused as to which ones we cross and which ones we don't, but it breaks the next while up into little sections.

As we reach a more substantial bridge over a road, we're caught and passed once more. Once more he continues along the road and completely misses the sharp left turn after the bridge. This time we are close enough to shout him back and joke to ourselves that he should just stay with us since he seems so utterly devoid of navigational skills. It'd certainly save him a few kilometres of getting lost at this rate.  He passes us yet again a few hundred metres later.

We go through a grassy area again still following the river and there are a couple of sections where the path barely exists and we need to nearly jump in the river to get around. There are also a whole mass of tree roots just waiting to trip us up, though we all get through without issue, passing what Adam points out is a well-known local climbing spot called Jackdaws Scar.

Next u we leave the river and wind our way up to the town of Morland, the first place we've seen in a while with more than one or two houses. This town actually has its own old church, which we promptly make our way to and enter, skirting around the side of the churchyard.

We now follow along Morland Beck, a small stream leading us back out of the village for a while. We're not chatting quite as much now, but as this second Ring is the flattest, we all seem quite content to be continuing on steadily with the odd but of conversation thrown in. As earlier, it suits me fine keeping me motivated and helping me not get daunted by what still lies ahead.

We manage to make our way down to another town called Cliburn, where the team are both fairly sure we should cross the bridge over the River Leith, which we've enough arrived at, but the route description and all the maps and GPS suggest we need to actually turn left down the road, which we do.

We follow the road for a bit before crossing to a path and scanning the horizon for the black barn that is our next landmark. We then see it ahead and know we're definitely going the right way. It's a steady dirt road up to it, which makes it take that bit longer as you can see just how slowly it's approaching from ahead of you.

We get there, though, and Adam tells us that the first time he came up for this event that was where the checkpoint was. It looks pretty similar to the one earlier at Truss Gap, and a good place for a checkpoint so long as there's no rain as it's quite open.

There are some nice views over the open fields around us and with the sun out and a nice breeze coming through, it's absolutely lovely. We go over another path and past a barley field, then join a minor road taking us to a major one.

This is quite a lengthy road stretch, at first downhill to the main road which is great, then flat and finally uphill on the main road. The whole section takes in about two kilometres, but as it's not too bad we all just stick our heads down and plod on, only stopping to walk up the hill into Great Strickland and the Strickland Arms, bringing us to halfway around the whole course.

We stop, fill up and use the toilet etc. then I notice some of that awesomeness cheesy fruit loaf sandwich and have to grab some more. After we're all sorted we don't dally anymore, than the volunteers and just carry on, however Sally mentions she's starting to feel a bit sick from eating a bit here, so we just take a slow walk out of the checkpoint rather than bossing it down.

It's another fairly lengthy section downhill on the main road, though this time down the other side of the town of course. It takes us right down and over the River Leith this time. Finally, after this there is a turn across more fields and over the motorway footbridge into Hackthorpe and out the other side.

We pass a pub, then take a turn up a little walled lane between two houses. I notice a bin and finally get rid of my Subway wrapper as we head up the lane into a field and head along what looks like the correct path winding around, though we're not entirely convinced until we reach the far corner and find the stile. We go uphill on another farm lane before reaching the top of the hill and getting treated to a nice view over Lowther Park with a quite well contained deer park on the side.

Up ahead I see Mr Loudandlost and wonder why he's now going so much slower. Must be having a down patch. We're feeling quite alright at this point so run down the hill to pass him and dodge the potholes dug up around for what looks like a thriving farm or park or something.

We hit the road and turn the turning. It's a flat section here for a few hundred metres until another turning following more woods and we just spend the next few hundred metres going around the side of various woods.

Mr Loudandlost joins us for a bit and starts chatting about how he's having a really rough patch and is thinking he'll give up after this Ring. I mention he should just think about it at the end as he may pick up, but he says he hasn't yet recovered from the West Highland Way ninety six mile race, where he came second of fourteen people two weeks ago and I say it's fair enough he's thinking of calling it a day and fair play for even coming today. [I later looked up the race and found out that it wasn't on for two weeks after Shap, so this was all a bizarre lie making him even weirder!]

We turn off a road into quite a high crop. It's up to a bit above our waists and there are various paths through it to confuse us as to which one to go down, but we eventually just pick one, go for it and search for a gate at the far side. We're still confused once we make it through the gate as to which gate and side of the field we should next be heading to and the watch doesn't help as it can't show what side of the fence to be on.

We just head in the rough direction and take the gate until we end up through a fence and heading down into the woods that we're supposed to be in.

After a huge lengthy section of fields it's quite a change to be back in a quaint wood, with a little path snaking downhill to the turn and head back up the other side.

At the top, just before the gate out of the woods, is a wooden structure that basically the shape of a low and wide doorframe. I point it out wondering what the hell it is. No matter where you go there always seems to be something ransom that makes no sense and has cost someone their time and money to put there. Baffling.

We cross through some flattish fields with paths that seem to wend around rather than go direct. There’s one fence just under a massive tree with two gates and a double fence line. I'm not sure why, but am guessing there must be some agricultural reason as I've seen the same before elsewhere.

We then arrive at a dirt road and take that down to the farm at High Knipe, where someone is parking a massive tractor. Heading further down, running at a good pace as it's downhill we find another of the same tractors mowing the lawns at the side of the road. So it's basically a lawnmower the size of most people's bedrooms.

We go past it, and I look around as the view is pretty here of more landscape dotted with hills, crops, woods and livestock and then at the bottom of the road we find a concrete platform with the checkpoint being a dibber tied to a post behind it and more water tubs. We stop a second so the others can fill up.

We're now sixty kilometres through and I can definitely feel it. As we've been going at quite a pace for the last while I'm starting to feel a bit shattered. I sit down for thirty seconds just to catch my breath and get a gel in to try to recover some energy, but I'm not too sure how much longer I'll be able to go at this rate if I want to make sure to save some energy for Ring Three.

I don't say anything though and we're quickly on our way again further down the hill, now having left the road and back on open land. Ahead there is a suspension bridge which looks mighty fun and luckily for me we head straight on down to it to cross, now back at the Lowther River. It's great fun bouncing along it and on the other side we take a left turn to follow along the river.

The directions here just say to carry on for twelve hundred metres. It's nice and flat, not to mention picturesque along the riverbank, but having put the instructions away and the fact that we're really churning along and not chatting at all anymore means my head starts to wander and wonder if I should drop back. It's great running with others, but I have to also make sure to listen to my body. After weighing it all up, though, I figure the end of this Ring is less than ten kilometres away so I'm going to stick with it and see how I feel then.

We reach a road, cross the bridge.to the other side of the river into Bampton Grange. There's a few donkeys in the next field so I take a couple of photos then we go down to the main road, past the pub to go down another path and have another fifteen hundred metre plod along this side of the river.

I'm not feeling quite as demoralised, knowing that it's not too far until I can rest and just putting the downcast thoughts out of my head. I take another gel as well to try to stave of the fatigue until I can get some real food back at Shap.

We cross a road then do some more field crossing. It's a little confusing though as we know we're aiming roughly in a certain direction, but as the squeeze stiles are so narrow and part of the fence it's hard to see them until you're pretty much on top of them. It means the ones when it's dark are going to be nice and hard to find.

We wiggle through another one and find ourselves back at Rosgill, which we approached from below earlier. We head down the hill to the same house and again go around the back of the garden to the fields leading on to Shap Abbey.

This time we head up rather than across and the route description starts to get a little interesting, saying the next two and a half kilometres are basically just crossing fields and giving compass bearings to know which direction to head in. There are also helpful hints like 'aim for the tree stump'.

It sounds complicated, but even the least helpful descriptions with the LDWA are superb and we don't struggle to find the right corner on any of them. We do come to another herd of cows, in a narrow field that I'm not particularly keen to go through. Just as I think we're going to have to brave it, though, we notice a stile in the side of the field that we climb over for a nice speedy descent half a kilometre down to the road and away from the cows.

We follow the road along for a bit then find a little lane above the road that takes us the final five hundred metres to Shap, then along the same residential back roads past the library before the Memorial Hall comes into sight once more.

It's great to finally get a chance to sit down, feeling so exhausted for the last ten kilometres, and to have managed to stay with the team. It feels like I wouldn't have got here yet and would still be half an hour away if I hadn't just gritted my teeth and stuck it out with them so I'm grateful to both for having dragged my sorry arse along, despite having voiced none of this so them both being unaware. I'm considering my Subway then see people with hot food so instead go and grab a bowl of soup and a sandwich with a cup of tea for dinner and we sit down for twenty five minutes or so.

Unfortunately at this point Sally's iffy stomach doesn't help and after one mouthful of soup she has to be sick. She comes back from the bathroom looking worried and we sit and wait a few minutes as she decides whether it's actually worth carrying on, asking our opinions. I say that having been in the situation quite a few times, though I rarely actually vomit, I've done both. I've carried on and I've also stopped, it just depends on the day and whether slugging out another few hours feeling rubbish is worth it, but that I'm keen for the team to stay together of course and don't way to leave her behind. Adam reiterates that and also points out that as this is part of the Runfurther series for her, a championship across various race organisations, if she wants to place in the league table she'll have to do it all over again on another long one, which seems to help make her mind up and we tentatively set back out for Ring Three.