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.