Captain Greg Hopkinson reports:
Saturday morning saw 7 intrepid MAC explorers (& Ivy the Dog) take on the Hope Valley Round from the Outside Cafe in Hathersage.
Once the initial technical challenges of paying for the car park were overcome we started off at just after 9AM heading out of Hathersage towards our first checkpoint on Shatton Moor. An early navigation error suggested it might be a long day out in the Peak District, but once Amy Jones had lifted her ban on all electronic navigational devices we were soon climbing up towards the infamous Wolf’s Pit.
A quick descent into Bradwell was followed by another climb up to some pretty bleak fields around the back of Winnats pass. By this point we were tucking into the range of running snacks everyone had brought, with Matt Govan sticking strictly to his new diet which consisted exclusively of wine gums.
As we climbed up on to Mam Tor the clouds closed in and we had our only rubbish weather of the day. Fortunately the sun soon came out as we ticked off the final major peaks of Lose Hill and Win Hill.
The final few miles involved a slippy descent off Win Hill before a short climb above Hathersage before finally dropping down back to the cafe in a highly respectable time of about 4 and a half hours. The only dent to our ego was made when a solo runner came flying past us in the last mile having set off on the round about an hour after us. But he was on his own and didn’t have a dog so we knew we were all the real winners.
All that was left for us to do was claim our congratulatory buffs and dig into to the finest sandwiches and chips Hathersage had to offer. A cracking day out and a highly recommended route. Amy Jones has promised to organise another gritty adventure in the new year so it would be great to see a few more MACs join the group for our next day out in the hills!!
Well done Peter Wilmot, Daniel Ashcroft, Sally Hale, Meg An Elliott, Matt Govan, Amy Jones & Ivy
