Saturday 14th February 2026
Winter Half Tour of Bradwell (28km / 17.4miles and 1,080m / 3,540ft)
Photos and video by Caroline Robertson
Starting on the same day as this year’s Barkley Marathons, 8 MACs braved the backwoods of the Hope Valley to take on the challenge of this year’s Winter Half Tour of Bradwell.
After the endless rain we have had since the start of the year, the ground around the route was saturated so plenty of mud was expected. The chilly night before had provided a dusting of snow on the high points and frozen the ground to solidify some of the mud but added a bit of extra slipperiness to the rocky sections.
The race uses a rolling start so participants can set off anytime between 09:00 and 10:00. The route starts with a steep climb on private land up to Brough Lane then around the top of Over Dale and down into Shatton, taking care to avoid the icy patches on the fast descent.
After crossing over the main road, the competitors join the Thornhill Trail towards Ladybower. A left turn starts a steady climb over the shoulder of Win Hill where the choice of paths will catch the unwary. Another descent through Alston and into Hope. A tough climb up Lose Hill above the snow line put us amongst the hordes on the Great Ridge before dropping off Back Tor into Castleton.
A long climb dodging the icy patches and punters in Cave Dale, then a fast but challenging descent down Dirtlow Rake and Pindale to the back of the cement works where the various splits in the paths and tracks led to people taking a few different routes back to the finish line in Bradwell.
Everyone got a bottle of TOB beer from Intrepid to take home or enjoy there and then and a selection of home-made soups was on the menu to warm everyone up.
There were no broken bones reported, though there was a missed check point requiring one MAC to have to back track. The participants’ washing machines will be having a workout to get rid of the mud. Hopefully no one is still out there on loop one after 29 hours…
The MAC results were as follows:
2nd Harry Holmes 2:18:21
19th Ben Meakin 2:47:40
22nd Nick Gant 2:53:58
62nd (3rd FV40) Miriam Beastall 3:18:27
68th (3rd FV50) Christine Howard 3:21:12
77th Jack Cummins 3:24:23
117th Tom Withers 3:47:01
128th Caroline Robertson 3:55:33
The overall winners were:
Male – Huw Davies of Mercia Fell Runner in 2:17:40
Female – Kate Gibson of Totley AC in 2:43:17
Full results are here https://www.racetek-live.co.uk/website/public_results/2011/complete_results/
