[Photo credit: Punk Panther Endurance Events]
From Matthew Kennedy…
Running 90 miles from Saltaire to Appleby with 14,600 feet of climbing, the Dales High Way seems like a natural candidate for a long-distance trail race. The route links some great scenery (Rombalds Moor, Malham Cove, Ingleborough, Dentdale, the Howgills) with a minimum of road running and ‘filler’, while also passing through Skipton, Settle and Sedbergh, making it unusually accessible.
So, it was a little surprising that only 24 runners left Saltaire on Saturday morning, split roughly 50-50 between people (like me) attempting the standard 90 mile trail, and fanatics opting to add an extra 14 mile loop up to High Cup Nick and back. With fine weather forecast, we were very fortunate compared to the previous year’s runners, who were dogged by torrential rain (see Andrew Merrick’s race report).
The start time was flexible, and I was one of the final two runners to set off, at 9am, the other one being 2021 winner Daniel Hendriksen. We ran the first mile or so together along the canal, but he soon left me behind going up Shipley Glen and I didn’t meet up with another runner until I caught one of the earlier starters just after Malham Cove, roughly 6 hours and 30 miles in.
After that, I began to see people more frequently, especially as the trail climbed up and over Ingleborough to the drop bag point near Chapel-le-Dale (roughly 11 hours and 50 miles). Although I restocked there, it turned out my extra layers weren’t necessary – it was a beautifully clear, almost still night over the Howgills, and I was in good spirits as I ran down the long, grassy slope to the checkpoint at Wath (roughly 17 hours and 75 miles).
The marshals there told me that Daniel had left only 6 minutes before, so with the benefit of having his headtorch to follow up the final climb to Great Asby Scar, I was able to catch him on the descent. Then, worried I would be just as easy to follow through the fields along Hoff Beck to Appleby, I did my best to keep pushing on.
Touching the Moot Hall to finish at 4:37am, I learned that the head-to-head with Daniel had worked out even more luckily than I could have imagined, because there was actually a third runner in the picture, Paul Haigh. Since Paul had started just before 7am and finished just after 2:30am, we had been completely unaware of each other, but when race director Ryk Downes checked the trackers, it turned out I had pipped Paul by 2 minutes, an extremely narrow margin for such a long race.
A big thank you to Ryk and the Punk Panther team for putting together such a great, friendly event (I’m honestly baffled why it’s not more popular), and thanks also to Jane McCarthy and Ritchie Williamson for recommending the race to me almost a year ago, back when I first started running with the Harriers.
90 miles
1 Matthew Kennedy 19h37
2 Paul Haigh 19h39
(3 Daniel Hendriksen 19h51 split)
All three runners inside the previous FKT, 20h31 by Mark Kerry.
104 miles
(1 Daniel Hendriksen 24h05)
Also a new race record.