From John Hayes…
One of the things I enjoy about longer races is the navigational element. Running with a map and compass in hand is second nature to me. Take them away, and I’m like a young child who has had their comfort blanket confiscated. In a nutshell, this is what happens in The Drop. You can have no map, no compass, no phone and no Garmin watch or other such gadget. You can carry the gadgets but they must be started and then sealed in a non-see-through bag at the point you board the bus. And when you have taken your seat in the bus, you MUST wear a blindfold. You are then driven to the start. This means for the first hour or so, your Strava trace shows you moving at about 30-60 mph. One of the most important jobs at the finish is to edit your run (to remove the bus journey) before your followers start querying your astonishing PBs. But I digress. What about the run itself? Well, when the bus stops you remove your blindfold. Unless the bus is dropping off the 10 mile runners and you have entered the 15 mile event. Then you MUST keep the blindfold on until you get dropped off at the 15 mile location. You then have to work out where you are and try and pick the best route back. This is not easy. They tend to drop runners off in obscure locations. The position of the sun, road signs and bus stops are all useful. Following other runners is definitely NOT advisable, especially those who set off fast and uber-confidently. This year the 15 mile drop off (which I entered) was somewhere between Keighley and Halifax. I spent a good few minutes running in circles and trying to work out where the sun should be if I was where I thought I was. I managed to get myself back to Leeds via Thornton/Bradford/Pudsey/the canal/Kirkstall. I must have taken a fairly good route (or everyone else must have got lost!) because I won the 15 mile event, running about 17.6 miles in the process. This race is great fun, and certainly different!
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