Inspiring Your Outdoor Adventures
Having been involved in the local LEADER funding panel which approved the funding for the Stanza Stones project, and living in Marsden, I’ve been meaning to complete the 50 mile route linking the stones together for a long time.
As it was created over 10 years ago, it felt like a good time since I was looking for a long challenge for the summer.
This summer I was given the opportunity to trial Mac in a Sac’s new Venture jacket and have put it through the wonderful British summer weather to test it out.
Billed as a jacket designed specifically for runners and offering waterproofing and breathability, I was interested in whether it would live up to this.
I had entered the Dragons Back Race in 2022 as a 40th birthday present to myself but then quickly bottled out – feeling under prepared and like I was trying to achieve the impossible. Having deferred a year I was then committed to doing it in 2023. This ‘do it now or lose my money’ committed me to training properly and gaining the confidence in myself too.
The Dragon’s Back Race is a 380km mountain race which covers over 17,400m of ascent over the 6 days. Yes that really is twice the height of Everest for those of you that wonder if I stuck in too many zeros. It heads from Conwy Castle in North Wales to Cardiff Castle in the South, twisting and turning as it crosses most of the major mountain ranges in Wales.
Continue reading “Being the Ultimate Dragon – Dragon’s Back Race”
I have to be honest I was skeptical as to whether I’d like this book. I am really confident navigating outdoors so the idea of a running book is a bit of a novelty to me as I’d usually just head out of the door with just a map and a sense of exploration. So I expected to find this book a bit underwhelming.
However I was totally surprised.
Continue reading “Book Review// Running Adventures Scotland”
With low cloud in the sky and constant drizzle threatening to turn to rain I wanted to get out for a walk but not a big mountain day.
While only a quarter of the Tatras National Park sits in Poland there’s still a wealth of shorter walks for wet days.
Sarnia Skala is a small rocky outcrop sitting on the edge of the national park and easily accessed from Zakopane by the black route which runs along the edge of the park from the snowland ski slopes.
The black route is popular with runners, being relatively flat. It is however, as I discovered as I set off in my running kit, quite slippy in places when it is wet.
Continue reading “A short run up to Sarnia Skala”
In the last month I’ve been working with members from East Pennine Orienteering Club to create a Marsden Virtual Orienteering course for their virtual series. Its live this week!
If you’ve never had a go at Orienteering this is a great way to try it out. From understanding the orienteering style of maps to learning how to navigate at speed and maintain the orientation of the map. The best bit is, you don’t have to be a fast runner – its all about ability to navigate accurately and come up with the best route between controls. You don’t even have to run at all, if you just want to use the courses for practicing navigation skills and techniques then just go for a walk.
Continue reading “Have a go at Orienteering!”
I love navigation challenges and having done my first orienteering event in the cold damp months of February I was disappointed when Covid hit that there wouldn’t be more over the summer.
Then a friend introduced me to a series of virtual orienteering runs via the East Pennine Orienteering Club (EPOC) and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Virtual Orienteering has become a popular activity with both Orienteering clubs and event organisers using technology to provide ‘events’ for people to continue to participate in activities.
Continue reading “Using digital to practice old school navigation”
Stuck at home during the Covid-19 Lockdown I decided there had to be challenges I’d not done before right on my doorstep. Staring at an OS map it occurred to me my home in Marsden was surrounded by Trig points at some pretty good locations – and so the 6 Trigs circular was born!
The 6 Trigs Circular – 39 km /24 miles
Starting in Marsden village, the joy of this route is that it is possible to do as much or as little of it as you like. The route circles the Marsden area on mostly well marked trails with some good alternative paths to shorten the route.
Continue reading “The 6 Trigs Circular”
I’m going to start by saying that I’m not rubbishing those of you who have set New Year goals. I’ve got some for 2018 too. But the trouble with goals is the pressure you put on yourself to achieve them.
Continue reading “The trouble with New Year goals”You’ve probably heard of type 2 fun – when fun challenges you and might scare you but otherwise leads to massive personal development.
I actually imagine fun to be a bubble that I’m in. Its a fairly massive bubble that most of the time I never notice the edges of where it becomes fear. As I’ve pushed myself to do harder and newer things the bubble has grown.
Continue reading “The relationship of Fun/Fear”