Haworth Hobble (Wuthering Hike)

An over cast & drizzly morning greeted the reported 350 runners ( although results show 271 finishers ) to Haworth for the Wuthering Hike.

TAC was well represented with Pete , Tony , Matt & Jim lining up.

Starting on Haworth high street the race traverses 32 miles of gritstone moors around Haworth,Todmorden and Hebden Bridge & with 4,400 ft of ascent/descent it's an enjoyable but tough day out.

Maximum time allowed 11 hours & with en route refreshments including jam donuts , biscuits , hot dogs & whiskey it's tempting to make the day last.

With the Fellsman lurking the main objective was to get round the distance injury free which much to everyone's delight we all did. Having posted a fantastic time in the 2011 Hobble , Peter found himself lining up in an unfamiliar position near the tail end but having not run anywhere near as far since last year ,was happy to clock up the miles without injury or niggles.

As hard as Pete tried to keep Matt talking over the first few miles it wasn't long before Matt got itchy feet & left Pete to radio 4.

Tony was well up the field having set off admittedly fast for him but ran great knocking 5 minutes off last years time. It took Matt most of the 32 miles to catch him & in doing so knocked 10 minutes off his own time.

After a some what uncomfortable start finally I got into the swing of things about 18 miles just in time for the toughest climb of the day to the summit of Stoodley Pike.

It's a well organised event with great en route goodies and what can best be described as a post race meal with ALL the food groups represented in one bowl. ( anyone who's run the Yorkshire Man will know what I mean )