The ‘DDD’ is a 26.5 mile (3800ft of ascent) race for runners and walkers starting and finishing in Hartington in the White Peak. It’s organised – very well – by Matlock Rotary Club and has been going for many years although this is the first time Dave and I have done it.
Route shown in red. Black line is part of the White Peak Marathon route. The DDD goes anticlockwise from Hartington – which is about half way up the eastern side of the red
We started at 10am, an hour after the walkers. There were about 100 runners and the climb out of town and onto the Tissington Trail wasn’t too bad. Got to the 1st checkpoint at Sparklow (5.1 miles) in 50 mins for squash and biscuits. There was a bit of a rain storm on the way to CP2 at Longnor (8.7 miles, 90 mins).
The route is signed in places but not everywhere so you do need a map – especially on the 2nd half where there aren’t so many walkers. After Longnor there was a nice flat bit along the upper Manifold, then into Staffordshire for CP3 at Revidge (12.6 miles, 2h 10 mins).
Revidge is the spike just after 2 hrs
There was a welcome descent into Warslow before the steepest climb of the day up Ecton Hill. CP4 was at Wetton and CP5, the southern tip of the route, at Castern Hall (19.5 miles). From here there was a greasy descent down a limestone track into Milldale and CP6 in Dovedale (22.5 miles). Here I learnt that Dave was 20 mins ahead of me – it helps having an unusual surname!
I trotted up the dale, ticking of the meanders on my map and wondering if I could finish in under 5 hours. There was a climb up to Reynards Lane at the end, but a good finish running down the lane into Hartington where Dave was cheering me home. Yes, I made 4h 59 mins 🙂 The first man did 3hr 25 and the first woman 4hr 22!
At the village hall we had coffee, baked potato with chilli and tinned peaches – amazingly refreshing! I’d recommend this as a v friendly and well organised race and great value at £13. There are plenty of checkpoints which meant that I didn’t need to carry water. Dave finished in 4hrs 45 and we were both pleased with our times.
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