The Ras Aran Route

I'm beginning to feel the strain from this weeks exertions. Today saw me clock up my fifty third mile on my fifth consecutive day of running, starting count from Sunday's Cardington race. Total ascent is now in excess of 13,000 feet. Tomorrow I need a rest day - and probably Saturday too - I'm running leg 2 of the Calderdale Way Relay on Sunday and want to be on top form for the team.

The Ras Aran route, for those who don't know it, is an out and back affair starting from some villiage that I don't rightly know the name of - and come to think of it, wouldn't be able to pronounce it even if I did - and heads almost due south up and along a ridge to the high point of 905 metres before turning around and heading right back down again.

I struggled to keep up - that is to say, I didn't keep up at all and fell several minutes behind Helen and Brown Dog to the summit but I coped better on the descent. At ten and a half miles and about 3,000 feet of ascent it's a slightly tougher route than it first appears to be. The weather was as best we've seen it this week and with some respite in the clag we could admire the views - it was still bloody cold though, with some snow in places. Still, it's over now and I can put my feet up and relax.