Regular Irregular Challenge - 19 miles

Mum's up to dog-sit whilst we're at the wedding in Shrewsbury tomorrow, so we took her along with us to the Regular Irregular Challenge.  It's a challenge event run by the Irregulars branch of the LDWA (Long Distance Walking Association).  This event consisted of three loops - and you could do one, two or three of them - or a combination to make up your own mileage.  As we had mum with us, we went for the 11.6 mile loop then the 7.2 mile loop.


The Irregulars always do fab off-the-wall badges!



If you haven't tried these events, you're missing a treat!  You can find them on the LDWA website and the cost to enter is anything from £5-£9 and includes tea and toast on arrival, food at all the checkpoints and a meal at the end.  You also get a certificate and a badge (sometimes you pay £1 for the badge... hardly breaks the bank!).  You can run or walk them and I usually run them and use them as my weekend training run.  I do about 3-4 a month.  It's great training because they involve navigating your way, a real mix of terrain, and the chance to try different foods when you're running!  They vary from about 18 to 36 miles, although there are longer ones like the Bullock Smithy (56 miles) and the Rotherham Round (50 miles).

Anyway.... it was a glorious day.  Sun was shining, the temperature was a tropical 7 degrees and most of the snow had gone.  There were some boggy bits, but generally we were good to go.  The Regular Irregular is great if you like stiles and hills.  We did 1700ft of ascent in loop one and 1500ft in loop 2.  We navigated round with the route description, and only managed to get lost once (we lost about half an hour) but we pulled the map and got ourselves straight.

The Challenge starts from Brockholes near Huddersfield and the three loops set off in different directions to keep things interesting.  As I said, it's pretty easy to follow with the route description and well stocked for refreshments etc!  You return to the Village Hall after each loop, so plenty of opps for the loo!

We walked it this time cos we had mum with us, but there were some great sections that would have been fun to run - lots of slipping, sliding and careful placement of feet!  About 100 starters and about 20 of them were runners. 

We're out again with the Irregulars on a Challenge Event on 1st January (The Hangover Challenge)... Can't wait!  Wedding in Shrewsbury tomorrow..... may well be hitting the bottle again - someone had better warn the band....