2012 Summer Series (Race 9) – Boar’s Head

6 Comments

1. 

   Graham S

   8 June 2012 at 20:11

   If anyone has the Boar’s Head route on a Garmin, I’d appreciate the link to have an idea of where on earth I ran!!
   Thanks
   Graham S
2. 

   Don

   8 June 2012 at 20:50

   I can show you on a map !!
3. 

   Malcolm

   9 June 2012 at 13:43

   Graham,
   What makes the Boars Head race so interesting is the various route choices and endless debate about which is the best route. So someone else’s Garmin trace might not be the route that you ran!
4. 

   Ross

   10 June 2012 at 13:02

   Hello
   Please don’t read this if you’re having your lunch….
   Just wanted to advise anyone who took the more scenic route up to Bowstones to check themselves for deer/sheep ticks on arms and legs. The helpful nurses at Stepping Hill can get rid of them in seconds if you don’t fancy it.
   Apologies again for the squeamish subject but just wanted to alert anyone just in case.
   Cheers
5. 

   Trevor

   11 June 2012 at 00:36

   After observing different times by people in many runs of the Boar’s Head race, I think the tussocks route takes about 20 seconds longer for Group 4 people. Also, you can save about 5 seconds by crawling through the hole in the bottom of the gate before you make the above choice (rather than climb over the high stile to the side. Perhaps I shouldn’t reveal this trick, but, then again, I don’t suppose anyone will remember for next year.
   Trevor
6. 

   Malcolm

   11 June 2012 at 23:51

   As I mentioned earlier there is always endless debate about the best route.
   On a recce of the course in previous years I did try timing myself crawling through the hole compared to climbing over the stile. Whether I’m the wrong shape or just pathetically slow at crawling through holes I don’t know, but I found the opposite. By the time I had crouched down, crawled through the hole and then back to my feet and started running again, it was quicker (albeit only marginally) for me to use the stile!
   Same with the tussocks. It is quicker for me to take the shorter route through the tussocks than the more runnable route following the wall, but I accept for some the wall is quicker. One of the runners that beat me this year used the wall route and another that beat me, rather than just using the tussocks to cut the corner onto the top path and then dropping down to Bowstones, actually ran much lower through the tussocks, until he hit the wide track that leads up to Bowstones, thereby eliminating the unnecessary height gain where you drop down to Bowstones. I’m sure an extended period in the tussocks wouldn’t be quicker for me though.
   The other route choice is when you drop down to the stream, do you follow the path to the left over the stile and then take a more gradual slope onto the ridge or do you scramble up the steepest possible route using your hands as well as your legs. I didn’t see any of the runners that beat me take the steepest route but I figured letting my arms do a bit of work at least helped share the workload with my legs and I did gain a place taking this route (although I had lost it again by the finish!

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