Tegg's Nose  5th August 2000
6.5 miles   1100ft climb

It was one of the hottest afternoons this year and four club members  traveled over to Macclesfield for the 2.30pm start of this race which was part of the Sheep Dog Trials Day.   The first section,  out of the show field,  was about half a mile or so of fields of longish meadow grass,  then about half a mile on the road,  then up over fields of meadow grass up to the trig point on  the golf course.  Dale had gone with leaders from the start with Simon not far behind and they had been out of my sight since leaving the road.    I'd been labouring, finding it hard work and had been trailing Bill Clayton but he was some distance away by the time I reached the trig point and before long he too was out of sight and I didn't see him again until the finish.   

Down from the golf course it was more meadow grass and tracks up to the northern end of Tegg's Nose Country Park where we took a long steep descent down a grassy bank to a narrow lane.   Turning off this lane onto a wooded path running parallel to the ridge,  most runners turned right to begin the assault of the South Face of  Tegg's Nose.    Thinking that I had only just got going and that before I knew it the race would be over,  I decided to pursue a route of my own, taking with me one or two other runners.   This route was not difficult to find,   being merely a continuation of the wooded path, which in due course  broadened out into a lovely tamac lane running close to south eastern edge of Tegg's Nose Reservoir.   Turning right,  along the reservoir wall brought us to the very foot of the climb up, via Ward's Knob,  to the highest point of the race,  Tegg's Nose itself.      It was on this climb that I caught  and passed a runner in a white/green vest, who then passed me on the next down-hill,  I passed him on the next up-hill and so on until the final climb up to the golf course trig where I  left him some distance behind, only to have him take me in the last field before the road home  -  a road runner I suppose.

I did get a some satisfaction though,  in one of the fields  just down from the golf course trig,  I put in a little extra effort and  passed a young lady who had passed me in the final stages of the  Holme Moss race the week before.   I think she finished as second lady in this race, but I could be wrong.

Malcolm Fowler of Salford won the race with Glossopdale's Dale Gartley 2nd and 1st MV40,   Simon Entwistle was 11th,  Bill Clayton 30th ?  and I finished 39th.