I first did the Outside Hope Valley Round in May of 2022. With a sore knee – later revealed to be a symptom of muscle loss – I power hiked my way around in a respectable time of 05:36:42, laden with big bag, hiking boots, and too many packets of sweets. Two years later and I was asked by my brother if I would like to do it with him, a no brainer really.
We took a quick selfie in front of the round’s decorative board and set off on our way in a clockwise fashion. Even with an 8am start we couldn’t avoid the heat. We undulated across the southern face of the valley, taking in the views of field and factory through sweat glazed eyes and praying for some semblance of relief from a passing breeze.
An easy mistake was made leaving Bradwell and we spent a confused couple of seconds tackling a steep bank and wire fence to return to the correct path. This lead to better navigational decisions which lead to the easily identifiable farm tracks that wind towards Mam Tor. We dodged the days explorers and continued steadily along the great ridge, walking the steep stuff and plodding the not. This was rinsed and repeated with Win Hill, a 300m diversion of lactate.
The heat really picked up in the last few kilometres, and even in a vest I struggled to keep cool and take on fluids from the various sources I had strapped around my body. Yet, we managed to stumble back into Hathersage in one piece, just!
Stats
Elapsed time: 04:54:17
Moving time: 04:41:37
Distance: 32km
Elevation: 1269m
Average Pace*: 8:48/km
Calories: 3085
Average HR: 138bpm
*from moving time