Blanchland Moon Runner, 9th December 2023
Driving down in the dark, rainy night to Blanchland, we joked about the likelihood of injury and death running over the moors in the dark. Little did we know…
A Greener Miles Trail event, the route was described as “10k-ish”, though in actual fact nearly 13km! We set off at 7pm sharp from the village hall, headtorches bobbing and weaving in the darkness. For the first two miles of steep ascent up a road, Anton, Sarah and I stuck together, pushing on into the driving rain.
Shortly after this, the road became a muddy, uneven track, slowing us as we continued to climb. I realised my companions had dropped a few metres back, but we shouted to each other, and all seemed fine. I tried to slow for a couple of minutes so we could realign, but was surprised when two strangers then passed me, with the next set of lights quite a way off. I was alone.
Then the adventure really began. With no light other than the one strapped to my head, I carried along the craggy track as the elevation evened out, trying to avoid puddles where I could, as it was impossible to gauge their depth. Despite the horizontal sleet, it was an enjoyable run, as you couldn’t really get up enough speed to wear yourself out. At one point I was worried my eyes seemed to be failing, but eventually realised it was foggy, and the light was swimming against the mist. There was one instance of a full trip and plunge headfirst into some gorse bushes, but I was up and off again no worse for wear.
As we got further out onto moorland, the track become a rougher, muddier, narrower path, more of a bog for stretches. On several occasions feet were placed unavoidably in water, followed by a stumble as it turned out to be shin, or even knee deep. These moments, along with near-falls and almost-twisted ankles were just part of the fun. Every so often, a green arrow sign or an illuminated marshal would loom out of the darkness, to reassure us we weren’t just running blindly into the wilderness. The marshals deserve special praise for remaining positive and loudly encouraging, while standing around in the dark, horrible conditions.
The last couple of miles saw us descending back towards Blanchland, and we were suddenly treated to much smoother, firmer, grassier ground, followed by an extremely steep descent down another road, before a dash down a track to the entrance of the village hall.
Mince pie and coffee gratefully received, Izzy followed shortly after, having just missed out on 1st lady (6 seconds!). We waited with increasing concern as the others failed to appear… until Sarah walked in with a swollen eye and blood smeared on both face and legs. She’d suffered a couple of falls, was a bit shaken and cold, but the onsite medic assessed her, and it could have been much worse. Anton appeared a while later, still standing, but having had his head torch fail on him during the run.
Stumbles and soakings aside, I found this to be a fairly fun experience, though it’s unfortunate we didn’t all fare so well. I would definitely consider further headtorch races in the future, though hopefully with slightly better weather.
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 8 | Laurie Johnson | 65:10 |
| 12 | Izzy Neatrour (2nd Female) | 68:47 |
| 35 | Sarah Kerr | 79:22 |
| 57 | Anton Mirafsari | 87:35 |
