North York Moors 100 Recce Weekend: Trilogy Part 3 - The Return of the Bog

Ahoy there! We survived our night in Boggle Hole. Well, almost all of us did, but Paris is missing from the photo.....

...only kidding. The Boggle returned Paris back to Team Luxury, in exchange for a Luxury Item. He's a decent fellow really, The Boggle. Despite the rumours in common folklore of Boggles being malevolent creatures;  short, hairy, ugly, and bad tempered, I think they're really just misunderstood. The Boggles who live around here live in caves underneath the cliffs. If I lived in a cave under a cliff on the Yorkshire coast, I believe that I too would be in a bad mood. People less prone to imaginative flights of fancy say that these caves were actually used by smugglers to hide their contraband. Rubbish. Where on earth would the Boggles have gone if their caves were used by smugglers?

Anyway, Boggles, smugglers, or neither, it was the last day of our trip, and all that stood between us and a nice few days off to recover (what? we're back at work tomorrow??) was 30 miles. In route description terms, that's only five stages left. And, it's got the added excitement that we need to be back at Thornton-le-Dale in time for the bus and the train home. 

Feeling the pressure, our first task was to climb back out of Boggle Hole and get back on to the route. 

Having climbed the hill, warmed up a bit, and getting into our stride, things were looking up for the day. We are all great at this! We soon reached a compass bearing in the instructions (please see later on, for the A to Z of route descriptions, where compass bearings have a special appearance). No problem! We are adept at this by now! We thus all consulted our compasses, orientated ourselves to the right compass bearing, and all set off across the moor. I soon became aware that my outfit choice for the day, of short trousers, was an error, as the heather scratched my legs to tatters. Soon after that thought, I became aware that there was something wrong with me even thinking it in the first place. Why were we running through the middle of heather?? The route description says there is a path. Reality disagreed. A frustrating time followed, as we zigzagged across the moor on the compass bearing. Eventually we emerged, after climbing over a ditch and barbed wire fence, onto the road. My feeling that we might have been where we weren't supposed to have been, was swiftly confirmed, by a man in car pulling up, and asking us 'just out of interest' what we were doing. Which in itself was a bit weird, come to think of it. Where had he come from?? Anyway, we soon got back on track, and our spirits were lifted again by the discovery of another Boggle Hole.

Soon after this, we had our first break, in Littlebeck, sat on the grass in the sunshine, which was all very pleasant. This lulled me into a false sense of security, as the next section had a 33 % hill in it, and pleasant isn't a word I would associate with that. The irritating saying 'it will be worth it for the view', turned out to be correct, and some good running followed with big views all around. Had a good chat to Jen about races that she's done abroad, exciting things like running in places where there are wild animals roaming around. I imagined being chased by a lion, in an attempt to go faster. And sure enough, as if to prove a point, the North Yorkshire equivalent of a lion showed up.

Run!!!! The next part was a nice downhill section over the moorland. Up above, a couple of Army planes were out training. The noise was immense, and coupled with the vastness of the moors, made me feel all shivery. Next up, we arrived at Goathland, which is where Heartbeat is filmed. It's very popular because of that, and had a large choice of village shops, for a village so small, and subsequently a high standard of cake on offer. We ran on through village, and up and along a ridge, where the much anticipated 'A to Z of Route Description Words That Fill You With Dread' commenced. I feel it's appropriate to share this one, so here goes:

A = ascend (self-explanatory)

B = bog (also self-explanatory)

C = compass bearing (since the heather moor incident, from which my legs still haven't recovered, I am having a real trust issue with all compass bearings)

D = dip under horse railings (what if a horse runs past?)

E = eventually (eventually as in.....how eventually?)

F = friendly Alsation dog loose! (it's the use of bold writing and punctuation that makes me nervous about this dog)   

G = generally diagonally (what is different about a general diagonal, compared to a normal diagonal?) 
H = hill (obviously)

I = immediately (see 'E')

J = just (there is not such thing as just though, is there....'it's just around the next corner', that sort of thing...it's a lie)

K = Km (anything with Km in it, as this sentence is going to take a long time to do) 

L = leave village hall (really, do we have to?)

M = meanders upwards (don't sugar coat it, upwards is upwards, meandering or not)

N = near (see 'E')

O = over another stile (I hate stiles - try being short, then you'll understand)

P = pass Wilson Arms (or any pub, for that matter, an instruction that makes me sad)

Q = quad bike track (if you need a quad bike to get up there, it's too muddy)

R = retrace route (what!? why!)

S = soon (how soon?)

T = TL at Taylor Hill Farm onto TK (winner of most number of T's in one instruction)

U = uphill (I think we've covered why that's on the list)

V = valley bottom (because the only way is up)

W = what are we doing?

X = X ST (see 'O' which becomes especially true near to the end)

Y = good question

Z = zigzag (I don't think that's in the official rote description, but it's in my version for sure)

I was feeling a bit tired after the mental input required to come up with that to be honest, and the rest of my observational narrative whilst running deteriorated into fragments....into forest.....I like the forest....bogs, more BOGS....The Bog Has Returned!!!!! But we will out-run it....

Kind of. Out onto road.....nice long downhill.....checkpoint at outdoor centre....last but one section....forest again....still like the forest....will there be a Boggle? Or even a bog? Or a steam train? No, but there is a massive hill instead.....

A H M U V 

W Y

I can't do this. I can't even talk any longer.

Still we got to the top, and there's only a couple of bits of instruction left till the next checkpoint, so we must be almost there. In fact, I can see some buildings! Hang on. Why are we headed down again? Down a steep, steep hill. Ah no, it's OK, here is the village! But wait, there are still a few sentences left before the checkpoint. Which starts with 'ascend uphill'. Two of the A to Z in one sentence. Great. Here we go then. Crikey this road is steep - 30% it says on the signpost! Oh phew, we've to turn off the road. Oh no, onto a steeper path. My sense of humour separated from my body, and remained at the bottom of the hill, whilst my body climbed to the clouds. To Lockton-in-the-Clouds.

The last stage! There was reassurance from Alan that we were going to make the bus, as long as we didn't actually stop moving, and start going backwards. The chocolate covered coffee beans were brought out to aid us. We were on a mission. 

And we made it! The bogs may have returned, but they have been conquered! 

This picture sums up my feelings from the weekend (and thank you for the use of your photos Alan!):

Some shadows from my self doubts and dark moments. But even in the shadows, the sun was always somewhere shining through, and the sun can come in many forms; new friends, kind words, laughs, beautiful views, and realising you've achieved something and outshone your shadows. Shadows - be gone.

Thank you Team Luxury! And until the next time.....let us conquer the bogs!