Looking forward to beans, rice pud, fruit salad and the other culinary delights available at the Fellsman’s famous checkpoints, I made my way steadily across Whernside, Gregareth and Great Coum, concentrating on remembering the route and making sure I got plenty of food inside me. A slight mistake off Great Coum  had me running off the wrong way before logic kicked in and I veered right to the wall. After that slight error, all the navigation went very well and no more mistakes were made.

I filled up with the infamous beans at Dent, but felt very tired up towards Blea Moor and was worried I had overcooked it. Getting a good line and descent off Blea Moor was encouraging and I ran into Stonehouses a lot happier. I always think of Great Knotberry as a long slog and am pleased to be running down and off towards Redshaw. Here I had black coffee which really hit the spot. The next section is my "pace tester" - if I can run a lot of the uphill towards Snaizeholme I know my legs are good and I will be alright. Even though it was boggy I ran sections and so was happy. My stomach was better than last year - I was eating well and looking forward to food – always a good sign. Next – Fleet Moss.  I stuck to the south of the wall although it was rough going, and I was pleased to see the waving arms of the marshals at the new checkpoint. On a compass bearing I headed for the wall but lost count of the groughs I dropped in and out of – eventually though  I found the wall and thankfully the conditions underfoot were much better. I was told at that CP that I was 4^th, which came as a big surprise.

At Cray I asked for rice pud and fruit salad. Filling a plastic container half-full of rice pud, I then topped it up with fruit and gave it a good shake – hopefully enough fuel to see me through to the finish.  I set off up the long climb of Buckden working out whether I could get through Park Rash without grouping (the safety rule that insists that runners are grouped together after dark). Pushing on as dusk fell, I thought it should be do-able – and so was pleased when I reached the CP at 7.10pm and went straight through.  I caught the runner in 3rd on the descent of Whernside – now I was on a roll. I didn't think it would last but the legs were going well so I forced  the last gel down and ploughed on.  The sun was setting and it was good to be on the home straight - through Capplestone, down, up, across fields and down the track to Yarnbury at 8.30pm. ‘Sub 12 hours must be on’ I thought, and set off fast down the road. That didn't last as I'm not a roadrunner at the best of times, but I managed a good pace all the way down, along the road, up and into the school. Finished ... in 11.51 hrs, 3^rd overall and only 5 minutes behind second-placed Adam Perry.   Even more pleasing was that I’d beaten my own record by 48 minutes!