Christmas Cracker – Sat 10 Dec 2022

The Christmas Cracker is a handicap race and is the final race of the year for Otley based endurance event organiser Punk Panther. One of the run directors sets off first on a 32 mile / 3700 ft route and each runner is given a handicap based on times achieved at PP events during the year (or a guess if you have not done any before) with the challenge to ‘catch the Panther’. As race times in ultras are rather variable dependent on conditions and overall race length it is a bit of an imprecise science to set accurate handicaps for the distance, but the overall aim was for everyone to reach the finish at Otley Cricket Club at 4pm for hot food and drinks and a festive get together. There was only one prize for this event, for the first person to reach the finish, and in addition there were prizes for best fancy dress. There was also an 18 mile option with its own prize.

The route climbs from Otley to the first checkpoint at Timble via Leathley and Lindley Wood. The 18 mile version turns round at Timble. The 32 mile route continues to Ellercar Pike, Round Hill and Beamsley Beacon, descending to the second checkpoint on the road at Langbar. After a short stretch through some woods and fields you return to the road for a mile or so, turning left off the road at the Plantation and left at Concrete Square and over the moor along High Badger Gate, reaching the main east-west path again at the corner of Timble Ings and returning to Ellercar Pike and the Timble checkpoint. Then ‘home’ to Otley along the same route taken in the morning.

My given start time was 08:53, leaving me 7 hours and 7 minutes to be back by 4, which would be a good prediction of my time over 32 off road hilly miles, but this ignores the fact that I am barely faster than a walker over the stretch between Ellercar Pike and Beamsley Beacon! Despite plenty of practice my ability on that terrain remains pretty poor. Still, it was pretty magical traversing the moor through the icy fog, with the heather and rocks turned white with rime. I was entirely on my own with some grouse (though I did manage to startle a couple of walkers by suddenly appearing behind them out of the mist in my holly fairy costume) and at times I felt like I was running on the moon, it was so still and the world had turned to black and white. The fact that the bogs had frozen over made life a little easier and getting my poles out for that stretch helped a lot too, not least by being able to poke the ground to see if the ice was strong enough to hold me! I was very impressed with the grip on my VJ Spark shoes, they are not new, I had bought them in the summer, but I had not used to before in icy conditions and I felt very secure indeed.

Once I reached the Langbar checkpoint there followed an easier stretch with some road running for variety, and the return journey over the moor was less challenging underfoot. After Timble I did start to see some more runners, as always in a handicap race. With a very small field (23 runners on the 32 miles, 9 on the 18 miles) you could hardly say we bunched up though! Whilst I had been overtaken in the first half by a number of runners who started after me, by Norwood I managed to overtake some who had started before me which is always pleasing, even though this race really was all about the fun and not the competition.

I had to stop less than 2 miles from the finish to get my head torch out, I really couldn’t see the ground anymore as my night vision is terrible. It would have been stupid to fall over a tree root in the woods alongside the Wharfe in the last stage of the race. I had foolishly packed it in a place I couldn’t reach without taking my race vest off, as I had hoped not to need it. ‘Stupid girl’ I muttered to myself, as I struggled with the ridiculously stiff clip on my dry bag (need to complain about that to the manufacturer) in which I had put the head torch, then my poles fell off my race vest…..I must have lost at least 5 minutes there. Totally not important in this event but I was very annoyed with myself.  Every day’s a school day in the ultra world!

I arrived back at the finish at 16:30 after 7 hours 37 minutes to a very welcome spread of hot food and lots of tea, and excellent company. To my delight I won the women’s fancy dress prize and was allowed to have either a free race or anything from the PP ‘shop’, so I chose a lovely and warm PP hoodie, it’s red so fits in nicely with my Ilkley Harriers gear!

If you are tempted at all by ultra running you could do worse than giving Punk Panther a whirl in 2023. You won’t easily find a friendlier bunch of people (apart from the Ilkley Harriers of course!).