A muggy Tuesday evening at Matlock rugby club and a couple of hundred runners gather for this year’s Black Rocks Fell Race, hosted by Matlock AC. An amazing turnout of 17 Wirksworth runners lined up at the start of this tough but popular race, all looking resplendent in WRC blue with the exception of one chump (Bob, we’re pointing and laughing at you) who had the temerity to turn up in plain white vest…
The race starts at the rugby club with a lap of the field to spread out the pack before heading down the canal towpath to High Peak junction – a nice, flat first mile to lull you into a false sense of security. After that, the route turns onto the incline and the theme for the next two miles is very much ‘up’, all the way to the trig point at Barrel Edge. There’s no time to catch your breath as the course turns at the trig for a fast and quite technical rocky descent, through the trees, back down the incline before a flat, final push back along the canal to the finish, where the runner can get a well earned drink to help wash down the half a pound of flies they’ve swallowed on the way.