The Giant's Tooth is a great way to start the new year. It's a 3-mile race with 400ft of ascent, around Ogden Water reservoir and all off-road - a class C fell race.
It was a beautiful day, fairly clear and cold. There were big grey clouds in the sky as we drove towards Halifax, but above the race area the sky was blue. We left nice and early, but in the end it was touch and go whether we would make it because we got stuck behind a tractor.
Make it we did however, and mid-day saw us lined up at the start with our numbers pinned on, and plenty of nerves all round as for 3 of the 4 of us this was our first fell race.
The terrain was mostly not too rough underfoot , but the ascents certainly were steep. Heavy rainfall the day before made the downhills especially nice and slidy!
The course is very well marked with plenty of marshalls who were all unfailingly encouraging and enthusiastic. The last one tried to comfort me with the news that the steep slope ahead was the last uphill before the finish but I was too zoned out by that point to understand what she said, so I was somewhat surprised to turn a corner at the top and see the finish ahead of me. I'd been convinced that there must be about another mile to go! I really must get into the habit of looking at the course route beforehand!
Prizegiving was in the pub at the end of the lane, with chip butties to keep us going until all the results were in. It turned out to be a good day for the Sri Chinmoy AC women's team - Amelia was second lady, Bhauliya was first lady V40, Nurari got a spot prize, plus we won the lady's team prize. Here is a photo of the girls with their haul (I am behind the camera).
Aside from the prizes, one of the best features of the race was the friendliness of the locals. We'd all enjoyed it and said we'd try and come back next year. "Why not next week?" was the reply.
Kokila
