More day than night

Last Thursday I was working from home and just thinking about packing up for the day when my phone rang. It was Sean and he said that he and Lee were planning to run in Lyme Park and meeting at 6pm. Did I want to go? The weather fabulous. It had been sunny all day and the air was warm. Not bad at all for 23 March. The alternative was to go to the track for some training at 7pm, by which time it would be almost dark. This was really no alternative. It went through my head that we may struggle to get the run done before dark but I didn't really care. I got myself changed and into the car as quickly as I could and then battled with everyone else who was trying to drive away from Stockport that night, up towards the hills. I arrived seven or eight minutes late and was pleased to see that they had waited for me. Normally five minutes late is the cut off point so I was lucky.

Lyme Park has been my playground and training ground for my whole life. As a child, although I wasn't yet officially a runner, I must have run miles along woodland tracks and over the tussocks (and often this was done barefoot as I didn't have much of an affinity with shoes and was often reprimanded for being seen barefoot, miles from home, walking and running with my dog, Scamp!) So I've seen a lot of Lyme Park through all seasons and weather but last Thursday, at dusk, is right up there in terms of breathtaking beauty. It wasn't so much the views that took my breath away. The views are always spectacular, it was the colour of the sky and moorland. It looked like everything had been washed with gold and a tranquil ambience. I was so happy to be there.

We ran familiar trails although not as far as we would normally. We were surprised to find that many of the gates had been locked and we were, in effect, locked in and confined to what was probably a six mile circumference. It was gone 6pm and apparently this is lock out time until the clocks go forward. The trouble was we were already in. When we decided to head for home we had to choose our exit route carefully as, Travis the dog was with us, and although he's fast, his climbing skills need working on. It was dark by the time we got back to the cars but none of us cared, in fact it felt good to finish the run in the dark.

The clocks went forward on Sunday so now we've got all summer for lots of evening runs at Lyme. Happy days and happy evenings! I might even get some early mornings in!!