Heading out onto the final run stage the legs were feeling pretty good and the morning was brightening so everything felt cheery. Just as well as the stage would be a tough one at around 13km with climbs over Live Moor, Carlton Moor, Cringle Moor, and Broughton Bank through the Wainstones as the path followed the Cleveland Way across the Moors (rather than the tempting forestry tracks that paralleled us along the nice flat ground at the foot of the hills).
I soon caught up with Ben Joynson who I'd been trading places with throughout and before long familiar faces were being passed and passing me. The weather had finally given us a break and it was a beautiful clear, but windy, day as we ascended along the ridge line at the top of Clay Bank, with the lower Moors set out to our left and the flat tops of the high Moors we were climbing to our right. The terrain had changed again and we were now in rolling hills of heather and pine forests.
The trail was very up and down but the gradients were gentle and the ground good so the miles ticked past at a fast rate. Ben started having knee trouble on the descents and I was feeling strong so we parted company as I ploughed on. By the end I'd put over an hour on him so it really slowed him up as we'd been neck and neck to there.
We passed a gliding club up on the tops which must be quite a place to fly from as it's perched right up on the top of the plateau and very exposed.
The ups and downs came and went and soon I was on the final climb up to the Wainstones, a jumble of huge rocks on the peak. It was then just a quick descent down the good trails to the car park for transition to the bike for the penultimate leg to Glaisdale.
The run had taken over two hours but had flown by - I was feeling good, the sun was shining and the end now felt reachable so everything was right with the world as I donned bike kit for the last time.
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