Boot Bash – REPORT OF 2019 EVENT – 15th JUNE
This year’s event was the fifteenth Baslow Boot Bash and we had 290 entrants. This is the seventh year we have had a 14 mile route and it continues to be popular and successful. Apart from anything else it smooths out the arrival process, in that we have a more regular stream of finishers, and we managed to process most of the 14 milers before the 26 mile walkers arrived. This is also helpful for the kitchen staff.
As is usual on these events, we had quite a large number of no-shows (53) on the day but we finished up with 94 starters on the 14 mile route and 143 starters on the 26 mile route. We had 10 retirees from the 26 mile route and 8 from the 14 mile route as the attached results show. The weather was ideal this year with a cool start. It was only marred by a thunderstorm at about 5.00pm soaking participants and checkpoint staff alike and causing Raynet to lower their 40 foot communications mast! Fortunately comms were not interrupted…
As you all know, this is not a competition but everyone likes to know who was first home and the time it took to complete the course so here goes: first home on the 26 mile route was Damian Thacker in a time of 4 hours 8 minutes, slightly slower than his first place last year, but very creditable all the same! The first woman home was Claire Howard in a time of 4 hours and 42 minutes, 10 minutes quicker than her first place last year!
In the 14 mile event Amy Baron-Hall crossed the line in a time of 2 hour 19 minutes. The first man home was Roger Kerry in a time of 2 hours 34 minutes.
When looking at the results you may notice several gaps, this is because some entrants asked that their results were not published.
Thanks once again to both Raynet, who handled communications, and to the Kinder Mountain Rescue team who provided first aid cover. Good communication is vital to ensure that we don’t lose anyone. We are very grateful for the first aid skills that are on hand whenever the need arises, although the first aiders were thankfully hardly used this year. We must also thank those members of the Mountain Rescue team who sweep the 14 mile route ensuring that we always knew where the tail-enders were.
Thanks also to the kitchen crew, who provide all the refreshments and keep everybody going through the day.
We are determined to maintain quality and for this reason we have to put a ceiling on the number of entrants. If you want to secure a place on next year’s event, you are strongly advised to book early. As usual booking will open in September 2019.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the Boot Bash such an enjoyable and friendly event. See you next year!