Wayoh and Turton reservoir

You know how it is, when you find a run that you like you tend to run it again and again.

Well that’s exactly what is happening at the moment. My run to Wayoh and Turton and Entwistle reservoir has become a real favourite. I think the reasons are because the run has a bit of everything. There are fells, trail, hills, woods, reservoirs and it can be anything in length from 12 to 17 miles, depending upon route choice.

On Saturday morning at 9.30am, I met Nick and Dave at Clough Head car park and away we went. This was the first time that Dave has run this route.

For the first 5 miles that take in fell, climbs and trail, Dave was with me every step of the way. As we arrived at the reservoirs we all gathered and decided to run two of the three reservoirs, making the route about 14 miles. Again Dave was with me every step. Having covered about 8 miles we set off on the home stretch, six miles to go.

Viaduct at Wayoh reservoir

The reservoir

The home leg is uphill for about 3 miles, before levelling off for the final three. For the three miles uphill I was still feeling quite fresh, so picked up the pace slowly. After a mile I had dropped Dave and Nick slightly. Dave was complaining of calf pain at this point. I slowed a bit to let them keep within touching distance.

When we had completed the three miles up hill, we were left with a flattish 3 miles to go over mainly fells.

With the three of us together we set off on the final section. I could here Nick right behind me, so I picked the pace up slowly, Nick stayed there. I picked the pace up again and again. Each time Nick was still there. Finally after a quick 7 minute mile I managed to drop him.

It shows how well Nick has improved in such a short time to still be running hard after 12 miles.

We clocked in, covering 14 miles in 2 hours 26 minutes, surprisingly still feeling pretty good.


Next time I do this route I hope to include the 3rd reservoir, taking the distance to around 17 miles.