Groovy & Baby Kinder Love

I have added the option of running a shorter version of the Groovy Kinder Love with a totally uninspired name "Groovy Baby Love". Its details are below. As a BM it is still a challanging route. Both races start together and follow the main race route to the Broad Clough CP and splits at the Broad Clough ford. The "baby" crosses the ford and goes over the stile while the main race turns right to follow the Broad Clough for 30(ish) metres before crossing and going through a gate to climb back up to the three knolls path. The baby continues around to briefly meet the main route again at Benny's bridge/bottom of Sandy Heys CP, where the baby turns left to climb up to the Shooting Cabin CP while the main race climbs up William Clough. Both routes then meet again for the final descent from the Shooting Cabin CP to the finish. There are instructions in the attached "Baby" PDF and some images at the bottom of this page.

I will just have a single entry for both races (so you just enter the Groovy Kinder Love). You can decide at race number allocation which route you want to run. My race limit of 200 then covers both races so I will not have 400 running.

Google Drive link to a PDF and PNG of the full race map.

These maps show the old Broad Clough and Sandy Heys Bottom checkpoint locations. If printing them off make sure you mark in the new locations as detailed below.

As regards Broad Clough - this CP move was to facilate mobile phone coverage for the marshalls. I would ask runners to keep following the wall down to the Broad Clough ford (the old CP) rather than cutting a straight line to the trod. There are two wire fences in the way and very rough ground. My permissons does rely on people staying to the designated route. I am not too bothered about the cutting a straight line to William Clough from the new Sandy Heys CP but bear in mind it is a very steep slope down to William Clough.

Groovy Kinder Love race map image file
Groovy Kinder Love race map PDF file
Groovy Baby Love PDF file

GPX should be available here. PlotaRoute GPX

Sat 14th Sep 2024 – Groovy Kinder Love (R) (24.5 Km, 1280 m)

It will be the "2020" route as outline below

Click here for the 2021 Winners Strava Plot

This will make for an ideal first AL for anybody wanting to give this category a go as it is right down near the minimum acquirements for this category.
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
This area is a SSSI, which does limit where the race can go. Hence there are a lot of checkpoints, to stop people going "off-piste", which would endanger getting permissions for future events. The CPs are not set in stone but the route will be more of less what is shown below.
This is the route details that have been agreed with the NT and have been submitted to Natural England

Check Point changes from the first year

There are a couple of minor checkpoint changes (CP 7 Broad Clough and CP 9 Sandy Heys Bottom), to facilitate mobile phone coverage. The more significant one is CP7 but the consensus from 2021 seemed to be the longer route following the footpath was actually faster and in that case you will naturally be going past the new checkpoint location. CP 9 will make no difference unless you want to straight line it from there to William Clough, not sure there would be much point in that though.

Groovy Kinder Love Start Valley Road, Finish Scout Hut

Start to CP 1 (Christine's Gate)

Broad Clough has been moved 300 metres further south to footpath junction on higher ground to facilitate mobile phone coverage. This is no longer a cut-off point.

Jacob's Ladder to Edale Rocks & Broad Clough

Broad Clough to Kinder Downfall

CP10 (Sandy Heys) has been moved slightly uphill to facilitate mobile phone coverage.
There is a 03:30 hour cut off at this point.