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". Both races start together and follow the main race route to Jacob's Ladder Top CP 4 (the baby bypasses the down-and-up to Jacob's Ladder Bottom CP 5) and splits again at Broad Clough ford CP 7. The "baby" crosses the ford and goes over the stile while the main race turns right to
follow the fence-line/Broad Clough for 30(ish) metres before 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 10, where the baby turns left to climb up to the Shooting
Cabin CP 12, while the main race climbs up William Clough. Both routes
then meet again for the final descent from the Shooting Cabin CP 12 to
the finish. There are instructions in the attached "Baby" PDF and
an image at the bottom of this page.
2024 was the first year running the two options, it worked
OK(ish). The idea of the "baby" was that it was meant to be an easier
alternative to the main race, but in retrospect there was not enough of a
difference between the two options. The "baby" is still a hard race
and anybody who could do it would also be capable of doing the longer one, so
in effect they were in competition with each other.
There are changes from 2025. South Head CP has has been removed for both races to remove confusion with trying to get some people
to bypass it while sending the Groovy over the top. The main change will be
removing the Jacob’s Ladder CP for the baby. That removes 2Km/170m climb.
The stats for each race will then be:
There is just 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. The race limit of 200 then covers both races so there will not be 400 running.
Google Drive link to a PDF and PNG of the full race map.
The introduction of the second race has necessitated moving the Broad Clough and Sandy Heys Bottom CPs.
The Broad Clough CP has been moved back down to the Broad Clough Ford as that is where the races split and the marshal can ensure runners go the correct way.
The "Bottom of Sandy Heys CP will be by Benny's Bridge as the baby will be coming around the side of the hill to briefly meet at that CP before spliting again.
GPX should be available here. PlotaRoute GPX
Sat 6th Sep 2025 – 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
Route Detail
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| Groovy Kinder Love Start Valley Road, Finish Scout Hut |
 |
| Start to CP 1 (Christine's Gate) |
The consensus seems to be that the longer way is actually faster.
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| Broad Clough to Kinder Downfall. CP 7 is the second split. A number of people went wrong here in 2024 so be careful. |
as the baby will be coming around the side of Sandy Heys.
 |
| William Clough, Mill Hill, Leygatehead Moor |
 |
| Shooting Cabin, Snake Path |
 |
Snake Path to Groovy Kinder Love finish by Scout Hut |
Climb to the wall corner and then follow the fence line towards the reservoir. N.B this is different to the 2023 version. There is now no need to go to Hollin Head.
