LET IT SNOW ,LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!

For the dawn runner striding along on virgin , cushioning snow has a certain unique appeal.  You've discovered a private playground that is yours and yours alone.  A pure white carpet.......clad with your best trails shoe on,  you boldly run where no one else has run,  or even perambulated, that early morning.  There's nothing like it.  But for those who set forth at 11.30 the carpet is not quite so pure.  Already the trail is  black

 muddy slush. A layer of ice covers tarmac stretches.  A multitude of doggie walkers have compounded the tracks into treacherous ice.    Undeterred I headed up past what was Ilkley College bound for the Swastika stone.  Passing the start of the Ilkley Incline I am faced with

a Landrover deserted on the road.  A sticker on the rear window states

"The Best 4x4 in the World".......it doesn't add except in snow!!     Running on past the changeover point on the Millenium Way relay  I can't help but think that we are going to be "stuck" with these conditions for quite a few days. Whilst sledging enthusiasts relish the chance to practise thier skills, let's face it for the majority of us it's a real nuisance.

Runners have to "box clever" to maintain planned schedules.

     

Reaching the Swastika Stone, the view across   to Beamsley Beacon demonstrated just how much snow had fallen overnight compared to yesterday's shot taken 24 hours earlier.

Just 5 miles this morning which was rapidly becoming more of a photo shoot with periods of running in between. but as Fiday tends to be an easy day and days like this with bright sunshine and snow are so rare what the heck!   Whilst I managed a run this morning I can envisage days within the next few months when conditions won't be so attractive so tonight I stepped onto the treadmill in the garage for a couple of miles just to get the legs back into what for me is a slightly different type of running. These conditions can make for interesting photos for many of us but I just hope the God Of Global Warming looks down from high and banishes the white stuff  within the next few days ..............and returns

.............................for just 25th . December. Just for the chill.....dren.