Swaledale Marathon!!!

I can't believe I didn't post about this! Last Saturday, I was in the Yorkshire Dales, to do the Swaledale Marathon. Apparently it's one of the hardest walks there is, and I can well believe it. There are three official climbs, but there are more hills than that. I counted an extra two. I didn't manage to finish it, but I did do 17 miles out of 24, which included two of the official climbs. Really enjoyed it, even if it was utterly exhausting. The countryside round there is so beautiful. It was almost like stepping back in time, the only signs of human habitation were often dry stone walls, even when we were way up on a hill. And one of the most incredible bits was right at the beginning. We were about half an hour into the walk, going up this massive hill (which we'd been walking up from the start...), and I turned round to grab a bit of breath back, and I looked down and way way below I could see the car park where we'd left from, and the cars were so small they looked even smaller than my brothers toy cars, like they were about a centimetre long each. It was stunning to see just how small we really are when you put us into context against nature. Absolutely awesome.