Teenager with Altitude race, 16.7 mile 2,100m. Ace race!

This race had been on my radar for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'd heard it was a toughy - always a good sign for a proper day out on the fells. Secondly, during the long Buttermere race 2 years ago, we did an absolutely epic descent off Whiteless Pike down and up to Newlands. This descent really is something else and someone said that "it's the same descent they use in the Teenager with Altitude (TWA) fell race. That particular descent off Whiteless Pike (Strava) is worth doing the race for on its own...

• Virtually all runnable (despite the top section being over 45 degrees and through heather)
• It has a convex slope so you get the technical steep bit out the way first then can relax and enjoy the fast bit at the bottom
• Views are terrific coming up to it and whilst on it.
• It's non technical !!!! Grassy most of the way with the bottom half being super fast (well, not in my case but it's all relative hey!)

Teenager with Altitude Route

A very quick WhatsApp discussion with Nathan way back in Jan and we're both booked on. We had to book on quickly as it only had about 60 spaces due to National Trust restrictions (so I understand?). Funnily enough you will see the race results show about 130 runners finishing, so I'm not entirely sure what happened there with the numbers restriction??

As this race fell at the end of our Easter School holidays, this was a great excuse to shoehorn in another long family weekend in the lakes in the campervan. We decided to stay at Castlerigg Hall campsite - somewhere we'd tried to get in previous years but it's often booked up and it's easy to see why. Absolutely stunning place to stop, views, cleanliness, tranquility, near to Keswick and we even had TV reception in the van which was a very unexpected surprise!

TWA Route Profile

Race day dawned and seeing as I never miss an opportunity to get out with my camera, I found myself up before sunrise heading out on my MTB with tripod and filters capturing some lovely quiet shots down at Tewet Tarn and Castlerigg. Managed to avoid the crowds at Castlerigg (loads of tripods down there for dawn) - I didn't fancy jostling for position whilst they all waited for the sun to rise so I snook to Tewet first to see noone, then an hour after sunrise went back to Castlerigg when they'd all gone to see noone. Just how I like it!

I cycled to the race start with Teresa and Lewis heading down slightly later for Lewis's kids race (which was epic in itself) and very soon bumped into some friendly faces - Steve Burt, Nathan and Graham. Nathan and Graham had camped in Grange with Graham soon to move to Aberdeen and managing to get a last minute entry to the shorter race on the day - The Anniversary Waltz.

The Whiteless Pike descent "TWA Plummet" on Strava

The race went as well as can be expected with only having done two 3 mile races all year! Well, to be fair it went better than could be expected. Started ok but got better as the race went on finishing pretty well in about 3h54. A couple of unplanned "calls of nature" could have saved me 5 mins but I'm not splitting hairs on my time - it was an absolutely fantastic day out! Certainly a race I'd do again and maybe not in such quite idyllic conditions next year - I was always dreading gettings cramps as it was so sunny but they never quite materialised! The only thing I would have done different is use different shoes or ones with better tread. Within a few metres of descending the first trig point (Causey Pike) I slipped on a descent which lost me confidence all the way through the descending sadly. New walshes with tread please next time! I used my New Balance MT00's which are lovely but they need replacing soon.

Results here
Strava here
Strava flyby here - sit back and relax whilst humming the Benny Hill music to yourself!

Early on race day - Castlerigg Stone Circle after everyone had gone!

New Dungeon Ghyll (Harrison Stickle) Fell Race. Awesome!

I always like to try out new fell races and especially new fell races in the Lakes! I'd got "executive clearance" to go away for the weekend, so the choice was Muncaster Luck, Kong Mini MM in Coniston or this. When I told a few folk I was heading to the Lakes to run a 3 mile race people couldn't quite believe me. They started to believe me when I said it would take me nigh on 1 hour, but enjoyment of races is sooo much more than stats!

By all accounts this is a classic short fell race and it really lived up to expectations. Low key start (in Sticklebarn), a very small field (only 61 runners but some top names out), change out of £5 and a route profile that would get a double take from even a mountain goat!

The simplicity of running to the top of a mountain and back down is what got me into fell running in the first place and this race certainly ticked that box - all 736m of it!

Approaching the summit of Harrison Stickle. Way steeper than it looks!!

The terrain was as expected - very steep and semi-path on the climb (up to 736m!) and rocky / grassy and slippy on the descent - really exhilarating stuff. Legs and lungs felt fine on the climb despite not really running all year but as ever it was the descent that caught me out! Nice to see Kieran and Neil there too from Erewash.

Results here 40th out of 61
Strava link here
Strava flyby here

New Dungeon Ghyll Fell Race Route

Yep - that's about how steep it was!

Tigger Tor Fell Race 2017 41/380

Always been one of my favourite races this one. Third time I think I've done it now and it never disappoints. Highlights of this race for me ;

* Always muddy - lots of the route is on trods
* Lots of the route is on small trods and not on big tracks
* There's climbs all the way through the race

All smiles after the race - thanks no doubt to Helen's nuffins!!! (Helen had dashed off in this shot)

I seemed to feel very good yesterday despite not being at all race fit. Not run I don't think in January due to knees aching and heel hurting but the time off has helped me recover so I could tackle this fresh. Lots of biking including a 108 miler to Rutland last weekend so legs are fine.

The weather was the best I've run this race in - misty to start then blue skies. I probably should have took a little water / more food as I was flagging slightly as we hit the final road - not much of a spring in my step when last year there definitely was! Special well done to Wendy - this being her first proper fell race and loving it by the sounds of it! Thanks to Nathan for driving

Forgot to start my Strava so it didn't record. Doh!!!

Strava Flyby here
2017 Results here 41/380, 1h25:59 (slightly shorter course)
2016 Results here  23/341, 1h26:41
2016 write up here
2010 Results here 21/307

Roaches Fell Race 2016. 23/214

As I was running over big climb number 4 on this epic race, it suddenly dawned on me... I'd actually done this race more times now than I'd run any other race. This kind of thing doesn't just happen by accident with me. I tend to only to races that I consider to be 'great races'. So this one's now top of the list - lets work out why!

Just leaving the start line, up the first track to the farm

November is a bit patchy when it comes to fell racing - there's never that much about really - and to make it worse - Christmas is just around the corner. Surely it's best just to unwind after a summer of racing and enjoy some quality family time? No chance! Running in winter is just way nicer than running in summer.

Yes you get muddier.
Yes you can get colder.
Yes you can get hypothermic if it rains and you're not wearing enough

but if you get past all those hurdles and you get glorious autumnal weather like we did this year - the feeling of satisfaction at the end is better than any summer race - and who knows, as an added bonus you might be able to relax for a few weeks after this weeks until Christmas with the family!

The Roaches Route. Out n Back from Tittesworth

The Roaches Fell Race Route Profile

This year Chris Jordan, Dan Page and Steve Burt were all heading up too which made a change as there's never normally any familiar faces at this race for me. Glorious weather was set in for the day as Chris drove us over to Staffordshire. It looked set to be a real treat for Chris who'd never been to the roaches let alone raced there. My prep for the race was "modest" at best. A bit of biking, not much running so at least my legs should feel fresh even if not race fit! The features on this race that I really remember go a bit like this...

• The interminable first climb. Bogs, then several fields, cross the road then round and onto the Roaches proper with so many false summits before the trig you lose count. This was a hard section for me this year not being race fit
• The descent to the river crossing. Starting on flagstones, cross the road then grass and boggy boulders to the woods which are fast on narrow rooty paths.
• The river crossing.  Every race is better with a river crossing!
• The climb from the river out. First steep, then relenting slightly through two fields, cross the road then up the steeper track and out onto some tussocks and along a track to the main road.
• The main road to Shutlingsloe summit. A lovely section of grassy fields with some rough bits thrown in, slippy bridges before road then a steep path up the ever steepening summit.

As it's an out and back you get all this fun twice! It really has got everything - views, fields, paths, rough bits, steep bits, flagstones, boulders, and ridge running. After the first climb my lungs eventually came back to me and I picked off about 6-8 runners between there and the end - feeling increasingly strong but very nearly running out of water (again, I do this every year!) in the autumnal sun. Highly recommended, not to be missed!

All smiles at the finish - pleased Chris had a good race and loved it as much as I did!

Results here 2h34m52

Strava link here
2015 write up here
2012 write up here
2008 result here (external link to Macc Harriers)

Curbar Commotion Fell Race 32/216

I've never been able to make it to this race - always been busy. But seeing as I've been loving the late summer races and the weather recently has been ace I thought I'd give it a go. Although I'd not raced since the Longstone Chase about a month or so ago, I'd given the club BBH handicap a go on Tuesday and nothing felt too painful so it was game on!

Photo Courtesy of Front Runner

About 8 of us headed down from the club (Me, Meg, Danielle, Kath, Helen B, Ed, Ruth, Andy Case) on what was a slightly chilly but clear morning. The start had moved this year so instead of Cliff College, it was from Curbar Primary school - a route which it later turns out added 0.8 miles.
Legs felt ok despite not racing but I certainly didn't feel race sharp. Still - this race was all about enjoying the autumnal sunshine and remembering just how good fell racing is in the Peak District!
Special note too of some of the best post race refreshments I've seen for a while - loads of good coffee and free cakes with donations to the school - top stuff!

32 out of 216 so 14.8% down the field.

Strava here

Results here

All smiles after - Meg, Ruth, Helen and me with Danielle, Kath and Ed around somewhere!

Last years Curbar Commotion Race Route

Curbar Commotion Route Profile - some lumpyness at the end!

Longstone Chase Fell Race 17th/163

After getting back from the Pyrenees a week or so prior and doing absolutely NO running, it was about time I got out on the fells again! So, after getting back I ran 4 steady days on the trot and unfortunately niggled my achilles. With hindsight, some stretching might have been useful!

Nevertheless, I wasn't going to miss out on The Barrel Inn Fell race, so I thought I'd share a car with the Harriers and head up to take some race photos and capture the Heather in all it's glory...

Eyam Moor after the Barrel Inn Fell racers had gone past...

Luckily, 3 days later it was the Longstone Chase fell race and my niggles had cleared up. After the stunning light  I'd seen on Tuesday I was very keen just to be out there racing even though I'd barely done anything in 3 weeks.

The race felt pretty comfortable even though I felt some way off race fit. Well done to Andy Watson for finishing in front of me - about time mate! Thoroughly enjoyable - especially with Nathan and Ruth both finishing second!

Nathan 2nd Male, Ruth 2nd Female

Results here

Chrome Hill Fell Race - what an awesome race!

I'd never done this race but it had been on my radar since I read Darren Holloway's blog entry on it. And what a "must do" race it is! Low key, linked to a village fair, hard, terrific views - see photo below of Helen as an example!

Chrome Hill Fell Race Route

The route is far harder than the route profile suggests as everything from mile 0 to mile 1 is through grass / mud - often on trogs carved out simply by the local livestock! The village fair looked ace complete with Jazz Band (!), but I had to dash off to meet Teresa (and Cath / Neil) on a Matlock pub crawl. The race is now unfinished business as I had to stop for a comfort break halfway round! What a great excuse to come along next year - next year with the family too!

Chrome Hill Fell Race Profile

Helen on the Chrome Hill Fell Race Ridge - Parkhouse Hill in the background (race doesn't go over that)

Strava link here

Results will go here

Tideswell Fell Race 11th/85

I’d manage to miss this every year so far – it always falls at one of the busiest times of year for fell races and I don’t like to do much more than 1 or 2 a week (unlike some!). This year it fell well as Teresa and Lewis were around and it’s in a beautiful corner of the peaks (near where we got married – The Monsal Head pub) so it was a great excuse for a family evening out.

Tideswell Fell Race Route

And what a glorious evening it was! Being Summer Time in Britain, it was a matter of deluge avoidance… thankfully most of the race did avoid any rain and we were blessed with stunning views over the limestone dales of Tideswell and Litton.

Tideswell Fell Race Profile

The race itself reminded me slightly of the Cressbrook Crawl which is in May and in the next dale – although this one only had one climb of note. Sadly I’d not warmed up enough so that climb felt very very hard to me – up through about 4 grassy fields before levelling off on the Bridleway tracks around Priestcliffe which all looked absolutely stunning bathed in the evening sunlight. The descent was damp which mixed with Limestone, steps, grass and mud made me lose about 2 places on the drop down to the dale.

All in all, a lovely evening topped off with a pint or so in the Monsal Head pub.

Strava link here
Results here 11/85 so top 12.9%.

Riber Run 2016 17th/156

I was keen to get back fell racing after my Scottish Isles trip and MTBing last week (Trailquest and Mountain Mayhem) so seeing as this was one of my favourite races last year it was great to see so many Harriers join me on this local classic!

Riber Run 2016 Race Route

Riber Run Route Profile

 Hills were a struggle - I was sorely overdue running training and hill rep training - so being 1 minute slower than last year was probably not too bad - it was slightly slippier too than last year so it felt about right. Lewis came with me so nice pint with Lewis and Nick in the Jug and Glass afterwards.

The Belper Harriers before the Riber Run 2016

Results link here 17th out of 156 so top 10.9%

Strava flyby here showing Nick's "walkabouts" around Hearthstone lane.

Edale Country Day Fell Race 30th/229

I always enjoy this race and this year it was on the club Fell Series. As I'd only done Masson so far I thought I'd better clock another one up! I love this as it's a classic fell race - up, across and down with the terrain never being easy and of course finishing in the country day field in front of the crowd (and beer tent!) is ace.

Edale Country Day Race Route. Start under the nab, finish next to the main CP.

Legs felt pretty good after Castleton on Friday night so I thought I'd notch it up slightly for today - tackling the climb slightly harder than I had the other night. This year the climb felt way easier than last year so I ought to check back if I just went off too fast last year and blew up (think I paced it better this time).

I didn't lose any places on the traverse which I was pleased about which only left the descent! Every year I lose about 10 places on this and I kept up this tradition this year ! I felt good all the way to the finish and overtook a few on the run down the road. Another brilliant race and a fantastic turnout from the club with 14 of us! Especially well done to Andy Paisley - on fire at the mo!

30th out of 229 so top 13%
Results here
Strava link here

Castleton Fell Race, 39/231

Castleton is a race I've not done for about 12-15 years. I have tended to avoid it due to the large amount of flagstone running along the ridge but this year it fitted in well. I'd not really done much since getting back from Scotland (boycotted the BDL Race on Tuesday due to feeling under the weather) so this was a good a way as any to get on the race ladder in time for Edale on Sunday. Brucey bonus was that Lewis could do the kids race!

Castleton Fell Race Route 

We both really enjoyed it (only 8 in Lewis's race due to appalling weather all day) and I seemed to run well, never really maxing out and staying pretty comfortable. Imminent cramps on the last tarmac run in stopped me closing down the guys in front sadly.

39/231 so top 17% - lower than normal and I thought I ran well. Maybe I didn't!!
Results here in 52:28
Strava here

Fairfield Horseshoe Fell Race 2016 (61/316)

Although 1 or 2 of us have done lakes fell races before, we've never coordinated it across the running club. Times are changing in the club - so after Chris posted on our club Facebook account that it was Fairfield in 2 months time - my ears pricked up! This was the second ever fell race I'd done - way back in 1999 and only one month after my very first ever fell race - Black Combe. Back in 1999 I wasn't really a 'runner' - I'd just gone up to the lakes and ran as I love the mountains and loved running uphill. My time from 1999 was 1h49 which got me 183rd out of 307 runners. Oh no - I now had a time to aim for so the pressure was on !!

Ed (vest in wash!), Chris, Me, Andy, Claire, Nathan, Helen and Clare raring to go!

We met up with Clare / Claire at the essential lakes stop-off-en-route cafe - Wilfs in Staveley. Everyone was very excited with Chris / Clare and Claire polishing off a serious amount of foodage - Andy and me preferring to steer well clear before a race. Traffic was bad through Ambleside probably due to the great weather which meant that we didn't have a great deal of time to run to registration, meet up with the others, register, warm up and go to the loo. After a very very thorough kit check (great news in my opinion even with excellent weather) we were through and ready to go.

The start line was moved from where I remember it 17 years ago (somewhere over to the left?) and about 15 minutes later than planned - we were off! The start goes up a track for about half a mile before veering off left on sheep trods then left again alongside a wall to the main ridge. Running felt 'verging on uncomfortable' but manageable despite my calves having barely recovered from the BDL race last Tuesday (I'd not run for 2wks previous to that hence calf ache). As we got to the ridge Nathan was only 3 runners in front of me. "Concentrate on your pace not keeping up with him" I was telling myself through the whole of the climb to Fairfield summit. Thankfully, I managed that quite comfortably and we summited together exchanging a few brief words before he shot off on the descent. Nice to see Lily too at the summit cheering us on !

Fairfield Fell Race route from my gpx

Fairfield Fell Race route profile from my gpx

The descent on Fairfield is something to behold - perfect grassy ridge running mostly over non technical terrain with views over the whole of South Lakeland - truly enjoyable! Nearer to the bottom there are sections of rock (as there are around Hart Crag at the start) which often can be avoided to the left by following grassy trods. Note to self : Remember these next time! As ever, runners started to pass that I'd picked off on that climb - never mind - that's what always happens!!

Approaching the finish line - whilst narrowly avoiding cramp in BOTH calves!

As it was so warm on the day, I knew I would be close to cramping up by the end and I was but very narrowly managed to avoid it on the descent and final track run in. Crossing the line in 61st place and 1h40 so 9 mins faster than 17 years ago - result! Sadly I lost 30 places to Nathan on the descent - well perhaps 20-25 as he overtook some (including Ed).

It was lovely at the finish waiting for the others coming in whilst bathing in the full on sunshine! The day was topped off with a drink or two in the Golden Rule pub before heading back South.

Lets hope this is the first of many!

Strava here

Strava Flyby here (we didn't have that 17 years ago!)

Full results here

Masson Hill Fell Race : 17th/157

This is always the first proper Summer evening fell race of the year for me and a few others from the club. Over the last 3 years I've come to adore this race as you'll see from the review here here and here. It really is a mini classic - hence why this year I was really keen to get this into the club Fell Race Series.

Masson Hill Fell Race gps route trace. You can't see the hills like this...

Thankfully Helen agreed - so all we needed to do now was get people interested - how hard could that be when I knew it was quite hard and very steep at the start! The build up to this race had seemingly gone well in terms of me gaining interest in it from club members. Lots of hyping this one up from me to every possible member of the club - plus a few more who weren't in the slightest bit interested. Apologies! I really, really wanted to get new people into the Summer Evening Peak District Fell Race scene - it really is a highlight of summer for me now and I was really hoping this race would get people addicted. Big climbs, big descents and views. All the vital ingredients!!

about half of us after the race - something had tickled us!

On the night an unprecedented cold snap gave us hail storms with one just 20 mins before the start - it made the warm up Marcus and me did feel very Xmas'y ! Thankfully - the blue skies as we left Belper were enough to get people's bums on seats in cars and loads turned up. 27 I think ? From my perspective the race went brilliantly. I'd eaten a little more protein in the day than I would normally and the constant weekly hill reps I've been doing meant my legs just kept on going. It felt ace - in fact the best I've felt in a race possibly ever. Sadly that didn't quite translate into position (although I think I lost 20 seconds due to shoe lace and taking a wrong turn on the descent!) but at least I was first harriers home ahead of Saul and new comer James. Great work

To top the evening off about 15 of us went for a liquid dinner topped off with Pizzas provided by the Ladies captain - how sporting was that !!

17th out of 157 so top 11% but a great great night out

Lads Leap Fell Race, 21st/146

Lads leap fell race has been on my radar for a while. It's been a "National Champs" fell race in the last few years so I think that's probably why I made a mental note of it.  This year though, it hadn't really entered on my to shortlist until Chris reminded me about it a few weeks back - and anyway this was Chris telling me about it - no doubt he'd be a no show or have a road race / taking Tom to football excuse ? Anyway, I thought no more about it until 3 days before the event and he was still bang up for it. Wow! A quick msg on facebook gets some excuses but also gets Matt onboard. Fresh from his reccie of the Glencoe skyline reccie I was keen to meet up with him.

The forecast for the day was "good from lunchtime" but we arrived at the campsite in almost wall to wall sunshine at 1030.  As expected, the mandatory kit was relaxed so after a few hard warm up bursts up the first climb we were ready to race!

Lads Leap Fell Race Route : Starting from the campsite, steep up to Lads Leap down the 'knarr' then back up the track through the woods to Millstone rocks. All through lovely, lovely bogs !!!

Only two climbs...

In the week leading up to this, I'd just been out on two short but hard local bike routes. My lungs felt like they were getting there but I'd not run for 2 weeks so as all too often I "wasn't sure how it would go". As short races go, this is at the harder end of the scale. One of the hardest short races I've done in fact. Lets look at the facts ;

• First climb is very long and only just runnable, it then turns to 
• Bogs - lots of 2m wide bogs to run through / across never quite knowing how deep they are followed by some 
• Deep Bogs - the more evil variety.  You know the type - as you approach them you are frantically scanning them left to right, then back across right to left, then a bit further right - and a bit further left - just before realising that "no there is not a good option through this, I'm just gonna have to run through it and rely on the fact that no heads of faster fell runners are poking out that it's do-able". Inevitably these bogs result in you fearing that you will emerge with one or both fell shoes remaining in the bog. If you survive with both shoes intact you will probably just end up with an ungainly fall - often sinking up to your knees you will no doubt have to grab on some heather / peat / tussocks to escape. After that it's the 
• Rocky dried up stream beds which take you left down to the 
• Fence line laced with barbed wire which invariably you will try to grab as the fence goes down very very steeply to start just before the 
• Long quarry track. Phew - a track which can be run! Well, I say run but this track just seems to be at the angle which is easy enough to run on but steep enough to never make it easy. Anything more than a slow shuffle up this climb is good. This takes you up to what I found to be the hardest part of the course, the
• Boggy Climb back to "Lads Leap". Uphill bogs - why can't race organisers always warn us poor runners about uphill bogs! They are evil! 

Thankfully after lads leap, it's all downhill - gradual with tussocks and some rocks to start and then eventually steeply back down to Crowden (photo below) - what is actually a fantastic descent!

The final descent : Caitlin Rice pulling away as I capture the View from Highstone Rocks

I was running in about 19th out to the fence line descent at which point a runner from Southwell came bombing past me and Caitlin Rice caught me up. Caitlin took me on the descent so 21st out of 146 runners and top 14.3%. My legs never really felt "great" - just "ok to good" which reflects I've not run for 2 weeks. 5.9 miles in about 58 mins. Stuart Bond was 48 mins.

All in all a fantastic hour of racing - we could all see exactly why this has been chosen previously as a National Champs Fell race - it certainly leaves you knowing who's the boss !

Me, Chris and Matt - all smiles. Afterwards!

Results here

Strava link here

Muncaster Fell Race, 11 Mile 2,000ft, 7th/50

Last March I'd just bought my first Fuji - the XE-1 and what better way to test it out but with a trip to the Lakes in spring. Of course, you can't go to the Lakes without running or racing - so last year I entered the Middle Fell race from Wasdale and had beers with Graham before sleeping out next to the Lake.

The Muncaster Fell Race Route, 10.7mile 2,000ft

So, January turns to February and I'm itching to get a weekend in the diary which combines running and photography again - but the diary was pretty busy with Easter being in March this year. Thankfully, Teresa agreed to me heading off on our free weekend so a quick scan of the fell race calendar revealed quite a few options ;

• Carrock Fell (NE lakes, a totally new race but only 5 miles)
• Middle Fell (did it last year and wanted to expand my race repertoire!), 
• Causey Pike (did it years ago - straight up and down so a classic lakes fell race but a little short considering this was going to be my only running all weekend, which left
• Muncaster (called Muncaster Luck for some reason?).

Muncaster had all the right ingredients;

• 11 miles so worth getting your walshes on for
• Many small peaks I'd not run over before so new terrain
• Running near to Devoke Water - I love it over there - very quiet and wild and anything from grassy to tussocky depending on where you are
• It covered the circumference of lower eskdale so the route was 'logical' and included both sides of the valley so was a decent 'round' and certainly not contrived.
• And finally - It had the all important river crossing - 2 of them ! The River Esk twice in this case with it being Eskdale.

Breakfast next to Buttermere. Absolutely glorious! #iPhone

Brimmed full of excitement after seeing a reasonable weather forecast I headed up Saturday morning and chose to go down Borrowdale for a few hours with my camera. The area at the bottom of Borrowdale around Grange fell looked good and it didn't disappoint. I did about a 3 mile photo ramble (without paths!) over Brown Dodd, Caffell Side, Ether Knott, Brund Fell and finally Kings Howe all without seeing a single person in what is one of the busiest valleys in the Lakes. This is what I really love - wild terrain, almost no paths, stunning views and no one around. I'll definitely be heading round those fells again.

I kipped in the car next to Buttermere - nice and quiet and handy for any early photo shoots and breakfast next to the lake. And what a breakfast it was ! 

The Buttermere Pines taken with my Fuji XT10

There was certainly no rush to leave this stunning lakeside spot. Again – no one about. In the end, I left a bit late and it was a mad dash to get to Muncaster Castle – I like to have a minimum of 45mins before the race starts for faffing and warming up. Registration was a nice informal affair – a table at the side of the car park being very understated. Lake District races are so low key, but yet Rob Jebb (just won the National opener last weekend) was milling around with his family and fell legend Jim Davies was competing.

It was only when I got to the start line with 1 min to spare that I noticed all other runners (about 50 of us) had bumbags on apart from 1 or 2. Oh god? I’d not brought mine - I think I’d assumed it would be like a peak district summer race where they are not required apart from some longer or higher ones. It was certainly summer and the race never went high, so at least I felt that I wasn’t taking any undue risks in setting off. I did however say to myself on the first climb that I would approach the organiser at the end to point out I’d forgotten my bumbag, just in case anybody did say anything.

I started slow (right at the back) and moved through the field as we got onto the open fells of Muncaster Fell. Stunning stuff – so stunning in fact that I couldn’t resist taking photo’s (about 6 in all – how non competitive am I !) plus I didn’t expect anyone else to be posting photo’s of this low key event on the web – blogs always look better with photos !

Great running early on Muncaster Fell

The running over Muncaster fell was sublime – never too tough, but the indistinct trods took us over numerous small tops (around 230m altitude) and managed to squeeze in bracken (plenty of), bogs (some) rocks (even less thankfully) and if you had time to admire them – views! The whole of Eskdale was laid out before us but sadly I didn’t have time to work out the individual peaks which I knew so well – it was just concentrate on not falling over and maintain the pace down to the River Esk before the second half of the race the other side of the valley.

Descending Muncaster Fell with Lower Eskdale ahead

The other side of the valley is an area I’d explored on a few occasions, most recently on my 50 mile MTB ride last August. That ride was made memorable for the bogs / tussocks and hike-a-bike around this part of Eskdale around Devoke Water. It was also a memorable area for me due to it’s wild,  grassy and tussocky nature – perfect running from my perspective.

Ascending the Other Side of the Valley - towards Devoke Water

Rocky Terrain on the 2nd Half

Racing through this area certainly didn’t disappoint – it was perfect fell running – never easy, plenty of ups and downs, very very remote and wild and not too many rocks! To make it even better I was starting to catch the runners in front of me although doubts were emerging in my head as I’d already had a tiny twinge of cramp and I knew I was only just over half way round.

Running Towards Raven Crag

I think this section of the race from Raven Crag to The Pepperpot (marked Twr 169m on OS maps) surprised all runners. The fact that this was all now flagged certainly didn’t make it easy. With hindsight I think the organiser felt so guilty about the terrain that he put the flags up so that he wasn’t attacked when we got to the finish! The bogs got worse, the tussocks got bigger until we actually ran through the field that was so ingrained in my memory from last August – the boggiest tussocks I’d ever seen. So much so that myself and Tim Ripper who I was running with were thigh deep on almost every step at one point. We just couldn’t even walk. Other runners took a higher line and made time up on us (they took a non flagged line).

Even after the pepperpot where we could see Muncaster Castle not far below us, the route took us back inland on a big detour that I didn’t have prepped in my head adding further to our woes! Yet more tussocks and bogs followed but we’d passed the critical point now and they were just “bad”. Nothing worse than that. Good running all the way to the finish was punctuated by my first ever running through salt marshes and across what appeared to be an estuary complete with what I feared was runner-eating mud across the River Esk!! Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I’d feared and it was just the cruel climb up to the castle itself to cross the finish line. 

Andy Schofield on the Cruel Climb to the Finish Line

A well paced race saw me overtake both Tim and fell legend Scoffer (Andy Schofield) on the final few fields and climb. I felt great – as good as I’d ever felt and sprinted the last climb to overtake Andy and finish about 7^th.

Sadly, carrying no kit counted me out of the formal results but that didn’t detract from what was yet another of my favourite lakes fell races along with Black Combe, Buttermere Horseshoe, Long Duddon and The Mountain Trial.

This is what running is all about. Low key but yet thoroughly liberating. Roll on next March !!!