Thanks Fellhound but I think you keep missing the point. I might have a soft spot for the 3P because its local and because I love those three peaks in particular but I don't mind people not liking the race and preferring others; I just get peeved with people not considering it a proper fell race is all. One of the completely brilliant things about fell racing is that each race route is completely different to every other and completely different to itself on the day due to weather and conditions and whatnot. We should celebrate the diversity eh?
I admit that were I designing the 3P route from the ground up today I could find two or three variations of the route that were far better but...
1. That would be ignoring the history of the race which day one was really to find your own way round and try and go the fastest. I know that landowners have hamstrung that principle, especially so by the race having to follow the Pennine Way up Pen y Ghent and then again off of it before and after Whitber Hill but, ignoring that, the route is probably the fastest route available. A lot of its attraction is the speed that it can be traversed - every 3P walker I ever come across is always stunned when I tell them the race can be won in 2 hours 50 and that it would be less than that if the race could follow the direct line.
2. It is a fricking tough race, made all the tougher by its speed. You talked about certain fell races being ethereal etc but, in all honesty, I'm always running races full on to really appreciate much about them at the time. Races to me are about shared experiences, pushing myself to the limit and maybe having a beer after. The beauty and etherealness and all that is much more to do with solo running
3. I like to think I know getting on for 500 square miles of the Dales hereabouts really quite well, with pretty much all hills, ridgelines, mountains, waterfalls and dales covered. Most of the places that you mentioned I know really well and run past, over or through on a pretty regular basis. I'm glad though that the 3 Peaks race doesn't go to many of those places - fell races can keep to the main drags in my view
4. I enjoy running round the 3 Peaks and tend to do it every couple of months or so, doing the race itself every couple of years. I'm fellsmanning this year rather than doing the 3P race. For the record my favourite race last year was the Langdale Horseshoe.... but even better than that race was a recce of the Langdale Horseshoe route on a late September warm sunny day, followed by a swim to Peel Island in Lake Coniston. More 'ethereal' with knobs on than the race itself, which was pretty darn good in its self.
Anyway thats enough of that. Its all Ian's fault for calling the 3P 'not proper'
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Originally Posted by Stolly
