Winter Hill Fell Race

[Fellsman47]

it wasn't until Vince had posted the results that I noticed the heap.....thankfully it was a high viz crap, I think the dog had been baking that one for a week or so. Thank you for you kind words of praise, i will pass it on to all concerned.

[Fellsman47]

First of all I would like to say a big thanks to the marshalls who stand out on the course year after year to help make this race, secondly to Bolton Mountain Rescue for their support and also to Vince Ashton from UK Results (star man...think his sense of humour made him find the tree with the biggest dog turd underneath it). Finally a big thank you to everyone who turned up and ran in the event.

One point that I would like to raise, is that of registration. After the race had finished yesterday we had several runners unacounted for and so between the checkpoint records and Mountain Rescue counts we established who had gone missing and then obviously I had to try and contact them to verify that they were still alive and had gone through the finish and had ether completed the race or had retired and notified the marshals and Mountain Rescue. It would help if everyone filled in their phone contact numbers and wrote their details in a clear readable manner. Of the four people we had to trace only one had filled in the phone contact details clearly, two had left it blank and one had scribbled it in various sized numerals. in the end all were accounted for even though the scribbled contact persons partner was clearly annoyed that I had repeatedly tried to contact them as it ruined the rugby match. (RANT OVER)

Other than that see you all next year.

[MarkL]

even though the scribbled contact persons partner was clearly annoyed that I had repeatedly tried to contact them as it ruined the rugby match. (RANT OVER)

Ha ha - serves them right!

[Stagger]

Of the four people we had to trace only one had filled in the phone contact details clearly, two had left it blank and one had scribbled it in various sized numerals. in the end all were accounted for even though the scribbled contact persons partner was clearly annoyed that I had repeatedly tried to contact them as it ruined the rugby match. (RANT OVER)

Other than that see you all next year.

BAN as this is not acceptable behavior.

[Longdogs]

Yes that makes me really angry.. even in my little race where there are only 60 or so entrants, there are so many illegible entry forms.. sometimes you can't determine if they're male/female, let alone phone number. It's only cos of the small field that i can work it out. Then when you make a mistake in the results people are quick to be as arsey as hell about it. One of my marshalls has attended an inquest after a fatality in a race he organised, which makes an interrupted rugby match look rather trivial. If i was missing after a race, i hope my nominated contact would actually give a sh1t!

[fozzy]

One quick comment that I have is that the race is still advertised as 11mi (17.7km).

I've run it 3 times, and it's definitely closer to 12mi. I clocked it at 11.75mi (18.9km) including the new flagged bit yesterday.

I don't *think* I've missed an obvious shorter route between CPs?

[davidkidd]

In relation to the distance;

FRA has this race at 2749ft & 11 miles. Doesn't that make it 1ft of climb from being a category 'A' race? I could do with some A races should I want to do 3 peaks etc in the future.

My Garmin clocked 19.29 km, but I did get a bit off track after CP8

[fozzy]

In relation to the distance;

FRA has this race at 2749ft & 11 miles. Doesn't that make it 1ft of climb from being a category 'A' race? I could do with some A races should I want to do 3 peaks etc in the future.

My Garmin clocked 19.29 km, but I did get a bit off track after CP8

No, since the A/B/C boundaries got readjusted and rounded up, Winter Hill comes out at 840m/17.7km = 47.5m/km, which is 2.5m/km below the "A" threshold.

With the correct distance of 18.9km, it comes out at 44.4m/km.

In terms of time of year (and therefore weather) and difficulty though, it could quite easily be argued to be a cat A race.

[Fellsman47]

It might be an idea for anyone who tracked their route yesterday to send me the information then i can get a more accurate distance and elevation profile, the more the better.

Returning to Fozzy's last comment I would agree that although it is now re-categorised as 840m/17.7km given the time of year and the conditions in which it is run then there should be an increased grading given to it, as there would be when grading a climb of increased technical difficulty. The severity and difficulties encountered by competitors during yesterdays race would increase its grading by a factor of at least 1.5-2 over it being run in the summer months in ideal conditions.

any input or feedback about the race is always appreciated and taken onboard.

[fozzy]

It might be an idea for anyone who tracked their route yesterday to send me the information then i can get a more accurate distance and elevation profile, the more the better.

Returning to Fozzy's last comment I would agree that although it is now re-categorised as 840m/17.7km given the time of year and the conditions in which it is run then there should be an increased grading given to it, as there would be when grading a climb of increased technical difficulty. The severity and difficulties encountered by competitors during yesterdays race would increase its grading by a factor of at least 1.5-2 over it being run in the summer months in ideal conditions.

any input or feedback about the race is always appreciated and taken onboard.

I'm never too sure about the accuracy of Garmins etc when it comes to elevation, but the distance is usually fairly reliable in my experience. I'll download the .gpx files from my Garmin for the previous 3 races I've done (if possible - I'm not sure where Garmin stores all the data on my PC) and forward them to you.