A select group of 63 runners lined up for this year's race up and down England's highest mountain; so different from all the razzmatazz around the Snowdon and Ben Nevis races. Ian Holmes rode over from Bingley on his motorbike; I strolled over from Eskdale Youth Hostel (it seemed a better option than cycling round via Santon Bridge); and Olga Wiggins was there with her phone to document the proceedings in her inimitable style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR0zPwey4qQ.
After a minute's silence and a start-line photo by Andy Holden, we were off. I made good progress up the steep climb of Lingmell nose. Then onto the traverse over more gently sloping moorland to meet the tourist path, I took the upper of two trods. Andy Holden took the lower one, and gained ground on me, but so did the woman I was following on the upper one; so I may have overcooked it on that first steep climb. Lindsay Buck caught me just as we reached the tourist path; I thought she would be a good person to follow, but it was hard work keeping up with her as she took an unerringly straight and steep line through the boulders, cutting off some distance from the path which is less direct. Eventually you do have to join the tourist path, but it's on the way back down that it takes real skill to avoid crashing into the myriad walkers.
It was on the moorland traverse back to Lingmell nose that the wheels came off - or, to be more precise, the soles came off. First, I noticed the sole of my right shoes flapping loose. After a while, it came off entirely, and was obligingly picked up by Peter McCann, running just behind me. I carried on, managing to run reasonable distances between each occasion when my bum made contact with the ground. Onto Lingmell nose, and the left sole started flapping loose. After a few more bum-grass contacts, I decided there was only one remedy. Off came the shoes and socks. I didn't want to leave any litter, so I held onto them until the stile, where there were a couple of walkers chatting to the marshal. Me: "Are you on your way down?". Walker: "Yes." Me: "Can you find a dustbin to put these in?" [hands over a pair of manky shoes].
Running barefoot down the grassy slopes was actually very pleasant, although the last few hundred metres along a stony footpath were agony. Position-wise, I finished 53rd, having probably been in the mid-30's at the summit; but only 4 people had passed me after the shoes came off, three of them on that last stony path. Ian Holmes finished 3rd; since graduating from M50 to M55, he has stopped winning races.
I do realise that the shoe incident wouldn't have been so funny if it had happened on the higher part of the mountain. Ironically, it happened because for once I did inspect my racing shoes before leaving home. I found that the stitching between the upper and the sole was coming apart on one shoe; I knew that there was another old pair of Walsh PB Racers, so I took those out, and they seemed to be in better condition. But clearly the glue holding the sole together had perished (or whatever glue does).
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by noel
