Whitbarrow Scar - 1st March

[navigator]

Hi,

thought I'd let you all know about a fell-running race that's been planned as part of the Tim Watkins Trophy to be held on Whitbarrow Scar (about 7 miles west of Kendal in the Lakes) on March 1st. It's not in the FRA Calendar

The whole event is an orienteering event, run by South Ribble Orienteering Club, and is being planned by me (Malcolm Campbell) and my wife Liz. We're both members of Warrior Orienteering Club (based in Ambleside!) and as sometime fell-runners ourselves, we thought that it'd be good to plan a course specifically for fell-runners with only basic navigation skills, so that's what we've done!

The course is about 12-13km long, with a mass start, and is all on paths and tracks (although some short cuts may be possible!) and aims for a 75 minute winning time. Unlike normal orienteering where there are just a number of 'controls' joined by straight lines, this race will still use the orienteering map (A3+ in size at 1:10,000), but the paths to be followed will be 'highlighted' with a purple highlighter, and there will be a number of electronic controls placed at strategic points on the route. In effect this is a short fell race with a bit of navigation. SportIdent electronic controls will be used and e-cards are available to hire.

Whitbarrow is a great place for running and I know a lot of local fell runners use it for training - the course starts on top of the south tip of the scar and weaves around on the open limestone fell and traverses the forest on a range of tracks and paths. Normal FRA rules on carrying emergency/spare items will apply. Start is at 10.50am, but you'll need to leave time for registration and walking uphill to the start (about 20 mins fast walk) - parking is on the loop of the old A590 below the south tip of the scar.

More details at:
http://www.sroc.org/menu8/index8.htm
(it's also called 'Blodslitet' after a famous Norwegian mass start race! - something about blood letting I think!)

Hope to see lots of you there!!!

Cheers

Malcolm and Liz Campbell

[Harry H Howgill]

This looks like a cracking event; something a little different always goes down well. It's in the diary.

[JohnK]

Penciled in.