Duddon Valley

[alwaysinjured]

Did a reccie of this last sun - hadnt done it for a couple of years.

So I discover an electric fence ( off it seems) on the line I take from hard knott to little stand just after the river crossing.

Are there any race instructions on this?

Are there any stiles, I didnt see any?

[IanW]

Did this last year and the fence was there then - didnt notice anyone get zaped in the nether regions while i was there so it was probably off then too. Cant remember any mention of it before the race either. no stiles at at the creossing point as far as i can remember either.

[The Juicer]

On a slightly different note - I'm thinking of doing the 'short' race of this as my Lakes debut. I'm very slow though (always in the last few in fell races). Do you think there'll be many at the back in the Short, or just everyone will do the long race? (Don't mind being last, but would hate to be uncomfortably last!!)

[IanW]

On a slightly different note - I'm thinking of doing the 'short' race of this as my Lakes debut. I'm very slow though (always in the last few in fell races). Do you think there'll be many at the back in the Short, or just everyone will do the long race? (Don't mind being last, but would hate to be uncomfortably last!!)

last year there were some finishing the short at 3hours out. that would mean that they were comming in as the fastest lads finished the long (second half of both routes is the same) so even if you were very very slow you should be able to blend in with some other runners. word of warning - if the weather is crap the navigation for the back end of both races can be tricky if you dont do much of that stuff! I would do it - lovely hills and a great carnival atmosphere (probably).

[alwaysinjured]

On a slightly different note - I'm thinking of doing the 'short' race of this as my Lakes debut. I'm very slow though (always in the last few in fell races). Do you think there'll be many at the back in the Short, or just everyone will do the long race? (Don't mind being last, but would hate to be uncomfortably last!!)

I would seriously recommend a recce, if only to get the idea of the terrain: this is one of the rough tough races, and a lot of the second half to avoid rough ground , you need to take trods which are on a sidehill traverse which a lot of runners dislike:

Ian is right: whilst the worst navigation problems are on the first half of duddon, if the clag is down there can be problems here too.

The main issues of navigation for the second half are :
(a) to find the sidehill trods just to the W side of the ridge (which skirt the peaks that are not checkpoints) if you dont the ground is very rough.
(b) to find the line off white pike: straight to caw is not a good idea!
(c) and recognise that the direct line from caw summit to the finish is nasty ground, you do better to back track most of the ascent from the last col before heading down.

I really do suggest if you are going to do this , you try a race like anni waltz or fairfield/rydal as a debut first!

[The Juicer]

Thanks for the info chaps. Yep, it does sound like it might not be the best debut into Lakes races. I had a look at last years results and there were only 20 runners in the short, and I'd pretty sure I'd take at least 3 hrs if it was rough and tough. (The longest I've done is 9m/2700' on easier terrain, and that took 2.14).

If I can't make the dates for Anni Waltz or Fairfield, can you suggest others that may be beginner friendly, with large fields and lots of slow runners? Cheers!