I enjoyed it so much I did two laps. As much as I would like the 39th position, 150th is where I really finished.
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I enjoyed it so much I did two laps. As much as I would like the 39th position, 150th is where I really finished.
Well done Finley and Jasmine on their convincing wins. Many thanks to Selwyn and his helpers/Ambleside AC.
I always enjoy Selwyn's after race presentations (not that I ever win anything) he has a knack of adding humour to the proceedings.....a good day had.
Lecky, those of us from Kendal are not sure who Not Sure is!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lecky
Many Thanks to Selwyn & all marshals/helpers for a masterclass in how to organise a fell race and make sure everyone enjoys themselves at the same time, and to Lecky for the lightning speed appearance of results.
5 years ago I clocked 3:43, so was hoping for sub-3:30 and had a 3:25 schedule worked out... and clocked 3:24 so relatively happy with that;)
and I quite enjoyed the ascent of Wetherlam :D
Interesting spectator viewing from the top of Lingmoor. Couldn't believe how many people didn't have the first clue about how to get off Lingmoor. The marshalls did their best to give everyone a bit of a guide but I also noticed a lot of people, including some of those higher up in both the men's & women's fields who couldn't believe there were no flags for them to follow off the top, and they made a point of expressing their frustration to the marshalls too!! As far as I'm aware, it's always flagged from the intake gate, not the summit! Interestingly, not one of those who were complaining bothered to get their map out and try and help themselves!! I left the summit with the runners who would have finished in around 2:30hrs so we're not talking inexperienced runners here, and a good number from Lakeland clubs too. It's a funny old game, I hope those same runners are at Langdale and it's 'reet claggy!!
The Harveys map for the race does say clearly on the map side "Follow flags from Lingmoor summit to finish" and on the course notes on the reverse "....all the way to the summit of Lingmoor Fell, Checkpoint 5. The route is now flagged right back to the finish but remember you should reach the pub from the east!"
Consequently, I admit to not giving the final run in much thought and was one who had to ask "which way?" Lesson learned!
Great race though! Many thanks to Selwyn, Elaine and all marshals - I had a memorable day
I first ran this race 25 years ago (1989) when there were 331 finishers. It is a wonderful race and is/was a favourite (and Selwyn is great).
The number of finishers in the next few years averaged 276 (over 5 years).
The number of finishers this year was 220 and averages 250 over the last 5 years.
Without going into Champ counting years and weather and other race clashes et al, it is interesting and delighful that over a period when FRA membership has more than doubled this race has not been spoiled by massive entries more usually associated with football crowds.
From the summit of Lingmoor Fell you can do a lot worse than simply following the path just to the right of the wall until there is an obvious metal gate in the wall - before reaching the metal gate take the path downhill to your right leading - initially at least - away from the wall. There are shorter/faster routes, but not by much, and hesitating/looking around can lose a lot of time/places.
a few points of my own to add:
1. Definitely reach the pub from the east. I reached it from the west (!!!!) and had to retreat to the point where I turned right instead of left (I still cannot believe I made such a foolish mistake costing me a few precious LCT points).
2. Interesting stats on race numbers. I much prefer these relatively quieter events - I wonder if it is the blurb in calendar that puts some people off. I dread the day when (if) it becomes pre-entry (will the new dibber system need pre-entry for efficient registering?) and you end up with people not turning up etc..
3. At most races there is a great atmosphere but there is something magical about this one. A massive thanks to all the organisers, marshalls and helpers who generously give their time in helping us pursue this beautiful hobby.
p.s. without intending to sound vain - does anyone know who the guy was on lingmoor taking pictures and whether they are available anywhere.
Thanks
Hard, hard, hard race! Wiped out from that one, but at the same time, a special feeling at completing my first Lakeland Classic.
The maps do say that the descent from Lingmoor is flagged. But this is a third party, commercial map maker and the marshall I was chatting to told me that it was never flagged from the summit in years pass.
Saw Steve Birkinshaw, the man who broke Joss Naylor's 20+ year record. But even a superman like him came in third. Shows what a top field it was.
Hadn't realised that the race map said it was all flagged - that accounts for some of the disappointment I suppose. I thought it used to get flagged if the junior races were running, but otherwise stayed unflagged.
It hasn't been flagged for the last few years, hopefully it will stay that way despite what the map says.
I'm not sure I agree with flagging other than to avoid private/sensitive land.
Still, flagged or not, it's a fantastic event that Selwyn & his team puts on. Long may it continue.
My first long fell race (you have to start somewhere eh!). I was another who asked "which way?" on Lingmoore as I'd read that it would be flagged, by that point I was quite looking forwards to following tape and flags as my brain was almost as useless as my legs! Managed to find my way to the finish despite almost joining in with the Marathon runners going the opposite direction (it was all a bit confusing wasn't it?!).
Good fun... I have never enjoyed a pastie and a cup of tea more than I did at the end!
A few photos and my race report for the Three Shires Fell Race.
Thank you very much Selwyn and all the volunteers for a hard bu very enjoyable day out!
The hot cheese and onion pie was a nice touch- best tasting pie ever!
I always understood that the flags were only there for for the junior races and it did lead to a bit of confusion sometimes as to whether following them was compulsory or not. The old flagged route probably isn't the fastest way down and I finished ahead of someone who was in front of me on Lingmoor and who I believe followed that while I went another way, rejoining the old route a little before the start of the steep descent/zig zags.
Thanks to Selwyn and everyone else involved.Great route as always.
Thanks Andy Jackson for these great photos!!
https://m.facebook.com/groups/444984...52805894521719
Photos from Three Shires Race 2014
Apologies for the late post, the memory card was corrupt and it took an age to retrieve the files. First attempt at sports photography so there's a few blurry ones. Feel free to download and share. Inbox me if you want a copy of the original raw file.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...4096719&type=1
Huge thanks to all the organisers and marshals at today's race. Lovely day for it but i now have bad sunburn!
Good Luck to everybody racing today! :)
Thanks. My first Lakes long. And even though it's a short Lakes long, I was still pretty wiped out towards the end. I was hoping for a faster time, but it was quite hot, so I can mentally take off about 20 minutes for "conditions". I'm joking of course, it was dry and the visibility was great. It's my stamina that needs to improve.
Roll on Langdale (eek!).
I clocked 18km, which makes this technically a medium ;)
which would make several things interesting......
using it to qualify for other races?
Lakeland classics?
Might of course be that you, and lots of other folks, have improved the original lines of the race.
How do you define a race course length? The original course might have been measured via Red tarn? Not the corner cutting on the drop above the 3 shires stone? Not the straight line up Wetherlam?
The original taped route off Lingmoor?
Then again, might just be like many races...over egged on the distance front? Or even the Bob Graham - which seems to have shrunk from 72 miles to 66 miles.
Changing from miles to kilometres, to keep the numbers round there is no exact conversion - was it simply decided to keep traditional Longs as Ls despite the fact that they fell short - just - of the 20 kilometre mark? There is no doubt that Three Shires is over 10 miles - I accept it is short of the 20 k/12.4 m given on the FRA race page.
But does your Garmin / Tom Tom etc measure the actual distance travelled (ie the climbs / descents) or just the flat distance. If it just measures the flat distance you would need to add a percentage (whatever figure that may be) to cover the climbs / descents to calculate the actual distance travelled during the race.Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
Using pythagoras:
a^2+b^2=c^2
Length a = 18.26. Height = 1.478*2 as you lose that much height as well = 2.956
c = root(333.4276+8.74) = 18.5km
Working it out like this never altars difference too much.
Given the men's record time (105mins) it's a long race, with middle races not really going above 90mins. There are several races that are borderline or 'historic' A/L category races - Edale Skyline springs to mind
Great day out though, modelling my t-shirt today.
When the L/M/S categorisation was done according to record times (which I always thought was much more sensible than using distances, given the variety of steepness and terrain in fell races), the boundary between Medium and Long categories was a record time of 105 minutes; so Three Shires really is a borderline case.Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
With regard to Edale Skyline, which should really be BL, I presume the reason for the AL category is the difficulty of the terrain. Of course, once they have paved the route over Brown Knoll, that reason will no longer be valid!
I must admit Anthony, I did like the old method of classifying race distance according to course records:-Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
Upto 40 minutess = Short
40 - 105 minutes = Medium
Over 105 minutes = Long
I think the Skyline comes out at AL if you measure the route taking in the down-and-up between Grindslow and Ringing Roger (shorter distance, more climb = better stats). Using the more common around route takes it down to BL, but the option is there. Time of year can also add to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
When the calendar went metric and Weasdale changed from AM to BM but had already been confirmed as a champs race so was one of the few (only?) B's to be a champs race in recent years?
Does anyone have the contact details for Selwyn the race orginiser?
Address, phone number and email here:
http://fellrunner.org.uk/races.php?id=4478
Looking forward to this year's race. It will be my 30th consecutive 3 Shires ��
Hoping for a nice day with a bit of clag in the right places.........
That is awesome commitment... congratulations!Quote:
Originally Posted by mapper
Well it was a bit claggy in places which made the route finding a bit more fun.
Many thanks to the organisers and all the marshalls for putting on an excellent race. A query for others though:
I was recording the route on Viewranger on my phone (locked away in my bumbag before anyone asks! I was using my map printout and trusty thumb compass to navigate). I took pretty much the optimum line but have recorded ~1500m of climb which is a fair bit more than the advertised 1220m. A quick check of the map shows that 1500m is more likely than 1200m so I was wondering if anyone else had recorded their climb stats?
I noticed that. I clocked 11.5miles and ~4,800ft which is about a mile shorter and a fair bit more climb than the advertised 12.4miles/4003ft. Fell running is never an exact science I guess?!Quote:
Originally Posted by Fellwalker
When I did it in 2011 I measured it as 11.2 miles and 1800m ascent!
Jack looks to have run the quickest time for years in winning it this time, Ricky wasn't too far behind either. I checked results back to 2010, and Jack is just ahead of RFR's quick time from a few years ago. Ricky was obviously only a few seconds behind and then he also has a couple of quick times from recent years. Top effort by Jack, I assume as the clag came down for part of it that the time was down to him & Ricky hammering each other round. Long way to go to the record mind, but good to see fast time and a proper race for the win.
Just done this today for the first time and its a tough one. Weather was pretty much perfect, clear skies and not too warm.
Started off quick along the first track before the climb up Wetherlam that seemed to go on forever. Tuesday nights recce of Blisco to Blea Tarn was worth it as I made up 4/5 places due to people going too far down before cutting over to the wall. Last climb up Lingmoor was again tough and was starting to wobble a bit on the steep stuff, managed to shove down a couple of gels and seemed to get going again.
Looking at the results the top of the leaderboard was dominated by Ambleside.
Keswick had four of their top runners at the Black Mountains today.Quote:
Originally Posted by Croberts
All change: see the Ambleside AC webpage latest news 30th march 2025. I only noticed yesterday.
I'm glad Selwyn and co have managed to salvage the race.
It won't be the same not sitting out at the Three Shires Inn afterwards, but I look forward to trying the new route. (Just need to get over cardiac problems first, so maybe not this year.)