Printable View
8.84 miles, 2,610 feet, 3 hours: Wansfell Pike, including the loop along the ridge to the true top, down to Nanny Lane and back up again. Sunny, with some thin high clouds; hazy in the distance. No rain; no significant wind. Terrain mainly dry and grippy. Lots of walkers about; 1 other runner seen.
11.59 miles, 3478 feet, 4 hours 11 minutes: Elterwater Common to Sergeant Man and back, taking in Silver How, Lang How, Swinescar Pike and Blea Rigg, some of them both ways. Overcast, with some weak sunshine; very misty above 2,200 feet, and hazy in the distance below that. A strong cold wind from the south. No rain. Terrain manly dry with good grip. Lots of walkers about, both on the fells and in the valleys. Car parks and town busy. 16 runners seen: 2 groups of 4, the rest were in pairs.
On the way back, rather than sticking to the rocky path west of Blea Rigg I went over some of the grassy terrain just to the south of it - I need to explore it more as some sections of it are much more runnable.
10.93 miles, 2,753 feet, 3 hours 19 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens -Champion Tree Trail - High Skelghyll - Hundreds Road - Wansfell true top - Wansfell Pike - 3 way junction - High Skelghyll - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet. Almost continuous drizzle/light rain. No significant wind. Terrain saturated/slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; 4 other runners seen.
9.47 miles, 3,040 feet, 2 hours 55 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, and down the race route from the top to the road at High close and back up again via the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Sunshine and cloud banks at multiple levels; a sprinkling of white on some of the highest tops. A cold wind from the south. No precipitation. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery in places. Lots of walkers on the fell. I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday group - there were about a dozen of them - and 8 other runners.
10.05 miles, 3,448 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike, taking in Borrans Park, Stagshaw Gardens, the Champion Tree Trail, Blue Hill Woods and track, the race ascent from the kissing gate to the top, and down to the top of Nanny Lane and back up again. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. The occasional brief patch of blue sky. A further sprinkling of snow overnight, the snow line being at 2,000 feet or so. A cold, at times strong wind from the south. Intermittent drizzle/light rain/sleet. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Not many walkers about, despite which the carparks were full. No other runners see.
10.54 miles, 3,219 feet, 3 hours 19 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Todd Crag - top (fell) gate - Loughrigg top - Silver How via the race route - back to Loughrigg top - top gate - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and clouds; no distinct cloud base, but very misty in the distance so none of the high tops were visible. Virtually constant drizzle/light rain, often out of a blue sky. A cold wind from the north. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. Not many walkers about; no other runners seen.
I could see all the stud marks in the mud from yesterday's race - it was certainly a wet one.
9.62 miles, 2,672 feet, 3 hours 16 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, going through the 3 way junction on both ascent and descent, and doing the loop along the ridge to the true top. Sunshine and very high streaky clouds, with fluffy clouds below them; initially the cloud base was at about 2,000 feet, later it was above the high tops, revealing what is left of the snow. A moderate wind from the south. No precipitation. Terrain wet/saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; 9 other runners seen.
10.98 miles, 3,114 feet, 3 hours 30 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Loughrigg Silver How race route out and back with a few variations - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and high clouds, a moderate breeze from the south, no rain, terrain anything from dry with good grip to saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers about; 10 other runners seen.
Variations - I took in Lily Tarn on the way out rather than on the way back; on the way back from Loughrigg top I went over some of the minor tops just to the north east of the race route.
12.72 miles, 3,593 feet, 3 hours 40 minutes: Ambleside - Skelghyll Lane - High Skelghyll - Troutbeck - halfway up the Garburn Pass - Sour Howes - Sallows - Sour Howes - Garburn Pass - Nanny Lane - Wansfell Pike - race descent - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base on average at about 2,000 feet; initially higher, later lower, when it was associated with some mizzle. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain very variable - anything from dry to saturated with variable grip. Quite a few walkers about; I saw about 8 other runners.
I had thought of joining the AAC Sunday run from Troutbeck Church but was too slow getting my act together leaving the house - having had that section of the fells in mind I thought I may as well head in that direction anyway - it certainly made a change. To think I could once run all the way up the Garburn Pass.
I approached Sallows and Sour Howes from Staveley via the access land directly to the south east during last summer... a traverse that can best be described as "arduous"...!
Concluded the run with my first ever visit to Orrest Head.... then promptly got lost in Windermere trying to reach the waterfront at Bowness.