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7.26 miles, 2,459 feet, 2 hours 29 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Sunshine with some thin high clouds. No rain. A moderate breeze from the east. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Very few walkers about, but I did start early. No other runners seen.
Again the heat made the uphills harder work than normal.
11.47 miles, 3,254 feet, 4 hours 21 minutes: Elterwater to Sergeant Man and back, taking in Silver How and Wainwright's "small enclosure" junction on the way out, Lang How and Swinescar Pike on the way back, and Blea Rigg both ways. Not a cloud in the sky. No rain; a lovely breeze from the east. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Very few walkers about; 5 other runners seen.
I started very early, so it was cooler, but those uphills were still hard.
8.32 miles, 2,271 feet, 2 hours 44 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Fishgarths Wood - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Loughrigg top - down the race route to the road at High Close and back up again - past the old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine with some very thin high clouds. A lovely breeze from the south. No rain. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about. No other runners seen.
Some filming was going on at Loughrigg top - something to do with a distant relative of Wordsworth reading out some of his poetry.
8.16 miles, 2,344 feet, 2 hours 37 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and along the ridge to the true top. Sunny, with a few high clouds, some streaky, some fluffy. A moderate breeze from the north east. No rain. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Very few walkers about; 3 other runners seen.
11.25 miles, 3,140 feet, 3 hours 44 minutes: Rothay Bridge to Silver How and back, going via Loughrigg top both ways, and Clappersgate/Todd Crag/Lily Tarn on the way out. Overcast, with 15 minutes of light rain. The high tops were cloud free. Terrain mainly dry/very hard/good grip. Not many walkers about; 8 runners seen, 1 in the valley, the rest on the fells.
This was the coolest day for a long time - that rain was so nice.
8.51 miles, 2,541 feet, 2 hours 39 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the high tops cloud free. Hazy in the distance. A few spots of rain from time to time. A moderate breeze from the north west. Terrain dry/very hard/good grip. Quite a few walkers about, including one group of about 20 ascending the Wansfell steps. 8 other runners seen.
9.44 miles, 2,400 feet, 2 hours 49 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending/descending via Clappersgate/Fishgarths Wood, and going down the race route to the road at High Close, left along the road, and then up the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with some sunshine; intermittent drizzle/light rain. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain soft/damp/wet; grip OK part from the rocks which were slippery. No other runners seen; I saw about 20 walkers on the fell, 2 of whom were sheltering from that lovely refreshing rain under a tree ....
I am pleasantly surprised how quickly the ground has softened after the overnight rain.
9.03 miles, 2,543 feet, 2 hours 44 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Roman Ruins - Borrans Park - Champion Tree Trail - Blue Hill Road - Wansfell Pike - Blue Hill Woods - Ambleside. Overcast, with continuous drizzle/light rain for the first 6 miles. The cloud base was initially at about 1,000 feet, later it was above the high tops. No wind. Terrain wet and slippery in places. I saw 1 walker and no runners whilst above the village.
I kept hearing an intermittent distant rumble - initially I thought it might be thunder, but eventually I decided it must be aircraft. Despite the rain I did not need my waterproof top.
10.6 miles, 2,371 feet, 3 hours 6 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Borrans Park, the Roman Ruins, Fishgarths Wood, Todd Crag, Lily Tarn, down the race route to the road at High Close, left along the road, and up the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Sunshine and clouds, with the latter hiding some of the high tops. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain dry/damp; grip mostly good. Not many walkers on the fell; 6 other runners seen.
The bracken is head high in some places; even when nowhere near this tall it is still obscuring some of the paths, and making others unpleasant.
8.39 miles, 2,415 feet, 2 hours 28 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Sunny, with some small high clouds. No significant wind, no rain, terrain dry with good grip. Very few walkers about; no other runners seen.
Thankfully, the race descent is not yet blocked by the bracken.