Borrowdale Fell Race

My first Borrowdale, and one of the toughest races I have done. A superb event. The organisers and marshalls did a great job and the support around the course was brilliant. Thanks to everyone involved.

I arrived at Honister in 4 hours, with that 'pushed it to the end of the race' feeling in my legs - pity about Dale Head to come! The climb up to the top didn't go too bad, thanks to some encouragement from a Saddleworth runner, but the descent back down to Rosthwaite was so hard. My legs just had nothing left!

Looking forward to 2009 already though. :)

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Originally Posted by Trossachs!

I fell more in this race than all my other races combined, the shoes slipped on grass, rock, climbing, descending and contouring...

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A lot of people commented at the end how slippy the conditions were. I raced over the Scafells in the Great Lakes Runner Race earlier this year and it was far less slippy, despite heavy rain for the previous few days... Is it possible it was the 'wrong type of rain' last weekend?

Like you Trossachs, I also fell more than I usually do in races. I'm hobbling badly and have a very sore leg at the moment. I think I did more than just 'dead leg' it when I fell - I hope it recovers soon....

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Originally Posted by Trossachs!

I fell more in this race than all my other races combined, the shoes slipped on grass, rock, climbing, descending and contouring. The top of Scafell Pike was hideous, like Bambi on ice and I went over badly on my ankle. After that I just wanted to finish the second half and plodded, slowly, to the end. Mudlugger passed me through the final quarries. Sorry I didn't hang around to talk but I just felt awful.

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Yes, not easy to run on that greasy rock. Hope you are ok, ankles are the bane of my life too. You had a decent quarry pace considering the journey you'd had.
I'm hoping to be back up for 3 shires, maybe see you there?

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Were you in the Cheshire Hill Runners Vest?

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Yes that was me. The way round Green Gable seems obvious or so I thought - or at least it does in clear weather:). Part way up, I saw two runners on the path over the top of the hill so wasn't too surprised when the guys from Lochaber and Bingley came flying past on Grey Knotts. Fortunately, they both slowed up on Dale Head.

Well that was a bit of toughy.:eek:

4th fell race this year, 4th in 2 weeks, lets you know the state of prep, the words none spring to mind and oh boy did it show :o

Seemed ok at the start, up to bessy no probs and passed alot of people over to allen crags and up onto scafell. Wasn't working to hard and really enjoying it.
Suffered a bit coming down the corridor and lost alot of places but seemed to catch most of them back on the open uphill section to gable.
Did ok to the top and then the usual crap descent off, coming down into honister thigh just felt really tired but didn't think that unusual.
Up dalehead and 3:15 on the clock, not a great time but not too bad then the legs said yeah right, so struggled to top thinking I'd done all the hard work.
Headed off for the descent and legs just packed up and so did the head.
I can't explain it to myself so doubt I'll be able to explain it here but I just 'couldn't' get down the steep drop. Running down, jogging down, walking even tried sliding down on my ass but couldn't do it.
So ended up sitting at the top of the descent looking at the tarn and the finish along way down wondering WTF to do.
When and I don't know if you read this a very very nice I think it was a pennine runner stopped and bascially unloaded his picnic. Kendal mint cake, energy gel and full packet of jelly babies so thank you very very much from a horwich runner feeling very sorry for himself.
About 5 mins later managed to get down the steep slope and ambled into the finish not actually feeling that bad which made it all the more confusing at 4:45 so an hour and a half from honister....possibly a worlds worst :o
Treat myself to a number of ice creams and a pint of milk at the finish (never craved milk before?????)

and am currently walking....no hobbling around with thighs that feel like they have been used as punch bags.

Can't wait for next years race:D

When and I don't know if you read this a very very nice I think it was a pennine runner stopped and bascially unloaded his picnic. Kendal mint cake, energy gel and full packet of jelly babies so thank you very very much from a horwich runner feeling very sorry for himself.It was me. Thanks for the compliments and glad you made it down as I was wondering how you got on. All that food must have had an effect as you only finished 10 minutes behind me and you looked like you were going to become part of the mountain when I saw you! Glad I got a good deed out of the day as I got little else except a realisation that a track/road runner like me cant deal with the likes of Borrowdale, esp the ice rink at the top of Scafell Pike!

I think I was chatting with you all the way up Gable, Calf. Shame you bonked in sight of the finish, but you'll not be the only one. Watto was looking a bit sorry for himself at the top of Dale Head, so I unloaded my jelly babies on him to slow him down a bit.

The first few miles up Glaramara were a bit soggy and that took a bit out of people's legs. I was hoping for a slightly faster time, so I think that can be this years excuse :p

And results are up on the Borrowdale site

Ha ha found you.....cheers muchly...you are a star thanks so so much.

its a very odd sensation looking down a slope wondering why you don't have the energy to get down after you've done the getting up.:confused:
First time I've spent longer going up a hill than going down it :rolleyes:

Results are here:

http://www.keswicklakedistrict.co.uk...lts%202008.htm

Results anomaly?

Great to see so many familiar friendly faces at Borrowdale on Saturday.

Something is worrying me about the results though, and I would not be too bothered if it was not going to affect my M60 champs positions!:confused:

A member of my club was in fact a few places and, say, a couple of minutes behind me at the finish. After collapsing on the ground, I distinctly remember seeing her coming in and getting up to congratulate her. Also, I checked my watch, and my time was about 4:34. The results put me 19 places behind her in a time of nearly 4:39. Also, they put the next person in front as 12 seconds ahead, when he was only one to three seconds ahead, depending on the exact finishing line. Also, there was definitely no one just behind me – I double-checked - but the results have some one just a second behind.

Wendy Dodds was probably about a minute behind me (recovering from a cycling accident), so she, and perhaps others, might also have been moved down the results list somehow.

Does anyone else around the 4:30 to 4:40 mark agree with what I am thinking? I was number 11. Apologies to anyone I frightened on the descents or held up on the ascents.

Can you remember if you were in front of or behind Wendy Dodds at the finish? Looks as if she might have been misplaced as well – and how many others?

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Originally Posted by GrahamA

... Can you remember if you were in front of or behind Wendy Dodds at the finish? Looks as if she might have been misplaced as well – and how many others?

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Hi Graham

I came in 4:38:37 (my watch agrees with the results). I passed Wendy Dodds just after Dalehead tarn, which would make her official finish time about right I think.

I made up a few places on the subsequent descent, but don't recall seeing or passing an Ilkley vest (if that's what you were wearing) on this stretch. How can I be so sure you might ask? ... because I took a few photos around the course! I've put a link to the photos on the NFR website, but here's the direct link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8011535...7606522724792/

As for your time, sorry, I can't be of any more help ...

Superb pics, topofthehill, do you have one of those snazzy head mounted cameras?

Some great photos there !

Great race, and thanks to all the marshals and helpers.

Made the Honister cut-off with 4 mins to spare :eek: should have been with about 20 mins to spare had I not got lost in the clag on Gt. Gable :mad:

Did i hear my ears right or was announced that there were around 100 Non Starters at this years race!!. If this is correct then the culprits should be named and shamed. I totaly understand that injuries occur, familey commitments change ect, but come on please think before you enter a race! :mad:

Brilliant set of photos!

Good turnout of forumites & Ponies (Where was the Pink vest Fleeter ?) on Saturday. From my observation at Styhead virtually everybody seemed to be in good spirits at that point - despite the impending slog up Gable & the clag to trip up the navigationally challenged.

Well done all - By next year I will probably have to stop the excuse re not being ready for it just yet......

Thanks for your support at Sty Head, Manhar.
I was in good spirits there,but as you say not quite so pleased when I lost a fair bit of time getting lost on Great Gable.
I am trying to address my navigational cluelessness ( at times :confused: ) by going on the Nav.Course at Elterwater in September

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Originally Posted by Leeds Rhino

Thanks for your support at Sty Head, Manhar.
I was in good spirits there,but as you say not quite so pleased when I lost a fair bit of time getting lost on Great Gable.
I am trying to address my navigational cluelessness ( at times :confused: ) by going on the Nav.Course at Elterwater in September

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Mrs Stagger had similar problems on Gable, she followed a nice man called Mr Varley amongst others and got timed out. They followed the wrong fence:rolleyes:

An this having just completed the Saunders MM a month before:o

I saw Mrs Stagger at the finish field,just assumed she had beaten me ( as most people did )
40 retirements in all,I just scraped through with minutes to spare.

Just a thought, but I reckon the race started about 11.05,so should the cut off have been extended to 4.35pm ( maybe it was,I don't know )

Fantastic photos. Really give a feel of what it was like. Just shown a guy at work who nearly had heart failure, he thought fell running was "the same as cross country running but in the lakes"!

Great race, my favourite to date & a real challenge. Absolutely pants on the descents mind, definately something to work on before next year :)

Easy money for the organising committee.

I have a solution that would cut down the number of non-starters AND make more money for the organisers. They could make people add a £10 refundable deposit when they enter.

Then if you can't run it and you notify the organisers within a sensible amount of time (e.g., at least 10 days before the race), you get your £10 back.

If you can't be bothered to notify the organisers or you pull out too close to the event, you lose your £10.

What d'ya reckon?

Races sell out and people don't turn up its just what happens. When you have to pre-enter most people intend to do the race but sometimes you can't. I've pre-entered twice and no showed once at fairfield I was injured and decided at the last minute I wasn't in shape to run so was to late to inform the organiser. I also no showed for another that had sold out but let the organiser know and the entry was passed on. The thing is you don't always know whether you will be available months in advance as work etc changes. I think naming and shaming wouldn't be a good thing as it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

Agree. There's a list of entrants, a list of starters, so the info is already there. People drop out. I think it's fair enough, organisers expect it, runners expect it.

After slipping around like bambi on ice over Scafell and going over in a few other places, I can confidently suggest that wearing worn-out walshes (no studs at all from the ball of the foot to the end :o) was not the most astute of footwear choices. Was everyone else the same or did anyone think they had the right shoe on for those conditions?
Cheers.

I was wearing a fairly new pair of inov-8 mudclaws. Very good on the wet grass and mud, and good enough on the wet rocks over Scafell. I was happy with the choice.

I dont know, people complain about the grip of their shoes, and then go on proudly to say they they are xx years old with no studs left. Get a grip, get a new pair of shoes.;)

i agree with non starters named and shamed but only if they do not let the race officials no before a certain date . i am sure that in the 3 peaks cyclo cross if you do not let them know you are a non starter you are not alllowed to enter the following year , or something like that.
this is why they should have postal entries and EOD at a higher charge

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Originally Posted by Stagger

Mrs Stagger had similar problems on Gable, she followed a nice man called Mr Varley amongst others and got timed out. They followed the wrong fence

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Fence ... on Gable?? Yup - that would certainly be the wrong fence!! :p

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Originally Posted by who killed bambi

i agree with non starters named and shamed but only if they do not let the race officials no before a certain date
this is why they should have postal entries and EOD at a higher charge

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Why?

Most of us race each week, we don't know the extent of the injuries until 2 - 3 days after a race when everything calms down.

I dropped out two days before the race. My reasons are personal to me. But i hold my hands up, and i feel bad enough that i couldn't compete. So if you want to shame me as well then go ahead, but i didn't invent the rules of entry this year. Maybe you should blame the organisers.

Fence? That would be on Green Gable woudn't it- which was suprisingly still in the cloud when I got there. I have a vague recollection of seeing some posts in the clag before following some other positive looking runner down the wrong way to the right towards Base Brown. Disappointing that having benefitted from a couple of good 'follows' off the Pike and Great Gable to cock up on one of the lower summits.

Given that you can more or less guarantee 100 or so runners won't turn up to Borrowdale, Ben Nevis, etc. it's a pity that a few places can't be up for grabs on the day.

There are plenty of "pre-entry" only races I've done that actually allow a few entries on the day.

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Originally Posted by Tourist

Fence? That would be on Green Gable woudn't it?

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Nope - can't think of any fences on Green Gable either :(

However, I believe there MAY be one between Brandreth Gable and Grey Knotts Gable. :D :D :D

[Following Mr V indeed ....]

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Originally Posted by CribGoch

I dont know, people complain about the grip of their shoes, and then go on proudly to say they they are xx years old with no studs left. Get a grip, get a new pair of shoes.;)

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If there walsh's just get em re-soled:rolleyes:

I picked up my resoled Walshes from Pete Bland's van, and put them on. Perfect for the day. Even held last weekend's blisters firmly in place.

No fences? . . . . No posts? . . . Must have been hallucinating - that will account for the spa pool and comfy chairs I ran past.

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Originally Posted by topofahill

I've put a link to the photos on the NFR website, but here's the direct link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8011535...7606522724792/
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Awesome pix, I was just polishing my head ready for some more posing when you left me on bessy boot, that reminds me... must do more training to keep up with photograper.
The whole slideshow works wonderfully, cheers.

I was wearing Swoops. They were like a pair of ice skates on the wet rock, but then I knew that before I set off. It was either those or a brand new pair of mudclaw 270s just out of the box. Opted for the slipping over the blisters.

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Originally Posted by topofahill

Hi Graham

I came in 4:38:37 (my watch agrees with the results). I passed Wendy Dodds just after Dalehead tarn, which would make her official finish time about right I think.

I made up a few places on the subsequent descent, but don't recall seeing or passing an Ilkley vest (if that's what you were wearing) on this stretch. How can I be so sure you might ask? ... because I took a few photos around the course! I've put a link to the photos on the NFR website, but here's the direct link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8011535...7606522724792/
As for your time, sorry, I can't be of any more help ...

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Great photos they really give a good feeling for the race. Would it be o.k. to use some of them on my Blog site?
Also how did you take them so well on the move? Did you have to filter out the blurred ones?