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10.22 miles, 2,476 feet, 3 hours 11 minutes: Loughrigg trails from and back to Rothay Bridge, ascending via Fishgarths Wood, and going down to Grasmere shore via Deerbolts Woods and back up again. Overcast, though the sun broke through occasionally. Frequent showers, some of them heavy; I heard thunder once. A moderate breeze from the south. Terrain saturated and slippery. Not many walkers about. A group of 5 AAC members came past me - they were doing the 23 mile 40th Anniversary route.
Today was the wettest day for a long time, but I did not use my waterproof - at no stage was I cold.
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10.2 miles, 3,098 feet, 3 hours 3 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. Drizzle/light rain on and off, a few minutes of sunshine, a moderately strong wind from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Lots of walkers about, especially given the weather. No other runners seen.
There has been lots of rain - parts of the meadows near the Roman Ruins are under several inches of water.
The race descent from the Pike is becoming unpleasant - the combination of the wind and the rain has knocked some of the bracken over blocking the path in places.
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12.04 miles, 1,291 feet, 2 hours 37 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Wray Castle - Coffin Trail - High Wray - Wray Castle - Bog Lane - Brathay Church Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and high fluffy clouds. A moderate breeze from the north. No rain. Terrain mainly dry with good grip. Lots of walkers near the castle; one other runner seen.
I ran all but the half mile after the start of the Coffin Trail. Luckily there are lots of gates!
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10.39 miles, 1,608 feet, 2 hours 43 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Under Loughrigg, Loughrigg Terrace, Deerbolts Woods, White Moss, and up the steps opposite Grasmere. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. No sunshine, a few minutes of drizzle, a moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain damp/wet/saturated and slippery in places. Not many walkers about; 2 other runners seen.
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12.31 miles, 3,318 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Fairfield Horseshoe clockwise from Ambleside, taking the 1st, 2nd and 4th trods to the left/west on the way up, staying on the race side of the wall between Dove Crag and High Pike, then changing to the other side; I went down the rock step. Sunshine and high clouds, no rain, no significant wind, terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Lots of walkers on the fells; one fellow runner seen - he was coming down the race side of the wall - I just got to the rock step ahead of him.
The bracken is partially blocking the path on Nab Scar as well as the paths after the rock step. Hopefully those doing reccies for the Rydal Round will get rid of most of it.
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9.05 miles, 2,538 feet, 2 hours 59 minutes: Wansfell Pike from/to Ambleside, including along the ridge to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Sunshine and high clouds, a moderate breeze from the south, no rain. Terrain anything from dry to saturated and everything in-between; slippery in places. Not many walkers about; no other runners seen.
The bracken continues to collapse across the race route descent, but it is still a reasonable way down.
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10.52 miles, 2,328 feet, 3 hours 11 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including down the steps and through Deerbolts Woods to Grasmere shore and back up again. Initially overcast, misty and drizzling; later it cleared leaving sunshine and high clouds. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain damp/wet/saturated; the rocks in particular were slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; two other runners seen.
From Loughrigg top to Grasmere shore and back up is 2.4 miles; to the new bridge at White Moss and back to the shore adds another mile, so a nice 3.4 mile circuit with 800 odd feet of down/up.
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9 miles, 874 feet, 99 minutes: Rothay Bridge to the Drunken Duck and back, with a few short out and back sections to add distance. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. Constant drizzle. No wind at this level. All on tarmac, so traction not an issue. I saw perhaps a couple of dozen walkers, and two other runners.
For the first time in months I wore waterproofs - top and bottom - not really needed, in fact I became quite warm. If I could have taken them off by clicking my fingers I would have.
This route is of course all runnable, so quite hard work.
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11.03 miles, 1,683 feet, 2 hours 48 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg - Rydal - Coffin Trail - Grasmere - Grasmere shore - Deerbolts Woods - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Rydal Park - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,000 feet; misty in the distance. Constant drizzle/light rain. No wind at this level. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Lots of walkers on the minor roads near Grasmere, very few on the fell. Four other runners seen.
Wore my Shake-dry waterproof top, but not waterproof trousers - just right.
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9.2 miles, 2,521 feet, 2 hours 56 minutes: Wanfell Pike and Wansfell true top. Overcast, with high fluffy clouds and occasional patches of blue sky. No rain. A moderate breeze from the east. Terrain wet/saturated/streaming and slippery in places. Not many walkers about, apart from the top of the Pike, which was busy. No other runners seen.
