Todays permitted exercise!

9.24 miles, 2,507 feet, 2 hours 57 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including the loop to the true top anti-clockwise, and down the race route to the kissing gate. Yet another heavy overnight frost, followed by another clear blue sky, with no wind nor precipitation. The terrain is frozen hard, with extensive ice, so extensive now that the boundaries of the ice sheets are indistinct in places, making them at times difficult to avoid. Traction good as long as not on ice. Lots of walkers about; no other runners seen.

9.43 miles, 3,509 feet, 3 hours 20 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including the anti-clockwise loop to the true top, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Almost 100% blue sky - only 1 tiny cloud. A moderate but very cold wind from the north. No precipitation. Another overnight frost - those places that do not see much sun at this time of year have had frost on frost on frost. Extensive and of course slippery ice sheets. Not many walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

9.42 miles, 2,540 feet, 3 hours 8 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including the loop down the race route to High Close and back up again. 99.9% blue sky, no wind, no precipitation. Heavy overnight frost; terrain frozen hard with the ice sheets becoming more extensive where there is drainage or weeping. Grip good as long as the ice is avoided. Very few walkers about; no other runners seen.

Initially Windermere was covered in fog/mist but this soon evaporated.

7.72 miles, 3,041 feet, 2 hours 43 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and the loop along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,200 feet. A moderate breeze from the south. No precipitation. A heavy snow-like frost overnight. Terrain frozen hard. The ice sheets are now so extensive it is becoming increasingly tricky to detour around them. Even away from the ice it is now slippery where the frost has accumulated. Only about a dozen walkers on the fell; no other runners seen.

7.51 miles, 2,439 feet, 2 hours 39 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, and the loop down the race route to High Close and back up again. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. No wind nor precipitation. There was a good inch of snow in the town overnight and rather more higher up. I wore microspikes from door to door - they were excellent. Lots of slip marks on the fell, and I could see from their footprints that a couple of people had turned around in different spots to avoid dodgy terrain. About 20 walkers seen, and 3 other runners.

I intend to run alongside the canal tomorrow and with a potenital dusting of snow, and the canal frozen over, i might have to break out the mikrospikes.

A walk over Buck Hill and Beacon Hill; I decided that with my catarrh, I wasn't going to enjoy racing at the Gaddesby Gallop. Unlike Mr B, I am quite phlegmatic about my phlegm, but it was still disappointing to miss a race that I had been looking forward to (and which I had missed due to injuries on the last two occasions it was run, in 2019 and 2021).

8.87 miles, 2,919 feet, 3 hours 2 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including the clockwise loop along the ridge to the true top, and up the race route from the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 3,000 feet - misty in the distance. A moderate wind from the south, making it unpleasant on the ridge. No rain, though there were a few brief very light snow flurries. The recents heavy frosts/snow has partly melted and re-frozen since yesterday, resulting in widespread ice on pavements, minor roads, tracks and paths. The steps up to the Pike were filled in with ice, making them mostly useless and dangerous. Microspikes worn door to door. Not many walkers about; 1 other runner seen.

9 miles, 2,462 feet, 2 hours 50 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Fishgarths Wood - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Ivy Crag - Loughrigg Tarn track - up the steps opposite the tarn - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Park. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate wind from the south. Surprisingly warm. Terrain saturated and streaming - puddles and rivulets everywhere. At this level 99% of the ice has gone; very slippery, despite this. Only 2 walkers and 1 runner seen on the fell.

11.13 miles, 3,945 feet, 3 hours 51 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and the clockwise loop along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. Occasional patches of blue sky. A moderate wind from the south. A few minutes of drizzle/light rain. Terrain saturated and slippery - perhaps half a dozen steps still had ice on them. Not many walkers about; 3 other runners seen.

Not as warm as yesterday, but I was not actually cold, even in the wind.

8.29 miles, 2,989 feet, 2 hours 55 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including the loop from the top, down the race route to the road at High close and back up the steps opposite Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A moderate wind from the south west. Intermittent drizzle. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Not many walkers about; 1 fellow runner seen.

9.03 miles, 2,785 feet, 2 hours 56 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including an anti-clockwise loop taking in the true top and back along the ridge. Mainly overcast - some patches of blue sky - banks of cloud at multiple levels - no distinct cloud base. No significant wind; a few minutes of drizzle/light rain. Terrain saturated and slippery. I saw a couple of dozen walkers on the fell, and no other runners.

11.25 miles, 2,963 feet, 3 hours 31 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including the loop down the race route to High Close and back up the steps. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A moderate wind from the south east. It had just started to drizzle as I got home. Terrain damp/wet and slippery in places. Not many walkers on the fell. I bumped into the AAC Tuesday/Friday group at Loughrigg top - good timing - there were about 15 of them.

I led a group of runners from my club on a Christmas headtorcher round the Strid from Barden Bridge last night. For some of them it was there first night run. We ran down the East side and regrouped at the Cavendish pavilion before running back up the Wharfe and viewing the 12 days of Christmas tableaux's . Headlights arrived and I thought security were going to give us a hard time. However they were really polite and welcoming and switched on all the fairy lights. Made for a magical run.

9.55 miles, 3,170 feet, 3 hours 23 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 3 sides, including the loop along the ridge to the true top. Overcast, with the cloud base initially at about 600 feet; 1,000 feet or so higher later. A few brief patches of blue sky. A moderate wind from the south. Intermittent drizzle. Terrain saturated and slippery in places. Only a couple of dozen walkers seen on the fell; 2 other runners seen.

11.16 miles, 3,275 feet, 3 hours 34 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including the loop down the race route to the road at High Close and back up the steps. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant drizzle/light to moderate rain. Puddles and rivulets everywhere. A moderate wind from the west. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. Given the weather and the forecast I was surprised how many walkers were out. No other runners seen.

8.35 miles, 2,871 feet, 2 hours 42 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and the true top via Nanny Lane - I did not go along the ridge in either direction because of the wind. Overcast, with the cloud base just catching some of the highest tops. Frequent patches of blue sky/shafts of sunshine. I was not rained/snowed on, though I could see showers elsewhere. A strong cold wind from the south west. Terrain saturated and slippery; some small ice patches and a smattering of snow at this level; much more snow was visible on the higher tops. Lots of walkers on the Wansfell steps.

Does it look like it's going to ice up tonight, Mike? I would ask how wet the race route is, but it's going to rain heavily for most of the day so it's soggy whatever.

I went down the race route today and it was wet and slippery though ice free - but there is a yellow warning for ice overnight, and the forecast is for rain from 9 'til 5 tomorrow. The minimum overnight temperature is estimated to be 2 C, but that is down here - the mountain specific forecast is not available at the moment. If I was doing the race I would be carrying my micro-crampons - Nortec - I carry them all the time at the moment.

Good Luck!

8.04 miles, 2,811 feet, 2 hours 29 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including the loop down the race route to the road at High Close and back up again. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 500 feet. Continuous light to moderate rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. I saw 8 walkers and 11 runners on the fell; there were a few more of each in the valley.

This was one of the wettest runs I have done. For the first time ever there was roughly a couple of tablespoons of water inside each of my waterproof socks.

8.28 miles, 3,014 feet, 2 hours 43 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and to the true top and back to the Pike via Nanny Lane both ways. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. I saw about 20 walkers on the fell; there were 2 runners in the valley and 1 on the fell.

The race route descent was a bit of a muddy mess in places, but overall I am surprised how well it stood up to yesterday's event.

10.2 miles, 3,698 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, and the loop down the race route to the road at High Close and back up again. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. A strong blustery cold wind from the west. Intermittent light/moderate showers of rain and graupel. Terrain saturated and very slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; no other runners seen.

I have no doubt the strong wind has exaggerated the height gain.

10.05 miles, 3,736 feet, 3 hours 36 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and down to the top of the Hundreds Road and back up again. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain; a strong wind from the south west. Terrain saturated /streaming and very slippery. Lots of walkers in the valley, very few on the fell. No other runners seen.

10.22 miles, 2,796 feet, 3 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn, and the loop down the race route to the road at High Close and back up the Loughrigg Tarn steps. Overcast, with banks of cloud at multiple levels, so no distinct cloud base. No wind; intermittent drizzle. Terrain saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; no other runners seen.

8.04 miles, 2,724 feet, 2 hours 44 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and the loop along the ridge to the true top, down to Nanny Lane, and back up again. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet. Almost constant drizzle/light rain. A strong wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. I saw about 2 dozen walkers on the fell, and a couple of runners.

I have never seen so much water cascading down the Wansfell steps.

Good on yer Mike. Another year of quietly doing epic.

Thanks Mossdog - so lucky to live where I do.

11.74 miles, 3,536 feet, 4 hours 10 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Ivy Crag - Loughrigg top - down the race route to the road at High Close - Silver How - High Close and back up the race route to Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Almost wall to wall sunshine, just a few clouds above the high tops in the distance. A moderate breeze from the north. No Rain. Terrain frozen/crunchy in many places - if anything this improved the grip. Ice on some puddles. Lots of walkers about.

There were 4 runners at Loughrigg top when I first got there, and 2 at Silver How, 1 of whom I knew from a coaching course many years ago - I showed her and her companion some of the Loughrigg Silver How race route.

7.13 miles, 2,587 feet, 2 hours 30 minutes: Wansfell Pike, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 800 feet. Constant light/moderate rain. A moderate wind from the south - as is often the case it was very strong at the top of the Pike. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery; it was still firm in places from the recent freeze but it is too warm/wet to still be crunchy. I saw only 4 walkers on the fell; there was 1 runner in the valley.

8.1 miles, 2,454 feet, 2 hours 24 minutes: Loughrigg trails, including Todd and Ivy Crags, Lily Tarn and Loughrigg top. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,200 feet. Almost continuous light/moderate rain - this, combined with a strong blustery wind from the south west made for interesting conditions, even at this level. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery, though I did not attempt any challenging gradients or surfaces today. I saw about a dozen walkers on the fell, and 1 runner.

9.64 miles, 3,035 feet, 3 hours 8 minutes: Wansfell Pike, ascending via Blue Hill Road and the steps, descending via Hundreds Road and High Skelghyll. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 600 feet. Constant drizzle/light rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. I saw about 10 walkers on the fell, and - in the valley - 1 runner.

This time last week the car parks were full - today they are almost empty.

8.48 miles, 3,135 feet, 2 hours 53 minutes: Wansfell Pike 3 times - once from the west and twice from the east - including the loop along the ridge to the true top, down to the top of Hundreds Road and back up again, and up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate. Overcast, with the cloud base above most of the high tops. A few minutes of drizzle. A moderate wind from the south west. The strong overnight wind has dried out some of the terrain, but a lot of it is still wet/saturated/streaming and slippery. I saw a couple of dozen walkers on the fell, and one runner in the valley.

10.72 miles, 3,446 feet, 3 hours 44 minutes: Loughrigg trails, ascending and descending via Fishgarths Wood, taking in Todd and Ivy Crags and Lily Tarn, and the loop going down to the road at High Close and back up the steps. Overcast, with some patches of blue sky; the cloud base was at about 1,500 feet where present. Intermittent drizzle, a moderate wind from the south west. Terrain saturated and slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; only 1 other runner seen.

10.15 miles, 3,316 feet, 3 hours 20 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Road - Borrans Park - Stagshaw Gardens - Champion Tree Trail - Blue Hill Woods - Blue Hill Road - Wansfell Pike via the steps from the west - Hundreds Road - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,000 feet. Constant light/moderate precipitation, falling as snow above 800 feet. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. I saw about 20 walkers on the fell, and 1 other runner.

9.51 miles, 3,048 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Fishgarths Wood - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Ivy Crag - Loughrigg top - race route descent to High Close and back up again - old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Sunshine and clouds, mainly the latter, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. Intermittent drizzle/light rain/graupel. Terrain saturated and slippery. There was a snow line on some of the fells at about 2,000 feet; no snow/ice on Loughrigg. Quite a few walkers on the fell; 1 other runner seen.

7.43 miles, 2,491 feet, 2 hours 30 minutes: Wansfell Pike from the west, then from the east. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 750 feet. Continuous light/moderate rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. The fell side is the wettest I have ever seen it: puddles and rivulets everywhere. I only saw 3 walkers on the fell, and no runners.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

7.43 miles, 2,491 feet, 2 hours 30 minutes: Wansfell Pike from the west, then from the east. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 750 feet. Continuous light/moderate rain. A moderate wind from the south. Terrain saturated/streaming and very slippery. The fell side is the wettest I have ever seen it: puddles and rivulets everywhere. I only saw 3 walkers on the fell, and no runners.

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Intrepid stuff Mike. The weather has been foul here all day and currently ’tis a naughty night to swim in."

8.99 miles, 2,797 feet, 2 hours 50 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Fishgarths Wood - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Ivy Crag - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - back up to Lily Tarn - Fishgarths Wood - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. No white stuff visible below this level. Almost constant drizzle/light/moderate rain, with some graupel showers. A very strong blustery wind from the west. The ground was not as wet as yesterday, but still saturated/streaming/very slippery. Very few walkers on the fell. I saw 1 other runner a couple of times - he may have been doing a recce on the Loughrigg Silver How race route as he took in Lily Tarn on the descent.

8.56 miles, 1,829 feet, 2 hours 19 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Under Loughrigg - Rydal Water - Grasmere shore - Deerbolts Wood - up the steps from Loughrigg Terrace - Loughrigg top - down past the old golf club - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge. Overcast, with some patches of blue sky. No distinct cloud base; no snow seen on any tops. Almost continuous drizzle/light rain. A strong wind from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. I saw 6 walkers on the fell, and 1 runner.

8.06 miles, 2,547 feet, 2 hours 38 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides (west then east). Overcast, with the cloud base at bout 2,500 feet. Occasional patches of blue sky. A moderate wind from the west. Constant drizzle/light rain. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. I saw 8 walkers on the fell, and 2 runners in the valley.

The fields near the Roman Ruins have been flooded for days, so I have not been going through them. It looks like we might get some relatively dry days in the middle of next week.