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Hi all
A heads up for Blencathra Race this Wednesday night - 7 p.m from Mungrisdale village just off the A66 east of Threlkeld. New race maps combine this race and Skiddaw race on one map - available from Pete Blands or on the night. Full kit required. Visitors and half-term holiday travelers welcome to this midweek classic.Info - Dave on 01768 863000 or see Eden Runners website.
Hi all
There has been a grass and heather fire on the fell today; appears to be under control but watching this carefully. Please alert anyone you know who is planning a long drive to do this race. If any chance of call-off I will try to get a post on this site on Wednesday. BBQ apparently!
Cheers
Dave
Thanks for that Dave. MrRTS is coming straight from work tonight (3hrs) to do this. However, him missing a race is not half as tragic as a fire on the fells. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Sargent
I will keep a look out on here and let him know. Hope damage is not sever.
Cumbria Fire Service say it's under control and should be fine for tonight. There is an alternative race we can do if things change. Same time, same start.
Cheers all
Davie
Great low key event - only £3 to enter - clear skies though a bit of a breeze - mainly on grass, at times quite steep - super views of Blencathra's flat top. Thanks to the RO and the marshals.
MrRTS enjoyed it. Just got home, jumped in bath then straight to bed ready for 5am up to work. Why ..... Oh I know, because it's so much fun. He said great event and thanks to all :-)
Sorry it's been a while - had trouble logging in.Gald you enjoyed the run - what a great night to be out on those fells! Thanks for support.Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceTheSweeper
Dave
Super race evening yet again, albeit jolly windy on the top; thankfully it was a tail wind for the last couple of miles. A lovely tribute to Stephen Owen at the start. Lots of support around the route, with marshals to advise on escape routes if needed. That final descent must be one of the steepest in the fell racing calendar, though fortunately it is all grass. Thanks to the RO and the marshals.
ditto from last year. We both went up this year though and stayed for a lovely meal at the pub. MrRTS 14 race of his 50@50. Super race, super marshals. Beau dog and I were on Bowscale Fell doing cheerleading duties and camera shots. Well done everyone :-) We got home at 12.30, up at 5.30 for the hubby to go to work - I waved him off and went back to bed hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by RaceTheSweeper
Crumbs. And you had Calver just down the road!! I would love to do The Blencathra race and feel with the commitment and dedication above there should be no excuse to miss it next year.Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceTheSweeper
Such a hard race for midweek, the climb goes on and on. 2nd time doing it and it never gets easier! Must really recce this for next time as theirs a couple of sneaky lines coming off the top which everyone apart from seems to find. Although my descending at the minute is shite to say the least. We'll be back en masses again for next year on the Barlick fun bus. Thanks for organising. Still aching.
MrRTS put a silly clause in his 50@50 that required 50'000 meters total assent. Means travelling to the bigger hills on a lot of the races. Although it's not really a chore as we do love the lakes. This weekend see's two local races though as he is well up on his climb tally. He is still insisting it's like Christmas every week and enjoying it all. As for me ... getting blooming strong on those hills now. Slap those thighs hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Corniceman
Blencathra is a super route and quite tough but so well organised and super friendly too!
Blencathra. The first mountain I ever walked up. On Wednesday this week, nearly 57 years later, was my third visit to the summit, this time in the Blencathra Fell Race. Some things stay the same: the view from the summit was just as I remember it from 1968: a 360-degree panorama of clag. But whereas the weather was otherwise benign on that first visit, this time it was the most difficult weather conditions I can remember in any race since I returned to fell racing ten years ago: a battle through cold wind and rain.
It mattered little that I wasn’t physically warmed up at the start; maybe more of a problem was that I wasn’t mentally warmed up. As runners split into two groups shortly after the start, one lot taking the track up Bannerdale while the others turned right across the bog on the traditional route to the steep climb to the NE ridge of Bowscale Fell. I followed the latter group without thinking, simply because runners around me were going that way.
The steep climb went well, but once onto the ridge, exposed to the worst of the weather, runners started streaming past me. And that theme continued for the rest of the race; in fact, I kept thinking, “surely I’m right at the back of the field by now”, and yet more kept on coming past me.
I had been dreading the final steep drop off Souther Fell, but that went surprisingly well: the grass, moss and bilberry provided a surface on which every footfall felt secure. But it was after the descent had ended that I had the only really unpleasant experience in the race (even going into a bog up to my crotch hadn’t been too bad, as I pulled myself out without too much difficulty). There is a crossing of the River Glenderamackin before the last few 100 metres to the finish. The river isn’t very wide, and the depth and flow speed by themselves weren’t problematic; but I took two steps in and stopped. The bed consisted of large, smooth rocks, and I just couldn’t find a secure footing. It must have taken me around a minute to find somewhere that I felt safe to cross, around 50 metres from my first attempt. If it hadn’t’t been for the photographer on the opposite bank trying to help by suggesting places where it might be easier to cross, I might have ended up sitting down and crying.
I haven’t seen final results, but I think I was 4th from last, and last male finisher, taking more than twice the winner’s time. This is consistent with my performances in the only two other category AM races that I have done since returning to racing (Half Peris in 2017, and Arenig Fawr in 2021). But it was still a great experience (apart from that river crossing). I would still like to do a few more AM races, and not just at 4-year intervals.