Anthony i have entered this for next summer... my first race entry of 2024... part of a concerted effort to specialise in uphill races, and hopefully culminating at running in the World Masters next September.Originally Posted by anthonykay
I also note they do a similar race in Langdale in May... although i'll await some other May/June race dates before throwing my hat in the ring for that one.
Yes, I was considering the Stickle Grind in Langdale this year; it's shorter, but quite a lot steeper, than the Swirral Grind. I was even contemplating an extended stay in the Lake District, with the Blencathra race 5 days after the Stickle Grind.
Where is the World Masters next year? Anywhere easily accessible? I had a look at the details for the one in Clonmel last year, but the courses didn't look very inspiring.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
Next year is Canfranc, Pyrenees. My early plan is to drive there.
I did take a brief look at the European Masters next May, but after looking at the host town (on the coast of Madeira), decided that Canfranc was much more appealing.
What makes you want specialise in uphill only? You're narrowing your options massively there.
I'm particularly interested in the World/European Masters races, which generally have an uphill race and an up-and-down.... given my strengths, i think i'm particularly suited to the uphills which will typically be between 8-10km.
I see it as a chance to really focus my training towards a particular distance/race time, and really see what i can do if i train properly for something..... i'd love to go sub 50mins on the Snowdon uphill (which is a similar distance/profile to what i could generally expect on the Euro/World Masters races), and that will require a 4 minute improvement on my pb, its a massive ask.
I'm sure i'll still do my fair share of traditional races as well... in fact i expect my next fell race will likely be the Jubilee Plunge at xmas which is a downhill race!
I'm interested in the possibility of uphill only races, as it is the only form of fell that I might be able to do.
There's a certain karma to it too; when I decided to take up fell the quantum mechanics of the universe produced a difficult, and demanding, new customer 8 miles down the coast from Caernarfon. Every 3-4 weeks during the summer I would drive (hard) for 3 hours there, spend 5-6 hours with the customer and then drive home. (Don't even ask how you're supposed to fit this into a 7.75 working day, without any overtime). It was on one of these return trips that I ran, alone, from Llanberis to the top of Snowdon. After leaving the car, without any form of warm-up, 58 minutes later I was holding the trig point at the summit.
A week later was the Snowdon race, and the results showed the times to the summit (as well as the overall). Whilst my 58 minute time was never going to win anything, it indicated to me that I was in the 'compete', rather than the 'complete', category. I was also carrying a small ruck sac with car keys, phone, wallet, 1.5 litres of water, waterproof clothing and OS map - which I stopped to check at the bottom of the climb where the paths fork.
The first time i did the Snowdon Uphill race i had grand visions of around 50mins.... i was bought crashing down to earth on a baking June evening (28 degrees at the start line).... i just about broke an hour.
Went back a couple of years ago, much fitter and more experienced, and went about 53:45 in really poor weather.
Given favourable conditions and a good run, i could certainly take some time off that... whether i could break 50mins is another matter... when i see the calibre of athlete on those races who weren't able to get under 50 (Emma Clayton and Victoria Wilkinson immediately spring to mind), it will clearly take some real dedication on my part.
Very steady 12 miles today, bringing weekly total to 78.5 miles.
A solid week and pleased with yesterday's parkrun.
Next week sees club training resume, hopefully i'll be looking fairly strong as we move towards longer reps for the XC season. But for me the focus is Brampton-Carlisle which i think is 10 weeks away.
I couldn't resist looking at the results of the Snowdon race (up and down) in that glorious Summer of '89, when I reached the absolute peak of my fell running ability. Summit times were recorded: mine was 46:59.[John Lenihan did 40:53.]
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
46:59 is incredible going, particularly bearing in mind you clearly had to keep something in the bank to come back down again.
I watched the uphill race this weekend from the World Cup which was held in Canfranc this year.... same place as next year's Masters.... scenery was absolutely stunning... it was actually a 4km "vertical" course with around 3000ft of climb.... obviously it was marked but it was pretty technical going... Joe Steward of Salford Harriers won by about 50 seconds, although none of the African runners who have been prominent in the other world cup races were there.
This weekend is the World Masters 23 in Madeira.... must say that the course doesn't look particularly inspiring... although they claim something like 1000mtrs of climb in 9km.
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