Todays permitted exercise!

[Mike T]

10.03 miles, 3,302 feet, 3 hours 9 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and along the ridge to the true top. Overcast and misty; the cloud base was at about 2,500 feet. Intermittent drizzle/light rain. A strong wind from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Quite a few walkers on the fell, some very under dressed for the conditions. 2 runners seen.

I was pleasantly surprised at how little wear and tear the race has caused on the fell.

[Mike T]

10.09 miles, 1,038 feet, 2 hours 6 minutes: Rothay Bridge to The Drunken Duck and back, taking in Clappersgate, Bog Lane, Skelwith Fold, Skelwith Bridge, and Rothay Park. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,500 feet, and misty below that. Constant light/moderate rain. No wind at this level. This run was all on tarmac so grip was not an issue. Lots of puddles, and widespread streams of water across the roads. Quite a few walkers with dogs. No runners seen.

[Mike T]

11.03 miles, 3,334 feet, 3 hours 58 minutes: Ambleside - Rothay Bridge - Miller Bridge - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - High Bakestones - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Overcast, with the cloud base at about 1,750 feet, and misty below that. Almost constant drizzle/light rain. A cold moderately strong wind from the south east. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Not many walkers about, though, given the weather, I was surprised to see any. 2 runners seen on the fells, and several near Rothay Park were getting ready to set off when I went past.

[Mike T]

10.04 miles, 3,952 feet, 3 hours 50 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including twice up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate, and down Nanny Lane to Troutbeck and back up again. Initially overcast and drizzly, with the cloud base at about 2,500 feet. Later, it cleared up considerably, with most welcome sunshine and patches of blue sky. A thin sprinkling of white stuff was visible on some tops above about 2,000 feet. A moderate wind from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Lots of walkers on the fell; 2 runners seen.

Town and car parks busy.

[Mike T]

10.16 miles, 3,124 feet, 3 hours 15 minutes: Ambleside - Blue Hill Road/Lane - Wansfell Pike, going up/down the race route from/to the kissing gate - Ambleside - Rothay Park - Miller Bridge - Rothay Bridge - Clappersgate - Todd Crag - Lily Tarn - Loughrigg top - down past the golf club - Ambleside. Overcast and drizzly, the cloud base was at about 1,100 feet, with some banks of fog/mist below that. A moderate breeze from the south west. Terrain saturated/streaming and slippery. Not many walkers about. I came across the AAC Tuesday/Friday group - there were about 10 of them - and a couple of other runners.

[Mike T]

10.04 miles, 2,519 feet, 3 hours 2 minutes: Rothay Bridge - Borrans Road - Stagshaw Gardens - Skelghyll Lane - Troutbeck - Nanny Lane - Wansfell true top - Wansfell Pike - race descent down through the kissing gate - Ambleside. Overcast and drizzly, the cloud base was mostly about 600 feet, but in places it was down to the valley floor. A few minutes of sunshine and blue sky when I was just above Troutbeck. No wind. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Very few walkers about; no runners seen.

[Mike T]

10.15 miles, 2,915 feet, 3 hours 35 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, and down the race route to the kissing gate. Initially overcast and drizzly, with the cloud base at about 800 feet; later it cleared up somewhat, resulting in some patches of sunshine/blue sky. No significant wind. Terrain saturated/streaming/slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; 2 runners see.

[Mike T]

10.24 miles, 3,054 feet, 3 hours 35 minutes: Loughrigg trails, taking in Fox Ghyll, the path to the top via the caves, down the race route to the road at High Close, then back up the steps overlooking Loughrigg Tarn. Overcast, with banks of cloud/mist at multiple levels. Intermittent drizzle/light rain. A few minutes of sunshine/blue sky. No wind. Terrain saturated/streaming slippery. Not many walkers on the fell; 4 runners seen.

[Mike T]

12.02 miles, 3,624 feet, 4 hours 9 minutes: Ambleside - Rydal Park - Low Sweden Bridge - rock step - Low/High Pikes - Pile of Stone - Dove Crag - Scandale - Red Screes - south ridge - Golden Rule - Ambleside. Lots of sunshine/blue sky. Initially there was some cloud in the valley, but it soon melted away. No rain. A moderately strong quite cold breeze from the north west. Terrain widely frozen/frosty/icy - some wet/saturated areas - slippery in places. Lots of walkers on the fells; I saw about 10 runners.

[Mike T]

10.3 miles, 3,333 feet, 3 hours 44 minutes: Wansfell Pike from 2 sides, including along the ridge to the true top, down to the third wall north of the true top and back up again, and down the race route to the kissing gate. Lots of lovely sunshine, a few high fluffy clouds, and a large inversion like cloud over Windermere that took some hours to dissipate. No wind, no rain. Where it had not seen the sun the terrain was frozen/icy/frosty; otherwise it was wet/saturated/streaming. Slippery in many places, particularly the ice covered rocks. Microspikes carried but not used. Lots of walkers on the fell - on one of my visits to the Pike I counted 30 people. 2 runners seen.