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Thread: Pete Bland

  1. #1
    Master
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    Pete Bland

    I've just seen an announcement (on Facebook) that Pete Bland died of Covid last Saturday. https://www.facebook.com/peteblandsports/

    I didn't know him well, but I bought shoes and other fell running kit from him when he was running the shop. I maybe chatted to him at one or two races, but my clearest memory of him was on the one occasion that I ran the Jura race. I caught him on the final road section; he was obviously suffering, and I offered him some of my spare food, which he refused; I think he probably had cramp, rather than running out of fuel.

    Also in the same year (1983), before the start of the Kentmere race (held around Easter in those days), with the rain hammering down in the valley, he was repeatedly making announcements that conditions were far worse on the tops. Not everyone took notice. Out of 375 starters, 187 finished in the blizzard.
    Last edited by anthonykay; 01-12-2020 at 09:16 PM.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  2. #2
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    Very sad news - always a gentleman whenever I saw him at the shop or the van at races 😔

  3. #3
    Master Witton Park's Avatar
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    I didn't know Pete but I do know Matt. Pete must have been a great Dad. Sad news and condolences to Matt and his family.
    Richard Taylor
    "William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
    Sid Waddell

  4. #4
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    Very sad But Pete Bland will always be Synonymous with all things Fellrunning particularly here in the lakes.

    Condolences to the Family and thank you PETE for your huge contribution to Fellrunning. RIP
    The older I get the Faster I was

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnK View Post
    Very sad But Pete Bland will always be Synonymous with all things Fellrunning particularly here in the lakes.

    Condolences to the Family and thank you PETE for your huge contribution to Fellrunning. RIP
    Indeed; it would be hard to think of anyone who has contributed more to the sport. Supplier and designer of kit; race organiser; and when, at my second fell race (Carnethy) in 1978, I decided that I wanted to find out more about the sport, I was told to join the FRA and pointed in the direction of Pete Bland, who was Membership Secretary at the time.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  6. #6
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    I always felt that he ran a service rather than a business, and ran it well enough that it was very successful.

  7. #7
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    I think a renaming the Rydal Round `THE PETE BLAND RYDAL ROUND` would be a nice tribute
    The older I get the Faster I was

  8. #8
    Master Travs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnK View Post
    I think a renaming the Rydal Round `THE PETE BLAND RYDAL ROUND` would be a nice tribute
    I thought exactly the same this evening... but for the Kentmere Horseshoe

  9. #9
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    Several years ago at the Kentmere race I decided, for the first and only time, to fold my number - I did not realise at the the time how much easier it is to read an unfolded number, and I found it so annoying when the wind caught it. Pete told me to unfold it - I replied that a lot of the front runners folded theirs - "Not in my races they don't" - but said with charm so that I did not feel like I was being told off. A true gentleman.

    R.I.P.

  10. #10
    Master Wheeze's Avatar
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    For me the name and the man Pete Bland are inextricably woven into the tapestry of Fell Running. The sport has lost one of its cornerstones. Deepest condolences to family and friends....and all of the fell running fraternity are a little poorer today. Such a sad and tragic loss.
    Simon Blease
    Monmouth

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