Leg One

[rlfcsaints]

Hi -

I walked around leg one on Saturday just gone . I reckon it’s probably 5 years plus since I last did this leg . I was quite gobsmacked with the wear and tear as well as the track that now marks out the route in almost it entirety.
It was a while ago but I don’t recall the route being as boggy and heavy as it was on Saturday, particularly over towards Hare crag . I appreciate it’s October and following a wet summer but it was quite significant .

Has it got worse over of theyears or is it as a result of the foot fall that’s churning it up ? How does it look June / July? And do we know if this is causing a problem with timings on this leg .

I was walking , but I was 1 hour slower than when I walked it last I put this down to the bog and the descent of halls fell

Also , Halls fell . I noticed some scree to the right
At the of halls fell. Is this a route option or erosion ? Again , is was wet and extremely sketchy coming off halls fell . I’m not sure I’d fancy that in the wet . I went straight off the top following the traditional route but it looks like another path of scree has appears to the right ?

Which option off Blencathra Would be advised / quickest / safest in wet, and potentially dark conditions

Finally , on approaching the kennels , there appears to be new signs directing you though fields and over stiles which I took .

Last time I recall going passed the kennels and the farm road into the village . Has this changed ?
Regards

[Bob]

With the large numbers now attempting the round (and virtually all of those going clockwise) the Skiddaw leg is going to get a lot of hammer. When I did my round in 2005 there was just a faint line off Skiddaw and over Hare Crag - by faint, I mean little more than a sheep trod. I think the last time I was on leg one was in 2011 and the track was very prominent then. Also the direct line up Great Calva was visible from Skiddaw.

I've no data on timings for individual legs, mainly because I don't pull that info from the ratification forms, but the general spread of times hasn't really changed. So unless someone did a really quick leg one then slowed down massively I'd say times are broadly similar. Here's a table showing the numbers in each hour (for a complete round) for three periods: pre-2000, 2000 to 2009 and 2010 onwards.

+------+----------+-------------+-----------+
| hour | pre 2000 | 2000 - 2009 | post 2009 |
+------+----------+-------------+-----------+
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 17 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 18 | 9 | 4 | 39 |
| 19 | 27 | 9 | 51 |
| 20 | 62 | 19 | 72 |
| 21 | 119 | 40 | 200 |
| 22 | 305 | 109 | 344 |
| 23 | 613 | 205 | 587 |
+------+----------+-------------+-----------+

Edit
Just did a quick analysis of the above. The overall percentages of times above 20:00 hours for the round were

96.15% 95.40% 91.07%

Those in the 23hr bracket dropped by 9% (of the total) while those in the 21hr bracket rose by 4%.

However it's hard to tell if that's because of conditions on the ground or it's just faster runners attempting the round.
/Edit

Hall's Fell: The scree to the right is the start of the parachute descent (it's been discussed on here). Really steep, especially at the top, but pretty rough in the middle section and you need to recce it in daylight with a good written description to follow it (unless it also now is well trodden).

There's a hybrid route that starts down the parachute route but then does a descending traverse leftwards to join Hall's Fell below the sketchy section.

The safest route in bad weather will be Doddick Fell.

I don't know about a RoW change near the kennels. Current mapping http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=332581&Y=526110&A=Y&Z=115 still has the RoW going between the farm buildings.

[Travs]

I did Doddick Fell in the dark on a very cold night. Aside from a bit of confusion locating the start of the ridge down (it was my first time on the route), it was pretty easy going.

[Bob]

I've added some analysis to this thread - https://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/show...25081-BGR-data

[Graham Breeze]

I've added some analysis to this thread - https://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/show...25081-BGR-data

I may be indifferent to the BG but I recognise it is very well served by its Data in Chief.

Kurtosis must be a first for the Forum!

[Bob]

I suppose we've had "ketosis" before

Anyway I've added some more analysis (including graphs!!!) on the aforementioned BGR data thread.

[Graham Breeze]

I suppose we've had "ketosis" before

Anyway I've added some more analysis (including graphs!!!) on the aforementioned BGR data thread.

Ah yes. I must have crossed it in my mind with (actinic) keratoses which I do know about.