On the fell races I put on. they are flagged because we get a lot of cross-over with trail and fell runners. I always state the route is partialy flagged though in case someone misses a flag and then says its our fault....
On the fell races I put on. they are flagged because we get a lot of cross-over with trail and fell runners. I always state the route is partialy flagged though in case someone misses a flag and then says its our fault....
Reminds me of the Moel y Parc race, part of the Caerwys village fete in 1989. The Clwydian Hills aren't very high, but the cloud base was down to about 1000ft. The 10-mile route was mostly on obvious paths, but the final descent off Moel y Parc to the A541 was flagged. Unfortunately the distance between flags was greater than the visibility in the clag. It is possible that someone among the 20 runners took the correct route following the flags, but most of us just ended up finding our own route off the hill, looking for gaps in walls and hedges. Apparently there was one road-runner who was really p****d off with the RO, but the rest of us just took it as part of the fun of fell running.Originally Posted by dnf
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
My favourite "flagging" story:
In August 2004 I was FRA International Selection Chairman and organised the World Junior Uphill Trophy Trial from Braithwaite up Grisedale Pike (2593 feet) to select junior runners to travel to Sauze d'Oulx (Italy.) To replicate the race distance a flagged loop was arranged after the Pike so runners would run past the Pike and loop left to finish back at the Pike.
I had started the race from Braithwaite and my support team had done the flagging and were taking finish details. We were communicating by FRA radios
During the morning and after the flags had been set out some clag descended.
The two front runners arrived "neck and neck" at the Pike but were so intent on winning the trial that they missed the flagged loop and carried along the path towards Hopehill Head and the West. Allegedly this caused some initial amusement amongst the parents at the Pike and all the other slower runners arrived safely, including Ricky Lightfoot in 3rd place.
However time raced on and so did the two front runners until they asked some walkers where Grisedale Pike was to be told to go back the way they had come. By this time at Race HQ in Braithwaite I was receiving panicking messages from the Pike demanding I call out Mountain Rescue. Eventually the two front runners returned along the path to the Pike and were recorded as DNF.
So in the context of this thread - unless flags are fully taped there is no such thing as reliable flagging.
As for the selection process? The team to travel to Italy was 4 runners so we selected the first two to finish (so rejecting Ricky Lightfoot, prompting a formal complaint from his club) plus the two fastest runners who had gone walkabout.
Their names were Andy Ellis and Alistair Brownlee.
Last edited by Graham Breeze; 03-11-2021 at 11:39 AM.
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Poor Ricky. He seems to have got over it pretty well to be fair.
Wasn't there an instance of some local kids moving all the flags in a race a few years ago?
I think it has also been very big kids who objected to a fell race taking place.
Just as people complain to Leeds City Council for allowing West Yorkshire XC races in Nunroyd Park, Guiseley once a year, making the grass muddy - where they walk (their dogs)!!
"...as dry as the Atacama desert".
Kids of all sizes removing flags is not too bad, but is a bit lacking in imagination.
Much more entertaining is when they move them (as you implied Noel) and lay a new trail to send runners in a completely different direction... as I remember from one of Allan Greenwood's races many years ago.
"And the winds blow and the sky looks cool / So I make my home in the clouds"
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote