Originally Posted by Stolly
Yeah Lola is definitely a bloke
Yeah Lola is definitely a bloke
Sorry Darth.
If you lot want to chat....bugger off down the pub!
There's 9 months before this kicks off and with any luck the thread will be filled with useful race/route/accomodation/dancing tips.....
we don't need 25,000 pages of inane drivel so early on...
I was just being organised as have a new diary!
How about an account of the race to get this thread back on track and keep them meddlin' kids quiet
The Borrowdale Fell Race
by Garry Perratt
[This article was written for the Axe Valley Runners newsletter.]
This seventeen-mile classic starts at Rosthwaite then ascends Bessyboot, Scafell Pike, Great Gable and Dale Head before returning to Rosthwaite. Its 6,500' of ascent and descent make it equivalent to the Grizzly with three times as many hills and terrain including boulders, stony tracks and grass. Virtually none of it would be classed as runnable by a road runner. But, of course, that only added to its attractions for me!
Conditions were quite good with cloud on some of the higher peaks but otherwise bright and dry. I had the usual worry about what to wear - vest, thermal, t-shirt and/or windshirt? It was quite warm in the valley but what would it be like in the cloud at 3,000'? I opted to wear a vest and carry my Tyvek jacket which turned out to be a wise choice as it was actually very warm, even at the highest point in England.
The race started on a road but thankfully only for about a hundred yards before we turned onto a stony track for a few miles before the ascent up the side of the Glaramara ridge. No running here: just plenty of steep, brackeny slopes, some scrambling and a few shouts of "Below!" as rocks were dislodged in some of the gullies. Lovely stuff! Once we got onto the ridge it was runnable over grass with scattered rocks (no paths, though) and I got to the first checkpoint on Bessyboot in about 20th place.
The next leg was all the way along the side of the ridge to avoid the climb involved in sticking to the top - not very easy as there were many gullies, marshes and rocks to be negotiated. I had dropped to about 25th by the second checkpoint at Esk Hause and maintained the position to the summit of Scafell Pike. Then came the "interesting" bit ...
I reckon I'm a pretty good descender by normal standards but I'm hopeless compared to real fell runners: in the mile and a half descent from Scafell Pike to Sty Head I lost about twenty places! After the initial suicidal screes it was very rough and rocky underfoot. At one point I stuck my foot down a hole between rocks, cracked my knee and momentarily thought I was going to pass out! Luckily I didn't but decided to slow down a bit. From Sty Head it was now straight up to the top of Great Gable via a staircase of a path followed by the descent to Honister Hause talking about things Grizzly and Beastly with an ex-Poole runner.
By this time I was feeling pretty knackered but there was no respite. Dale Head still had to be conquered but at least the path offered some nice, soft turf after all that rock. There were more false summits than I care to remember but eventually I got there and it was downhill all the way home.
It was initially very steep and grassy followed by a good bit of gungy bog before descending down a slaty path through some old workings. I lost a couple more places due to real fell runners' descending skills on the rock but rather surprised myself by closing upon them both once we got back onto grass and mud on the lower slopes. Even more surprisingly, I actually caught them on the flat final mile, taking the second on an excellent river crossing and finishing with quite a lot of steam (and stream!) in me.
I had been expecting to break three and a half hours but finished in 3:39, an hour down on the winners, and about 45th out of 250. I beat the first lady but failed dismally to beat the women's record time of 3:15. Next year I'll probably do the race at the beginning of the holiday (instead of after a fortnight's walking!) and go for that record ... albeit of the wrong sex!
And some dancing tips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cTJla0i_Kw
Could double as a post race feed as well
This sounds good. When do entries open? Is it capped? Does it fill up quick?
Pay on the day - was pre entry this year (postal only) as it was a champs race. Back to normal hopefully in 2009
I'd imagine that the organisers won't do entry on the day only as it'd be massively oversubscribed (assuming the limit of 300 runners applies).Pay on the day - was pre entry this year (postal only) as it was a champs race. Back to normal hopefully in 2009
Don't you think?
That's how it's been in the past up until this yearI definately paid on the day in 2007 hadn't done it proir to that and didn't want to do it this year for various reasons.
There have never been online entries for it
Hi Emmilou,
Just occurred to me that for such a "classic" race it might well be a postal entry event. Can't imagine what the organisers would do if they waited to see how many turn up on the day and found "coachloads" (as they say) of runners waiting.
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