Edale Skyline Fell Race

[daz h]

ive booked the day off today , im in bloody agony
my legs are not there at all
instructions from AJ to NIP into derby to swap a jumper just got back
ouch, im walkin like a bow legged dan dare

i also nearly ran straight into a lad of about 7yrs old comin off mam tor summit, he was trudging up to the top and i thought christ he will be whisked off.

[SteveT]

For those of you who want to follow your progress up and down (mostly the latter in my case!) the field on Sunday, I've made a web page which shows the order of arrival at all the checkpoints. It's on the Hayfield Fell Race site (URL in sig below).

--Steve

[Bladerunner]

LOL at Joker...I used one of those portaloos and was in and out as quick as possible as I didn't want to be the first person ever to call mountain rescue from an upside down portaloo!!

[Joe]

Well that was fairly tough! Well done to all the marshals for putting up with such awful weather for us all.

The first few runners took an interesting line towards the Wool Packs: a low, rising traverse across the hillside.

I found a traversing path below Noe Stool last Wednesday evening - but didn't have chance to try it out!

Is there any one on the forum that took the short cut and how did they do against their peers? Did you gain or loose...?

I went direct and gained 2 places, Colin went direct and gained 3 - but because the checkpoint on Grindslow Knoll was moved due to the wind it made a 30s - 1min advantage for the "edge route".

Did anyone else notice the flags to Jacob's Ladder were moved compared to last year? This year they went due west, as per the route description, last year they were NW to the drainage ditch - as per the racemap. By looking at the splits it looks like it added about 2-3 minutes.

My times down to Hope were roughly the same as last year, then I lost 3 mins on the way to Mam Tor, and then another 9 minutes to Brown Knoll. From Jacob's Ladder to Grindslow I was back at last year's speed, then I went direct 1 minute faster than I did the edge path last year. Hence all the difference was when I was running into the wind.

[Mountain Hare]

After a bit of bravado on the forum last week I decided to take the 'edge route' - partly because of the Grindslow Knoll CP move. I immediately wished I hadn't as it meant slogging back into the teeth of the gale to get back to the edge path

I was surprised how much time could be saved by using the right lines - even on straight-forward looking sections like the ascent to Win Hill - using the right lines saved me over 10 minutes compared to a reasonably swift recce earlier in the year.

MH

[Stagger]

Just food for thought.
I have just looked on SteveT link and noticed that there are only 405 names down. I know they don't include the runners that the MRT picked up but does it imply there were still a lot of Failed to Turn up people?

[Swoop]

Just food for thought.
I have just looked on SteveT link and noticed that there are only 405 names down. I know they don't include the runners that the MRT picked up but does it imply there were still a lot of Failed to Turn up people?

I know some dropped out before Win Hill, Tim Austin for one (sorry Timo!).
I think 417 started and I'm pretty sure that when I reached the Roman Road I was last of those still going! . There was certainly nobody in view coming off the Skyline behind me and I passed 3 or 4 runners on the way up to Win Hill despite having to stop for a pee! Those in front of me ran up the "sheltered" path on the left next to the trees. I caught them by running on the fields to the right of the main path and then, where the path started to descend to a gate, cutting across diagonally to the point where those on the sheltered path had to climb a fence. The tactic used to overtake daz h & co on the forum recce!
According to Steve's table I then lost a place on the way down to Hope (402nd) but nobody passed me and Invisible has already posted that he wasn't there!
From here it appears I picked up 11 places on the climb to Lose Hill (391st) and another 7 places on the way to Mam Tor (384th). At that rate I probably would have been in the top 10 by the end!
I certainly wouldn't have been last to finish.
It's a pity that the "timing out" cannot take account of the condition of the runner or the progress being made. I do realise this would be impossible and as Stagger said "rules is rules".
Thanks to all the organisers and all the marshals who stood out there in those conditions. It was greatly appreciated. Hope to see you all next year when I come back to complete the job!
And thanks to Steve Temple for producing a very interesting table.

[emmilou]

Well done for yesterday everyone - we were running round the Yorkshire dales looking for illusive checkpoints (well in my case anyway )in the blizzards and howling winds but at least it was only a short course and no particular racing involved (or anywhere near the climbing of Edale)

Hope everyone is thawed out and resting well today

[IanDarkpeak]

Just food for thought.
I have just looked on SteveT link and noticed that there are only 405 names down. I know they don't include the runners that the MRT picked up but does it imply there were still a lot of Failed to Turn up people?

As far as I'm aware there were about 80 no shows, We were expecting some as you always get a few who can't make it due to some in forseen reason, I suspect that a larger percentage were just put off by the weather forecast and didn't decide until the night before.

Joker If you've lost your virginity on the skyline you need never fear any race every again, did you go it alone or did you pair up

[daz h]

one slight moan from myself
i counted 3 x bloody empty lucozade pouches left along the way
2 near brown knoll and one near grindslow knoll.
we had a moan about this before , okay i know hands were cold but its not good enuff
you know who you are , PLEEEEASE take them home