Wasdale

[GAVCFR]

Got thee...unfortunately it's not a good photo but 'ere goes...
(Grabbin' that barbed wire fence must've been painful!)

Thanks Wharfeego,
See wot you mean by barbed wire fence, haha!!

[Drunkeneuphoria]

All that weather and no knowledge of the area gave me my first DNF . I wasn't exactly setting the world on fire anyway but then ran nearly 180-degrees in the wrong direction for over 2m using a slightly different line along the wall near Scoat Fell. Biggest nav area I've ever made by miles! Should have noticed wind had changed direction. No CP at Pillar when I finally got there (don't blame them for being long gone). Quite surprised when up there that a walker said he'd last seen a runner pass ionly 20mins earlier :w00t: Realised then that conditions for this race might not always be quite this difficult and times may be a bit down. So decided sensible option was to descend off at Black sail pass and back to Wasdale that way. Would have fancied the run on myself as feeling quite strong, but responsible thing to organisers and running mates family - waiting for us to put tent up - was to get back ASAP. So no completion but still did about the same distance as anybody who completed full course (error free).

Stayed at the Wasdale Head campsite so had a saunter up Scafell Pike the next day so as not to miss out on that great descent. Really enjoyed and now I'll have to come back next year and finish this one.

[Graham Breeze]

I note a 59 year old woman came 4th lady (only 6 minutes behind 3rd lady), 68th overall and also:

First LV55
do LV50
do LV45
do LV40.

I suppose Wasdale always sorts the women from the boys.

[wharfeego]

I note a 59 year old woman came 4th lady...

the female version of King Joss!

[Rudolph Hooker]

the female version of King Joss!

Not really.

Can you think of any male fell runners who are still winning their category, and several younger categories, after 40+ years of fell running?

I made this point already on the best-ever fellrunner thread. Wendy really is something else.

Full results are now up.

[Nayth]

My feelings exactly, that's so accurate I could have written it myself, I even made the same mistake and took 50 mins over that leg. Thanks to the walker who (above the call of duty) stood in the middle of Lingmell Beck to help me across.
That cup of tea and the cakes at the end made it all worth while.

Triple ditto! Myself and another guy realised we'd gone a bit far left going off Scafell Pike, tried to correct ourselves and ended up at the top of Brown Tongue. Tried to contour round to Lingmell, but found a pretty steep gorge in our way and decided to descend rather than go back up what felt like the near vertical slope. We must have crossed the beck 5 times trying to decide where to contour to the checkpoint, and at one point were just running down the beck! Had to see the funny side, even after getting so far without making any big nav errors. My shoes were squeaky clean when I finished!

I didn't get to speak to the runner I was with at the end (must be Andrew Roberts?) but if you read this thanks for the company. Sorry I wasn't much conversation after 5 hours running!

Great butties! A hellishly tough, but rewarding day out.

Well done everyone that made it to the start line!

PS - who was the guy in the orange coat we followed of Scafell Pike? You must have nearly gone for another jog up Illgill head?! Sorry I didn't shout you, but you'd gone by the time I realised how wrong we were... You probably made it back before me still!

[Graham Breeze]

Not really.

Can you think of any male fell runners who are still winning their category, and several younger categories, after 40+ years of fell running?

I made this point already on the best-ever fellrunner thread. Wendy really is something else.

Full results are now up.

RH is being rhetorical because there simply isn't and I have already written that, given a fair wind, Wendy will soon be the first and only fell runner to win a Gold Medal for three Vet Category decades, assuming she does her stuff in 2011. Sui generis.

And if I may refer to my other previous writings; I was delighted to see that Edwin Sherstone finished Wasdale when so many DNF. Edwin, of famed fell club Southport & Waterloo, is a diabetic, he won the LCT Best Improver award in 2009 and I wrote about him in my 2009 Change is Good LCT Review. Edwin comes pretty near the back of the field in the Lakeland Classics , he was even behind me at Ennerdale this year, but he finishes.

The Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind so Chapeau!

[jodg]

Just wondering if anyone know how many runners actually started?

[DinoF]

Just wondering if anyone know how many runners actually started?

Jodg - According to the results - 167. 121 finishers and 46 DNFs

Does anyone know when Great Gable closed, and when runners started to be timed out on it?

[Alf]

Jodg - According to the results - 167. 121 finishers and 46 DNFs

Does anyone know when Great Gable closed, and when runners started to be timed out on it?

I was timed out on Gable missed it by about 10 mins I think (hard to workout with the late start) as I caught up with the marshalls when they were descending to Sty Head. I then dropped back into Wasdale from Sty head after talking to a couple of safety marshalls to make sure all who got through Pillar had been accounted for.