Originally Posted by
mr brightside
Still buzzing from it! A real red letter day. I was running navigation leg 3 senior B for Wharfedale, I was hoping for a standard fellrace checkpoint setup but as soon as I got the map (I was navigator) I realised it was a proper orienteering setup. I had about 2 mins to study the map before we had to make a deviation from Dowber Gill to CP1. I make the mistake of assuming that the CP would be easily visible and chose not to use footpaths or set my compass for it, but instead to set my compass for CP2 in advance and use a wall on the opposite side as a reference point for locating CP1. After a few tense minutes of scouring the fellside we finally found the marshal laid out in the bottom of a shake hole with the dibbing point next to him; you could have passed 10m away on either side and not seen him!
The majority of the checkpoints were scattered randomly about the bogs below Great Whernside, most hidden in gills but some visible, with two on the ridge around Sweet Hill. The terrain was incredibly tough for a high pressure situation; I frequently tripped over tussocks whilst double checking our course and went into a bog half way up my thighs at one point. This resulted in me crawling on all fours over the sodden vegetation and knocking the compass bezel with my thumb, thereby losing the bearing. My partner was much stronger than me altogether and I had to really push it, but managed to make all the right navigational decisions with the exception of CP1 despite the handicap of being constantly on the brink of collapse!
With CP6 out of the way we picked up two or three places on the way to Hag Dike, due to me being better down than up, but the positions lost on the way around and up had made a big dent in our performance. I advised that we shouldn't take a straight line off CP6 because the gills on the way would slow us up, but the topography of the land was clearly visible with it being such a fantastic day and you'd have to be very unlucky to find trouble.
After dibbing at Hag Dike it was a clear run in to Kettlewell, everyone was picking up speed and I felt a bonk coming on, that feeling of exhaustedness and hunger telling you to either stop or eat something. I'd chosen to eat a gel before the race to save messing around on the fell, and had misjudged the course demands. To add to the complications I don't like the run down from Hag Dike, it's contoured and it's too full of mole hills and rabbit holes- especially for someone in the early stages of jellylegs. I managed to keep up with my partner and we passed two or three runners before fording the beck and turning left past the water works. I was now in a situation where I had to hold my position on the last little climb and stay focused on not giving up. I've never fought against a bonk before, I’ve just always accepted the inevitability of it, and unless I’m mistaken I’ve never had it so hard in an event before. The last steep run in off the field was just like a slow motion dream; I’d kept the guys behind me behind me and managed to find a sprint to fight off a late challenge in the last 10yds. I forgot to tag the leg 4 runner and then had to have a bit of a lie down because my legs wouldn't support me! I'd do it all again next week.
Cheers to Bingley and the marshals; I don't know about the other 3 legs, but leg 3 was conceived masterfully.
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