It really is a shame that the route had to be changed – at first I thought that Scoffer had done it just so that his committee pals could get round in under four and a half hours! Almost worked too – though I notice Breezie bottled out altogether.

Interestingly, the theoretical forty minutes advantage created by the removal of Scafell Pike managed to achieve less than 15 minutes improvement on Billy’s record. That says something!

Seriously, I can’t really see how Scoffer could have chosen to ignore the advice of the rescue team – I know he got a lot of stick (much from his own club!), but what could he really do, under the circumstances?

I hope that all this was discussed with the rescue team after the race. Last Friday’s Mountain Weather Information Service weather forecast for the Lake District accurately predicted what the weather would do – including the abatement of the wind on Saturday. I’m sure that even mountain rescue teams from Preston are capable of reading a weather forecast.

There have been comparisons made with the decisions at the Edale Skyline, including some silly statements about the difference in terrain making the decision easier. All I can say is that most deaths in the Dark Peak have occurred because people haven’t given the high plateaux of Kinder and Bleaklow the respect they rightly deserve.

Be careful – it’s not a jungle out there!