I turned up today promising myself an easy run. My biomechanics are screwed and i've got an appointment with a movement specialist in the new year, meaning i haven't put the training in and have hardly been getting out at all; the situation is simply too fluid and unpredictable. I had a run at Crag Fell, and some walking hill reps to set me up for the event, i knew my legs could handle it without going to jelly.

The morning did not start auspiciously when it transpired that the ale shop on the one-way system had been turned into a sodding print gallery. Fortunately an old guy in Tescos told me about the one near the library, so libations were secured. I kept on popping back to the car behind The Salutation to nudge my parking disc on a bit, and got a total of about 3h without being ticketed.

As i came through the first wall on the way up i started to pay attention to the ground off to the left, as this might be where i ended up. It looked safe, but slow; the grass was tall and bunched up into clumps that could trip you easily, and the dead bracken situation was 'inconsistent'. Same story at the second broken wall, nothing that looked fast, lots of leg lifting required. It was a bit deep and pretty steep. My legs were feeling alright so i knocked a notch on and made sure not to get overtaken.

As i summited the foggy old thing, i was met by a brass quartet playing ghastly christmas songs and a load of people staring at me like i was about to pull a rabbit out of my hat. I had to keep asking where the dibbers were/where do you want us etc. and i eventually located them amongst a forest of pink flags. I know from summit marshalling myself that people need clear information shouted at them like they are either deaf, blind, or stupid; only that way do you get exhausted and confused runners to reliably comply with simple commands.

With the sounds of 'Silent Night' getting mercifully fainter, i began my descent and braced myself to the task of implementing my descent plan. I swung left back towards the ascent route after clearing the flags and found the path with no problem. The margins of the path were a bit slippy and full of lumps, finding good grippy ground wasn't easy. The broken wall turned up and, as i went right and round the end of it, i found a grisly bog and fell on my arse, followed shortly after by two other runners going my way; this i did not expect. There was a couple of small crags to contend with and shortly after a trod and footprints appeared in the ground, several people had come this way too. In total i dispensed with 3 other wearly souls who appeared through the mist like lone ships, and tried to keep heading downhill was much as i could; as i knew the further left i went the sooner i'd find the path again. The descending was safe, but slow; there was good grip, but the undergrowth was taller than what would be considered desirable for a brain off/brakes off approach.

It turned out i was actually too far left and i readily located the path; the rock steps were a pain to descend. It got faster lower down when there were more options. My descent time was only 2s slower than when i had last opted for the 'race route' in 2022, so this alternative route i found isn't any slower really. If the ground was really saturated it would probably be favourable due to having virtually no footfall on the open fell sections. There will be a better way to do it and drop nicely onto the 'race route' somewhere near the slippy ramp through the copse that takes you down to the beck crossing.