“The fleeting hour of life of those who love the hills is quickly spent, but the hills are eternal. Always there will be the lonely ridge, the dancing beck, the silent forest; always there will be the exhilaration of the summits. These are for the seeking, and those who seek and find while there is still time will be blessed both in mind and body.”
– Alfred Wainwright ‘The Western Fells’
It’s been a while! Much has changed. In September we packed our bags and headed north for a new life in Co. Durham. First thing to say is that it is considerably colder here, this has led to significant investment in thermals, but also trying to not look like a total wimp at races and therefore braving some pretty soggy conditions and some pretty chilly ones whilst wearing shorts and vests. Second thing to say is that I wasted no time in seeking out a fell running club in order to fulfill a long held ambition to join the ranks of those hardy legends who fear neither weather nor vertical. Turns out that by comparison I am more tortoise than hare, but I have been welcomed by Durham Fell Runners with open arms and in spite of the pedigree of runners in the club there is no feeling of being anything other than a valued member. So in that context I have been proud to don the purple and white strip and jump into the world of fell racing.
My first outing to a fell race was the ‘Stickle Grind’. Langdale Marathon had been cancelled due to yellow weather warning – road racing huh (?!) – which was a huge disappointment as I was really looking forward to returning and potentially knocking that 17 mins of my last attempt to bag that sub-4! Undeterred I dragged Duncan out for a hideously wet recce of the BGR leg from Dunmail – we spent about 2 hours out in filthy conditions before beating a retreat to the nearest pub! I then found that the Stickle Grind was taking place on Sunday and decided that power hiking to the top of Harrison Stickle over the course of about 2 miles seemed like an outstanding way to put the Langdale disappointment to bed. The course was supposed to be an uphill only course but unfortunately the heavy rainfall meant that the ghyll at Stickle tarn was not safe to cross so it was an up and down last minute re-route. Unfortunately for me, I lack the mastery and nerve for running balls out downhill so although I made a decent fist of getting up to the tarn in around 17mins it took me almost as long to get down as it did to get up. Apparently you have to just relax…… but my inner Frankie Goes to Hollywood bailed on me that day! Still I survived. and I fearlessly wore a vest (albeit with arm warmers 😉 ) I feel proud of both these facts!!!!
Fortune favours the bold….. or something; exploiting my natural waterproofing at the Stickle Grind in September. (Going up!)
The moment I almost crash landed on the down…… (Coming down!)
A word: a CM fell race has no less than 100ft ascent on average per mile and no more than 40% is on road. The Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble is a CM class race (10.5miles with ~1250ft ascent).
On the basis of my time at Drogo last year – 9.5 miles and ~1800ft ascent) I assumed that this race would probably take me a similar amount of time, what I DIDN’T bank on was how much tougher fell races are underfoot. Even on the flatter sections the heather, ruts and technically more tricky wet rocky parts made the going far slower.
I had been ill over the week – and irritatingly still am! – and about three miles in I was beginning to think that it was a terrible idea as my breathing and heart rate were all over. Still, you don’t get a ride home if you drop and I didn’t much fancy the walk of shame back to the start so I grit my teeth and resolved to slog out the next 7 (and a half). On the first gnarly downhill I took a mighty tumble and spent the rest of the race caked in mud – I had to constantly remind myself not to wipe my face with my mud covered left hand, lest I arrived back looking like a swamp monster! Fortunately the only thing hurt was my pride and I discovered others had had similarly traumatic episodes – arm pit deep bog anyone?!
I eventually managed to settle in to what I expect my former coach would describe as ‘an ultra plod’ but it has been a while since I properly raced a shorter distance (actually it was Drogo about the same time last year!) so I just wanted to keep it consistent and just try to not fade out. By about mile 6 I felt pretty happy and although breathing was still tough I had managed to hold my position well and get passed only a couple of times, by the final downhill I felt able to open out and passed 3 people on my way to the finish line – all that downhill road running in prep for Langdale finally paid dividends somewhere at least!!! Final time was 1hr 46mins and about 20s so almost bang on my 10 min mile prediction, although you might be thinking that perhaps if I hadn’t set that stall out in my mind whether I might have managed to go a bit faster. I wonder the same, but nonetheless I was reasonably happy with that result given the other issues I had had!
All in all a cracking day out, 15 of DFR made the trek and Ros, Marion and Denise bagged the 1st place in the ladies team prize for their efforts!
Durham Fell Runners ready to take on the Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble, chairman Andy Blackett putting us all to shame by starting with bare arms…..
My first race in Durham Fell Runners team colours – note rolled up sleeves by this point, not a total wimp :oD
I’ve got a way to go yet before I can really consider myself a proper fell runner – tackling scree and actually being able to navigate for two – but I’ve taken the first tentative steps and the community is fab so I think I will be right at home!!!
That’s it for 2017 here’s my provisional race calendar for 2018;
High Cup Nick – Feb
Dungeon Ghyll – March
Highland Fling – April
Clough Head – May
Ennerdale Horseshoe – June
Wasdale Horseshoe – July
Lakeland 100 – July
TBC:
Kima Trophy – August
Ring of Stell and Mamores VK – September
Jess the Running Lynx 