Race 15: Bleasedale Circle

This is a tough race and it was never going to be easy less than 24 hours after the previous night's effort. I knew from my warm up that I was too stiff to do well over the fields early on but I didn't panic and was quite happy to get to the top of Fair Snape Fell just behind Jonathan in 36th place. The run down to Parlick from here and the steep drop towards the finish from Parlick would normally be enough to let me pick up the few places I needed to get in to the top half. Unfortunately It didn't turn out that way this time - Jonathan stayed in front off Fair Snape then opened up a gap on the small climb up Parlick, which can be seen in the background on the photo. I caught him back on the steep drop, just as he was closing in on a the small group ahead but that is where the wheels came off for me. As he pushed on to the finish he made up a few places but my legs simply refused to go faster and I struggled to hold on to the position I had.

Kath walked virtually the whole route in reverse, starting from Fell Foot and dressed in fairly heavy duty waterproofs and thermals. Although the conditions were fine for running the poor lass was almost frozen solid by the time she reached the car. Just goes to show that the kit requirements for runners make sense as an absolute minimum.

Chasing Jonathan Stubbs towards the top of Fair Snape Fell

Results: 36th/63  51:06
Distance: 8km/5 miles  Climb: 381m/1250ft

Race 14: Mr Sparkle's Dark Un

After a break of nearly three weeks since my last race I expected to be feeling fresh for this, my first ever night time fell race. I have plenty of experience of training in the dark and I know the route over Darwen Moors very well but I still had to work hard to get round in a respectable position. The downhill start is hard and fast but I settled in after that and kept up a steady effort all the way round, making up just one position on the downhill section approaching the finish. Satisfied with the result but feeling more tired than I had hoped.

The start in Roddlesworth Woods.
Kath put the camera away after that because it was just
too cold to expect fingers to work the shutter button.

Results: 30th/62  43:31
Distance: 8.1km/5 miles Climb: 214m/702ft

Race 13: Long Mynd Valleys

This is the toughest race I have done for a few years so I was a little apprehensive before the start. I had been over the route mentally, using the map and a drive up on to the Long Mynd on Saturday afternoon, so I knew that there were three major climbs towards the end of the race. I set my stall out from the word go to just complete the race at a controlled pace, in the hope that I would still be feeling strong at the finish. I started slowly, held back on the runs down the valleys and didn't push too hard on the early climbs so as I arrived at the turning point at checkpoint six the feeling of tiredness was just setting in.

Most runners took a line straight up a steep valley on the third last climb but I went for the alternative route off up to the side and I think that I must have made up a number of places with that decision. Two more climbs followed and I was beginning to flag on the last big climb up Yearlet but so, it seemed, were most of the runners around me. I was pleasantly surprised by my result and it goes to prove that on a long race at least, a measured approach can pay dividends.

The weather was perfect for running - cold but clear, dry and not too windy. For walking though, it was perhaps little too cold so Kath stayed well wrapped up as she made her way up from the valley to checkpoint two, over to Yearlet and then back down. The views must have been stunning but I'm sorry to say that for much of the race I was concentrating purely on putting one foot in front of the other.

Jogging through the second checkpoint

Kath's view on the way from the second
checkpoint directly to the ninth on Yearlet

The control punch at the cairn on Yearlet

Results: 111th/231  2:34:35
Distance: 18.5km/11.5 miles  Climb: 1372m/4501ft

Race 12: Titterstone Clee

The weather was gentler this week but only a little - there was a strong wind and a flurry of snow as we climbed Titterstone Clee but on such a short run the conditions didn't seem to cause much of a problem for the competitors. It must have been tougher for the marshals on the top and at the start/finish area. I was able to count the runners ahead of me as they descended from the trig point, this being an out and back course, so I knew that I had to make up two or three places on the downhill to make the top half. I took one almost immediately after the turn and set my sights on a group of four, two or three hundred metres away but unfortunately, try as I might, I could make no impression on them.

Kath set off from the village hall with the camera before the start with the intention of short-cutting on to the course but we had both misplaced the hall on the map and by the time she had corrected the error, the race was well under way. She took a couple of snaps of the hill and, realising that she must have missed the race, made her way back towards the car park. A better result for Kath than for me today - recognising a navigational error and calmly relocating in very poor conditions is a satisfying skill to have.

Titterstone Clee Hill

Results: 31st/59  27:35
Distance: 4.1km/2.5 miles  Climb: 229m/751ft