Race 39: Coniston Country Fair

Coniston Old Man from the other side of the lake

Well that didn't go very well at all! I don't know what position I came and I don't know how long I took but I do know that my left ankle is really sore and really rather swollen. I'm not sure about getting another race done before the end of the month. Oh dear. Good job I have a bit of time in hand.

The weather was a bit too hot for comfort and the field was reduced to only 34 because of a clash with the English Championship race at Kentmere on the same day. I didn't see a single lady runner at the start and almost all of the others looked pretty handy but still - just run to your own strengths, I thought. So I struggled to the summit which was breezy and mercifully covered in a thin mist and I think I was around 25th at the top. I was in sight of Keswick runner Colin Valentine about six places ahead.

After turning at the top I was able to take a very direct route down past the quarry as I have run, walked and led groups down this fell side on many occasions. I didn't see a single other runner until I arrived at the Walna Scar Road when Colin appeared just behind me. I assume that I had made up several places because the others all seemed to have gone much further to the right. He was running steadily and overtook on the flat moor just after crossing the track but was still only about 30 metres ahead as we hit the next section of downhill. With the yellow vest in my sights my left foot went into a hole, I heard a horrible crack and I hit the deck. After swearing at the ground for a minute or two it dawned on me that nobody else had come past yet and the field was pretty well spread out. There were no helicopters hovering overhead so there wasn't really any sensible alternative to limping back down the last mile or so to the finish - so that's what I did. Then I sat in the Lake for twenty minutes to try to reduce the swelling.

The best thing about the whole sorry episode was that each one of the seven people who ran past me in that mile asked whether I was OK and I am sure that any one of them would have given up their race to help me down if I had needed them to. The support as I entered the show field was pretty good too - I don't normally get a round of applause! Fell running is a fantastic sport. Just a bit sore sometimes.

After the race

And next day

Result: twenty something / 34
Distance: 9.7km/6 miles  Climb: 732m/2402ft

Race 38: Bull Hill

It's been a few years since I did this event but I do remember having a particularly bad run in 2003, just after undergoing a series of cardiology tests having feinted during a training run. I must have had some underlying fitness because I was three minutes slower this time! To be fair, the course has been changed since then to include a more interesting and perhaps slightly longer finish and this is where Luke finally pressed home his advantage, storming away in the last half mile. I had beaten him to the trig point and off the rough descent after that but he came through on the second long climb. I recovered enough to close the gap on the second descent but had nothing left to finish. Never mind. The natural order is restored!

Results: 78th/209  47:08
Distance: 8.8km/5.5 miles  Climb: 335m/1099ft

Race 37: Stoodley Pike

This was my third short race in quick succession and another success in terms of getting into the top half - much improved after my poor showings at Buttermere and Jura. Perhaps I ought to specialise in short steep races. I managed to beat Jonathan for the first time in ages, passing him and several others on the descent from Stoodley Pike. The run in along London Road was tough but I held on to most of my gains and finished well. Nowhere near my PB but my best result of the year in terms of overall position and third over 50 out of twenty odd in the M50/M55 classes so I should be happy with that.

Wow... an animation of the finish!

Results:  47th/135  26:03
Distance: 5km/3.1 miles  Climb: 213m/699ft

Race 36: Flan Fell

Oh my goodness that was hard. This race is in four quarters: out on the tarmac path - ok because we're fresh; up the hill - steep and difficult but ok; down the hill - nice; and back along the tarmac path - horrible! I was pushed all the way to the finish by a junior runner, lost a couple of the positions on the run in but held on for a top half finish. Just about satisfied. Looking at the distance and climb this looks like the easiest race of them all but honestly it isn't. I think that the short fast races suit the younger runners better but in my age category, I seem to be doing alright.

The tarmac path leading to the finish. Two of
the four chasing me got past before the line

Result: 14th/28  13:36
Distance: 2.9km/1.8 miles  Climb: 100m/328ft