Race 30 of 60 @ 60: Cwmyoy Horseshoe

Quite a long drive to the halfway race of my sixty, to that National park at the bottom of Wales, you know the one - Bannau Brycheiniog. Katie and Tim decided to bag another race, what with it being only an hour from Bristol, so this is another fell running excuse for a get-together. 

The race route is quite straightforward, or so it appears, and it would be lovely to do it at an easier pace on a nice day. Tim fires off with the front runners, taking a wrong turn in the village and immediately losing three minutes. Katie and I, more circumspect, trot unerringly on to the hillside. The fastest out of that careless group pass quite soon but Tim doesn’t catch me till the very highest point. He then takes off at speed down the easy path, following the group, as I knw he would, round the end of the ridge to the second checkpoint, at a stile into the valley fields. Meanwhile, I descend directly through the bracken, get back in front and finish a field length ahead. Result!

Dadsplaining

Results: 12th/64 V60: 2nd/7 Time: 53:09

Tim: 17th in 54:00 Katie: 28th in 1:00:17
Distance: 9km Climb: 383m

Race 29 of 60 @ 60: Duddon Dash

Tagged on to the back end of Charmian’s excellent junior race event from behind the Newfield in the Duddon Valley, this race flies under the radar somewhat, only attracting a fairly small group of senior runners. It deserves more as it’s an absolutely cracking route and serves up everything you could expect from a Lakeland Fell Race. Some tough terrain, hard climbs, tricky descents and not a single step on tarmac. I found the ascent of Caw quite hard but that’s no surprise with so much climb in such a short distance. I finished in a respectable position although as always seems to happen, there was a very decent V60 runner there to keep me in my place.

Results: 15th/38 V60: 2nd/4 Time: 1:14:05
Distance: 9.4km Climb: 703m

Race 28 of 60 @ 60: Loughrigg

Back to the Lake District and the oh so serious business of full kit check and the major undertaking of a four mile out and back, flagged and with the first and last mile on an unmissable track. It was a grey drizzly evening and I didn’t really fancy it before we started so I told Nick that he could have the win, I wouldn’t be bothering him. I didn’t get involved in the dash for the bridge at the start but once we got on to the steep roady bit I started to overtake people and close Nick down, passing before we got to the wet bit.

Strange how you can turn up for a run not feeling like it at all but then really get going once you set off. I use the same mental trick on myself for training runs sometimes too, telling myself that I’ll just go out for a mile or two then end up doing five or six. Sorry about that Nick.

Results: 91st/169 V60: 4th/13 Time: 41:23
Distance: 6.4km Climb: 330m

Race 27 of 60 @ 60: Pendle

The first race that I ever did and the only one I did as a teenager, forty odd years ago, was Pendle. I was introduced to the sport by my old physics teacher, Mr Holmes who also taught me how to orienteer and was probably responsible for me subsequently studying physics at university. Class teacher, in every sense.

My first long race was on The Isle of Jura in 1995, the year that Rob Jebb famously went the wrong way and a local bloke won. In the small world of Darwen Dashers I arrived as a fell runner by dint of my victory over Mark Nutter of Clayton le Moors in that event and it’s Mark who now organises the classic Pendle Fell Race. It’s not dissimilar to the Black Come Race in that it ascends the hill twice, firstly by a sensible and well-trodden route and secondly by a stupidly steep grassy slope directly up Big End. It all went to script for me – hard work on the climbs but passed a few on the fast bits. Missed out on a podium position by a minute or so.

Results: 61st/187 V60: 4th/24 Time: 46:43
Distance: 7.3km Climb: 457m

Race 26 of 60 @ 60: The Pete Hartley Memorial Liver Hill

Back to Marl Pits for the first evening race of the season, meeting up with some old Darwen Dasher pals packing head torches just in case. It’s an out and back course over muddy fields and moorland and although it does bag a hill top and has some technical bits it isn’t fell racing as a Cumbrian would understand it. What it does have is that low key, EOD only, cag recommended vibe that defines the best events for me.

Particularly slimy this year my time was down on 10 years ago but my position at the finish was somewhat better. Beat Dave Naughton – result! But not Rossendale’s own MV65 Mervyn Keys – he’s always been properly good. I was well beaten too by Darwen Dashers’ Gareth Taylor in much the same way as I always failed to catch his dad during 20 years as a Dasher myself. That’s only to be expected I suppose.

Results: 32nd/117 V60-69: 2nd/23 Time: 47:23
Distance: 7km Climb: 250m