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