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

Race 11: Blake's Heaven

A pattern seems to have emerged as I get in to this challenge which presents me with something of a paradox. The tougher the races I do, the harder it becomes to get in to the top half of the results; so if I get fitter and choose harder races, I will be less likely to achieve my target finish position. I say that here because today, I missed out.

Blake's Heaven follows a fantastic route over Blake Fell in West Cumbria which I imagine on a nice summer's day could be truly heavenly. Today wasn't a nice day and that is what made this a tough race. Nobody would turn out today if they were anything but a committed Fell Runner and on the lunatic fringe of the sport at that. The wind was incredible near the summit and to make things worse we were hit by a shower of hail which when driven into the skin produced a genuine burning sensation, real heat - hellish.

I was weak from the start and I struggled to keep running even across the fields early on but I dug in and managed to keep going until we arrived on the open fell where the path steepens. From there on it felt more a battle for survival than a race and I regretted my decision to wear shorts rather than the old pair of Ron Hills I had in the car. I had the option to stop and put on the waterproofs that the organisers had quite rightly insisted we carry but on a short race, it never seems like there is enough time. On the way down Blake Fell I was blown off my feet and did a Klinsmann, taking the legs of another runner from under her. If she ever reads this, and I don't know who she was, I really do apologise. It is a mercifully fast downhill run even in the strong wind and I was just grateful to reach the finish, totally drained. I have warmed through now but my neck still feels sunburned six hours later and one side of my face feels like a slapped buttock.

Up

Over

And away

Results: 73rd/120 (finishers)  47:43
Distance: 8km/5 miles  Climb: 503m/1650ft

Race 10: Stanbury Splash

This was the Sunday of my first two race weekend for years and it went better than expected. Like Saturday's race it has a lot of fast trail running and a hard uphill finish but the top end of the Stanbury Splash course runs round the head of quite a remote valley on small paths of grass and mud - this time the good kind of mud - peaty, black and smelling of earth rather than horses. Fantastic to run on.

I started right at the back, still feeling Saturday in my legs but I soon began to pick my way through the field. By the time we splashed through the river on the return I thought that I had done enough to get into the top half and it felt good after overtaking so many on the peaty paths. Kath was at the river with the camera and she followed us up the steep field back to the track. I hardly had enough energy to get up there quicker than she did in her boots but I held on to my position from there to the finish.

The crazy mass start in the quarry

Approaching the river and looking like a runner for the first time this year.

The "Stanbury Splash"

Results: 210th/437  1:06:36
Distance: 12km/7.5 miles  Climb: 400m/1312ft

Race 9: Ashurst Beacon

This is a tough race not because it crosses any really steep or mountainous terrain but because the course follows fast, hard but invariably muddy paths and tracks. It is also a little unusual in that it starts at the top of a hill and sets off downhill but finishes with a draining climb to Ashurst Beacon. The hill topped by the Beacon is notable for being just about the westernmost viewpoint before the landscape falls away to the West Lancashire Plain, with views on a clear day from Snowdonia to the Lake District and all the flat land in between. I didn't see any of that of course but I've looked at the map and it must be true.

I hate uphill finishes. It is very dispiriting to see the group ahead ease away when in most fell races I am picking off runners at that stage. Note to self: lose some weight and gravity will be less of a hindrance. At the time of writing I don't know whether or not I made the top half of the field but with a time of around 50 minutes I will be there or thereabouts. I must also mention clubmate Jamie Dowdall, who thrashed me comprehensively today. Good run Jamie.

The final muddy climb before the Beacon

Still breathing - just about

Results: 63rd/152  50:50

Distance: 9.5km/5.9 miles  Climb: 290m/951ft

Race 8: Wansfell

This is a short sharp shock of a race straight after Christmas, being a straight up and down of Wansfell Pike from Ambleside Town Centre. The first part is a runnable climb up Stock Ghyll Lane before the route passes through a fell gate and on steeply to the summit. The race was delayed by 24 hours due to very windy conditions yesterday and the field was probably reduced to the keener runners as a result. I knew that I had my work cut out to make the top half in any case but when Kath first told me that I had finished one place short of my target and that I would have made it, had not another runner behind me withdrawn with a sore ankle, I honestly thought she was winding me up. She was in that kind of mood, having had a slight altercation with an old lady and a dog, which had left a couple of neat puncture wounds on Kath's leg, towards the end of her cycle ride from Spark Bridge to Ambleside. My lungs were bursting from about three quarters of the way up but I held on to the summit and had a real go at the descent. I managed to pick up nine places on the way down but unfortunately, one short of my target.

I should add that one of the joys of fell running is that we ordinary club runners get to line up at the start with the real big names in the sport. The winner at Wansfell was Rob Jebb, British Champion.

Here I am looking fat, camp and slow. Disappointing as I feel that only two
of those really apply. Nice view of the summit behind though. Thanks again
to Kath for hauling the camera out on to the fell side to capture the image.

Results: 38th/75 (finishers)  29:20
Distance: 3.3km/2.1 miles   Climb: 405m/1329ft

Race 7: Whinberry Naze

This race is boxing day fancy dress tradition for many runners but I'm afraid I hardly pushed the boat out this year, mustering only my Santa hat from The Stoop to top off the usual kit - sorry about that. Must try harder next time! I probably wasn't alone in feeling a little under the weather but thanks to the number of runners taking a relaxed interlude from the Christmas festivities I achieved my top half finish quite comfortably. Simon Fox, another old friend, adversary and club-mate ran away from me early on, finishing fifteen places ahead and showing me how much work I still have to do before I can say I have recovered my running legs. The course is actually a little cracker (geddit?) with some really nice running on grassy moorland but I particularly like the slippery descent before we hit the road to the finish.

The busy start

The final climb on to the moor top

I did beat the Sumo and Spiderman but I'm not sure where the horse finished

Results: 78th/210   33:26
Distance: 6.4km/4 miles   Climb: 229m/751ft

Race 6: The Stoop

Training has not felt good since Kirkby Moor and it has taken longer than usual to get over the cold which drained my energy prior to that race. I have been doing three mile runs and feeling like I used to feel in the last three miles of a ten miler ten years ago. I started towards the back of the field and the huge number of Santa-hatted runners forced me to take it easy and make my way slowly through the field for the first couple of miles. That proved to be a good strategy as old friend and adversary Alan Yeomans from Rossendale tracked me down and passed as we approached the turning point at the summit. That confirmed my opinion that I was there or thereabouts in my quest for a top half finish and as we started the descent the sharp studs on my new Walshies began to make a difference. The ground was as slippery as we all expected and I made up about 20 places before the stream crossing. I held on to the finish and it was just as well as I only just squeezed inside my target.

It was great to chat to a fellow Darrener at the finish and congratulate Neil Holding of West Pennine Runners, who claimed the first Vet 50's prize, about ten minutes in front of me. I did beat him once I think, years ago. Once in about 400 attempts that is! Some of these guys are just a different class.

Blue skies over the Cricket Pavillion at registration but
don't be fooled. The wind over the moors was bitterly cold.

And this is how hard I was trying at the finish.

Results: 194th/402   46:54
Distance: 8km/5 miles  Climb: 250m/820ft