The Bowland Massive
Just a snapshot of the sheer breadth of fell running endeavour within our brilliant club…..
(Disclaimer – I cannot claim to have included every worthy example – please accept my apologies for those I have overlooked or am not aware of)Classic Long Fell Races
9 Bowlanders in Teenager with Altitude (as well as organising it)
9 Bowlanders in the Three Peaks Race
7 Bowlanders in Old County Tops (we also hold at least two category records in this event)
3 Bowlanders in Bens of Jura (also qualifies in “far flung” category)
14 Bowlanders entered in Great Lakes Run
Classic Medium Fell Races
13 Bowlanders in Anni Waltz (as well as organising it)
15 Bowlanders in Coledale Horseshoe
11 Bowlanders in Coniston
22 Bowlanders in Fairfield Horseshoe
Classic Short Fell Races
6 Bowlanders in Causey Pike
Juniors
3 Bowland Juniors at the Pendle (Lancs Champs)
Far Flung (Britain)
Jura
Deerstalker
Roseberry Topping
Scottish Island Peaks
Far Flung (International)
Alan Lucker in Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc
Mountain Adventures
Richard M in Scottish Island Peaks yacht/running race (also qualifies in “far flung” category)
Ultra Distance
Simon B in 2011 Round Rotherham 50
Simon B Hoka Highland Fling (53 miles) – also qualifies in the “far flung” category
Old County Tops (previously mentioned)
Dunc E’s Joss Naylor Challenge – We also hold the V50 record (Leigh W)
Numerous Bob Graham Club members
Short and Sharp
Andy W in the New Dungeon Ghyll (3.5/2100)
Fast and Furious
6 Bowlanders in Harrock Hill 1 (5/900)
Solo Endeavours
Dunc E’s Ullswater Watershed (35/11000)
Yiannis’ Glen Lyon Corbetts round ( a new record!) – also obviously qualifies as “ultra-distance” and “far flung”
Category Wins/Placings
Emma G – first lady at Mearley Clough
Sarah Sarginson – first V40 lady at Pendle
Sarah Sherratt – first V40 lady at Harrock Hill 1
Rowena Brown – first V50 lady at Coledale Horseshoe
Championship Scoring
Phil M lying 7th = in English V70 championship
Bowland lying 6th in English Mens V50 team championship
Martin and Paul W, both scorers in English Mens V65 championship
Ali Welsh lying 6th in British Mens V50 championship
Rowena B lying 5th = in British Womens V50 championship
Obscure
2 Bowlanders in Llangynhafal Loop (plus one marshalling)
1 Bowlander at Mount Famine
Unusual
At least 2 Bowlanders in The Mighty Deerstalker (also qualifies in “far flung” category AND in the “obscure category”)
If you spot any glaring omissions please post them under “comments” below!
Andy W
This Week’s Runs (May 31st)
Pendle Tuesday – May 29th
Arriving at the Pendle venue I noticed the cars of Clive D, Andrew K and Warren S, they were obviously off on a bike ride. Andy C arrived and said he’d also seen Mike G and Jon W heading down valley on bikes so it began to look like it would be a quiet run. But then Yvonne R drove up, followed by Andy and Pam F.
Gill and Pam headed off just after 6:30 to do a slight variation on the short time trial route, taking in the climb from Churn Clough to Spence Moor, while the other four of us (plus Lottie the dog) followed shortly afterwards. I had hatched a plan to run over to Ogden Clough gate then to split into two groups and run back to Badger Wells Hill by the two alternative ways (Clough/Cairn and ski-Sunday/Spence Moor). Hopefully, this would help us to determine which is the quickest.
Yvonne immediately romped off up the initial path, while ‘the three Andys’ chugged up the hill behind, trying to get motors warmed up and legs moving. Eventually, we did get going and arrived at Black Hill fairly close together but still puffing and blowing (well I was anyway). The views were glorious and the paths quite dry, making it a perfect evening for running and I really enjoyed the run to the cairn then down into Ogden Clough.
Arriving at Ogden gate, we split up; Andy F and Yvonne set off up ‘ski-Sunday’ and Andy C and I returned by our outward route. It’s always difficult to draw conclusions from a test like this but we adopted a fairly steady pace (not ‘racing’) and noted the time it took us to return to the cairn on the main path then traverse the path over Black Hill to Badger Wells Hill. It took about 17.15.
Approaching the planned rendezvous we’d been scanning the route over to our left to see if we could spot Andy and Yvonne but there was no sign… puzzling. We’d been stood on Badger Wells for a minute or two and then they appeared climbing up from the direction of Deerstones! A wrong turning at the ‘middle gate’ had given them (as Yvonne put it) the bonus of an extra ‘up’. So, more reccying and testing still required.
Post run, we retired to the Swan in Whalley, where Clive D regaled us with tales of derring-do at the Fred Whitton bike race over the weekend (112 miles over every road pass in the Lake District)!
Fell Foot Wednesday – May 30th
A very dull evening greeted the attendees at FF this week, with a little light rain starting just as some of us were about to set off. Others, having had an early start, were just returning, smugly, to their cars as the drizzle began… As usual, I was late getting going but set off hopefully to do an anti-clockwise Saddle Circle and reduce my fairly tardy time of 56.46. Rumour had it that Ian Hutch had been round earlier in the afternoon in ‘about 45 mins’ but this remains unofficial at the time of writing. My own attempt foundered shortly after Saddle Farm due to my far-too-frequent lack of energy, but I continued at a reduced pace to complete the route in a time I prefer not to report! I met three fast descenders above the Saddle, including Lee D and Paul J but no times were reported so they were obviously just having a social run.
Graham T on the other hand, had his serious head on. Despite having given blood the day before (!) he set off and succeeded in reducing his times for both the Vertical Furlong (9.50) and the Paddy’s Pole Plunge (10.06). The latter is the fastest time recorded since Lee D’s record of 9.59 back in 2005. Third on the all-time list is Clive D’s 10.38 (also from 2005). As well as these impressive feats, Graham also moved the start cairn for the ‘VF’ to a better-defined position just above the ‘sheep scrape’ opposite Wildcock House.
AW
This Week’s Runs (May 24th)
Pendle, Tuesday
As has become the norm, Pendle attracted both runners and cyclists on Tuesday, with the cyclists arriving early and filling up the layby so that when I arrived I had to park on the grass and other later arrivals had to double park. It’s popular!
I don’t have much visibility of the cyclists activities but I hear they had a ride round the Velo Tour then followed it up with a run on the hill to make a good ‘duathlon’ training session.
Andy C left before 6:30 and went for a run/recce round the Medium/Long route (challenge no 4). He had some difficulty locating Badger Wells Hill near the end, and went off on a little wander, so hasn’t posted a time. He was still well under my test time though..
Gill Ruth and Pam set off just before the main group and did a variation of the Short/Medium route (challenge no 2) minus the ‘ski-Sunday’ climb.
The rest of us (Mike G, Graham L, Stuart H, Shaun T and I) set off just after 6:30 with the intention of doing a clockwise circuit of the Medium route (challenge no 3). It was a lovely evening for running and we had a nice run up to the trig via Ogden Clough, meeting Stew Forsyth briefly en route, then down to the gates above Buttock. Here, Mike G suffered a calf muscle pull and we travelled slowly round to the Ogden gate hoping it would settle down, which it did to some extent at least. As we were leaving the gate, Andy C arrived and then set off immediately up the clough, using the alternative finish (the choice on the Med/Long is up the clough to the main path or up ‘ski sunday’ and over Spence Moor). We stuck to the route of the Medium challenge and plodded up ski sunday to the East stile.
From here we separated. I wanted to continue over Spence Moor to see where I would end up in relation to Andy C when I got to Badger Wells (as an experiment – it’s still not clear which is the best way) whilst the others continued down to Churn Clough Res as per the Med challenge route. As it happened, Andy C was on his wander when I approached Badger Wells and I never saw him, so a further test will have to be arranged…
A group of us returned to the Swan in Whalley for a pint and a natter but most of the cyclists were conspicuous by their absence. Those guys are getting far too serious!
Fell Foot, Wednesday
Another lovely evening greeted us at Fell Foot on Wednesday. Parked cars suggested people were already out and about on the fell and others were busily preparing to leave; George F, Glenda, Gail and Wayne were all about to leave, and Gill set off with Pam as soon as we arrived. I saw Lee D, Paul J, Ian C and one other as they set off from the gate in the direction of Wolfen Hall and that left me, plodding slowly up the main route to Parlick. I had a very slow, tired run, reccying the traverse from Blindhurst fell gate to Paddy’s (again) but I still didn’t get a good line and will need to have (yet) another look at it…
When I arrived at Paddy’s I had a quick chat with Colin W and he pointed out Gill and Pam, way over at the new gate near 1707 so I set off, thinking I’d catch them by the time we got back. I was so sluggish though, I failed to do so and just trundled lonely as a cloud all the way back.
Post run, news reached me of four challenge times; Graham T started with a Vertical Furlong in 10.30 then ran up to Paddy’s Pole and finished off with a Plunge in 11.08. The start point again caused some confusion for the “VF” and I think it may be necessary to build a new cairn by the ‘sheep scrape’ on the opposite side of the stream gully from Wildcock House.
Meanwhile, the other Graham (L) put in a swift run round the Saddle Circle, just missing the 45 minute barrier by 7 seconds (“saveable by not wasting valuable oxygen saying hello to people”).
John Wade, starting in Chipping, did the Tour du Massif bike ride in about 1:45 (I have forgotten the exact time but John will post this on the online spread-sheet set up by Steve C for the cycling challenges).
Keith Denver was also out on the bike, riding over to Clitheroe to ride the regular Wednesday night 10 mile time trial and he later returned to the pub in cycling gear, looking very much the gnarly French cycling veteran…
While the above was going on, Mike McD, Shaun and Ruth T*, Sarah Sh (who won a prize), Richard D and Ian F joined 147 others in running the first race in the Harrock Hill series (5.2 miles/902ft). Ian reports it was a surprisingly misty evening over on the Bispham Green lowlands, which made running easier but scuppered any ideas of sitting outside the Farmers Arms pub at the end having a drink. Boo!
*See Ruth’s report below!
There was no sitting outside at the Tillies either but a big circle of us enjoyed a grand natter and I consumed Guinness in the hope it might boost my iron levels and fight off this awful tiredness….
AW
Harrock Hill series – 1 – 23 May 2012 – Inaugural outing of the Bowland vest size Medium Wms filled by Ruth Turner
Now whilst I appreciate that to the more experienced amongst the Bowland runners, Harrock Hill fell race is a mere bump, 8.4km and 275m of climb, it’s a good little race, and at £10 for a series of 4 with boxes of fruit/vegetables as prizes (not that I’m likely to ever win one ) it’s well worth a trip.
So the evening approached and I arranged to go from work and meet up with the boys, husband Shaun, Richard D and Ian France. I received encouraging texts from Pam and Gill for the first outing of the vest and also from my Wesham buddy Sue Jones, who advised Blackpool was so murky you couldn’t see the sea from the prom. On arriving in the car park I parked next to Sarah Sharratt, a quick conversation about the orange and green top, Sarah was most disappointed to arrive and discover she had left hers at home, I briefly thought about offering her mine but didn’t think my medium size frame would fit into her sylph like t-shirt if we swapped, then we both registered for the series. Leaving the pub I bumped into the boys as they arrived to register. On my way back to the pub to quality check the facilities (again – nerves!) Shaun and I met up with Mark Midgley and son who had cycled over from Clifton, Preston to support Sarah.
Shaun and I jogged to the start and even did a little warm up run up the hill, Shaun suggested we go a little further, I decided if I went any further that would be me finished and jogged slowly back to the start line. I opted for a back row position as in my experience there is nothing more demoralising than being passed by the entire field! Harrock Hill starts with a run up and the first part took me about 7 minutes, I looked to the left for a quick check on the view but all that could be seen was the mist rolling in, then down past the car park and the next little up, a wiggle about then along the side of the road to the first stile where there was a queue to cross, Shaun who was 6 ahead of me shouted encouragement and must have mentally thought “what’s she doing so close to me” which spurred him on as the next time I saw him he was running back to encourage me through the finish!!
Just over the second stile lying on the grass was a Wigan Harrier who had slipped and become impaled on the barbed wire (he was still attached to it as Richard D passed him), being attended to by a team mate and a unattached running doctor (who got a box of veg for his good Samaritan act) Across the fields I ran tucked in behind V70 Bowlander Mike McDonald, feeling rather good that I was so near to him as despite the 20 year or so age gap he is always ahead of me in races. I then had a talk to myself, decided it was time to overtake him, and did so with an apology and a remark that I am sure he would soon “get me back”. On entering a further field there was quite a herd of cattle looking a bit agitated but thankfully they moved off bellowing in the opposite direction. Over another stile, down a track, along a road section and back up for another climb, then into the next field where due to a combination of greasy contact lenses, myopia and murky evening light I mistook the ear tag on a cow’s ear as a budding horn and concluded it was a black and white bull, Friesian and potentially aggressive. It seemed to be weighing up whether to charge at me so I mentally risk assessed an exit plan and went for a sprint to the stile. (Richard D later advised me it was a female Belted Galloway and had leapt from one field to another to view the runners, and had indeed charged at one poor bloke) The animal obviously decided I was a moving traffic light (think about it – red face, vest) and no threat and I made it to the stile. I was clearing the next field when Mike caught up with me, as predicted, and we ran together again for a while, through a wooded section lined with bluebells; then a bumpy track along the side of a copse, reaching the next field I nipped past him again, hit the track through the farm, down and along to the road, to be greeted by Shaun encouraging me through to the finish. I waited at the end of the funnel for Mike, we shook hands, I told him how happy I was to finish before him, and he reminded me of the age difference. Thanks Mike!! Shaun and I walked back towards the pub to meet Richard and Ian, fully clothed, coming back to encourage me in; we quickly got changed and formed a group with Mr Midgley Snr and Jnr and Sarah to await the results. Shaun was still overcome with me being 6 behind him at one point, went to the bar, I asked him for a pint of orange and soda and received a half of blackcurrant and soda and a bag of Bobby’s nuts, sweet chilli flavour and apparently I’m the one who never listens!!!!
Sarah finished first Lady 40 and received a box of veg; the only glitch was the database still registering her with her previous road race club, which was soon corrected. Well done Sarah!
Post mortem in the Turner car on the way home, made us both think we could do better next time so it’s up to us now.
Harrock Hill is a really enjoyable little race, good pub, real ale, great friendly atmosphere and for some people the opportunity to win a box of veggies. (I can but dream!!) Next dates are 27th June, 25 July and 22 August – see FRA website for more details.
Bowland Results
Richard Davies M50 38.23
Sarah Sherratt L40 42.48 1st in Category
Ian France M45 43.27
Shaun Turner M45 53.04
Ruth Turner L50 61.26
Mike McDonald M70 61.48
SIPR 2012 – or “my kingdom for some oars” by Rich M
This years Scottish Islands Peaks Race was amazing! If you like your running in the most stunning scenery with a bit of sailing thrown in for good measure, then this is the one for you. 5 monohulls and their runners battled it out for 44 hours with all 5 teams running on Arran in the dark of Sunday morning before the final short sail to the finish line at Troon.
Dave Ward (Pennine) and I were the runners for the boat “Sea Fever” a luxurious beast chartered for the occasion by Simon Coppock and Ross Crook of Budworth Sailing Club. To be honest, my initial thoughts were that the boat was too heavy and big to be a serious competitor, but then I found out that it holds the record for the Jura to Arran leg! Arriving in Oban on Thursday night (along with Muir Morton and Adam Perry (Moby J) and Rees Finlay-Robinson and Will Spain (Clockwork) all stuffed into a Peugeot 206) the indicators were good when Ross was wanting to empty the water tanks to reduce weight and offload two of the three anchors on board – he was here to compete!! The skippers were talking about a very close race this year between Sea Fever, Dorothea (Robbie Simpson and Joe Symonds running), Clockwork (Rees and Will), Moby J (Mur and Adam) and Bequia (Stuart Malcolm and Alex Monroe – two hardy scots!) and how right they were.
Friday at Noon saw us heading off for the Oban short run before the mad row out to the awaiting yachts all vying for position near the start line. We all watched Joe and Robbie disappear into the distance whilst the rest of us settled in, conscious of the 24 miler on Mull later that day.
We all got away cleanly from the harbour and with a good NE wind whizzed up the Sound of Mull with the wind on the beam. We were screaming along at over 9 knots when the trimaran who won the overall race, Obedient, came zipping by doing at least 15 or 16 knots!
Sea Fever held her own in the race up to Mull and overtook Dorothea but Clockwork, Moby J and Bequia were faster so with us only minutes between us the Mull run was going to be crucial. It has a nasty 6 mile run on road to begin and end with, a few miles on track round the loch and then the big shlep up and down Ben More. Dave and I were settled into a strong pace at 7 minute miles when Robbie and Joe came blasting past on their way to setting a new record for the leg (beating Jebbie’s by over 14 minutes! – 3h 12min) and promoting Dorothea from 5th in class to 1st. We steadily overtook Muir and Adam, then Rees and an unhappy Will but Bequia maintained their 2 minutes or so advantage to the summit. A perfectly clear evening on top of a scottish mountain with all the islands around is always an incredible sight, but no time for piccies as we tried to excape the following teams with a crafty line … it worked, and we caught up Bequia and left Moby J pondering the best route! The run round the side of Ben More took us through lots of plane wreckage (must look that one up) and the Bequia boys knew the ground well so we hung onto them, but they were tough laddies and pulled away on the steep descent back into the glen. Dave and I stopped on the track to put on trainers, ready for the road section but spotting Moby J close behind, had to make a dash for it. “The road is long…” was playing in my head all the way back to Salen but we ran strongly (4h 11), even taking some time out of the scots infront. So for the monohulls it was to be Dorothea, Bequia, Sea Fever, Moby J, Clockwork in that order as we left Mull, stuffed pasta down our necks and crashed out in the bunks
Our sailors worked hard through the night to navigate unfamiliar waters, strong tides and several hazards all in the dark. Dave and I tried to sleep through the crashing and banging but at 4am we were out in the dingy, rowing furiously towards Craighouse. Bequia and Dorothea were still ahead and we had all been overtaken by Clockwork so now in 4th. It was a superb morning with red skies and clear paps on the island - magical!! The Jura leg covers the middle 3 paps and with some route choice out, Dave led off through the graveyard in an effort to catch Bequia who were about 10 minutes ahead. Spying them off to the right, our direct line to the first pap saw us nip infront and by the time they spotted us we were well away! Following the usual Jura route was fantastic, and we were even joined for a bit by Grant (the only islander to run the race currently … “I was out at a wee house party ’til 2 and thought I’d come and see how youse were getting on”). The legs felt tired going up the final pap – about 40 miles into the race -and the bog from hell back to 3 arches bridge was a bit of a trial but once on the road, we had our sights set on under 4 hours and came in at 3h 59m so well pleased! No whisky glass for this one though but kept ahead of Penine rivals Moby J. By 8:15 we were under sail again off south, around the Mull of Kintyre and it looking like a night run on Arran.
This was to be the longest leg of the race and with strong tides around Kintyre, tactics were needed. With the spinnaker up in the strong initial winds Sea Fever raced along and Dorothea and Bequia were caught in a couple of hours, but as the winds dropped, our heavier boat started to slip back and we could see Clockwork and Moby J (behind) heading off east towards the coastline – a cunning tactic which would put them in slack waters where they could use their oars better. With no oars, we had to take our chances further out but as the wind dropped to virtually nought, and with the tide against us, we struggled to make any ground and soon watched Clockwork rowing away around the point and off for a clear lead- gutted! Dorothea and Bequia were in the same situation as us – heavier – and as we limped to the point, Dorothea got too close to the cliffs and stopped dead for about 20 minutes. When the winds picked up again, as we rounded the point, Bequia got them first and surged ahead, with Sea Fever next, thenDorothea and Moby J behind. The lighter boats continued to make ground and it was just after midnight on a starry night when we arrived in Lamlash bay, about 30 minutes behind Clockwork, 15 minutes behind Bequia, 10 behind Moby J and 15 infront of Dorothea – the race was on!!
Some cunning “in town” navigation by Wardy again helped us and as we popped out of the golf course at Brodick, we met Moby J coming in the opposite direction so all set off together up Goat Fell … 870m from sea level. We could see Bequia (going up) and Clockwork (coming down) by their torches but knew that Dorothea would soon overtake us and lo … here they come … and they’re running!! It takes strength to still be running up hills like that after the previous 36 hours so hats off to Symonds and Simpson. We met Bequia about 100m below the top, so we were back in 4th position but I was struggling by now with an infected big toe so the descent down the path off Goat Fell was pure grimness. With Moby J now not far behind, Dave urged me on so they couldn’t follow our golf course route and when we hit the flat section it was torches off. Back through Brodick and over to Lamlash, we could see Bequia infront but had no strength to make up the ground but were pleased with having overtaken Moby J once more. A swift row and it was all over for us as we collapsed onto the deck for the short trip to Troon.
Unfortunately, there was virtually no wind in Lamlash bay and we could see Dorothea and Bequia struggling to go anywhere. Clockwork had again employed the oars and then Muir and Adam arrived back to Moby J and they too started rowing out of the bay … foiled again!! When we finally made it into some wind Clockwork was long gone, Bequia and Moby J were close, and Dorothea had opted to go for a more southerly route. The sailing now was into the wind so all teams were tacking furiously and it became a race for second between Bequia and Moby J. Dorothea’s route choice did not pay off and all we could do was watch as the two infront were battling only minutes apart after 44 hours … fantastic to watch!
In the end it was Clockwork, Bequia, Moby J, Sea Fever then Dorothea – almost the opposite ranking to the total running times I think but just goes to show you that a few minutes on land are worth nothing when you get out to sea. It was a magical weekend and a thrilling race to be in – the full results will be out when all the boats finish, which will probably be sometime tomorrow!
Old County Tops and Dungeon Ghyll – May 19th
With two brilliant races – both classics of their kind – at the same venue, I thought this weekend would be a classic opportunity for a “FaB” (Fell and Beer) get together, especially since we usually have a few people doing the Old County Tops. The fact that the OCTs is far too long for most people shouldn’t be a problem as there is loads of scope for supporting/watching and the Dungeon Ghyll race provides an opportunity to compete in what has been called a “proper” fell race… In the event, not many saw the appeal of the weekend and (I think) only four of us actually camped.
We had 7 competitors taking part in the County Tops (37miles/10,000ft) and just one (me) tackling the Dungeon Ghyll race – a lung-bursting 3.5miles/2100ft. Hopefully, someone will write up the story of the OCT as it’s a big adventure and I really enjoyed hearing some of the Bowland runners’ tales after the race and in the pub later!
As for my short sharp little race, the less said the better… No, not really. The race is a true AS classic and next year I will return and hopefully do it justice.
Gill and I drove up on Friday night and parked the van in the New Dungeon Ghyll car park. We nipped into the Sticklebarn for a ”a pint” which turned into 4, which was very enjoyable but perhaps not ideal preparation. Well, never mind, the race only starts at 12:30 – plenty of time to recover.
In the morning, we were awakened by the arrival of various walkers and Old County Toppers, who were preparing for an 8:00am start (groan) and we then had a leisurely morning breakfasting and spying out the lower bit of the Dungeon Ghyll course. The weather was improving to bright and dry after overnight rain and the rocky paths were drying up quite nicely. I felt rather listless and “yawny” but thought nothing of it as I’ve been running a bit better of late. I went to the event field and registered, having a chat with the organiser Bill Mitton, who’s an old compadre of mine (we first met at Ennerdale in about 1987).
Kit on, and we lined up outside the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel for the start. Another old friend of mine , Colin Jones of Horwich was there, along with Colin Valentine, also a mate (and hero) of mine. Colin V was looking incredibly lean and is obviously seriously fit at the moment. Bill counted us down and off we went, at a mad pace, straight onto the climb. It was obvious very quickly that I was not up to this game today and I spent the whole climb watching the majority of the field just romping away from me. On the upper part, Jane S of Tod Harriers and a bloke in full waterproofs (!) overtook me, leaving only a very small group behind. Luckily, they were some way behind so I had a bit of breathing space as I laboured upwards. Reaching the summit in 42 minutes (my PB for the whole of the old up and down race was 48!!) I staggered off towards Stickle Tarn and the new CP3 below the crags. The path takes a long loop here and I dropped down the steep grass instead, overtaking ‘waterproof man’ in the process. Rejoining the path lower down, I bumbled reasonably well down to the CP then embarked on a traversing line across to CP4, which is back on the outward route. Whenever opportunity allowed I was scanning ahead looking for Jane S’s white vest. I know she’s not a great descender and still thought I could catch her. However, my line across the fell seemed messy, with far more up and down than it should have had (much reccying still needed). When I reached the checkpoint I said to the marshall “not sure that was the best line”, to which he replied “no, it wasn’t” !
Waterproof man was no longer a threat to me, and I never spotted Jane S again so simply completed the descent at a decent but not exactly flying pace. It was a far cry from the time I’d battled with, and got the better of, John Hope (Rob and Danny’s dad!) down here quite a few years ago.
I trotted into the finish completely on my own in about 1:03, which was disappointing. I suppose it was just one of those days. There were not many people behind me…
After resting and changing into fresh kit, Gill and I set off to meet the runners finishing the OCT. We chatted with Colin V near the finish. 7 hours had already ticked past and the leaders still hadn’t arrived, so Colin’s record of 6:25 (set with Dave Nuttall) was obviously not under threat and he seemed suitably pleased that it has survived (easily) for another year. We headed off past Side House Farm and eventually met Scoffer and Rob Jebb descending. Unbeknown to us, two teams were ahead of them but must have gone a different way on this final section. We went up to the top of the Blea Tarn road, passing only two or three teams en route and we stood there and gave encouragement to teams passing through. Leigh W and Alan M came through presently, with Huw P and Sarah M very close behind them – all looking strong (‘Huw and Moo’ would subsequently overtake Leigh and Alan before the finish). We had wanted to wait for other Bowlanders but the gaps between runners at this stage of such a long event are huge and it got quite chilly so we eventually headed off back to the finish. We did manage to give a shout to Alan L and Bill W as they trotted in, looking very comfortable, but we went to grab a cup of tea and missed Yiannis and Ian C. Apologies chaps.
Later, after lodging the van on the Baysbrown campsite, we were joined in the Wainwright Inn by Alan L and Bill W (the only other campers) and we had a good natter about our contrasting days before Gill and I headed off back to eat and sleep!
Sunday dawned glorious and we took the opportunity to have a walk up into Oxendale before eating lunch outside the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel then heading off home. A very satisfying weekend, despite my frankly rubbish performance….
AW
Fell Foot May 16th
A lovely evening brought out a mass of runners at Fell Foot last night. There were people all over the fell doing various things so it’s not really possible for me to report on everyone’s doings..
As far as challenge times go, I had a few reported to me (apologies if I’ve mis-remembered any of them); A trio comprising Graham L, Dan C and Graham T had a brisk run round the full FFTT, all returning within a few seconds of each other in just over 64 minutes. This is a good time, but Graham L still holds the fastest so far this season (61 mins), from a previous run.
Continuing with his regular runs round the Saddle Circle, Lee D chipped off another half a minute or so to record a 46.44. He was helped to some extent by having Colin W pursuing him all the way round, or maybe it was Colin benefitting from the ‘tow’ of having Lee up ahead to chase…? Whatever, Colin clocked a very good sub 50 time (49.34). I think I’ll need to have another go at this one, just to get into the Foxhound category and get a bit closer to the 50 minute mark.
As I was about to write this, Phil Martin contacted me to report also doing a Saddle Circle earlier in the day, knocking a whopping 4 minutes off his previous time to record 64.23 – excellent progress.
Before setting off on my run, I spotted a small figure progressing up the Vertical Furlong and I expected a time to be reported but as yet no one has said anything so maybe the figure was just reccying the line…
No other Fell Foot challenge times have been reported but Mike G reported a Pendle challenge from Tuesday night. Travelling clockwise round the ‘Short-Medium’ (challenge number 2) Mike succeeded in his aim of breaking the 50 minute barrier, recording 49.33. This is actually the fastest so far, sneaking under Declan’s previous mark by 13 seconds!
I set off from Fell Foot just after 6:40 with no fixed idea of what I was doing or where I was going. I initially tracked Colin and Lee as they climbed together to Blindhurst Saddle and I then spotted a group setting off from Blindhurst fell gate, obviously reccying the traverse line to the wall corner in the LFFTT. ‘That’ll do for me’ I thought and set off following them across. I took a lower line (more or less level with the wall corner all the way) while they went higher but when I caught them up at the wall, we all thought our lines had been rubbish… Over the fence and we set off on the diagonal climb towards Paddy’s. Declan and I initially stayed low then struck upwards later on, whilst Clive, Mike G and Andy F took an immediate climb then veered left higher up. Their line proved better and Declan and I lost ground as we hit the zig-zag path too low down and had more rough fell to climb.
Others were arriving on top by the main path when we got there and, after a little chat with Ian F, Gill and Ruth, I set off again in pursuit of the others, who were now heading for the next LFFTT checkpoint on the watershed. I caught up again near Nick’s Chair and then, feeling good, separated from them at Blindhurst fell gate to descend to Claggy’s Corner and make the big climb back over Parlick. Halfway up this killing climb I did wonder why….
Anyway, a good outing on a perfect running evening, followed by the usual social get-together in the Tillies.
Updated speed leagues have been sent to The Bowland Massive by email, as usual.
AW
