Borrowdale Fell Race 2014 The forecast is for wet and windy conditions with low cloud. Or as Andy Gibbons points out on the way up it actually says â in cloud visibility will be poor but when it clears visibility will improve! Not rocket science this weather forecasting it seems. Driving up I get a text on the way to the race with my father in laws best time, Iâm usually not too far away from these but mostly on the wrong side, for me anyway! At the start Andy and I look around for the other Bingley Harriers and find him, Andy Jebb is in good spirits having driven up the day before. The race organiser tells us to be respectful of walkers although he doesnât think there will be many of them about given the forecast, a rueful laugh runs through the crowd of runners. We set off and almost immediately walk through a narrowing path on the approach to the first climb up Bessy Boot. I donât know this area and chat to a few runners, one of which suddenly says âbetter run this bit through the fell gate, Billy Bland will be waiting thereâ and sure enough he is.The climb up is steep and the conditions gradually worsen causing me to roll my arm warmers up and put on my waterproof against the stinging rain in the wind. Visibility is minimal and I follow my own path, roughly the same as a guy I was talking to from Esk Valley who has done the race before 6 or 7 times. At one point the group ahead splits and each person seems to head off in a different direction! The Esk Valley runner goes the way I expected to so I carry on â On races like this it pays to have confidence in your own ability to navigate and I will get lost by my own hand not someone elses. It is somehow reassuring to note that this years winner, Ricky Lightfoot, ran up Lingmell last year thinking it was Great Gable when coming off Sca Fell Pike, it pays to keep checking where you are! Approaching Esk Hause I realise that had I been able to see the fells to either side I would have had more idea of where I was â itâs amazing how different things look in the clag. Runners go past me for fun on the way up from Esk Hause but as soon as we hit the wet rock previously strong runners are suddenly tiptoeing over the rocks like theyâre made of egg shells and donât want to break any. Thatâs good for me because I like it and skip past them grinning. Descending from Sca Fell Pike the scree run is fun, although I do fall a couple of times sitting back when it moves faster than I anticipate â I arrive at the bottom with another grin. Now I know I only have Great Gable and Dalehead to go. Great Gable is one of my favourite summits but it really is a slog â at the bottom a man gives me some jelly babies and they kick in. I contemplate my route off the top and decide to cut through the rocks as I canât bear the thought of going back to go along and this seems to pay off as I cut the corner on a couple of people who passed me on the way up. Running to Honister I stick to my trusted BG route and get overtaken again but I am happy enough â when tired I stick to what I know. Going up Dalehead I think about which line I am going to take off it â straight down or back right and run around. The cairn at Dalehead is one of the best in the lake district and inexplicably I go left following two runners ahead down the path the wrong way. I realise my error after about 30 feet of path and cut right across the descent and find a way down to the path around the tarn. On the way down I see the helicopter that was on the way to rescue a fellow runner who has had a bad fall coming off Sca Fell Pike, I understand he is stable in hospital and recovering. A reminder that anything can happen when you are out for a run and a real show of community as runners, marshals and photographers alike waited and helped while Mountain Rescue were called and arrived to take charge. I have been trying to work out if I am going to beat Michael Watsons time for the last hour and a half and I reckon it will be close. Coming down to the finish my head and legs stop talking to each other and I feel a bit like Alistair Brownlee looked at the end of the triathlon when he wobbled over the line. I âeatâ my emergency tomato sauce sachet to head off cramp and it doesnât taste as bad as I imagine it would! Crossing the line I stop my watch at 4 hours 37 â beating my target time by 7 minutes on a wet, wild and windy day. Andy Gibbons is already finished and changed waiting for me, not satisfied with his time of 4 hours. I gather myself and eat my own body weight in cheese sandwiches and see that Andy Jebb has long since finished as well with a storming run for 9th. All in all a great day out. Thank you to all the runners, marshals, volunteers, race organisers and Mountain Rescue â see you next year !
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 16:06:02 +0000
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