Lake District Mountain Trial

Wow, what a great event!
I've wanted to do this for a long time, but am often away around this time, which has made it a perpetually missed fixture. As our holidays are all a bit different this year, I put it in the diary early. Wasn't sure about how well it would go given that I don't know Kentmere that well - a lot depended on the weather on the day. Last time I ran in this area is was covered in snow!! I knew I'd have no trouble if I could use the bridleways as these I do know from riding around the area, but somehow I knew that wouldn't help!!

It was an early start as we'd decided not to go over in the van the day before. I felt really nervous but the nerves calmed down the nearer we got the valley. Parking was in a field right up in the village. I got registered early despite my start time being a fairly late one, and slowly got ready. I managed a reasonable warm-up and hung around watching the earlier runners head off. P was taking advantage of the parking to go bouldering up Garburn Pass, although he got waylaid drinking tea with friends for most of the morning as far as I could work out!!

The weather was perfect for an easy days navigation. There were some showers around but they stayed away from us, and the clouds stayed well above the summits. I started at 9:35 and it was a 2 km run across the valley to pick up the maps. I ran fairly fast across the valley, and managed to spot a long line of runners heading up and away out the valley - that'll be the way to go then, picked up our maps at the bottom of the Sadgill track, a quick glance of the map for the first checkpoint to confirm that I was going where I could see everyone heading and off I went.

Passed a few friends on the first climb and settled into a good pace up and over the ridge between Shipman Knotts and Kentmere Pike to the first checkpoint near Steel Rigg. I'm not a precise navigator especially when its clear good visibility and tend to do a lot of it by feel. The first checkpoint was on a stream and was easily dropped onto - especially with other people around, and a dog presumably with the people at the checkpoint running around madly!

After another quick check of the map, it was up Wren Gill and over the east ridge of Harter Fell to drop down to Small Water outflow. The running here was a little tussocky, and I made a slight error in keeping to the left of where I wanted to go, but I'm not sure it made much difference, soon I crested the ridge and dropped down steeply to the tarn and the second checkpoint. I had initially decided to go via the outflow of Blea Tarn and up onto the High Street ridge that way, but at the last minute I  changed this and headed up Plot Crag to Mardale Ill Bell to take advantage of the easy running over High Street. I had passed several ladies by this point who I assumed were doing the womens' course and not the short, which was encouraging, it can be hard to keep the tempo up when its not clear who you are racing or how you are doing!

the climb up onto Ill Bell was fine a bit scrambly which I like, and soon I was trotting along towards and past High Street trig point. Last time I was here the trig point was only 2 inches above the snow! I ran on towards the Knott, being caught by Jackie Winn from Ellenborough who'd been with me at the last checkpoint and had gone the way I had original planned - so good choice then! I skirted around the summit of the Knott and dropped down on a mixed line to the 3rd check on the outflow from Hayeswater. I couldn't face the straight climb up Grey Crag to gain the height and decided to take the long route via the paths to get to 4. This was partly as I had mis-judged my food and water again and so needed easy terrain to catch up! So I avoided the climb up the side of Hartsop Dodd too and headed to Thresthwaite Mouth, and up onto Stoney Cove Pike that way to 4.

I suffered a little bit after this on the climb back up and over Stoney Cove Pike, down to Thresthwaite Mouth and up over Thorntwaite Crag. I had come this way in the snow back last winter and knew the route, was prepared for it to hurt and so got my head down and got on with it. It was again the long way round and with hindsight the route down and across to 5 may have been quicker but at the time it didn't jump out at me and I plumbed for the ridge route. I tried to keep a really high tempo going along the ridge, past Froswick, Ill Bell and Yoke but it was more of a shuffle until I got 10 jelly babies down me at Yoke and things picked up greatly!!

5 turned out to be an easy checkpoint to find on the ground and it was soon a fast slippy descent down to the Garburn Pass track, last checkpoint and the finish. I pushed it all the way, enjoying the run down into the village despite the tarmac! It was a bit nerve wracking as I reaslied that I had done well, but it took a while to realise that I had won the womens!! Really happy. The trophy is the Ted Dance trophy, a very distinguished gentleman of the hills, who was one of the first members of the Rucksack Club that I met, and someone who has inspired me for many years. It means an awful lot to have my name on that trophy!