Ennerdale Horseshoe
Posted in RunningA cool yet clear day greeted the 133 runners at Ennerdale Bridge, the start of the 23 mile 7500ft Ennerdale Horseshoe race. This being the second of the Lakeland Classics series and also the second of the superlong fell races. These being called superlong not for the distance inparticular but the mix of distance and height make these feel a very long way indeed. I think it is safe to say you can add at least 90 minutes onto your marathon time if you are running well.
The route goes clockwise around Ennerdale Water, going past High Stile and Haystacks along to Green Gable before retuning down the other side of the valley via Kirkfell, Pillar, Scoat fell then back via a few more tops to Ennerdale Bridge. Classed as a 3 days walk. The aim was for sub 5 hours.
I set off a lot slower than Duddon and tucked in behind a few people I recognise as passing me late on at 3 peaks and Duddon therefore I know I should be round there. The first ascent spread the field out before the
first checkpoint and then It was a lot of contouring round the summits of the next hills. I managed to pick a few good lines and find the feigntest of sheep trods that kept me out of some of the rough stuff. My
new orthotic playing its part in ensuring my ankle was feeling good depite the extra pressure. The people I was initially with were now long gone somewhere behind me but I was happy at the speed I was running and
feeling good. Constantly telling myself that there is a long, long way to go.
Soon the terrain got a lot rougher. Lots of rocks and boulder fields to negotiate, whilst contouring. One slip and you could say goodbye to your chances of finishing and potentially do some nasty damage to your
ankles. I was running in a small group of people at this point. Overtaking on the uphills to lead only to realise I didn’t know the best route so slowing down again as others picked out some great lines
through the worst of it all. Coming down Green Gable reminded me about the fragility of my ankles as large rocks bounced off the as I descended before the ascent of Kirkfell.
Coming off Kirkfell there is two options. Once the walkers path and the second is a gully just to the right of it. After a bit of a warning from Joss Naylor at the start of the race I chose the Walkers path. This being called a path is a bit of a joke as it is a tricky downclimb as I lowered myself to the bottom, whilst seeing loads of competitors I passed about an hour ago just starting to tackle the gully I should have taken. The group I was running with managed this part of the course a lot better than me and they were off into the distance leaving me with a bit of route choice and catching up to do, so necking gel, jelly babies and a bit of stagnent tarn water off I went in hot pursuit. Managing to catch up with them just before pillar. Faced again with a rocky descent I finally lost my guides but it was all clear running from there for the next 90 minutes back to the end. Finally lost two places on the final descent due to not risking ankles at the last section but gained another from someone who had blown up with the end in sight.
All in all a great route and a great run. Really enjoyed it but will recce it before next year as there is some great little contouring lines that save a fair bit of time. Roll on Wasdale!
Full results here
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