Middle Pack

It was a cold Monday evening with a promise of night time temps hitting -5. First day back at work after the Christmas break and my foot hurt from Ovenden Fell race from the weekend, but that wasn’t going to stop me racing.

This being the only Owl event that I actually knew the route I wasn’t going to miss that. Also the only event with a bit of route choice in it.

I took the tactical decision to wear trail shoes as the ground was like concrete and I thought the additional traction and cushioning would make the race more enjoyable. As I was injured I was really only going for a good run and not to be competitive. The route being just shy of 4 miles with 500 feet of ascent and taking in some of the Ilkley Moor Landmarks. Starting at Millenium Gardens and going via the Calf, Badger Stone and White Wells before descending back to Millenium Gardens.

Even at the start people ran off in different directions across all the little paths across the moor. Finding Badger stone in the dark was a challenge for some as a leading pack took a slight diversion leaving me leading the way directly to the Badger Stone. A slippery descent to a road which was covered by black ice and then a direct line across the moor on little paths to White Wells split people up again as people tried to find the way. Getting to White Wells it turns out I was in 2nd place mainly due to good route choice keeping me in the race. The final descent dropped me into 3rd. Nice to see the Petzl wearers being 2 of the top 3 as opposed to the beams of light from Hope gaining their “running in daylight” advantage (only headtorch envy really).

Full results at the Wharfedale Harriers website

A great evening out and a good result despite not pushing it with my foot. These are great little events with a great atmosphere and a solid core of people coming every time for a gentle run in the dark. Thanks go out to Brett for this event and a massive thanks for the marshals and timekeepers on a cold night to be hanging around.

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Some fell races you are flying, hills are a breeze, the legs feel silkly smooth, the downhills are like lightening with no thought, no effort or concern about saftey. You are invincible as you skim across rough ground. This wasn’t one of those races!

Arriving at Ogden Water for the 14th Ovenden Fell Race, I was feeling quite good. My injured foot had been rested well since the Calderdale Relays 3 weeks previous. I had not done any running whatsoever in an aid to sort my foot out (and ensure I could stay drunk throughout Christmas). This I think was my undoing. Going up the first slight incline my legs felt like lead, my breathing laboured. I was just waiting for a bit of flat ground so that I could get some rythem and start pushing forward. Unfortunatly as soon as I hit the flat ground I realised it was going to be a slower race than I anticipated. The legs were still laboured. The ground was frozen as hard as concrete and I was struggling.

At this point I decided not to beat myself up about it and thought of various excuses to my already poor performace. I have settled on two excuses. First is lack of training due to injury, second is that it is better to get the shocking races over and done with early on in the year. Happy with these I settled in and tried to just enjoy it as a training run.

I do belive there were some points that I was enjoying it, unfortunatly these were all too late in the day. Maybe I am just suited to longer races where I can get settled in for the first 8 miles as opposed to the race being 8 miles?

Two worrying things came from this race (apart from the result) first was the foot was in agony the next morning and second was on the final descent I had real trouble catching breath. My chest felt tight and I had to slow down and take big deep breaths to control my breathing. This isn’t the first time this has happened so off to the docs with this one. Still no excuse as this was on the final descent to the finish.

All in all a cracking race, a good course but I felt like I could have done better. Final result 32nd out of 137 in a time of 66.33. Winning time 53.42 by Karl Gray of Calder Valley.

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And oh my god what a tour! I feel like I now know every little bit of the hill a lot more intimately that I did a couple of days ago.

The Tour of Pendle is the last A Long Fell race in the calendar. A race that squeezes in 17 miles into a hill that covers a square of land roughly 2.5 miles wide by 3 miles and has 4800ft of ascent is no mean feat.

I was looking forward to this race as it was my first proper fell race since Wasdale in July although I was running with a few niggles I was feeling strong and fresh on the Saturday morning. I even abstained from alcohol on the Friday night in anticipation.

The race starts off with just over a km on track before the first ascent (of six) up onto the tops. This followed by a great section along the wall on the top of Pendle as a route change from the usual race line to avoid further erosion. I was stuck between trying to hold back and to stay in sight of the people in front. Choosing to try to hold on to the people in front until CP 2. An up and down of the moor took us to CP 4 and the “Geronimo descent”. Managing that okay but being caught by people behind me as I run off up Ogden Clough.

The last half of the race is a series of up and down section. A real roller coaster section, with each descent and ascent feeling bigger and longer than the last. This happens right up to the last ascent of “Big End” Which is literally the big steep end of Pendle hill. A slog that gets the cramp twinging in many a person’s calves. A final tussocky run down to Ogden clough and the run back on the trail takes you back to the finish.

I understand why Tour of Pendle is called a classic as it really is a great race at a good time of year for fell running. A bit of clag, a stiff breeze and plenty of bogs and water aided my enjoyment of the race. Mud up to waist high, some killer descents and some real thigh burning ascents. Also loads or runnable ground. Maybe too much runnable ground as there is little respite in the race.

Time was 2 hrs 51 minutes and a respectable 21st place out of 201 starters. Happy with a sub 3 hours as that was my only goal coming into the race.

Full results

The first in the Dark and White Mini mountain marathons and I nearly missed it! I was shocked to see on the website on Saturday morning that entries had closed! The first time I had seen this, despite doing a fair few of their races. Good for the Dark and White crew, bad for me!

I did manage to scrounge and scam entry as some people were unable to attend so my favorite race was back on! Arriving in Castleton at 8.30am and the event area was already buzzing. There was a lot of hill fog shrouding the area and this I thought would play into my hands brilliantly (being slow but a decent navigator). So after looking at the event map and registering I was off. I did my customary glance at the map and set off in search of a nearby checkpoint.

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A cool clear day greeted the runners for the (in)famous Wasdale Fell Race.

The race started from Wasdale head, a secluded spot in the shadow of Great Gable and the Scafell Range next to Wast Water, Britains biggest mountain, next to Britains deepest lake. The race had around 145 competitors line up for the challenge. For those who know the lakes the route takes in Whin Rigg, Seatallen, contouring round Scoat fell and Black Crag and onto Pillar, descending into Black Sail Pass, contouring west round Kirkfell, up Great Gable, down to Styhead Pass, up to Esk Hause, final ascent up over Broad Crag and onto Scafell Pike, before the final killer 3000ft descent back down to Wasdale. (more…)