Category: 2017 reports

I took part in this race last year completed the short tour so this year I decided to take part in the Long Tour. The self-navigating route takes in 32 miles of the beautiful Peak District with ascent of around 7500ft.
I arrived at the start line in Bradwell and the inspirational Nicky Spinks was there taking part. I dint have the courage to ask for a selfie as she looked quite preoccupied so instead I sneaked a photo in and looked like a stalker! I also knew she would be sat at home with her feet up by the time I finished!
The route covers some beautiful parts of The Peaks such as Castleton, Edale, Hope, Ladybower Reservoir, Aston, Bamford, Stanage Edge to name a few. I met some familiar faces on the way round from previous races and also friendly new faces, so it was quite a socialble day.
I completed the race in 7hrs 44mins. The race is a bargain of £13 entry and has great support throughout both short and long routes. A must for exploring The Peaks.
Katie Hateley

A good contingent of striders made the trip to Llanberis for the Snowdonia Trail Marathon and Half-marathon on 23^rd July 2017.

The Marathon started at 9:00am, half an hour before the Half Marathon to spread the runners out a little. Leaving Llanberis, the route climbed out onto a bridleway before splitting off for a fast descent through grass and some marshy areas. Earlier runners had a little advantage of not queuing as long on stiles for as long as later runners. The route then carried on to a more technical rocky area through wooded areas next to a lake and camping areas. In places here, it was already a scramble (clamber up/down rocks), and this was a gentle insight to some of the ascent of the mountain. Later on runners had the pleasure of the nature reserves before a slab step climb up to Pen-y-Pass. This was the start of the real climbing and runners started looking more fatigued. Runners with hands on hips, stretching off and taking a breather was becoming more common. Luckily the last oasis of orange slices, water and snacks was at the car park to revitalise runners before the real climb began. For those who haven’t gone up Snowdon from Pen-y-Pass, it climbs up steeply with the odd flat technical section with a mixture of scrambling, rocky running and slabs to climb. Over exert here and you can lose speed on the descent due to cramps and massive fatigue. Once at the top, the fun begins if the quads can handle it. A cobbly quick-footed descent takes you down at a fair gradient parallel to the railway. Clive Kent and Katie Hateley used this section to their advantage to gain tens of places in the standings, with Katie finishing 6^th in the V40 category and 14^th lady overall. Once more a very steep quad burning descent on the road takes you into Llanberis for the eventual run into the field with high-fives to the waiting crowd and a super atmosphere. Clive and Katie were followed in by Mick Atton, Paul Geeson, John Houghton and a very happy Brian Walkling (complete with trademark double wave).

The half-marathon started 30 minutes after the marathon and climbed steadily out of Llanberis to the south, soon leaving the town on a good trail. After a nice muddy descent the routes split, with the half picking up the Snowdon Ranger path that climbs up the south side of the mountain, steeply in places, to reach the junction with the Llanberis path at about 6 miles. The clouds lifted just in time to get a view from the top, with stunning effect, before the delights of the downhill commenced. Once back in Llanberis, and within sight of the finish, the half-marathon has a sting in the tail – a flight of stairs to the top of the quarry in Padarn country park.

The climb is rewarded by great views of the town and lakes back across towards Snowdon and there are some slippery sections in the woods. The final run in is more straightforward and there was good support as we crossed the finish line and collected our t-shirts, medals and a welcome range of snacks and drinks. Luke Eggleston was first home in the half-marathon, finishing in 21^st place. He was followed by Mike Bryan, Louise Houghton, Dan Howley and Sarah Lawrence. Celia Bown, Kaye and Carl Mead and Jenny Kent all finished together. Matt White, coming back from injury, completed the first 10 miles. Simon Bottrill unfortunately fell on the descent and had to walk back in.

[Clive and Jenny]

Jenny Kent and Liz Heaton completed the Wansfell class in the Saunders for the first time this year, finishing at 1.30pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon after 11.5 hours of running/walking/scrambling around the Loweswater Fells over two days.
The start on Saturday morning was allocated a week before the event at 08:38am, meaning a 6am start from the Premier Inn in Cockermouth where they’d stayed the night before. After registration at assembly (a field with a marquee in it), there was a 50 minute walk to the start on the north shore of Ennerdale Water. The clouds had lifted from the summits by this point and it was looking like a lovely day. The first day involved finding 9 controls spread over a 10.9km course (straight line distance). No GPS devices were allowed, so armed with only a map, compass and disposable camera and carrying everything we needed for an overnight camp we set off for a big adventure.
After finding the first control on a knoll above the lake, there was a steep climb to the second, very satisfyingly located at the trig point of Great Borne (Herdus). We then followed the ridge to White Pike, before dropping down to another cairn and then through a bog to Gale Fell. It was rough going coming off there, with rocks, heather and bilberry bushes on a steep slope – the berries were tasty but really had to work hard to stay upright and felt like a very long leg by the time we got to the next control (well-hidden at the source of a stream). A steep downhill bracken slide involved more falling over than staying upright but we quickly got down to the path around Crummock Water and a nice spur overlooking the lake. The final leg of the day followed the path northwards into the woods and then along a fence to a gate, which was only 100m from the finish and our overnight camp – almost 7 hours after we started.
It was drizzling as we entered the woods, after staying dry and clear all day. We put our tent up quickly, after a bit of a fight in wet and windy conditions got the stove lit and tea and meals heated up, then changed into dry clothes and huddled in the tent for a couple of hours. About 7.30pm the sun came up and everyone emerged from their tents for a drink and chat, which was lovely.
We slept surprisingly well in the super-light sleeping bags on a thin layer of radiator insulation, only waking up cold once. The loud-hailer squealed at 6am and we put our wet running gear back on (pretty disgusting), went to the loo and collected the control descriptions for the day, then made tea and porridge. It started raining again so we got back into the tent to mark up the maps and look at route options and pack our bags (very cosy!). There was a flood of people heading to the start at about 7.50am, we took our time packing up and ended up starting at 08.30am.
A river crossing within 50m of the start meant that it didn’t really matter that nothing had dried out overnight! We had a relatively gentle climb up to Little Dodd to start, followed by loads of contouring (on sore feet) round the side of Blake Fell to the summit cairn of Carling Knott. Lots of skylarks here, including one that shot up from just in front of me. We dropped down to a re-entrant and then around the side of a valley and up to a cairn at the top of Sharp Knott. There was a good, if a little narrow and rocky, path on the side of a steep valley which led round towards the next control, after climbing a fence and descending steeply to a sheepfold in the valley – a lovely spot full of foxgloves. Although I was eating a cheese sandwich, after we climbed out of the valley I was running on empty and needed jelly babies and a cereal bar. I followed Liz for the next 20 minutes or so and then got some energy just in time for a steep climb through a forestry commission plantation up onto the summit of (some hill or other). I’ve never been happier to see a cairn as it was all downhill from here, with two more controls and then a run into the finish – we even managed a little sprint and were all smiles as we crossed the line after 4.75 hours.
After downloading, we enjoyed the prize-giving and then enjoyed the wonderful hot food, tea and cake supplied, sat in a field and basked in the satisfaction of getting back in one piece and still being great friends!

Day 1: 14.8km (straight line), 18.4km (running line), time 06:49:59 – ending in 59th place
Day 2: 10.9km (straight line), 13.1 km (running line), time 04:41:35 – ending in 58th place out of 71 starters
Thanks to Chris Heaton for the photos at the finish.
Jenny Kent