Steffen said...

I can concur that borrowdale was a top F****** weekend, although far to hot for this kind of thing. In general, the times were down due to the heat and I'm told the entry was down as there was a british championship elsewhere. Not-withstanding that, chris, John, Crispin, keith, and Steffen all ran well particularly given the heat and could easily take a good 15mins + off their times on a cooler day ... We picked up quite a few comments from people who were interested in the black & yellow W vested contingent ... some comments were even polite (unlike those reserved for Pete Bland's Walsh extreme).

For those of you who know Steve Burkinshaw ... he had a good run to finish 5th at Borrowdale, and followed that up by inning the Keilder Borderer race the next day (another 17 miles slog).

As for my good self ... It was just too hot, and after some bastid tried to break my leg by hurling a bloody great boulder down on us, i just went downhill rapido style ....I think this could be the start of a few more forays south of the border ...

Check the borra-dale webbie for pics (spot Tarzan ) and results ..

Well done Chris for leading the Westies bunch through the finishing line. This was an excellent attendance for the Westies, beating every other Scottish club! All in all a cracking weekend away for all of us. Only one crux - the weather was too good and certainly the opposite of the forecast. I'd never thought I'd ever say that, especially after the miserable summer we had so far. Temperatures were around 24-25 degrees in the shade and a little more in the sun, which stayed out virtually the whole time. However, during the first half of the race that didn't seem to bother me too much, as I was battling with a group of Cambridge Harriers at the back of the field. I was hoping that by taking it easier at that stage I would manage to keep that pace up for the entire race. Beyond Esk House I even stopped for a minute to take in some food. However, after coming down the Scafell Pike scree at a reasonable pace I begun to feel the heat (and sick too). Thanks to Liz's and Gerie's presence I received a welcome refill of my water supply. Heading up Great Gable then turned into a real slog - the sun now becoming increasingly irritating. With it my language turned foul. Coming off Green Gable I tagged on to a bunch, that seriously looked lost. However, when Dick Wall got his map and compass out we somewhat got the directions sorted out. Suddenly and to my surprise the event turned into a race against the cut-off time at Honister. Getting there just in time (4:31) I had only Dale Head to conquer. 400 m seemed a small hill compared to what was behind me. Not so! Relentless was the word that sprang to mind, with, still, no escape from the sun. I was pretty much just dragging myself along. Happy to have reached the finish line I collapsed, feeling horribly sick by now. But I was happy to have made it through, not last and with 40 or so exiting early.

Will do it again next year!

Wednesday 30th November -0001 12.00am