Wasdale Fell Race

British Championship Race no.5

21 miles / 9000ft

Scorching heat combined with the toughest race on the Lakes calendar meant that only 133 of the 250 entries completed the course.

My plan was to start slow and work through the field later on. Part of this plan worked. I did start slow. But after Pillar I just got slower and slower. By Beck Head I felt really quite unwell, and couldn't really imagine how I'd get over Great Gable and Scafell Pike. The descent from Great Gable was slow, wobbly and uncoordinated. Alan Miller passed me just before Sty Head. I tried to track him on the way up to Esk Hause, whilst being closed down myself by Jane Meeks. I stuck with Jane almost to Scafell Pike, but I was dying again on the final climb from Broad Crag col, so I let her take off. Alan had got a second wind and long since disappeared. My plan for a sub-5 hours was long since out the window. My watch bleeped the 5 hours just as I reached the summit of Scafell Pike. The first section of descent from the summit is horrendous awkward rocks and scree, but eventually you get onto some decent runnable grass, which gets steeper and steeper as you move down the Lingmell Nose, and suddenly the finish is in sight tucked in at the head of Wast Water. Trying to keep some sort of tempo up to at least get under 5½ hours. At last into the final 200 metres of riverside track and cutting into the finishing field. The time 5:29:04. 83rd of 133. Collapsed in the shade and promptly threw up the sugary sticky contents of my stomach.

Now for the best part of the day, a leisurely sit down in the river to cool the frazzled body.

At the sharp end, the first men were: 1) Simon Booth, 2) Nick Sharp, 4) Jethro Lennox, 4) Phil Davies, and the leading ladies were 1) Sally Newman, 2) Jill Mykura, 3) Sharon Taylor, 4) Jackie Lee

Map at CFRA website

Posted by Chris Upson on Sun 10 Jul 2005 | 1 comment

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