Borrowdale 2006

This was my second ramble over the Borrowdale course but my first as a Westie ! When I arrived on the Friday evening the campsite was busy and had a good pre-race atmosphere. Woke up early next morning and stuck my head out the tent – the hills looked grey …very grey but it wasn’t raining and more importantly – nae midges.

Nipped back down the road to Keswick to pick up my cousin (how times had changed – he was in a rather nice hotel with wife and kids etc …) then returned to the race registration. Met JD outside the marquee and he confirmed that we were the sole Westie reps.

The start of Borrowdale is mad – too many runners for too little space but with 17 miles and the best part of 7000ft …who was in a rush. I lost my cousin somewhere on the climb to Bessyboot although after the race he commented how distinctive a “baldy heid and yellow vest wi a big W oan the back” was in the crowd. I met JD just before the summit he was going well. Keen to improve on last years time, I had noted some previous splits – a check of the watch on the first top showed I was 15 seconds quicker than the previous year. The route continued past Glaramara and although a little damp, seemed fairly quick – another time check revealed I wasn’t quick, in fact I was down two minutes. A big effort was put into the ascent towards Scafell Pike but this contrasted with the scene straight from Bambi on Ice. Everywhere you looked, runners were slipping and sliding about on the rocks with the occasional four lettered cry of frustration echoing through the mist. Nice surprise when heading over Scafell Pike – the watch showed I had got the lost time back and was even another couple of minutes up. The scree run down to the Corridor Route was a heap of fun. More of a controlled fall with arms waving about rather than a stylish descent …but a heap of fun anyway. The Bambi on Ice theme continued to be acted out with a good number of fallers until we reached Sty Head (where I found the cause of my arse being soaked – “top tip” close the water bottle before putting it back in the bumbag). The support here was great – loads of folks supplying everything from Lucozade (which I still think of as something you drink when you have a cold) to rather tasty flap jacks. The climb up Great Gable felt significantly easier than last year. On the descent towards Green Gable I joined a group of local lads and really enjoyed the run down to Honnister. Now three minutes up, I decided to grab a cup of water from the feed station to make sure I didn’t cramp like a lot of the folks were doing. I chugged it down in a couple of gulps only to spew it straight back up – not good. It took a while for the stomach to settle but in the end, I reckon more stayed down than came up (apologies if that is too much detail). Over the summit of Dale Head and the last long descent began – like last year, the last few km were murder – the crowd support at the river crossing made me smile and lifted spirits (funny how some kind words for a group of pretty girls can do more than any energy gel). Crossed in line in 4 hours 22 minutes exactly – well happy ! (about 5 minutes quicker than 2005). JD finished shortly after in 4 hours 33 minutes and 11 seconds.

The conditions can best be described as extremely humid. This was reflected in a winning time of just over 3 hours and what seemed an unusually high number of DNFs (58 runners from 390 starters). What did bug me was despite the mist / cloud / rain and general greyness – I got sunburnt!

Very sadly, I had to head back north to work a nightshift. It was a shame to miss what must rate as the best post race party complete with a steel band who are known to get fell runners to pogo to a selection of Boney M hits ! Next year …next year …

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