Inov8 High Cup Nick Fell Race

I did a bit of race tourism and went to Cumbria to participate in the High Cup Nick Fell Race on February 25th.
High Cup Nick is close to my heart. If you have been there you might feel similar. If you have never been, I’d recommend you make the trip at some point. It is a very cool place!

…the view from the top towards Appleby…

I spent the last year building up confidence, so the scary term “fell race” or “hill race” is no longer simultaneous with “I cannot do this! I am not good enough!” Nevertheless, I looked at the race results from previous years to check what the slowest finishing times were – an accurate guide for what my own time will be – and it looked like 2.5 hours was a healthy estimate. 150 minutes for a little over 9 miles and a climb up to about 600m. That should be possible!

I travelled down to Cumbria on Friday night and stayed in the Pennine Hotel in Kirkby Stephen, about 30 min away from Dufton. Technically I think you could drive to Dufton on the day and come straight back afterwards, but personally I think sitting in a car for 6 hours+ would significantly diminish quality of life. I’d recommend you make a weekend out of it, either staying in the North Pennines AONB or hopping over to the Lakes afterwards.

The race started at midday from the village green in Dufton. The weather was kind for February, dry with good visibility but with a strong north-easterly wind. The route followed the Pennine Way at first but veered east after the tarmac section and stayed level along muddy fields directing runners to the bottom end of the valley.

It took me a little longer than expected to cover this stretch, but I finally rounded the last corner and got a view of the whole valley. It was the first time I got to see its perfect geometry from this perspective. However, after a short moment appreciating the view, it was time to get the head down and battle on against the bitter north-easterly gusts.

The track through the valley was energy zapping with the chilly headwind and boggy ground. Any attempt to get a bit of a trot on ended in misery, so I decided that I was better off to power hike that bit and not to worry about my time. A little higher in the valley we had to cross a small boulder field followed by the steep scramble to the top end of High Cup Nick under the watchful eyes of Mountain Rescue.

Here the route followed the Pennine Way back towards Dufton, a little undulating at first but soon turned into a very fun, runnable downhill. The last mile took us away from the road and over a few fields back to the village, which was more enjoyable than tarmac. The finish was set up on the village green and I got there after 2 hours and 12 minutes, very much pleased with that!

The village hall offered delicious soup and a selection of amazing cakes. The cake sale is to raise funds for the hall and being a faster runner definitely pays off as the table was pretty grazed by the time I got there.

Overall, I highly recommend this event. It is a brilliant route and stunning scenery. The race feels very inclusive with a friendly vibe and it is definitely achievable even for slower runners. The downside is obviously that it is quite a distance away from Glasgow. It is also not a race that would be easy to reach with public transport. You can get to Appleby on the train but getting from there to Dufton might be tricky.