Tour de Helvellyn

Well another year almost done – decided an ultra on the shortest day was in order. The drive down from Glasgow with Stanley was emotional with high winds and surface water threatening every vehicle never mind the scary big high sided trucks. Thankfully, we arrived in Askham safe, if tired.

As I lay tucked up in the back of ma Berlingo van, got to thinking about the last year of running. Couple of good runs in March and April followed by a fairly horrific summer / autumn in terms of results (but still good fun). Knew that in terms of training, this year’s Tour de Helvellyn was going to hurt due to not enough miles but for some reason was up for a last good effort to end the year on a higher note.

Up early for porridge and coffee before registration and a race start sometime between 07:30 and 07:45 (being SI timed you can choose your own start time)

Stanley and myself had planned on running together until around the second control (about 10 miles) but quickly, I realised I wasn’t going to be able to keep up …or at least would be done in by the second control point. We said cheerio, exchanged good luck shouts and as Stanley disappeared into the blackness of Askham moor …I did the same but head first into a bog.

The descent from the cockpit stone circle was good as the dark turned into light and Ullswater appeared. First control at Martindale achieved and I went to compare this years split to last only to remember that I never noted when I started ! Wee tarmac section followed before the first real climb of the day up to Boredale Hause. Managed to make good time on the descent to the second control of the day at Side Farm. We were met with an upturned caravan and a burst river where even the swans looked to be wetter than they should be.

Another short tarmac section through Patterdale and Glenridding saw probably the worst of the weather with torrential rain. Hood up and a slow climb towards Sticks Pass. By the time I reached the summit, the rain was off and view superb. Another great descent down to the next control at Stannah Bridge before traversing the Helvellyn Screes  to the controls at Swirls Car Park at a wee footbridge (a control missed by a few). Noticed that Steve Birkinshaw was taking an alternative line up towards Grisedal Tarn so followed at a slightly slower pace. Met up with an old pal from a previous adventure and ran with Eddie for a while filling in gaps from almost a decade ago !

Feeling better than expected, I decided to try and make up some time on the route down to Patterdale. Last year, had to walk a lot of the track / road section but the legs were still moving in a wobble / run thing. Back at the Side Farm control, I stopped to eat and get some coffee down my next …maybe excessive but reckoned that with still 10 miles to go, fuelling would be good.

Starting the climb back to Boredale Hause, I felt crap. Cold with damp and sweat tipping off me, guts creating significant down draft and not happy. Realised it was just the body suggesting that enough was enough and as long as I didn’t spew, it would soon settle down again. By the summit all was well again. Made good time back to Martindale and realised that regardless of the exact start time, I was ahead of the previous year. With morale in great nick and only five miles left, decided to stick in an extra effort to get to the top of Askham moor whilst there was still light.

With no navigational worries, dropped down into the village happy as anything and crossed the line in 8:30:45 – 26 minutes quicker than last year.

Reviewing the SI timing splits against last years, I was surprised to read that all the time improvements had been gained in the second half of the course …go figure.

Stanley had an awesome run to finish in 7:37:56.

Some other stats …

• Winner was a fella called Edward Catmur in an incredible 5:48:17

Slowest finish time was 12:18:40

• 169 folks started and 22 retired at some point or were timed out.

The event was seriously well organised by Nav4 Adventure and Joe Faulkner. Would be great to see more Westies making a trip across the border. Its closer than ye think !

Full Results