Three Shires Fell Race

In my attempt to do all 6 of the Lakeland Classics, in one summer, my dodgy adducter muscle and I completed number five – the Three Shires Fell Race in Little Langdale. This is 12M/4700ft of truly “classic” Lakes terrain, steep, rough climbs, rocky ridge paths, long grassy descents and a brilliant Lakes pub to relax outside after in the sunshine, the Three Shires Inn. The dreaded uphill start only lasted for twenty yards or so before the 265 starters then had a mile or so of steady running on tracks to the foot of the north face of Wetherlam. The field split up here for the very steep and rough climb up to the 2502 ft summit, with myself and a few others taking the “FRA forum alternative route” that wasn’t really any quicker but did have less people and bracken for me to contend with. After that lung and thigh-buster of a 50min start it was a rocky walkers’ path that had us into running mode over Black Sails and up Prison Band to the summit of Swirl How (2630 ft). In the clear sunny weather the views were fantastic, though I could only snatch glimpses of it as the path was very technical and too much gazing at the views would have led to a nasty fall. After Swirl How there was a cracking runnable descent on a nice trod 1400 ft down to the road crossing at the Three Shires Stone. A trudge up to Pike of Blisco summit (2304 ft) was next and I managed to claw back quite a few places as a few runners started to wilt in the heat. The descent from the rocky summit had provided lots of discussion on the FRA forum, and I managed to remember enough of it to backtrack a hundred yards or so to find the runners’ trod that was meant to be easier than the walkers’ one. The descent was great, contouring its way over streams, across grassy slopes and through trodden bracken down to the gorgeous Blea Tarn. The tourists picnicking in the glorious sunshine by the lake definitely were the sensible ones compared to us runners as we laboured past trying to look fast and cool. The last climb up to Lingmoor Fell was tough and slow in the heat, though I still managed to crawl past a good few runners to arrive at the summit on my own. The flagged descent was a beauty, a good runnable angle, grassy trods and rocky zig-zag paths that re-energised my tired legs for the final effort down to the pub. I was almost spot on my pre-race estimate of 2h 45m, finishing in 89th place of the 265 starters which I was chuffed about. Nick Sharpe won in 2h 03m and Helene Diamantides in 2h 20m. The finish field contained an assortment of recovering bodies in various states, but we all managed to recover sufficiently to enjoy the free soup & roll from the pub, though I did need a wee 30m “power nap” in the car before I could really muster any energy for conversation and beer in the sunny beer garden after. A great day out in a fantastic part of the Lakes – hopefully I will be back there in a few weeks for the final Lakeland Classics Race, the Langdale Horeshoe.
Results here


Photos here

Westies Cort Ma Law Run

About 15 Westies, and celebrity guest Angela Mudge and newcomer Graeme (a 1h 54m Ben Nevis man!), turned up to the Wed night thrash round the Cort Ma Law race route. A bit windy but mild and the usual horrendous wet bog from the trig over to Leckett.

Photos here

Helvellyn Triathlon

A great sunny day in the Lakes watching the Helvellyn Triathlon - a one mile swim in Ullswater; a 38 mile cycle; a run up Helvellyn. Official website here

Photos here

Westies Kilpatricks Run

A great turnout of Westies for the "old" Kilpatricks Hill Race route. Up the track, past Loch Humphrey, along to Cochno Hill for a re-group and good sunset, then off through the rough stuff to Greenside reservoir where I nearly did a "Graeme Benny" by tripping and impaling myself on the remains of a metal railing. My Innov8 shoe saved me but was fatally holed doing so. We then had the nice grassy final climb up to The Slacks trig point and then a cracking descent taking in the views of Glasgow and the Erskine Bridge in the fading light. Afterwards 17 of us enjoyed a curry at the Dosa House in Hyndland Street.

Photos here

Westies Summer Handicap - 30/8/06

On a cool grey evening almost 20 Westies turned up for this 7.8 miler round the back roads of Crofatmie. Homeboy Jason triumphed (yet again) by outsprinting Shona, David Riach showed SHIT-boy Marc how to run a road race by being fastest and I brought up the rear in my slowest time yet enjoying a lonely plod round due to the nasty handicapper. Jason won a nice bottle of Champion beer, and the others got some sweeties, lollipops, corn-on-the-cob, a lemon & lime and, of course, a coconut for Marc. I can't say I enjoyed the actual run but it was a great evening overall, rounded off by Jason's fine hospitality.

Charlie's Report = "Yes, a good turnout of 19 runners, including six virgins, for our annual thrash around the wee roads of Croftamie. Thanks to Isabel for time-keeping duties, Steffen and Catriona for marking the course beforehand, Helen and Margaret for supporting, and an impromptu visit by the Honourable Big Al on his two wheeled chariot. An enjoyable evening was had by all, and thanks also to the social sec for a ‘fine’ range of prizes. However I have to state that I do take exception to John Donnelly's glib comments regarding the nasty handicapper. Taking our responsibilities seriously, we all stood around at the finish, waiting for the last person to arrive but there was no sign of the ex-SHIT. We all wondered if he had got lost, or was he admiring the views, or was he just scared of the impending darkness? Standing firm, despite the ferocious midgies, the Westie ensemble finally saw JD mince up to the line, with bleated cursings of “If I ever get a handicap like that again I’m not running!” After dabbing my eyes dry with my hankie, said Handicapper checked the times to see that Mr Dauntily had been given his usual h/cap time, being a past two time winner; it was just the fact that he ran 7 minutes slower than usual that I think he doesn’t want to acknowledge. Well don’t worry John, you’ll have company next year for the run – Jason will be at the back with you !"

Finishing Position, time, and actual time.

1) Jason, 62.45, 56.15
2) Shona, 62.54, 53.54
3) Val H, 64.10, 55.40
4) Cat, 64.12, 55.46
5) Graham, 64.47, 56.02
6) Bill, 64.48, 58.03
7) David, 65.01, 46.31
8) Marc, 65.57, 46.57
9) Ian, 66.42, 66.42
10) Grimorr, 68.44, 64.14
11) Hamilton, 67.09, 54.09
12) Stevie B, 67.11, 52.11
13) John H, 68.07, 60.37
14) Rob, 68.35, 54.35
15) Don, 69.17, 52.17
16) Robert, 69.48, 64.48
17) Christine, 70.44, 63.29
18) Drew, 70.44, 68.44
19) JD, Zzzz, 73.13, 57.15
Photos here and here

Wan Dae Adventure Race

Billed as a try at "adventure racing" this Gary Thompsett-involved event was a mixture of mountain biking, hill running and canoeing. The Westies Wanderers 1 and 2 (Shona & Rob; Simon & me) decided to give it a bash and had a great day out at Carron Valley, just over the back of the Campsies. Our "Cask Strength" category involved us being out for a maximum of 8 hours, during which we had to "dib" as many checkpoints as we could. You got the maps and checkpoint details at the start and then had to devise your strategy to get round the various competition areas, which included the reservoir itself for the canoeing, North Thirdpart reservoir crags for some hairy singletrack biking' back at the event centre for some more biking on the forestry roads and mountain bike trails and then lots of checkpoints on and around Meikle Bin. The 4 of us headed off first on the road out to North Thirdpart where Simon and I went for the first checkpoint at a reservoir en route. Squeezing through a gate we hared off up the track only to be bemused by the lack of a checkpoint; it was back on the gate that we had squeezed through 5 min earlier! - not a great start. That allowed Shona & Rob to leapfrog us to the next CP, a "fun activity" involving re-arranging a hexagon of sticks into 3 triangles by moving only 3 pieces - yes, it bemused us so much that we didn't even give it a go. Then we headed off into the narrow tracks that lead up to the crags overlooking North Thirdpart reservoir. I didn't enjoy this as the tracks were narrow, muddy and rocky and I probably carried/pushed the bike more than I sat on it. Towards the ned of this bit it widened out and became a bit more manageable and enjoyable and we passed Rob & Shona coming out of the last CP, only a minute or two ahead. We then had a long undulating bike ride on the road back over to the reservoir, where the heavy bikes and wide tires made for hard work. The canoeing was a welcome relief from the bike, though for only 25 min it was still hard as my legs were sore from being pressed up and tensed up in the canoe. We passed on the chance of doing this bit twice, though Shona & Rob like it so much they went for a paddle right round the reservoir, having missed the CP. It was back on the bikes, collecting a few CPs on the way to finally dropping the bikes off near Meikle Bin. This part of the day was really score orienteering with CPs all over the place. We headed up Meikle Bin in the clag and down to Little Bin for the CP "on the big tree beside the two small trees"; problem was it was a flat summit, poor visibility and quite a few small and big trees! However, after a few minutes of wandering aimlessly around I heard the familiar "beep-beep" and saw another team nearby in the murk dibbing their dibber on a tree we had probably walked past only minutes earlier. We headed off back down horrible felled forest and contoured back to near the bike drop. It was then up on to the ridge where after lots of wet, boggy plodding we bagged a few more CPs before returning to the bikes with an hour left. Going down the stony track was hairy for a roady wimp loke me as Simon romped off, though it got better when we were on the wider forest roads. That just filled me up with false courage though as when I was trying to keep up with Simon I almost flew off a wide, fast, gravelly bend. As we were back near the finish with some time to spare we went for some extra points by going down two of the special mountain bike trails, finishing on the "fun park", a narrow, stony downhill track with lots of short, sharp bumps thrown in to try and unseat you. We cruised into the finish after 7h 45m, to be followed shortly by the other two Westies Wanderers coming in in a totally different direction from us. Simon and I pipped them by amassing 70 or so more points than them, though they undoubtedly won the muddiest faces award. Overall, it was a hard, varied but very enjoyable day out.
Race website here