Saturday 13 June 2015

Settle Saunter 27m 2015

We have never done this LDWA event before, but it seemed in a lovely area of the country and Melanie wanted to go up Ingleborough again, the last time she went up she was eight years old.

We went over the night before and stayed in Burnley. We wondered round Thompson Park in the evening The park is fairly close to the middle of Burnley and we were amazed to see a deer about twenty meters away from us, It checked that we weren't getting any closer and carried on feeding.

We left Burnley at 6.45 for an 8.30 start in Settle. The parking wasn't close to the start in the Victoria Hall, but it wasn't too far and we checked in at registration and received our tally cards with all the checkpoints listed. We managed to buy a sandwich from the local Booths and had that before we started. We weren't expecting too much food at the checkpoints, they were described as 'light refreshments'. We were also told there would be no water at the checkpoint at the top of Ingleborough which seemed perfectly reasonable.

It was clear from the numbers in the hall that there would not many people participating (about 80 over four different routes - 9m, 12m, 16m and 27m). There were only 32 people on the 27m route.




We knew we had to go down a very narrow ginnel (alley) very soon after the start so we made sure we were fairly near the front (this is very unusual for us) and we were about fifth into the ginnel and had no delay.

The first two miles or so were in Settle and were easy going. The next bit I had struggled to match the route description to the the GPS route from a previous year. There was a good reason, they had changed the course and the route description made much more sense.

There was a small climb before Fizor, the first checkpoint but on the whole the first seven and a bit miles were easy going through beautiful countryside which was reasonably flat.




However, there were quite a number of gates to open and close and stiles to climb over. We passed through some attractive villages, Fizor, Austwick and Clapham.

After Clapham we started the climb up Ingleborough.



It was long, rocky and tiring. We had cloud cover, but it was warm and very humid which made things a bit more tricky.






We reached the summit (11m),



checked in and started the steep descent, which got much more runnable after a while - we flew down some of it, trail running at its most enjoyable. Then after we had descended, the stiles (particularly ladder sties which just sap your energy) start to come in numbers.



We made it back to Clapham (a different way) and started to head back towards Settle. The way out had been pretty flat but this time we were sent up several hills. After leaving Clapham, the route description talked about passing through two tunnels. We were a bit doubtful they would really be tunnels, but they were. I have no idea why they were there.




After Austwick we entered a site special scientific interest - Oxenber and Wharfe Woods. They were full of bluebells which were just past their best. A few weeks ago it must have been an amazing site.





At the Fizor checkpoint we were told we were joint 7th. I don't think we have ever been so high in the field before. We managed to hang on to this until the end. Exactly seven hours it took us, but my total count was 44 stiles, 34 normal gates and 4 kissing gates. They all disrupt your running and deplete your energy. Then of course there was Ingelborough, which took quite a while.

At the finish there was tea and the usual meal, pie and peas followed by peaches and rice pudding. How they make any money out of a £10 entry fee is amazing.

All in all a lovely, scenic but tough day out. Certainly tougher underfoot than last Sunday's Lakeland Trails marathon

Monday 8 June 2015

Lakeland Trails marathon 2015

My third  and Melanie's second time for this beautiful, scenic run. We normally enter the Challenge (there are two races on the same course, with the Challenge being mainly for those who run a bit slower), but there are two disadvantages with this. Firstly you have to collect your race number and chip the day before and secondly it starts at 7.00 in the morning. The advantage is that if it is hot (and it has been the two previous times I have run it in 2011 and 2013) then you can get a lot of it done before it starts to get really warm.

We drove over to Coniston after our regular 30min pacing run at Durham parkrun and stopped off in Torver for a coffee. Then up to Coniston Hall to collect our number and then back to Kendal to check in at the hotel. It was at that point that Melanie realised that she had left a suitcase at home. She had some running gear such as shoes, but no top or tights or underwear and nothing much to wear after of the following day. It was about 3.30 on Saturday at this point. We looked at what spares I had, but none of them were suitable. We went into Kendal, found a Boyes' and Pete Bland's and managed to pick up basically what was needed. Some of it wasn't ideal but it was the best we could do in the time.

Melanie didn't sleep all night so when the alarm went off at 4.30 she wondered whether she should be running a marathon. She decided to go for it and she seemed to have lots of energy when she was running.

We arrived at the start area at about 6.10 and faffed around getting ready and chatting to Eric and Gillian and several old friends from Fetcheveryone. Just before the start Melanie had gone to use the toilets but the queue was too long. However, we ran past them after the start, so we both stopped to use them and started way behind everybody else (thanks to Eric for some of the pictures)





The route leaves Coniston Hall and goes across fields on hard packed trails (lots of these to come) to the village. We had caught the back markers at this point which was lucky as the route had changed and we hadn't expected this. We went down to the lake before heading through the village.

There is a fair of climbing in the first half, some of it it on quiet country roads but the rest on trails. The sections through woods are particularly beautiful and there are some wonderful views of the
Langdales.





Finally we made it Tarn Howes which is just stunning !








Then it is a bit of drag up to about 14m which is the highest point which has great views of the Lake.






Then a tricky rocky descent down to the bottom of the Lake at Water Yeat.

The water stations were fairly frequent and every other one had food. After Water Yeat we started the climb up to Beacon Tarn which seemed a bit longer than I remembered. However, normally I am very tired at that point, but this year I felt good, mainly because the sun had stayed behind clouds for the vast majority of the time.



The path round the tarn was particularly boggy and the technical bit afterwards was as slow going as ever. Then a nice bit of descent down to the Lake and the tree root section alongside the Lake. The tree root section ends about 2m from the end and it is an easy run in from there if you have any energy left. I didn't have much so Melanie went on and finished just ahead of me. We met up with half marathon runners just before the end.



We came in about 10min faster than in 2013 which I think shows how much difference the lack of heat makes.

A beautiful marathon, if you haven't done it, go and enjoy :-)