From Natalie Curtis…
Work finished, bags packed, reccies done, just the 80km and 3660m of climb ahead. Time to check the forecast … 40-60 mph wind, rain most the day and poor visibility on the tops. Cue the start of “ It’s all going to be fine “.
Registration volunteers reminded me that’s a normal forecast for the Lakes. Cheers.
After a night at Cartmel racecourse where the van was buffeted around, 5 am reveille and time to get north to Caldbeck.
I entered this race in 2020, did the reccies but it fell as a minor casualty to the pandemic. Thanks to Jacqui W for noticing you could run the 2nd half from Ambleside to Cartmel for the first time last year. We had a great day out then in a still seasonally abnormal 18 degrees and I foolishly decided to get the whole race over the line this year.
Races like this are a mix of Olympian elites and optimists. See chats in the loo queues.
The route is almost a straight line North to South and there is a great sense of satisfaction in this route.
My goal was to get to the finish line by midnight. I got to the end of the day, missed that target, considered that had to be due to the wind and have since found out that the winners, subject to the same weather conditions, broke the course record. Olympian efforts.
It’s a race of two halves. If you can get up and down everything to Ambleside , you are v likely to finish. The whole race was diverted via the chicken route ( so called by the race director ) rather than Halls Fell Ridge off Blencathra due to the winds. One bonus then. Poles became instruments of stability as much as propulsion throughout the first half due to the wind then equally in the second half with some of the mud through the woods. Wished I had focussed on triceps dips ahead of time as arms took a beating. I’d had plenty of previous finishers remind me to drink and eat when waterproof hood is down so I chose to focus on that along the Helvellyn ridge while not allowing the weather conditions to derail my race.
My running gave out with 10 miles to go but I was confident I could get over the line. The forecast was spot on about the wind but the rain was much lighter than forecast, the minus 10 windchill was nearer minus 3 and the rainbows and vistas really inspired. Nothing like the weather being better than expected to really make you feel lifted. Running through the south Lakes woods in the dark with the owls and right up against Windermere in the moonlight made this a truly memorable experience. Oh- and the Northern lights. To be honest I thought I was hallucinating a warm glow over the Cartmel finish.
Great race. Well organised. Superb camaraderie along the way. Would recommend.