December 2009

Dow Crag from Coniston Old Man

Coniston Old Man in the dark and alone is much like Ben Lomond from Ptarmigan Ridge, you need to watch where your feet land on the initially, craggy descent in the first snow.

Potter Fell in the evening in the company of a club, on the other hand, equates to Dumyat from Mentrie: the local runners navigate you around the abusive and violent farmer in his Frosty Hole.

Thornthwaite Beacon from a mile away in December








Thornthwaite Beacon from a mile away in August

Kentmere Horseshoe, that's Ill Bell, High Street, Kentmere Pike, is the closest training round to Kendal. So managed just one in a month.

Away in a Manger in Snowdonia
(when you don't make the bothy)

Yr Elen in between soakings

No self-respecting Scot wants to admit to running away south. No face lost, though, running away from Cumbria down to The Land of Somebody's Father's. Nevertheless, like anywhere else up the west coast of Britain, you get hit in the face with rain.

Back home in the festive season, Ambleside organise a chance to run off a pound or two dashing up and down Wansfell. Ploughing through every type of snow: half melted, firm crust, crust that lets you fall through unpredictably like a slap on the back of the head, ice, deep drifts to save you over the crags on the descent, at least it didn't snow.

Salute

Best of luck to Dave Eiser as the new Ochil's club captain. It's great when the seniors take over from the vets.

November 2009

November persisted windy, wet and wild for three weeks. The single frost leading to a blue sky turned up, like Murphy of Murphy's Law, on a weekday morning. No change there then, from the Ochils down to the Cumbrian Fells. On the other hand, by fortunate coincidence, the compass stayed in the bumbag on the first three Sundays. You could navigate unaided flooded bogs and becks and volatile rivers behaving badly.

From Kendal, just like you do in Stirling, you can play the probability game and try for better weather over eastern hills. Chancers get wet on the Yorkshire Dales. A mighty sight from the motorway through Lancashire, Ingleborough's an easy enough run by itself. Take heed though, just like up the southern side of Dumyat at the end of our Ochils 2000's race or on Trahena at the end of Two Breweries, Ingleborough's littered with cramp victims (those who haven't trained hard enough) on the final climb running the Three Peaks Race.


Dunnerdale Fell Race by Black Combe Fell Runners

You might not notice Black Combe runners, even Wainwright missed out their eponymous fell that defines the skyline from across Morecambe Bay. Nonetheless, the club organises four races and can manage 273 meat pies and infinite tea in the kitchen of a village hall. http://www.bcrunners.org.uk/fell_races.htm

"Fell" races have become popular: you park two miles away, 273 runners enter and we all start too fast. That just about beat Dumyat "Hill" Race on the edge of the Ochils, (the university car park's choc-a-block, 255 runners enter and most of us are dragged out of the gates by the track runners). Two decades ago fifty folk ambled around Dunnerdale performing an end of season swansong.

On the brighter side, while vets and even older dominate, a junior, Tom Addison of Helm Hill Runners, pushed one of them into second place:
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.ukhttp://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/4740078.Kendal_athlete_wins_Dunnerdale_fell_race/.
And, one in five runners is female http://www.bcrunners.org.uk/results/dunnerdale_2009_results.htm.

After Dark

Low cloud, gales and black nights follow for a week. At the month's darkest, on the new moon, four Kendal headlamps got beaten about by the wind on Fell Head in the Howgills. Unlike summer across the other side of the Lune valley, you don't get your hair singed by a Tornado on a dark windy night.

The fells saturated, then it rained

That was the first three weeks of November. Then, the rain fell. Cumbrians call this 'watter'. There was a lot of watter already oozing out of the peat on the fells. This lot set off over the top of standing watter and down the re-entrants before morning . Back in October The Ochil Hill Runners witnessed a burn borne on the wind above the Glen Scaddle. On November the 21st Kendal witnessed "dry"-stone walls spouting becks horizontally from the highest stones: across paddocks, into farm yards and, opposite our future residence, over the wall caps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R26W3Y0ZYM&NR=1.

The final Saturday: Kirkbymoor Fell Race

That's a Black Combe organised race again: infinite tea in the village hall.


This is more like it, just 72 runners, a blue sky and snow on the higher Coniston fells. Nevertheless, for the third time this year, out of a total of three "Fell" races, over seventies overtake folk on the final descent: http://www.bcrunners.org.uk/results/kirkby_moor_results_2009.htm. I was on his heels though, until he dropped the competition in the final lanes and Helm Hill showed the way home. Training starts tomorrow.

Next Day

Back to windy, wet and wild . All training's off. Maybe, it's time to start a blog.

Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while,
nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
Kin Hubbard
(1868 - 1930)

Salute

Congratulations to the Ochils Club Captain, Dave Scott, picking up a gong for the second British, over 50 champion http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/results/champs09/bri/BrtOpenMens50.htm