Well sunday dawned clear and sunny, and stayed that way for most of the day, couldn't be more different than last years!The race set off about 15-20 mins late; unusually for fell events, the race organisers were doggedly enforcing the mandatory kit inspections, causing some of the more hardened (i.e stubbornly awkward) fell runners to chase back to the car park at the last minute!
Increasingly stringent insurance requirements are likely to mean more of the same at these longer fell events; the organisers came in for a fair amount of stick on the forums, they rightly stuck to their guns.
I've never done the Skyline before and it's a cracker. An initial trudge up to the Ringing Roger summit soon gave way to a scenic 6 mile rollercoaster run across to Win Hill. This was followed by a rapid descent into Hope and then the most serious climb of the day; over 1000 ft up to Lose Hill. The rollercoaster resumed for the next 10 miles or so, before another up and down at Grindslow Knoll, then back to Ringing Roger and home.The weather allowed for some glorious scenery and the sunday walkers were out in force; all were very supportive of (if a bit horrified by!) the mud and lycra clad competitors.
Of 287 starters, 258 finished the event (of the retirees, most would have been timed out by the 2:30 cut-off at Mam Nick and sent directly back down to Edale)I finished in 4:13, which put me roughly half way down the field. My estimate of 4 hours failed to allow for minor navigational errors (fell races are traditionally completely unmarked courses, except for the checkpoints) and a two falls in the final descent to the finish. The second fall was within sight of the finish chute; the spectators contributed that special sound that watchers of skateboard videos will be familiar with! Suffice to say, i wore long sleeves to work today and i am definitely at home to Mr Elastoplast!
This is definitely not a novice event (i got 'lightly' lost in clear weather) but would make a good challenge for anyone looking to go long in fell racing. It's superbly well organised and marshalled; a surprise appearance by Bertie Bassett handing out Jelly Babies on the way up Lose Hill was a definite highlight!
Increasingly stringent insurance requirements are likely to mean more of the same at these longer fell events; the organisers came in for a fair amount of stick on the forums, they rightly stuck to their guns.
I've never done the Skyline before and it's a cracker. An initial trudge up to the Ringing Roger summit soon gave way to a scenic 6 mile rollercoaster run across to Win Hill. This was followed by a rapid descent into Hope and then the most serious climb of the day; over 1000 ft up to Lose Hill. The rollercoaster resumed for the next 10 miles or so, before another up and down at Grindslow Knoll, then back to Ringing Roger and home.The weather allowed for some glorious scenery and the sunday walkers were out in force; all were very supportive of (if a bit horrified by!) the mud and lycra clad competitors.
Of 287 starters, 258 finished the event (of the retirees, most would have been timed out by the 2:30 cut-off at Mam Nick and sent directly back down to Edale)I finished in 4:13, which put me roughly half way down the field. My estimate of 4 hours failed to allow for minor navigational errors (fell races are traditionally completely unmarked courses, except for the checkpoints) and a two falls in the final descent to the finish. The second fall was within sight of the finish chute; the spectators contributed that special sound that watchers of skateboard videos will be familiar with! Suffice to say, i wore long sleeves to work today and i am definitely at home to Mr Elastoplast!
This is definitely not a novice event (i got 'lightly' lost in clear weather) but would make a good challenge for anyone looking to go long in fell racing. It's superbly well organised and marshalled; a surprise appearance by Bertie Bassett handing out Jelly Babies on the way up Lose Hill was a definite highlight!
Running takes a back seat now as i endeavour to build up bike miles, my longest trip up to now has been 70k. It sound like the 'surrey sunday cycle' went well, but i'd love to know just how long it does take to pump a tyre up with one of those things!
ANDY A
ANDY A
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