Nicole, Ryan, Hector (the dog) and myself headed up to the Lake District on the 12th June for our two day recce of the last section of the Lakeland 100.
The weather was going to be good for the couple of days we were training, which always makes a difference. After an 8.30 breakfast (that’s when breakfast begins) we then drove to Ambleside, parked the car then a pre-ordered Taxi drove us to Dalemain Estate which was the beginning of the 50 mile race.
The first section of the race took us from Dalemain to Howtown 10.8km – sounds easy! we had a lovely run along the river heading for Pooley Bridge, from there we then headed up past the church then onto bridleway, turning right at the cairn and running above Barton Park, following the single track to the end, where we had a short road section to Howtown Bobbin Mill (first CP). This section hadn’t been too bad and we managed this in 1hr 37 minutes with lots of stopping for the dog to go into the river, taking photos and checking the route.
Section 2 from Howtown to Mardale Head – 13.4km. This section was tough, with 734m of ascent and also had the highest part of the course. After retracing our steps we headed off towards the first hill, over foot bridges, boggy ground, past ruins and always checking we were in the right place! The climb up was long, steep and extremely hard, I was puffing like a train and could feel that my legs were still tired from the GUCR, but onwards and upwards to the top which was well worth it as the view was out of this world. Here we had to take a compass bearing to check that we were going the right way. After running along the ridge we were looking out for the boundary stone where we dropped down to Haweswater. In the dark this is going to be difficult as the boundary stone was much smaller than I thought it would be, in fact very easy to miss! After finding the path again we continuted down towards the water where we then had to run 4.5km around the lake. This was single track, very rocky, some parts were easy to run on, others I didn’t enjoy – again I’m no mountain goat but with some practice will be skipping along at some stage!
The three of us had by now run out of water – we thought we had brought enough with us, but stupidly didn’t take into account the heat. Thankfully once we reached Mardale Head car park (CP2) we found some marvellous people who gave us water. This section had taken us just under 3 hrs.
Feeling much better, but also cross with ourselves that we had been so stupid not to have brought enough water, the three of us and of course Hector the dog headed off towards Kentmere – 9.6km away. The first part of this was up a very steep hill. The other two had poles, muggins bringing up the rear (as instructed by Hector!).
This section wasn’t too bad, I took a photo of a marvellous stone stile which I thought was rather fun! We took 2 hrs to do this section and once we had reached Kentmere we had run out of water again. Thankfully Ken (a wonderful local man) filled our bottles up for us and we made the decision to go back to the pub as it was now approx 5.30 and we still had a further 11.5km to go – all cross country!
The following morning we set off slightly earlier, parked the car at Ambleside and ran from there to the first CP of the day at Chapel Stile 7.7km. This section really wasn’t too bad, going out of Ambleside we had to zigzag up a very steep hill, passing a group of small children who were obviously having a school outing.
Today was the first time we had a problem with the instructions – the distance we had been given wasn’t right, but we re-read the instructions, consulted the map so knew we were going in the right direction. Most of this section is runnable – the CP was in the school at Chapel Stile.
From Chapel Stile school we were now heading for Tiberthwaite Car park 12.5km away. We retraced our steps then headed up to the right following a footpath signed posted to Braysbrown Campsite. The next section of the route was fairly easy to follow, past farms, over stiles, crossing foot bridges and running through fields – however, we were supposed to head towards the fence corner at woods – very confusing, which corner? however, after checking out the description again, looking at the maps (we probably spent a good 10 minutes here) we went for the top corner, followed the wood round, through the gate and up the zigzag hill, crossed over a minor road then headed down a good track, a bit more wiggling and we finally arrived at the car park at Tiberthwaite (the same red van was parked in the car park that was on our picture!!!)
After a little stop and a re-group we set off on our final 5.7km to Coniston School. The first part of this was straight up some steep steps – notice steep, it would be nice if a bit of the Lake District was flat! followed by a yomp up the hill (passing some children having a rock climbing lesson!) Great views at the top so of course I took a few more photos. We followed the track to where we crossed the river, from here we had to take a SSW bearing (I’m now very good at this!) which would take us to a not very well defined path. Not very well defined is the right word! At this stage you have to be careful not to walk straight into the boggy area, guess what I did – Ha! made Nicole Ryan and Hector laugh!! We finally found the path and followed it round and up, up up, then an extremely steep down. I found this part extremely uncomfortable as it was very rocky, but once at the bottom is a run all the way to the finish at Coniston – this took us just under 2 hours. Of course, we had to put our hands in the air when we arrived at the school gates (the children must have thought that the three of us had lost our marbles!!!
After a refreshing coke from the BP Garage we then ran along the river back to Coniston – a good day, fantastic views so a good end to our weekend.
Whether you are entering the 50 miler or the 100, both are going to be tough and for me well out of my comfort zone but that’s what I love about racing, seeing beautiful parts of the country side, having an adventure and testing yourself. Whatever this race throws at me I will enjoy the stunning scenery and marvel at views which are quite simply out of this world. (see pictures under galleries)
Nicole and Ryan, thank you guys for a fantastic few days, it was my first trip to the Lake District and one I thoroughly enjoyed and will never forget.
