25 races, 1 year, in this amazing sport, look after it.

My previous 3 blog posts have dealt with my "year of classic fell races" up to the end of July. The season to the end of July had been 18 races, 3 wins, 3 AL's (too fast on 2, too slow on 1), got properly lost once, 1 fourth and 1 win in the NE champs. Still to come was perhaps 13 more races.... Lets see how that went

Previous races...

10/3 - Ian Roberts memorial race - strong start, then fell apart at half way because ran a quick 5k the day before, finished 18th http://tinyurl.com/b5yg9ef

16/3 - Middle Fell (from Wasdale) - Cancelled

24/3 - Edale Skyline (EC)- didn't get an entry, cancelled

30/3 Causey Pike - on holiday

6/4 Coledale Horseshoe (DFR) - on holiday

13/4 Silent Valley (BC)- on holiday

14/4 Cheviot Summit Race - shortened course, win http://tinyurl.com/bvs9tkv

21/4 Guisborough Moors (DFR, NE) - winning then got lost. http://tinyurl.com/guisborough

27/4 Yorkshire 3 peaks race - 3:30, 34th place. http://tinyurl.com/yorkshire3

11/5 Fairfield Horseshoe 71st, 1:33:15, http://tinyurl.com/fairfield2013

18/5 Goat Fell 86th, 1:47:48, http://tinyurl.com/goatfell2013

19/5 Settle Hills (Intercounties) 40th, 54:06, http://tinyurl.com/settlehills2013

25/5 Jura, 55th, 4:29:47, http://www.jurafellrace.org.uk/

2/6 Yetholm (BC) DNS

8/6 Ennerdale 36th, 4:55:43, http://tinyurl.com/ennerdale2013

15/6 Buckden Pike (EC), 61st, 36:50, http://tinyurl.com/buckden2013

19/6 Langstrath 8th, 42:14, http://tinyurl.com/Langstrath2013

23/6 Windy Gyle (NE) 4th, 1:04:08, http://tinyurl.com/Windygyle2013

30/6 Cronkley (NE) 1st 1:20.54, http://tinyurl.com/cronkley2013

2/7 Saltwell Harriers (DFR) 1st, 41.58, http://tinyurl.com/saltwell2013

6/7 Chevy Chase 6th, 3:22.39, http://tinyurl.com/chevychase2013

7/7 Skiddaw 36th, 1:33.16 http://www.keswick-ac.org.uk/

9/7 Stoodley Pike - too far to drive, silly idea.

13/7 Wasdale (EC) 102nd, 5:45.05 http://tinyurl.com/wasdale2013

20/7 Snowdon - decided to take part in a video shoot for Hangar 18 rather than race Snowdon. http://www.h18orr.com/pages/media

27/7 Blisco Dash (BC, EC) 73rd, 44.13. http://tinyurl.com/bliscodash2013

I had planned 13 more races, but for many reasons most of them didn't happen. Looking back i'm not dissapointed, I have had an amazing few months, it has just turned out different to how I planned.

First 5 planned races for August I didn't run.

Grisedale Horseshoe is a fantastic route over some of the loveliest bits of lakeland, I made the worst nav error of my life as I was going well over Helvellyn, stopped paying attention, started enjoying the racing and lost about 20 minutes! Trotted home.

Perhaps the most fun I had in a race all year was racing Nic Barber up Roseberry Topping in 8:25 and racing down in 4:32 to take a comfy 2nd place. Brilliant fun except accidentally taking the "shoot". I think this route choice is unjustifiably dangerous and wouldn't take it again, if you didn't manage to grab the tree on the way past there is a good chance you would end up tangled in the barbed wire fence as you fell off a 5 foot drop head first.

14th September was the Lake District Mountain Trial, a really great long orienteering event, which was cancelled because of the bad weather, tough call from the organisers, but the right decision considering the marshals couldn't stand up at the check points. 29th September and 10th November were the last 2 races in the NE champs, which were looking finely poised. Morgan Donnelly turned up at Simonside and easily took the win, but that didn't matter for the NE champs points as he isn't form the area. Phill Sanderson beat me on the track on the run-in and took the 52 points, leaving me with 49 and effectively tied for the lead with Lee Bennett going into the last race. Having been beaten on the quick track I had 6 weeks to turn myself into a quick trail runner before the quick short Clay Bank West race. Some 400m -1km sprint sessions, got my legs going a bit faster and I went to CBW full of confidence. I ended up 2nd at CBW to Peter Bray (DFR) but he wasn't in the running for the champs so I took the gold by 2 points from Lee Bennett. Best sporting moment of my life was when Lee pulled up on my shoulder about 2km into the race, we exchanged glances and both knew exactly what was happening. Brilliant sport. Thanks to Will Horsley for organising.

End of September was the RAB MM, I entered the short solo to see how I coped with the nav on my own. Nav was pretty easy, but I was too tired on the 2nd day after a poor route choice and lost a promising overnight position to finish 10th overall.

I entered Guisborough 3 tops to see how my speed was before Clay Bank West which had become the focus of my season, good race, went the wrong way a bit from the last checkpoint, which probably cost me second place. Good run.

1st December had been in my mind all year as break course record on Hexhamshire Hobble if i'm fit, I hadn't done too much in the 2 weeks leading upto the race and didn't know how I would run. Ricky Lightfoot turned up and smashed the old course record by 3 minutes, I was having a bad run, and decided half way round to take it easy so I could save something for the afternoon. A slow time, perhaps my only really disappointing run of the year. That afternoon I drove to Keswick to support for L5 of a BG winter record attempt by Jim Mann. I will leave it to him to describe the round. http://h18-orr.blogspot.co.uk/ Leg 5 though was frighteningly quick and I was knackered at the end. As the picture shows!

So in total I did, 25 races, 3 wins, 1st in the NE champs, 2 catastrophic bits of navigation (only one of which cost me the win). Shortest race was Roseberry Topping 12:57, longest was Wasdale 5:45:05. Best moments were the party after Jura, the sprint finish to the Cheviot Summit race, winning the NE champs.

Looking back on the list of races I have brilliant memories of ever one of them. Just before I started writing this blog I was browsing the FRA calender 2014 wondering if I was interested in fell running next year, wondering if I had the motivation? Writing this and looking back on 25 amazing races I know the answer. I don't remember the wins any more fondly than the races I finished outside the top 100. I remember the close races and the sprint finishes, but have to think hard to remember which ones I won and which I lost. I remember the nights in a tent and the back of my van feeling nervous about the tough race to come, but I forget the aches, pain and suffering which must have followed. Most of all I look back on the races and remember the views, the people and chatting to legends past and present.

What an amazing sport we have. Look after it.

3/8 Borrowdale - couldn't run (family stuff)

10/8 Turner Landscape (EC) (Best man for stag do, and couldn't convince the others to run!)

24/8 Burnsall Classic or Weasdale Horseshoe (DFR) (away on holiday)

25/8 Grasmere Guides Race (away on holiday)

27/8 Kilnsey Show (away on holiday)

7/9 Grisedale Horseshoe, 2:29, very poor nav, can't find results.

11/9 Roseberry Topping (DFR) 2nd, 12.57, http://tinyurl.com/Roseberry2013

14/9 Peris Horseshoe (BC) entered the LDMT instead, which was cancelled,

21/9 Scafell Pike or Simonside (NE) did Simonside, 4th 49.01, http://tinyurl.com/simonside2013

28-29/9 RAB Mountain Marathon (DFR) did Short Solo, 10th overall 6th day 1, 41st Day 2.

12/10 Langdale Horseshoe (entered a cycling event on same day)

13/10 Pentland Skyline, BG dinner got in the way

20/10 Fell Relays (not sure I will get a team together for this), No team put together

26/10 Meall a'Bhuachaille, changed my mind and did...

27/10 Guisborough 3 tops, 4th, 1:08.42, http://tinyurl.com/Guisborough3tops2013

10/11 Clay Bank West (NE), 2nd, 32.00, http://tinyurl.com/ClayBankWest2013

1/12 Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble (DFR), 7th, 1:12.19 http://tinyurl.com/Hobble2013

1/12 BG leg 5 support for Jim Mann, 18:18, new winter record!

It's been a tough but amazing year.  Me (knackered) after chasing Jim (relaxed) round L5 on his winter record Bob Graham Round of 18:18 

July - 6 races in 4 weeks.

My previous 2 blog posts have dealt with my "year of classic fell races" up to the end of June. A day off gives me the opportunity to write about a July with lots of ups and downs.

Previous races...

10/3 - Ian Roberts memorial race - strong start, then fell apart at half way because ran a quick 5k the day before, finished 18th http://tinyurl.com/b5yg9ef

16/3 - Middle Fell (from Wasdale) - Cancelled

24/3 - Edale Skyline (EC)- didn't get an entry, cancelled

30/3 Causey Pike - on holiday

6/4 Coledale Horseshoe (DFR) - on holiday

13/4 Silent Valley (BC)- on holiday

14/4 Cheviot Summit Race - shortened course, win http://tinyurl.com/bvs9tkv

21/4 Guisborough Moors (DFR, NE) - winning then got lost. http://tinyurl.com/guisborough

27/4 Yorkshire 3 peaks race - 3:30, 34th place. http://tinyurl.com/yorkshire3

11/5 Fairfield Horseshoe 71st, 1:33:15, http://tinyurl.com/fairfield2013

18/5 Goat Fell 86th, 1:47:48, http://tinyurl.com/goatfell2013

19/5 Settle Hills (Intercounties) 40th, 54:06, http://tinyurl.com/settlehills2013

25/5 Jura, 55th, 4:29:47, http://www.jurafellrace.org.uk/

2/6 Yetholm (BC) DNS

8/6 Ennerdale 36th, 4:55:43, http://tinyurl.com/ennerdale2013

15/6 Buckden Pike (EC), 61st, 36:50, http://tinyurl.com/buckden2013

19/6 Langstrath 8th, 42:14, http://tinyurl.com/Langstrath2013

23/6 Windy Gyle (NE) 4th, 1:04:08, http://tinyurl.com/Windygyle2013

The 30th June was Cronkley Fell race, organised by my club, DFR. It featured in the NE champs and I was very keen to do well to keep my hopes of winning the NE chaps alive. Lee Bennet and Jonny Malley were both there, both of who had beaten me at Windy Gyle. I was well rested and confident I could win if things went well. I was drawn at the start line as to weather to go flat out and have a crack at the old course record which stands from 1998 (on a slightly shorter course) or race properly. In the end I decided to race properly, stick with whoever was leading and attack on the way back. All this went to pot when on the first climb I decided to up the tempo a little Jonny and Duncan Archer didn't come with me so I was on my own. Full beans all the way out, nearly 3 minutes lead at half way, realise I was nowhere near the course record and cruise back to take the most enjoyable win I have had. Lee Bennet had a fall and finished 5th making the NE chaps look very close with 2 races left. Thanks to Hangar 18 for the prizes. http://www.h18orr.com/

A couple of days later and it was the Saltwell, another showdown with Jonny and Duncan. I was feeling fit again and went off full pelt from the start line intending to have a look at the CR splits on the way round and see if it was an option. By the top of the hill I had a good lead and was on the CR splits which I had worked out, thought after the first part of the descent I had lost ground to the CR but held my lead over Jonny, so dug in and held on to the brutal uphill finish. In the end a phew seconds slower than last year, probably to be expected a couple of days after Cronkley, but another win. 2 wins in 3 days!

A few days later and I found myself on the start line for the 31km, 1200m Chevy Chase. It was a brutally hot day but the route is considered a NE classic so I was looking forward to it. I raced with the leading bunch till the climb to the top of Cheviot, where I lost a minute. Everyone turned left at the top except Phil Sanderson, who went sort of straight on, which seemed an odd choice considering he had done the race a few times before. Nobody said anything as this seemed to be the convention that Phil had set up when he sat at the back of the pack of clueless front runners and let us all miss various junctions before he took the turn and we all corrected ourselves. I guess that's racing, not the normal way a fell race is run, but that was how it was. Phil eventually finished 25th, I think he injured himself on the way back. Hopefully not something serious. I got back with Simon Johnson and Charles Hutchinson on the descent, briefly led the way then Charles pulled away on the next climb, had a few minutes at the top and I never saw him again. I was in a decent 2nd place and figured with a mostly downhil, second half I could hold on. Not so. I blew up badly, got a bit lost because of some dreadful mapping on the OS map, (fences not shown, farm land not distinguished from open fell) Bruce Crombie called me back - great stuff Bruce, thanks. I lost a few more places and finished 6th. No regrets, I came to win, but didn't have it in me. Perhaps next year? As a side note I have really enjoyed having some battles with Bruce (in his road shoes) this year, Cheviot Hill Race, Windy Gyle and Chevy, 2 flat out sprint finishes and some cooperative suffering at Chevy all run in a great spirit with hand shakes afterwards. He even lent me a quid for the crap map which got me lost.

I had planned to run Skiddaw just for the experience, I felt good waking up after the Chevy so drove over to Keswick. Got to the top in just under an hour, got to the bottom in a little over half an hour. Not much else to say, it was hot.

Wasdale was next, the beast. I was determined I wasn't going to blow up 3 hours in like I had done on Jura and Ennerdale, so I set off at the back. Took a detour to bag a Wainwright I hadn't done (Illgill head) which only cost me 3 minutes, but took an hour to catch up with the guys I had been with. Made the first cut off by 9 minutes (few), made the second cut off by over 20 minutes, safe now! Took a bag full of places on every climb, took it steady else where and felt strong all the way to the final descent. Lovely race, I don't know what all the fuss is about! It was bloody hot though and only 192 people finished out of a start list of nearly 400.

This saturday was the Blisco Dash, my first British Champs race, I wanted to climb well, have a solid descent and see where I finished. It was a roasting hot day, I felt good on the climb, only lost a few places on the descent and gained back a big handfull of places with a short cut just before the road, worth the last minute reccy! Still just outside the points, in 73rd, but the field was very strong and it was too short to play to my strengths. Next year for some points???

Season so far is 18 races, 3 wins, 3 AL's (too fast on 2, too slow on 1), got properly lost once, 1 fourth and 1 win in the NE champs. Still to come is perhaps 13 more races. A few people have asked me how much I am training at the moment, the answer is really not much. 1 or 2 runs a week in between races and one or 2 bike rides, mostly just over an hour for the runs, and not much hill work. I want to avoid injury first and foremost this year and I seem to be getting fitter during the year without much training, so can't see any reason to change!

30/6 Cronkley (NE) 1st 1:20.54, http://tinyurl.com/cronkley2013

2/7 Saltwell Harriers (DFR) 1st, 41.58, http://tinyurl.com/saltwell2013

6/7 Chevy Chase 6th, 3:22.39, http://tinyurl.com/chevychase2013

7/7 Skiddaw 36th, 1:33.16 http://www.keswick-ac.org.uk/

9/7 Stoodley Pike - too far to drive, silly idea.

13/7 Wasdale (EC) 102nd, 5:45.05 http://tinyurl.com/wasdale2013

20/7 Snowdon - decided to take part in a video shoot for Hangar 18 rather than race Snowdon.

27/7 Blisco Dash (BC, EC) 73rd, 44.13. No results yet.

Planned upcoming races

3/8 Borrowdale - can't run (family stuff)

10/8 Turner Landscape (EC)

24/8 Burnsall Classic or Weasdale Horseshoe (DFR)

25/8 Grasmere Guides Race

27/8 Kilnsey Show

7/9 Grisedale Horseshoe

11/9 Roseberry Topping (DFR)

14/9 Peris Horseshoe (BC)

21/9 Scafell Pike or Simonside (NE)

28-29/9 RAB Mountain Marathon (DFR)

12/10 Langdale Horseshoe (entered a cycling event on same day)

13/10 Pentland Skyline

20/10 Fell Relays (not sure I will get a team together for this)

26/10 Meall a'Bhuachaille

10/11 Clay Bank West (NE)

1/12 Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble (DFR)

Leading out at Cronkley Fell

Descending on the way out at Cronkley

Descending on the way back at Cronkley

May and June, Fairfield to Windy Gyle.

A lazy monday night gives me an opportunity to reflect on May and June of my "Year of classic Fell Races". My previous blog post deals with the following races, so I won't mention them again.

10/3 - Ian Roberts memorial race - strong start, then fell apart at half way because ran a quick 5k the day before, finished 18th http://tinyurl.com/b5yg9ef

16/3 - Middle Fell (from Wasdale) - Cancelled

24/3 - Edale Skyline (EC)- didn't get an entry, cancelled

30/3 Causey Pike - on holiday

6/4 Coledale Horseshoe (DFR) - on holiday

13/4 Silent Valley (BC)- on holiday

14/4 Cheviot Summit Race - shortened course, win http://tinyurl.com/bvs9tkv

21/4 Guisborough Moors (DFR, NE) - winning then got lost. http://tinyurl.com/guisborough

27/4 Yorkshire 3 peaks race - 3:30, 34th place. http://tinyurl.com/yorkshire3

Heading into May I had my first Lakeland race of the year, Fairfield Horseshoe. I had a cracking run up the hill, but lost about 20 places on the way down. I don't know if I was taking it easy to avoid injury or if I just don't know how to run down an 800m descent. Either way, I was pleased with my fitness, beat Nic Barber to the top by a couple of minutes and finished 71st in 1:33:15.

The weekend of 18/19th of May was going to be a busy one, Goat Fell on Arran on Saturday and the intercounties in Settle on Sunday. I drove up with Dom on Friday night, had a brilliant race on Goat Fell, took it easy, finished, 86th in 1:47:48. Settle Hills was a race I was taking seriously. I really didn't want to be 4th and last home for the NE team and was really pleased to be 2nd man home out of a team of Nick Swinburn, Lee Bennett, Gary Jones and myself. I finished 40th in 54:06, most pleasingly I took about half a dozen places on the steep descent.

Jura was my first long classic race, I set my heart on a whisky glass for finishing under 4 hours. I was just on schedule of 3 hours at the top of Pap 3 when Rhys Findley Robinson came past me, "stick with me, we can do it" I couldn't do it. Nor could Rhys finishing in 4:00:07. My legs fell off on the descent and I finished in 55th, 4:29:47. What an amazing place and an incredibly difficult race - more training required if I am going to run a good time on that course. The Ceilidh was pretty amazing though. I then drove north to help Spyke out on his 24 hour Munro record attempt, van broke down, towed home.

Had some bad coughing fits up in Glen Shiel when running with Spyke, so went to the doctor and she said I should let my chest get better and not to Yetholm, so I didn't do Yetholm.

Second long race of the season was Ennerdale. I had a much better race than I did on Jura, much easier, but longer, course. Had a rough patch between hours 3 and 4, but recovered well to finish strongly in 36th, 4:55:43

Next of the English Champs was Buckden Pike, it should suit me better, being a bit shorter than Fairfield. I had a steady start, 80th at the top of the steep climb, taking places all the way to finish 61st in 36:50. Pleasingly exactly the same position I achieved last time round this route in 2010 but nearly 9 minutes quicker! Only a minute outside the points - getting closer!

19th of June was one of the races I was looking forward to most all year. I had imagined a beautiful sunny evening running the Langstrath Fell Race in Borrowdale after work, what better way could their be to spend an evening. The weather was hot, the course was rocky, steep and quick, the field was strong. You don't get many evenings like that in your life, enjoy them. 8th, 42:14.

Windy Gyle, NE champs. After the farce of Guisborough Moors this was one I wanted to win. I saw Cameron Taylor turn up and suddenly I really wanted to be second! As it turned out of the first 5 it was only myself and Jonny Malley who knew the way so as everyone else went wrong wherever they could I called them back and we regrouped a couple of times. A cheeky shortcut around Swineside Law was described as deviant by the race organiser. Not a fair criticism in my book as fell racing is either follow the flags or visit the checkpoints in my book, both of which I did. I was tired after 4 training days on the trot leading up to the race and didn't have the finish in my legs, 4th, with Lee Bennett in 2nd behind Jonny and probably all hope of winning the NE champs gone till next year. 1:04:08

Looking forward to a good run a Cronkley next week. If I can get a win it will put my hopes for the NE champs back on track.

11/5 Fairfield Horseshoe 71st, 1:33:15, http://tinyurl.com/fairfield2013

18/5 Goat Fell 86th, 1:47:48, http://tinyurl.com/goatfell2013

19/5 Settle Hills (Intercounties) 40th, 54:06, http://tinyurl.com/settlehills2013

25/5 Jura, 55th, 4:29:47, http://www.jurafellrace.org.uk/

2/6 Yetholm (BC) DNS

8/6 Ennerdale 36th, 4:55:43, http://tinyurl.com/ennerdale2013

15/6 Buckden Pike (EC), 61st, 36:50, http://tinyurl.com/buckden2013

19/6 Langstrath 8th, 42:14, http://tinyurl.com/Langstrath2013

23/6 Windy Gyle (NE) 4th, 1:04:08, http://tinyurl.com/Windygyle2013

30/6 Cronkley (NE)

2/7 Saltwell Harriers (DFR)

6/7 Chevy Chase

7/7 Skiddaw

9/7 Stoodley Pike

13/7 Wasdale (EC)

20/7 Snowdon

27/7 Blisco Dash (BC, EC)

3/8 Borrowdale

10/8 Turner Landscape (EC)

24/8 Burnsall Classic or Weasdale Horseshoe (DFR)

25/8 Grasmere Guides Race

27/8 Kilnsey Show

7/9 Grisedale Horseshoe

11/9 Roseberry Topping (DFR)

14/9 Peris Horseshoe (BC)

21/9 Scafell Pike or Simonside (NE)

28-29/9 RAB Mountain Marathon (DFR)

12/10 Langdale Horseshoe

13/10 Pentland Skyline

20/10 Fell Relays

26/10 Meall a'Bhuachaille

10/11 Clay Bank West (NE)

Finish of Windy Gyle, Jonny Malley, Lee Bennett, Myself, Bruce Crombie - what a race!

Top 5 at Windy Gyle, L2R, Cameron Taylor 5th, Jonny Malley 1st,  Me, Andy Blackett 4th, Bruce Crombie 3rd, Lee Bennett 2nd.

Finish of Settle Hills Race.

Final Climb on Ennerdale

NE Team at Intercounties, Lee Bennett, Nick Swinburn, me (Andy Blackett), Gary Jones.

A year of classic fell races.

My year of classic fell races is under way, so here are a few thoughts about what I hope to achieve and my schedule of races I hope to run, so if anyone wants to join me they can come along.

My plan for the year started with the thought that, having only been fell running for 2 and a half years, most of which time was focussed on the Bob Graham Round I haven't ever run many of the classic fell races, which I have read so much about and everyone talks about, so I drew up the following schedule.

I got a little distracted from the classics by concentrating on NE champs, the DFR club champs, the English Champs and British Champs in that order of priority before the classics, but I have still ended up with a tasty looking plan.

10/3 - Ian Roberts memorial race - strong start, then fell apart at half way because ran a quick 5k the day before, finished 18th http://tinyurl.com/b5yg9ef
16/3 - Middle Fell (from Wasdale) - Cancelled
24/3 - Edale Skyline (EC)- didn't get an entry, cancelled
30/3 Causey Pike - on holiday
6/4 Coledale Horseshoe (DFR) - on holiday
13/4 Silent Valley (BC)- on holiday
14/4 Cheviot Summit Race - shortened course, win http://tinyurl.com/bvs9tkv
21/4 Guisborough Moors (DFR, NE) - winning then got lost. http://tinyurl.com/guisborough
27/4 Yorkshire 3 peaks race - 3:30, 34th place. http://tinyurl.com/yorkshire3

Which brings us up to date - you can see that the start of my season was a rubbish effort with the snow, 5k park runs and my holiday plans conspiring to give me no decent runs till mid april.  Then 3 weeks of storming runs, a great sprint finish with Bruce Crombie to win the shortened Cheviot Summit Race - perhaps becoming the only person to ever win this race without going to the summit of Cheviot.

I was having the run of my life at Guisborough Moors when I missed a turning and ended up loosing 11 minutes to finish outside the top 20, leaving Lee Bennet and Gary Jones to fight it out.  When Lee won he thought he was still in second behind me.  Turns out that generous Will Horsley recognised that I was in good form on this run and invited me to make up the numbers in the 4 man NE team for the inter counties championships at the Settle Hills race in a few weeks despite my poor result!

A fantastic run at Yorkshire 3 peaks, running with Nicholas Barber before he stormed on to finish in 3:25 topped off a great month of results.

Part 2 of my year is planned as follows.

11/5 Fairfield Horseshoe
18/5 Goat Fell
19/5 Settle Hills (Intercounties)
25/5 Jura
2/6 Yetholm (BC)
8/6 Ennerdale
15/6 Buckden Pike (EC)
19/6 Langstrath
23/6 Windy Gyle (NE)
30/6 Cronkley (NE)
2/7 Saltwell Harriers (DFR)
6/7 Chevy Chase
7/7 Skiddaw
9/7 Stoodley Pike
13/7 Wasdale (EC)
20/7 Snowdon
27/7 Blisco Dash (BC, EC)
3/8 Borrowdale
10/8 Turner Landscape (EC)
24/8 Burnsall Classic or Weasdale Horseshoe (DFR)
25/8 Grasmere Guides Race
27/8 Kilnsey Show
7/9 Grisedale Horseshoe
11/9 Roseberry Topping (DFR)
14/9 Peris Horseshoe (BC)
21/9 Scafell Pike or Simonside (NE)
28-29/9 RAB Mountain Marathon (DFR)
12/10 Langdale Horseshoe
13/10 Pentland Skyline
20/10 Fell Relays
26/10 Meall a'Bhuachaille
10/11 Clay Bank West (NE)
1/12 Angus Tait Memorial Hexhamshire Hobble (DFR)

That's a total of 37 races including as many as I can fit in from the Durham Fell Runners (DFR) club champs, English Champs (EC), British Champs (BC) and North East Champs (NE).

I'm sure things will come up which mean I don't do that many, but my main targets are the North East Championships which I hope to not get lost again so I am learning the routes before the remaining races!

Really looking forward to Jura, and all of the lakeland races.  Really proud to be selected for the intercounties in Settle and hoping to still be fit on 1/12 so I can defend my title and win the Hobble for the 3rd year running (perhaps with a CR if the conditions are good!)

If all this sounds a bit ambitious, or even cocky it isn't supposed to read that way.  I am just putting down some ambitions to keep me motivated.

Hopefully see you at some of those races.

Andy

Curricking Hell, it's the inaugural Currick Round*!

I'm sure that nobody remembers my farcical first attempt at this round during february 2012. You can read about it here.

http://tickinghills.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/should-have-studied-currickulum.html

For the last 8 months I have fancied having another crack and Sunday 30th September 2012 presented the opportunity when Nic Barber suggested a long run together to prepare for the OMM.

The round is roughly circular, I did it anticlockwise, with a couple of out and backs. It visits all** of the curricks I have found on the OL31 (East Sheet) 1:25000 map, starting on Hamsterley Common and heading west into the North Pennines. A currick is defined here http://tinyurl.com/9zvz4vm as a small enclosure made from stones used as a lookout by shepherds. Having completed*** my round I would define a currick as "some rocks, which might be in a pile".

We started out from the parking spot on the B6278 just after 11am, rough going through the heather to #1 and #2 on the slopes of Long Man gives a taste of things to come. Next heading east past Pawlaw Pike onto the good track for 3km run out to #3, back along the track for a couple of km before climbing through easy heather to #4 near the trig point on Five Pikes. #5 didn't seem to exist where it was marked on the map, so we counted the cairn in the same general area before descending to the road crossing at Bollihope.

Next was the climb to #6, which is a rather uninspiring pile of rocks east of the trig point of Catterick, the going on this section wasn't too bad with short heather/rocks and a track to follow down to the road near Washpool Crags.

The next section is a monster, after following the track along Bolli Hope it is rough going through bogs and heather for the 28 km to the end with only 500m along a road for relief. After climbing to #7, Ewestone Currick, which again is an uninspiring pile of rocks we headed generally west following fence lines through the bog. There was a fierce headwind and the pace really slowed at this point, we were both happy that we didn't have a time in mind to beat as each step was difficult. It's a long way to #8 only gaining some relief from the bog past the trig of James's Hill with a small section of wooden track on the south side of the fence. #8 is an impressive structure, with a sister currick around 100m away, #9 is rather less impressive being again a lose pile of rocks a few hundred metres further on.

It is again a long slog back to #10, which is rather excitingly described as the plural "curricks" on the map. Now with the wind on our backs we picked up some decent speed and covered the 8km to the trig on Harnisha Hill in about an hour. Being very careful to set a bearing to the curricks we found various rocks, none of which had been assembled into even a loose pile. What a let down.

Down the hill and back up to Monks Moor was the plan, but we followed the wrong wall and ended up 500m too far NW, we were both tired now, had a bit of food behind the wall before spotting out mistake and heading back towards Monk's Moor to pick up #11, 12 and 13, Monk's Currick and it's neighbours.

It is only now looking back at the map I realise that we missed out the currick SW of Monk's Moor. Bugger. 

Anyhow, Monk's Currick was where it should be, but we could only find one of #12 and 13, pick any of the grouse buts hereabouts for the other one if you like. Down the hill, along the road and the final rough climb up to #14, more rough boggy ground over to #15, over Islington Hill to #16 and follow the sheep trods back to the car.

I have just spotted another one on the western slopes of Eggleston Common, double bugger.

We got back to the car in 6 hours 39 minutes after 43km of the roughest ground I have ever run on, with 1100m of ascent. One of the most exhausting days I have ever run in windy and showery conditions. Having just noticed that I missed out a couple of curricks I present The Currick Round as an unfinished project for somebody else to finish off.

List of Curricks, timings and discriptions based on the Currick Scale (0 = doesn't exist, 1 = rocks on ground, 2 = pile of rocks, 3 = impressive rock tower)

Start - 997307 - car park

1 - 995313 - 0:07 - 2

2 - 995315 - 0:09 - 2

3 - 034323 - 0:24 - 3

4 - 013329 - 0:17 - 2

5 - 010323 - 0:07 - 0 (so use the cairn further SE)

6 - 002358 - 0:27 - 1

7 - 957351 - 0:45 - 1

8 - 918330 - 1:06 - 3+ (found 2 impressive curricks here)

9 - 914333 - 0:07 - 1

10 - 968317 - 1:07 - 1

11 - 963291 - 0:51 - 2

12/13 - 968287 - 0:06 - 2 (we could only find one here that wasn't a grouse butt)

13b - 961283 - (omitted)

13c - 997274 - (omitted)

14 - 999291 - 0:40 - 3

15 - 005295 - 0:07 - 1

16 - 999299 - 0:10 - 2

End - 997307 - 0:08 - car park.

Total of 6:39

*attempt.

**most.

***nearly completed.

Motivational issues following goal achievement in a goal orientated runner

Firstly a short back story. I attempted the Bob Graham Round when living in London in 2006, it was perhaps the least prepared and most ill fated BG attempt in history. I was an accountant, had never run further than 13 miles and bored in the office one afternoon a plan was hatched for myself and 3 colleagues to have a crack at the Bob Graham, 2.5 miles an hour for 24 hours can't be that hard if we can stay awake right? Wrong. L1 woefully behind schedule with various ailments and injuries besetting the 4 team members we retreated to Keswick in awe of what we had failed to achieve.

September 2010 and my wife, Fiona Blackett joins DFR, I come along to see what it is all about and find that i'm not a bad fell runner. I decide that the Bob Graham is worth another go and from that point to the early hours of April 1^st 2012 every step I ran was in pursuit of that objective. Of being the hero I had been in awe of in 2006.

I completed the round at 0536 on 1^st April 2012 in a time of 23:36, not quick, but I never had ambition to run a quick BG, just to get round in less than the allotted 24 hours. You can read about my round in my previous post.

I now have no ambition. No goals. No reason to run?

Next weekend I have no plans. I don't have to go out and run all day. I might climb if the weather is good. I might run if I fancy it, but I don't have to. I haven't had a weekend like that for over a year. What am I to do with my time if I don't have goals?

Option A – construct some goals.

I would like to finish in the top 10 of an English Fell Running Championships race next year.

There. That's a goal and it is a SMART goal – my performance manager at work will be pleased. Problem is that I have a whole year to get quick enough for that, no need to get quick now. Perhaps a more important point is that this is a constructed goal, something I have said just for the sake of something to say, thinking that if I say it out loud it might become true. I know that I wouldn't be satisfied having got into the top 10. I would be pissed off that I wasn't in the top 5. So what's the point?

Option B – financially commit to some goals.

Enter a couple of mountain marathons, that sort of thing. I have bought a Terra Nova tent which will never see active service outside of a MM, so I had better get myself in gear and enter one. Problem here is that I entered and enjoyed mountain marathons before I was fit, so what's the point in slogging myself in training up loads of hills to finish a few places higher. It's not achievable for me to win these events at the moment so why should I try?

Option C – drift.

Get fat, get slow, go out for a run when I fancy it, do a few races and get beaten by people whom I used to beat, that might get me going again. Only one way to find out. Now, where's the remote control.....

Hold on a second. Perhaps this is all rubbish, a self constructed problem put together for the purposes of filling a bit of web space, but I was asked to write something and these were the first words that came out.

One thing I have neglected to mention thus far, is that in July I have entered as a team of three to run the Lakeland 100 race. This is something i'm not sure how I feel about at the moment, being awake for 24 hours was hard and running 100 miles will take longer than that. I'm not sure I want to do it. But I have committed to my team members to run it, and as a team we have discussed the goal of being the quickest team of 3 around the course so I will do my training and I will be fit to complete the race this July.

I honestly wasn't sure how that previous paragraph was going to end when I started it. I hesitated for a good few minutes before starting to write it, nervous of what the ending would be. Nervous of letting down my team mates.

It helps me to discuss things, even if it is with myself. Now, where did I leave my fell shoes!

Report of Bob Graham Round

Report of Andy Blackett's Bob Graham Round, Saturday 31^st March 2012

After failing to get round the BG last year I was very keen that the outcome would be different this time. All the analysis of last years failure came down to a few things to do differently this time which I discussed in my first blog post http://tickinghills.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/getting-my-head-in-shape.html. It basically boiled down to more 8+ hour training days, setting off in the morning, using pain killers and avoiding caffeine.

3 weeks ago I saw that a good area of high pressure was developing on the weather forecast and this was enough to spur me into action, I felt strong but had a few niggling injuries which I feared would get worse with more prolonged training so I wanted to go for a round at the first available good weather window. I contacted some people who I consider reliable enough and foolhardy enough to come out for a leg or 2 of support and when I had a team, I set the date of Saturday 31^st March and the start time of 6am. This was all arranged with the proviso that it would be called off if the weather was windy or rainy.

The start time of 6am clockwise raised a few eyebrows as everyone else going clockwise chooses to go between 7pm and 3am. Looking back on the day it was the right time for me to start. I got tired at about 2am, so much so that I was falling asleep on my feet. Had I started between 7pm and 3am I wouldn't have coped with the lack of sleep and wouldn't have got round. The main problem with a 6am start c/w at this time of year is that L4 is navigated in the dark, I had an incredible team for L4 of Jim Mann and Simon Noble in whom I had confidence they could find the right lines through the rocky ground at night, so I set the start time for 6am.

L1

Dave Swift and my wife, Fiona Blackett were my support crew for L1 both along to carry and banter. I can't remember ever running in the Lakes in more perfect conditions, blue sky and little wind made for a perfect start to the day. 2 minutes up on the 22hr schedule on Skiddaw and a further few minutes on Great Calva and Blencathra got us into Threlkeld 10 minutes up on my 22hr schedule.

L2

Running into Threlkeld and seeing a team of 6 support runners rather took me by surprise. I hope I wasn't rude when I asked “was I expecting you all?”. As it turned out it was just a miscommunication that led to there being 6 runners rather than 4 and, as soon as I had checked logistics wouldn't be a problem for my road crew I was happy to have them all along.

The chat was good, and I don't think I will ever think of the tv show Gladiators without also thinking of all 7 of us climbing the “travellator of scree” to the top of Fairfield, while following a line which I included just for my own amusement. The clag came down, as forecast from Great Dodd to Dollywaggon but nav was never a problem and spirits remained high as we took a few minutes out of the schedule here and there to leave us jogging into Dunmail Raise 25 minutes up.

L3

Duncan Archer joind me for L3 with Andy Kirkup, Martin and Brad along for the extra miles after L2. In perfect conditions Duncan delivered a flawless support leg. He took me on good lines, fed me when I needed it rather than when I wanted it, kept an eye on the schedule and carried my clobber. We lost a few minutes on Calf Crag, gained a few here and there, lost 5 at Esk Hause eating a picnic brought up by Dom, who had walked all the way up just to deliver a bit of food and moral support – top effort Dom. We lost another 5 on Scafell, taking the Climbers East Wall traverse rather than Broad Stand bringing us down to Wasdale after the fantastic scree run descent 15 minutes up.

L4

L4 started well gaining 5 minutes on the climb of Yewbarrow as the dusk turned to dark, after that “not so well” would be my appraisal. I couldn't get going on the descents and I slowed to an almost halt on the climbs. I honestly didn't realise it was possible to move that slowly through the hills. My L4 team of Jim Mann and Simon Noble did a fantastic job with Jim concentrating on getting some food down my neck, which I really didn't want at this stage, and Simon going ahead to check we were on the right line and light the way. I wasn't in a happy place as I realised that if things didn't pick up there was no way I was going to make it back to Keswick in 24 hours. Jim, Simon and later Dave Swift all attempted to convince me that all I had to do was keep moving, but there seemed a slim chance of managing that for the next 5 hours given the way I was feeling.

My knees were sore and every muscle in my legs screamed at me on each step. I ate energy gels fairly frequently but didn't eat much else, preferring the risky strategy of just gels to the certainty of throwing my guts up and the subsequent time delays. Clive King met us just before Great Gable which provided a psychological boost for the climb and Dave Swift met us at the top of Gable to join us for the descent. I should take this opportunity to apologise to Dave for throwing away a Torque Bar in disgust at my inability to eat it and it hitting Dave square in the chest – sorry. A Torque Bar is quite a dense food and it must have given Dave a hell of a fright to be hit by one in the middle of the night on the ascent of Green Gable.

A quick stop to vomit on the climb of Green Gable, an experiment with jogging backwards on the way to Brandreth and the agonisingly slow descent to Honister and L4 was over. Now 55 minutes down on the 22 hour schedule I had 4:05 to get to Keswick. In any normal circumstances it would have been in the bank, but I didn't feel in the bank yet.

I met Fiona on the way into the car park and had a quick cry and told her how much I was suffering, looking back it wasn't the pain, but the knowledge that nearly 2 years of training would have been wasted if I wasn't able to find enough energy to get to Keswick in the next 4 hours. I had convinced myself that regardless of the outcome I wasn't coming back for another go, so it was now or never.

L5

I didn't stop at Honister and set off with a pan of pasta in my hand (my first proper food since Wasdale) with Clive King and Patrick Bonnett, leading the way with Fiona along to retrieve the pan and change me into my down jacket as I went.

I managed to maintain a steady pace on the climb only loosing another 15 minutes on the 24 hour schedule – that should just get me there so long as I can keep moving on the road. Somewhere on the climb of Hindscarth, Clive managed to convince me to take some more pain killers and an energy gel, loosing another 6 minutes to the 24 hour schedule wasn't a problem - so long as I could keep moving on the road! Then on the descent of Hindscarth something magic happened in my legs and I got going again – Clive is taking full credit for this, and I am in no position to argue. I climbed Robinson (the final hill) on the 24 hour schedule, a minor miracle given the previous 6 hours of constant losses! On the final slopes I was falling asleep closing my eyes, wobbling and then righting myself again before I hit the floor. To remedy this I started running hard up the climb to get my heart going and hopefully prevent me falling asleep. Checking my watch I was going at 3Mph, which doesn't sound much, but on the steepest part of the climb of hill 42 it had the desired effect.

150 minutes to get back to Keswick should be easy given the 100 minutes allowed on the 24 hour schedule and I briefly toyed with the idea of trying to run 10 minute miles which would give me a time of under 23 hours. This plan fell apart when I realised I couldn't hit 10 minute mile pace flat out, so I dropped to a walk and jog as I was able in order to get it finished as soon as possible with no time in mind other than being finished by 6am.

Fiona joined us at Little Town Church for the last 5 miles, which was very much appreciated. I kept drifting in and out of semi-sleep and wobbling all over the road, again fearful that I would hit the deck and damage myself I started jumping around, shouting, making silly noises and generally doing whatever I could to keep myself awake, it was a real battle. I think at some points my actions made it look like I was having a full scale physical and mental breakdown, but it did the job. Dad joined us at Portinscale – full credit to Fiona and Dad for running the last section after a full day of road support - an unbelievable effort from them both.

Turn right at Portinscale. 1 mile to go. A few silent tears when I finally allowed myself to acknowledge that this was going to happen. Avoid running into the lamp posts. Hand in hand with Fiona and bang on the doors of the Moot Hall. 23 hours and 36 minutes.

Thanks and final thoughts.

To all my support runners – Dave, Fiona, Martin, Andy, Brad, Helen, Martin, Roger, Duncan, Jim, Simon, Patrick and Clive. Huge thanks to you all. Special thanks to Dave and Clive who went above and beyond what I had asked by meeting me on L4 as well as running a leg. Apologies and special thanks to Patrick, Clive, Jim and Simon who had to deal with me in my “grumpy teenager” mode on L4 and L5. I owe you all one, please get in touch when you need me for any future supports.

Many thanks to Dom, for supplying us with a picnic at Esk Hause.

And to Fiona and Chris, for doing my road support and running the final sections with me. It takes a special person to drive round the Lake District all day and night purely for my benefit. I couldn't have done it without you.

The reason I started running 18 months ago, was because I wanted to do the Bob Graham Round. It has been one hell of a journey and along the way I have found that I am a pretty decent fell runner on the short races and that i'm not cut out for 24 hour challenges! I have met dozens of people, many of whom seem to have a life which revolves around these 42 lakeland hills and some of whom I now class as my closest friends. I have got no idea what I am going to do next, but i'm sure I will have a lot of fun finding out.

Andy Blackett 01/04/2012

Times and schedule is here -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqoVmiNFt7fmdGM3U190WmZvZWNBRnkxTHRnTjQ5elE

I have the GPX tracks of my route, contact me @andyblackett on twitter if you want them.

Great Calva, Dave Swift and Fiona Blackett - perfect conditions for L1

Descending Great Calva

Top of Blencathra

Descending from Blencathra via Doddick Fell Route

Following Fiona down Doddick Fell descent

Enjoying breakfast at Threlkeld

Enjoying the run over the Dodds

Descending Fairfield

The climb of Steel Fell

Picnic at Esk Hause

Top of hill 42 - Robinson