Preston Harriers Fell Section :- fellblog

• Home

 Coniston 2008 

Report from Robyn

Coniston

Saturday 3rd May 20089 Miles3500 ft ascentI like Coniston Old Man – I like it so much in fact, that last year I went the extra miles to lead a small group of fell runners off course during the Three Shires race to pay it a little visit. They didn’t seem very impressed, the heathen! I couldn’t wait to visit again, so held back on the beer on Friday, and watched Have I Got News for You with a pint of orange squash in anticipation of the next day's visit. The weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend had been a bit on the grey and wet side - this had a pleasant affect on traffic and we managed a clear run all the way from Preston to Coniston in glorious sunshine, with John G. and Roger bemoaning the heat while I sat in the back with my down jacket on, trying to counteract the freezing air-conditioning, which I am sure they aimed in my direction. On arriving at the race start, we met up with Mark Birbeck and his lovely missus, Kath. Mark is an awesome climber on the hills, so I hoped that if I could keep him in sight, I might be able to catch him on the downs. Mark gave us reason to smile yet again, when looking up the flank of Wetherlam, he said “that looks steep, but at least it isn’t so long”... hee hee, we kept quiet and shared knowing glances about it only being the first section of an ugly and very long climb. But then again, ignorance is bliss and we would all too soon be in pain. After we set off up Wetherlam, I tried a new little route, skirting around the left side of Wetherlam before tackling the ascent. I saw Mark do the same thing, and as long as I could see him, I was happy. The top of Wetherlam was much warmer and drier than last year  and like Anniversary Waltz, I think the worst bit is over after the first ascent. For the rest of the race, my goal was to find someone in a Keswick or Ambleside vest who knew all the best routes and haul in young Mark on the downs. Selwyn from Ambleside obliged, and I followed him up Swirl How (a steep and rocky ascent) and down its rocky path on the other side. Going up Coniston Old Man was the next ascent and I wanted to get going, so followed advice to keep right off the top of the summit to avoid having to pick my way down the slate path... I think I might have gone a bit too far right, leading some more runners on a trail over huge boulders that we had to gingerly walk our way down. When I finally got to the grassy slopes that had a footpath leading to the slate path, Selwyn was in front of me, along with a few other runners that I had overtaken earlier on. But, I could see Mark – he had to stop and remove 50p out of his shoe...

Now, the descent off Old Man is fantastic, but at the end, there is a road, so I usually lose any advantage where the footing is even and the gradient less steep, so I had to bank in all my energy and try and put as much distance before getting to the track where I knew I would be overtaken. However, last year when I did this, I ended up coming a cropper and wreaking the vengeance of a vindictive St John’s Ambulance person wielding a bottle of stinging stuff, but I didn’t want Mark to catch me, so I threw caution to the wind, stayed on my feet and gained the edge, making it 2 to me and 1 to Mark (that is, until Pen-y-Ghent, where I am sure that he will do everything to make it 2 all).

At the start

They're away up the fell

The band of brothers without aircon.

Robyn finishes no need for the St John’s Ambulance person this year.

Lots of fell runners break away from their original running clubs, mainly because they have no interest in track & field, fell running being their main interest. The fell running section of our club decided to have their own website, probably for the same reason. Now a V70, George Arnold is our oldest active fell runner. There are a few more of us close behind! One of our top female road runners, whilst marshalling recently at Chipping Show Fell Race commented on just how friendly fell runners are.