The fell running section
of Preston Harriers. Some of our fell runners also do cross country and road
running, but fell running is our main activity. Our junior fell runners are in a
keen fell running section, you can read about them in juniorfellblog
below. Preston Harriers running club was
established in 1881. Mick McLoughlin our chairman of fellblog recently did
the Bob Graham Round. Fell Runners are not as much bothered about PB's as they
are about 3B's ( a local brewery).
Preston
Harriers Fell Section
:- Fellblog
KIMM
2
Reports First one
from Mick Mac. Second one from Nasher.
29th
– 30th October,
Karrimor
Two
Day
Mountain
Marathon
, Eastern Lakes.
Long
Score. 7hrs Day One, 6hrs Day Two.
Day One
started from
Park
Foot
Caravan
Park
near
Pooley
Bridge
, the whole place buzzing with competitors and organisers. There were 1634 pairs
on the start list, which included 10 Harriers. At
8.40am
Pete and I started, collected our maps and headed on to the fells. The forecast
was for heavy showers but mild and very wet under foot. As this was my first
KIMM I tucked in behind Pete and he did all the navigating.
(Blogger
says you can see Mick tucked in behind Pete if you go to http://www.sleepmonsters.com/photoshop.php?event_id=2024&gallery_id=293&lower=80&photo_id=17
3rd down on the right, and then by himself, 4th down on the left).
It
wasn’t long before we were drenched as we collected points on the way to
Howtown, then into Martindale and on towards High Street. All the controls were
cannily tucked away and hard to see until you were almost on top of them but we
were moving o.k. as we zigzagged across the hills meeting other runners going in
all directions. The steep climbs and descents were tiring as we reached High
Street which was completely covered in low cloud. We dropped down to a control
at Small Water then back on to the tops via
Gatesgarth
Pass and as our time was running out we headed towards the overnight camp site
hoping to get two more controls. Here we made our only mistake as we missed 30
points and couldn’t go back because of the time but got the last control
before a mad ½ mile dash down the road to the finish to finish day one with
seven minutes to spare, we had collected 240 points.
We then
pitched our tent and changed into dry clothes and got every thing ready for the
overnight camp, we were about 1½ miles south of Shap at Coppers Green. Later
Steve and Gordon came in and set up camp next to us. By
5pm
we were tucked into our sleeping bags had a few hours to get rid of the cramp
in our legs and thaw out our feet before we had supper and retired for the
night. We didn’t get much sleep as a storm raged all night with high winds and
torrential rain but we stayed dry and warm in our little tent. As the storm
raged outside the wind howled in Steve and Gordon’s tent and Steve had to come
up for air several timed throughout the night, not many ventured to the loo
during the night.
The
loudspeaker woke us at
6.05am
to say that the Elite class were to follow the bad weather course; it didn’t
bode well for the rest of us. Thankfully it stayed dry as we packed the gear
away ready for day two. We saw Steve and Gordon off and went to the start which
was
9.22am
. As we started the heavens open and soaked us as we headed into a very strong
head wind, the terrain was completely waterlogged. Because of the weather we
decided to keep off the tops and stay low and sheltered. After locating the
first few controls we headed towards Haweswater dam and on to Brampton Common
where the weather brightened up into a pleasant afternoon. We had a better
second day and enjoyed running around finding the controls. Finally, like bees
returning to the hive, runners began congregating on the last descent towards
the finish, we had collected 260 points giving us a grand total of 500 over both
days. It was a great event well organised and I will be doing it next year now I
know the routine thanks to Pete, his navigating skills and all his gear.
Results:
Long
Score. 1st
Paul & Brendan
Mackrill
560 + 422 = 982 points.
81st Pete
Carter & Michael Mcloughlin 240
+ 260 = 500 pts.
90th John
Hampton & Alan Metcalf
288 + 190 = 478 pts.
107th Steve Bamber & Gordon Thompson 210
+ 220 = 430pts.
Dnf Dave
Nicholson & Paul Garner.
Note,
the winners got more points in one day than we got over two days!
220
completed, 31 incomplete.
B
Class. 1st
Robert Little & Chris Sellens
9:39:16
.
47th Rowena Browne &
Karen Nash
13:26:21.
85th Ken Taylor & Alan Appleby 15:
00:11
.
114
completed, 134 incomplete.
Mick.
Second
Report
KIMM report Course
B
I was running this with an orienteering friend- we had done
the Saunders MM in the summer and fancied a further challenge. For us it started
at her home in
Lancaster
on Friday night with a massive pasta meal and then a drive to a wet and windy
Pooley
Bridge
. The campsite was so waterlogged and muddy we wished we’d stayed in
Lancaster
, but a huge floodlight beamed a welcome and we found friends to chat with in
the ‘shop’ and at registration. We actually got a very good nights sleep but
were up early to make last minute changes to our gear back in the car park. It
was dry and mild but obviously going to be very wet underfoot. We set off in
high spirits and broad smiles at the length of the queues for all the mens loos!
(Blogger
says you can see Karen & Rowena if you go to to
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/photoshop.php?event_id=2024&gallery_id=293&lower=40&photo_id=17
Third down on left, they look a lot happier than Pete
& Mick!)
It took a while to get into the scale of the map ( we are
used to 1:10,000 or 1:15,000) and it would be embarrassing as orienteers to get
lost, so we made a cautious start. The descent on the way to control 2 confirmed
my choice of studded O shoes – I was flying. That or the fell races have
improved my pretty poor descending. The next leg gave several route choices and
we were disappointed to see that the best option looked to be along the road-
not what you want with metal studs. Still we were going strong and knew we had
overtaken at least 3 pairs at this stage. Before long we were on familiar
orienteering ground up near Angle Tarn and then another long drop to Hayeswater
and Hartsop. A bit of indecision here resulted in a compromise and a struggle
through some bracken but we were soon plodding up Threshthwaite Cove towards
Thornthwaite Beacon. This was the only time I felt cold- it was windy and when
we reached the top it was in low cloud. The ups and downs now became relentless
as we shot down to a sheepfold in Kentmere before being sent up over eastern
side of the horseshoe and then back down to the old mine workings and across
into Mosedale. Here we probably made our biggest mistake. Masses of runners
seemed to be converging, the end was in sight ( well nearly), we were tired and
perhaps hungry. We made a poor route choice, followed on the next leg by a
genuine error. We sorted it out but had lost time and learned some lessons. It
was a relief to see the cement towers of Shap and a field of tiny tents.
The camp was drier and less muddy than the previous night
but very windy with heavy showers. Once the tent was up we didn’t venture far.
We decided we need to invest in a new tent but were inventive with the elastics
off our sacs and made guys which did the job. Once our cramp had subsided we
were cozy. Infact my new sleeping bag was so cozy I had to strip off altogether.
We were woken on day 2by a loud speaker at 6.05. Thanks.
There were rumours of bad weather courses and a mass start so we got up quick.
Sadly the mass start was for those who had come in very late the night before
not us, but it did give us time to stretch our legs and chat to friends. I even
managed to beg some paracetamol to banish a cold I had been fending off for over
a week. By 9.18 we were off and it was raining. The aptly named Wet Sleddale was
waterlogged and we running into a headwind. This took its toll and leg 3 was
slow. Then with Haweswater in sight the weather improved and we started to make
up some time. The rest of the day seemed easier to me with less demanding climbs
although there were deep streams to cross. I also could smell the finish. We
even managed a sprint finish- I was elated and my partner was exhausted.
Overall we were pleased. It was our first KIMM and only our
second MM together. We were third ladies on the B, and both the 1st
and 2nd teams were considerably younger than us. Day one took 8 hours
18 and day 2 5hours 8- only 45 mins behind the winning ladies overall. We
learned a great deal and are already planning changes for next time. Did we
enjoy it? Oh Yes. Will we do it again? I do hope so.
Karen Nash
Thanks Karen for telling me how to find the pictures.
Karen here is a picture I took of some loos some time ago!
(Broad smiles I hope).
click
on the queue to make it larger!
www.sleepmonsters.com
Back
to Fellblog
Preston
Harriers Fell Section
:- FELLBLOG
is a proud member of the famous Preston Harriers Athletic Club. Our
athletic club has been around for well over a hundred years. We like to call it
famous because it is what Brendan Foster calls us on BBC athletic programmes. We
are well represented in Track & Field presently by our pride & joy,
Helen Clitheroe. We also have some accomplished road runners. Our Fell
runners, for which this site is set up, are a mixed bunch of beer drinkers. We
do run lots of races, as can be seen in the site itself. We have a world record
holder Pete Benson, you can read about his feat inside. We are pleased that you
have visited our website, which of course is mainly about fell running. If you
want to see more about the club, you can visit our main site. Click
here
