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    Anniversary Waltz 2008 

Pictures & comments from Steve Jackson.    Robyn's Report below....

Roger coming over top of Dale Head (no, he didn`t take the bike up).

Robyn on Dale Head (it was very windy)

Newlands Valley from Dale Head (one of my most favourite Lakeland views!)

Hindscarth and Dale Head column from Dale Head

Anniversary Waltz

Saturday 19th April

11.5 miles

3600 ft ascent

I’ve supported Roger on Anniversary Waltz a couple of times, but never actually done it myself for one or other reason. I have always been impressed by the spread of cakes, beer and tea that the organisers put on afterwards, but never felt entitled to take part in it, not having sweated over that part of the fell before. So this was my chance to tuck in.

The weather looked promising – windy, but not too wet and only slightly cold. After a hearty breakfast of oats and fresh strong coffee (it’s supposed to boost endurance), we set off up the M6. The gap between breakfast and arriving at Newlands where the race starts, was quite long and I quietly munched my way through a packet of dried apricots while we listened to Saturday Live and Excess Baggage on Radio 4 (except around the area of Tebay, which is haunted, and you can’t receive any radio signal, and I go all catatonic when passing those looming fells for some reason I try not remember).

Anyway, by the time we got to Newlands, the apricots had started to take their ill effect and I felt like I was going into contractions, about to give birth to an apricot orchard. But, as they had already laid out the goodies for the post race feast, there was no way I was not going to run.

The run in to Robinson was along a road which undulated past a church and graveyard towards the foot of the fells. I was seriously thinking of pulling out at this stage – I am slow on the flat, slower on uphills and the turbo boost the apricots were trying to provide was proving embarrassing! The climb up Robinsons was tricky, as besides being up hill, it contained a route choice, my worst fear, making navigational decisions – right: up the step side and then following the skyline; or left: involving a less steep ascent with a short scramble to the summit. I opted for left, which got me to the same place as the people who had gone right (which means left must be faster, as I am useless at up hills and I would otherwise have been miles behind my “peers”).

Before setting off, Roger had told me that once up Robinson, the worst was over. He was right (don’t tell him though; I like to pretend I am the only one who is ever right). From here, there was a Sound of Music like grassy downhill, which meant I could catch a number of places – but after a packet full of apricots, the only other similarity to the classical musical was how I should solve a problem like my rear.

From here we set up Hindscarth, Dale Head, High Spy and Catbells, which all looked like Catbells to me – so every time I started to ascend I thought I was going up the last hill. This was quite useful as a race technique, as it meant that I tried a bit harder, thinking that I only had the stunning down hill left.

When I finally made it up the real Catbells, the apricots had died down, and I could relax and leg it on the final descent, which must be one of the all time best spots to run down hill.

Despite having really enjoyed the race, I couldn’t partake in the spread at the end, as my poor stomach was not ready to face any solids. I even declined the free beer, which is always a sign that something must be wrong. Now I’ll have to the race again, as I still haven’t sampled those dark chocolate Tiffin’s which have been tempting me for the past couple of years.

Thanks Robyn for this uplifting rear guard action report. For the uncertain or those not into famous musicals, it was the Sound of Music that brought us the song "How do you solve a problem like Maria". Thank goodness we don't have Julie Andrews in our gang.....

Early showing of Julie Andrews in Sound of Music. The hills really are alive with the sound of music.

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.