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Race Report: Lakes in a Day

At the Christmas party 2023 we suggested to Armando that we ought to do this race and he took out
his phone and entered there and then. No going back then.
Dave Armando and I travelled up on Friday and parked the van on Cartmel racecourse registered and
took a little sustenance before retiring with an alarm call set for 4:30am. The buses leave at 5:45 for
the 2 hour trip up North to Caldbeck. It started to rain as we disembarked but it wasn’t bad so Dave
and I decided on shorts but with the waterproof top. At 8 we start and head out onto the northern
moors for the 50 mile North to South route. The route initially is free choice but generally everyone
processes in line over High Pike until the mandatory location at the river crossing. This was
surprisingly tame this year and the support from the marshals seemed overkill, the river was a lot
deeper and faster two years ago

Race Report: Lakes in a Day

Doug Alsop

17 October 2024

Link for further info

After the river comes the long slog up Blencathra. If the water wasn’t in the river it certainly was on
the mountainside. The majority of the path is trudging through Sphagnum moss which gives way just
enough for the water to be squeezed out and cover your shoe. The last third is rocky scree and
eventually the top comes into view. One of the safety crew from Nav4 Adventure was there asking
us to put away our poles before getting to the exposed summit. At the top Blencathra shows its
thorny side. The ground drops away sharply down a number of steep ridges and Threlkeld village can
be seen what almost seems vertically down. To the left is Sharp Edge; straight ahead is Hall’s Fell
ridge, the route we are taking. To the right is Blease Fell which is a permitted alternative route for
those who have issues with Hall’s Fell. Looking down Hall’s fell there is a stream of competitors
edging slowly down the rocky slopes. The Red Anoraks of the Nav4 Adventure safety crew can be
seen giving route advice and assistance at various critical points. This part of the event is
exhilarating, eventually you can find paths that you can walk/run on and you accelerate down the
mountain. For those of us who don’t have the opportunity to train in mountains this sustained
descent batters the legs unmercifully and they are quite wobbly as you near the bottom but you are
back on regular footpaths and fields into the first checkpoint after 11.2 miles. This had taken us four
hours. The food and support in all the checkpoints is brilliant.
It started to rain in earnest in Threlkeld and our next peak of Clough Head was in cloud. Luckily this
prompted Dave and I put on our waterproof bottoms, Armando was already dressed. It is another
long slog up Clough Head but the rain abated and the wind increased. We were aware of some
competitors turning back even at this early stage but we pushed on. The wind was a two edged
sword, it drove away the rain and permitted us to get the stunning views but it gained in strength
the higher we got. Having climbed Clough Head the route takes us along an undulating ridge
gradually gaining height to Helvellyn summit. The wind here was extremely strong and gusting as it
rose up from the valley below. There were times when it wasn’t possible to make forward
movement and you had to stand with both feet and poles planted to stop being blown over. There
was a constant strong wind coming from our right and it stretched the material of my hood tightly
across my ear lope. Then it started to Hail and this was coming in horizontally. The hailstones hitting
this drum skin over my ear amplified the sound to levels of gunshot. Whilst we had clear views it was
conducive to lingering to enjoy them, heads down we pushed on over Helvellyn and then a drop
down to Grisedale Tarn. This gave us a little respite from the wind but we could see our next target
the 3000ft of Fairfield. This is quite a steep ascent as the path zig zags up to the top. After Fairfield
there is a long exposed ridge descent down towards Ambleside. This is awkward terrain with scree
and boulder fields and the light was now fading. We were aware that we were much later at this
point of the route than two years ago and it meant we had to do a lot of the descent out of the
mountain with our head torches on. There is one last sting in the tail down this path as it suddenly
comes to an 8 foot sheer drop. Dave and I knew there was a slightly easier drop just to our left and
we were able to help and guide a few runners to safely negotiate this challenge. Eventually the
mountain path eases and the route becomes a vehicle track then a road and we have done the
second leg of 17.8 miles into Ambleside. We lean that many competitors have decided either to quit
here of have been timed out at Grisedale tarn. Others had escaped off the ridge down to the road
and caught the bus. We subsequently learned that there were two Mountain Rescue call outs for
competitors with Hypothermia on the ridge.
We recuperated at the excellent feed station and then set off for the easier second half. I had very
little energy left and was unable to run much even though the route was very safe. WE stayed
together and Dave and Armando put up with my moaning. We have to remember we don’t have any
significant hills in Cornwall but the majority of climbs in the second half are higher than anything we
have down here. Now the ground was muddy, very muddy and it was a very long slippery slog to the
final checkpoint Finsthwaite. I had a memory from two years ago of a climb just before this where
my whole vocabulary or expletives was exercised This year I managed to find a few more and I swear
this climb is actually steeper than anything encountered in the first half. However we made it to the
checkpoint where they looked after us royally.
As we left the checkpoint about 3:00am I made a schoolboy error. Armando had to stop to replace
some batteries and Dave was helping, as I was going slowly I suggested I push on and they could
catch me up. I came to gate into the forest with an arrow pointing straight on down a large track so
on I went downhill. There were no obvious turnings and hence no arrows until at the bottom of the
hill there were turnings but no arrows. I then had to retrace my tracks back up the hill knowing that I
had missed a turn and that Dave and Armando were ahead of me moving quicker to catch me. I
eventually found the arrow I had missed but had to take off mittens and gloves to try to phone
them. Luckily Armando picked up the call and they had to wait for me to catch them up. All this cost
us about 20 minutes and further depleted my very low energy resource. So together again we
pushed on but I was really struggling on any tricky ground or slight incline but the boys put up with
my howling and we finished a 6:10 am I was the last to finish but there were many who didn’t. With
50 miles and 14000ft of ascent It is a truly brilliant event well organised and supported but those
who are able to regularly train in the mountains have a distinct advantage over us who have just the
moors and the coast path

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