Pushed to the limit

Saturday's road outing was a case where I shouldn't have counted my chickens... When EtU joined me I felt that following on from his disappointment at the Langdale Horseshoe race I would be in for an easier time than TA had given me on the previous two Saturdays. Alas, it was not to be as the early pace was lively and I began to regret mention of a time-trial head to head up to Hordern Stoop.

On an initial short lap of the Anglezarke reservoir (the very old Jubilee route in reverse) we briefly picked up the company of Derek Kay who was out for a shortish run. He left us just after the Millstone and that left just the two of us to enjoy a brisk pace in almost perfect conditions.

By the Black Dog I was feeling decidedly tired and as we tackled the initial climb by the church EtU was edging ahead and would have left me in his wake were it not for the sibling rivalry that found me an extra gear. I made it to the top in a 'season's best' of 12mins 16 secs with EtU not far behind.

A recovery run from the top had us back at the Green where we parted company, EtU returning to the Lower Barn and myself setting off on a repeat of the opening lap round Anglezarke. The body was not responding to instructions, however, and the lap was cut short by a return along the Street. Distance was 21.66 miles in 3hrs 50mins, averaging 10mins 38 secs per mile. Climbing was 2544ft.

Nostalgia corner

In response to JtE's question regarding the photo of himself, his brother Edwin and yours truly, the occasion was my Bob Graham run on 25/26 May 1996. The attempt started at 9 am on the Saturday and the photo was taken just before 7 40 the following morning after a storming dash down from Skiddaw. Those supporters who had assembled in Fitz Park to run in with us were a little surprised by the pace and as I crossed the finishing line to touch the Moot Hall we had left most of the support behind, leaving only a few bemused early morning holidaymakers wondering what was going on.

It was a great 22-plus hours with a lot of great friends. I don't know who took the photo.