Last 4 Wainwrights

The forecast for Sunday is not good, so I've decided to cancel the trip to claim my last 4 Wainwrights this weekend.

I intend to complete by the end of the year, so if we enter a period of settled weather which means I can give sufficient notice for an alternative date, then I'll post on the blog. Otherwise I may have to take a very short notice decision to take advantage of any reasonable weather.

TF

Completing My Wainwrights

I have 4 final summits to tick off for my first completion.

EtU and TLoB expressed an interest in seeing me safely round these. They've been keen participants over the last couple of months on some of my other trips and felt a 'group' outing should be attempted to celebrate the occasion.

The last 4 summits are Dodd, Ullock Pike, Long Side and Carl Side.

We have provisionally suggested a date of Sunday 22nd October. Meeting in Keswick. Start time between 9-10am.

If you're interested to come along and join in then put the date in your diary. Lift-sharing and other details will be firmed up nearer the time. Given the exposed nature of the ridge we will be a little weather dependent but will see how things go.

TF

Quarterly do - Equinox

I know that EtU is unavailable until well into October but the Equinox does fall around Sept 22nd. As my better half has taken the evening off from Guide Dogs we shall be going out to celebrate a non-signifiant birthday on Friday 22nd. We are happy to go the the Black Horse at Limbrick. If any others would like to join us, it will be wonderful. If the numbers need us to book some tables, we can do so. We could go somewhere else but have always enjoyed the Black Horse. I'll also email as the blog is not as frequently used as once upon a time.
BTW, is anyone, else apart from TM and I, taking part in the Red Rose 50 this coming Saturday?

Another day in the Lakes

The TF has almost finished her Wainwrights and following last month's very successful outing to the Far Eastern fells, she decided to arrange another trip. There were two options, four peaks in the Northern fells if the weather was good, or six in the Western fells if it wasn't.
The forecast was dire and the whole trip was in doubt until late Monday when it was decided to risk the Western option and so I picked EtU up at our Jn 36 rendezvous, and we met up with the TF in Keswick about an hour later. Last month we travelled by boat to the start of our run, this time it was by bus, which I would highly recommend; scenic and relaxing.
We arrived in Buttermere and set off round Crummock Water in "that rain what gets you wet." Conditions underfoot were no better and within half a mile we had all given up trying to avoid the wet sections as we were already soaked. A long and slightly tedious slog up to Floutern Pass ( which can only be described as a morass) was followed by an enjoyable climb to Hen Comb, our first summit. We then had to find our way in very poor visibility to Gavel Fell and were temporarily confused by a small hill called Floutern Cap, but the TF is an excellent navigator and she soon had us on the right path to Gavel Fell, Blake Fell and Burnbank Fell. The weather had improved by this stage but we had fallen behind schedule due to the weather and the conditions underfoot, and a decision was taken to abandon the last two peaks (Fellbarrow and Low Fell) and head for the Kirkstile Inn instead.
A much needed cup of tea and a warm by an open fire revived our spirits and we jogged the last 1.5 miles to catch the bus back to Keswick. The TF is now down to 4 Wainwrights left to climb, and EtU and I are looking forward to joining her when she completes them.
Watch this space.

A Grand Day in the Lakes

Despite living within an hour of the Lakes, I have hardly visited it since my return north, so I was well keen to join the TF on her day out last Friday. EtU kindly picked me up at jn 36 and we met the TF at Glenridding in good time for a cuppa before our boat trip. We had a very pleasant 35min cruise along Ullswater to Howtown before setting of up the steep climb to our first summit of Steel Knotts. There then followed some desperate manoeuvres in the waist high bracken before a steady climb on to Roman road just south of Wether Hill.
At this point the weather was most unAugustlike and we put on our spare clothes for a food break at which both EtU and the TF tried to poison me by eating bananas. Perhaps they were trying to tell me something! A long steady run brought us to High Raise, then Rampsgill Head ( I also "bagged" Kidsty Pike in order to avoid the bananas), then The Knott and Rest Dodd.
At this point EtU confirmed what I have known for years: that he is a very sensible chap indeed. The TF wanted to add The Nab to her Wainwright summits which involved an out and back run of just over 2 miles, but EtU said he would give it a miss. A very wise choice as to say it was damp underfoot would be an understatement. We ran/swam our way to The Nab but avoided the worst of the morass by taking a wider line on our return.
The TF is a superb navigator and found a grassy trod to Angletarn Pikes and down to Boardale Hause where we reunited with EtU before the descent to Patterdale and then along the road to Glenridding for tea and cakes.
Thanks to Julie for the idea and the route planning,  to Ed for the lift, and to both for making it a grand day out.

Summer Outing Friday 4th August

I'm planning a summer outing for Friday 4th August with a little twist.

I have a few Wainwrights to tick off, namely Steel Knotts, Rest Dodd, The Nab and Brock Crags.

The starting point for the route will be at the pier in Glenridding. So perhaps the astute ones will realise that the little twist involves a trip on the Ullswater Steamer across to Howtown where we'll swap water for Fell and return to Glenridding via the aforementioned tops. The boat leaves at 9:45am (first one, cost £6:80) gets in Howtown about 10:20am and the Fell route is approx 12m, ft of climb will depend on route taken, but I'm guessing about 4-5hrs at a steady pace.

The definitive Fell route will depend on weather conditions on the day, ideally taking a higher route via Rampsgill Head and a little out'n'back to nab The Nab. Poorer conditions may dictate a drop to the valley from Steel Knotts. Last 1-2m may have to be along the road unless you fancy a swim back to the pier.

Expressions of interest will do for now, as firm numbers won't be required until nearer the time when weather conditions will be more certain.

EtU and TLoB have shown their hand, with EtU prepared to help with co-ordinating the car-share as I'm planning to stay up for the weekend and will be there early to get the tickets for the boat.

Will keep you posted for any further info
TF

Coope's Dozen Sat 29th July 2017

This year's round will be, as per established tradition, on the Saturday before the Borrowdale race; that is, on Saturday 29th July.

I will publicise this run on other forums, but please also publicise by word of mouth if you get the opportunity.

I have another running commitment later that day, so won't be doing much of the round, but I will be at the start to help get things under way.

There will be a small group of us 'running' a low key Dozen on Saturday 22nd July but the 29th will be the main event. Anyone planning to do both?

Quarterly 'Do'

I have booked us into the Black Horse at Limbrick for a week on Friday - 21st of July.

That is just one calendar month after the due date.

I was asked how many of us will there be, and I had to say there'd be anything between 3 and 20. If you plan to come please let me know, then the pub can fine tune our seating arrangements.

Edinburgh Ironman 70.3 (= Half Ironman)

No, I have not suddenly become a triathlete  but thought it worthy to post up a link to my daughter Diane's posting of the Edinburgh Ironman 70.3 held last weekend. She originally entered the Ironman UK which will be held in these parts the weekend after next but decided that she wouldn't have the time for the training so switched to the easier option of half distance, or so she thought! Read on ...

Saturday 1st July '17

I'm Parkrunning tomorrow, so won't be at the Barn. However, YJ, still on the comeback trail, will be in attendance and glad of company.

email

I have had to change my email, as my old ntlworld address is no longer valid. My new email is


beesley52@outlook.com


My old email ceased to function on June 4th but apparently if you send an email to it, no "failed to deliver" message comes back. So if you have emailed me since June 4th, I wont have got it!

102 or 104 miles of NYM 100 completed

I have finally got round to blogging about this year's LDWA 100 mile challenge.
Staying only 40 minutes away from the start at Malton School meant that it was an easy journey from Diane's in Thirsk with Julie and Diane in support. I took the advice from after last year's 100 to start on the 10am walker's start rather than the later noon start.
The first few checkpoints opened quite early so I had no problem about being slow enough to arrive after they opened. The predictions were for potential thunderstorms but at 10am, the weather was warm enough for T shirt and shorts. I set off amongst the middle of the pack so it took awhile before I could move through the walkers and run a little. I lost some ground as did many others when we all went round three sides of a field to see those behind being directed on the shortest route. My plan was for 4mph average during the day to get to Checkpoint 9 at Botton before darkness.
The first checkpoint at 4.7 miles was not actually a checkpoint but they provided drinks which I made sure I took on whilst many overtook me ignoring what I considered essential. With 64 minutes gone, I was well ahead of schedule. Checkpoint 2 (10.5 miles) at Hovingham arrived after 2hrs 29 and so did Julie and Diane as well as some excellent cakes which of course I enjoyed. The terrain so far had been gentle with the greatest difficulty avoiding too many nettles. A thunderstorm had also come and gone without too much excitement.

CP2 Hovingham just after the thunderstorm 

By now I had moved through the field and had generally found runners of my pace. A slight hiccup near Kirby Moorside cost me a couple of minutes and a check for the route back out of CP3 and I was soon on my way to Hutton-le-Hole, a very picturesque "chocolate box" village at CP4, delayed slightly by a rigorous kit check (there were four disqualifications) and beef stew and Yorkshire pudding.
A quarter way through in 6hrs 29, there was no way I would maintain such a pace, okay only a bit quicker than 4mph, but that wasn't in my plans anyway, sub 36 hours would be brilliant, not sub 26 hours! I now had the advantage of having recce'd the remainder of the route, although I also knew I was entering the hillier half. On through Rosedale (CP5, 32 miles in 8hrs 22) and then a tough 800ft climb up Blakey Ridge to The Lion Inn. I didn't mind the climb then some quicker running on the road before narrow tricky tracks across Wether Hill and then the descent to Botton. Julie and Diane had tried to meet up with me at The Lion Inn but think they had missed me so headed to Botton where they asked how many had come through to find that the leaders had only just arrived. From the event tracker they realised I was in the top 50. They walked back along the route half a mile to meet me. After walking for a short while, they told me to run on to the checkpoint and I found I could run that section at 8 minutes per mile. By Rosedale, the first of the faster runners who started at noon passed me so I was in with a mix of 10am and noon starters. I was in fact 38th to reach Botton (40 miles) at 8:41pm, so 10hrs 41. Food was soup and a salad with tasty local Botton cheese. Headtorch and an extra layer (but still warm enough for shorts) were added at Botton as I headed up the wet gully climb up High Moor and the trickiest descent of the 100 off Raven Hill. I just made it there before dark and then it was a some good running and a muddy climb up to Glaisdale Rigg and on to the first night checkpoint at Glaisdale. This checkpoint was manned by a South Wales LDWA group speaking a foreign language to which my response was"Ey up ar kid, tha knows tha'r'asta spake propa round 'ere. Ast tha got some decent snap?"

A foreign welcome at CP7 Glaisdale

The night section was walked mainly with a couple of fast noon start walkers and good progress was made, eventually reaching the breakfast checkpoint CP10 at Fyling Hall school at 5.17 am (64 miles 19hrs 17). Dawn had come whilst at the previous checkpoint at CP9, Hawsker. The breakfast CP was where I planned to for a full kit change and sort out any blisters. I was not very well organised (I had been awake for nearly 24 hours) so took longer than I would have liked but eventually set off at about 6.50 am. My garmin battery had died before reaching Hawsker so I was not fully aware of the minutes ticking away : I switched to a similar garmin kindly lent by TM for the second "half" of the route.
Pace was initially ok then after about 4 miles had sudden twinges in my right leg and it refused to run so I was reduced to walking. Julie and Diane arrived just as I was leaving CP11 Littlebeck just before 9am with the clear skies and sunshine keeping me warm.

Right leg not great but otherwise feeling fine 68 miles in at Littlebeck

I reached CP12 Goathland Village Hall (74 miles) at 11:08, still over two hours ahead of my "slow" schedule which would see me finish at about 1am. Diane and Julie were there to meet me and Diane was going to "run" the next leg with me. The fact that I was no longer running but walking did not disappoint Diane as she had been laid low with a cold so had done no training for over a week. Stage 13 from Goathland to Snape is quite an interesting leg with initial moorland paths followed by a forest section and then the final mile along the road to Snape. I walked it all the way but pulled back three others who were initially not even in sight. By the time the road to Stape was reached, Diane told me to keep going at my pace which she couldn't manage to stay with!
I had recce'd the section from Stape to Lockton twice so I knew what was to come, two steep climbs totalling 800ft in just 4.8 miles. I tried a bit of running : I was able to run. Caught up with the next one who was also running. I crossed the NYM steam railway line at Levisham station and hit the first hill, speed walked up it : feeling great. Okay with the road descent from Levisham then zoomed up the second hill to Lockton. Back on track. Just three more stages to go. Okay on the next stage, got caught by a couple of 100 regulars who normally run sub 30 hours : stayed with them through Thornton-le-Dale.  We were discussing why we do these events and vowed it would be the last (for one, his 10th). They slipped away from me before the final checkpoint. By the later checkpoints I was finding it difficult to eat. At the final CP I took on just three jelly babies. I did have High 5 in my bladder so kept drinking. I struggled a bit over the final few miles as I my right leg had again rejected the idea of running. However, I made it by dusk, just. 9.48 pm finish for 35 hours 48. Target achieved. The route description stated 102 miles, most people logged 104 miles but it was done.
Great looking meal at the finish : my stomach wanted none of it. I tried to be sick but there was nothing there. I had two rennies and at least felt a bit better but I was not in a good state. I was better than last year where I needed medical attention but unlike the Hobble or the GRP where I finished feeling as lively as when I started, my energies were used up. My legs were in pain as we drove back to Diane's but at least I lost only one night's sleep.
The perfect weekend would have been to spend Monday at Wembley watching the world's greatest football club in the Championship play-off final - you know the team, the one the bookies and pundits said would be relegated but next season will be playing teams that such Man U & Spurs who we used to be able put six past with ease! Somehow with the gulf in riches I think a repeat of those days are highly unlikely. If they can beat the bookies' predictions by one place that will be a bonus. A day at Wembley was not possible but by finishing on Sunday night I was able to watch the match in the local pub during on Monday afternoon.
This was probably my final 100. I had improved my time by ten hours. Of the 492 starters, 152 retired or were disqualified. I had the 116th fastest time. The fastest time was 22:41. Maybe I could have completed in 30 hours (a bloke who takes the same time as me on the Hobble did 30hrs 22, for 30th fastest) but it takes so much out of me on the second day, which is down to the ability to eat.
I shall do the Red Rose 50 (September 16th) but then I will stick to no longer than the Hobble.
Full results here.

She's in for the Long Haul

Nic'O and I had arranged to meet at Hordern Stoops this morning and very shortly after we had arrived, this lady appeared from the direction of the trig point:- http://breatheunity.com/unity-zone/kate-driskell-lands-end-john-ogroats/

We had a brief chat and within a couple of minutes she had set off for Spitlers Edge.

Many thanks Nicole, for tracing her blog. She seemed to be in good condition both physically and in spirit.

I had asked her how long she was expecting her shoes to last, and she explained that she had posted a pair forward, and would be donning them in just a few days. Apart from the expected shoes, she was entirely self contained and unsupported. She went on to say that in view of Tuesday's adverse weather forecast, she had last night eschewed canvas and stayed in the Holiday Inn - I bet she lingered in the bath.

Very best wishes, Kate, we hope you stay injury free and enjoy the next 500 miles.

Back on the road

A small step for mankind, a huge step forward for myself.  I finally go back to running today (yes in all this heat), not very far but definitely a start.  Encouraged by this I shall be stepping up my Saturday walk from the Lower Barn on Saturday and will hopefully be able to run part of it.  If anyone is planning a UTUP  I will be there at 8.30 just to be sociable and say hello but if there are no indications  I will start at a time to suit myself.

Thanks to all who have expressed concern and interest in my condition, which is as yet undiagnosed. Tests are ongoing.

Slip sliding away

Which is one way of describing my running in 2017. First it was a hamstring at the end of January, which meant February was a write off, and now I have broken my wrist and am looking at at least 4 weeks in a plaster cast.
My own fault really. Living round here, I ought to know that wet limestone and fell shoes don't mix. I instinctively put my hand out to save myself and my wrist bent at an angle it wasn't designed to go.
Bugger!

Caption Competition

Select from:- a. Fellas in the Mist - b. Three (Un)wise Men - c.Yes, he does look a bit like Charlie Chaplin - d. None of these.

There is no prize.

Saturday 29th April '17

I'll not be UTUPing this coming Saturday, as I'll be competing in the Cake Race at Diggle; a counter in the North West Area Fell Race Grand Prix. Further details here:- http://www.felljunior.org.uk/GP/ ('felljunior' is a red herring). 

Let's do something part 2

Anyone fancy a trip to the Dales next Wednesday (26th)? A Three Peaks traverse, needing two cars, about 16 miles and 3500ft of climbing.

Diane's Pike Race plus upcoming races

Diane (Brown) had a brilliant run. Despite running in road shoes as she thought there was too much road for trail shoes, she improved her time on last year by nearly nine minutes to finish 308th in 33:01 (9th of 18 LV40). I think my days of beating her may be numbered as she also did do a gentle two hour session on the bike on Saturday morning, if there is such a thing as a gentle session around here. She is back for the Horwich Triathlon on April 30th so will have raced to the Pike twice in 15 days. Mary W is also entered in the triathlon as is Dr Hamer.
Anyone got plans for upcoming races? Unlike last year I am relatively free on Wednesday evenings so may do the Chorley Trail Race in Astley Park on May 3rd, although I may be busy in Horwich with other things (as some of you may be aware). See how things go. May Day Monday is usually Wray Caton Fell Race for me with a family day out for the Scarecrow Festival then the following weekend is my final weekend to recce the 100 route - just got the stage from Goathland to Snape of the second day to recce then will look at a couple of earlier stages of the route.

I suppose I ought to do some long runs this weekend - possible UTUP?

Pike Race 15th April 2017

It must be a long time since we had a good turnout for a race, indeed for anything, but there we were, four of us lined up on Lever Park Avenue waiting for the gun at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon.

Once we were under way I lost track of most of our squad but I did keep sight of Mat for most of the ascent. It was a cold day with a fair amount of breeze, but we escaped all but a few drops of the afternoon's shower.

The race was won in 17:27 by Horwich's Chris Farrell and the first lady home was Louisa Powell-Smith V45 of Ribble Valley in 21:02. Horwich also took the team prize with Bolton taking the ladies'

First for wfdbwgua was t'Y V60 (7/17) in 29:47 then Mat V75 (1/3) 33:31, Nic'O LV60 (2/3) 34:13 with yours truly, last of our squad V70(6/8) 36:18. Also in the mix was t'Y's daughter Diane, but not knowing her married name I couldn't pick her out of the results.

As ever, a good local race, with lots of support - well done everybody.

Don't forget, it's the OAPs' reunion in the RMI this coming (18th) Tuesday evening.