Race Date: Monday 8th July 2024

Fell Racing? Certainly did.

I suppose I should have guessed that an event that began with chasing a seagull up Boris’s Back Passage would turn out to be no ordinary fell race.

Indeed, the start alone could / should probably have led to mass arrests.  It hadn’t been possible to close Sheffield Road from School Lane to the above passage, so 200 plus runners formed a moving road block over the 400 metre stretch.  Whilst demonstrating the power of mass gatherings it probably contravened the Public Order Act 2023.

As for the race itself, I’d recced the course the previous Monday with the Fat Boys (the organisers) and received numerous tips on where to stick out the elbows to maintain my position. Despite registering a Strava PB over Boris’s Back Passage, elbow tactics weren’t called for as I settled comfortably towards the back of the pack. My excuse is that I was testing the theory, and my personal conviction, that fast walking can be quicker than slow running up steep hills.

Brief respite from the terrain and topography came with the short downhill tarmac leg across Ringinglow Road before the climb to Over Owler Tor resumed in Whim Plantation.  As we approached the top, the cheerful marshals provided both much needed encouragement and reassurance that the route really did follow the narrow sheep tracks through the bracken.

The next challenge was deciding whether to watch my footing or the stunning views along the ridge to Higger Tor.  Just after Winyards Nick I opted for the latter and immediately went into full, four point contact with the millstone grit.  I took solace from the fact that I’d got at least 500 metres further than when I’d fallen on the recce, and that there was no one near me to hear the expletives.

After completing the ascent of Higger Tor via the South Face Direct route, the mainly downhill remainder of the race was spent 1. Repeating “You’ve never DNF’d” to myself 2. Telling marshals I was OK to continue (and didn’t need a lift back) and 3. Letting the few people who were still behind overtake me at my gingerly paced trot.

As a novice fell runner, the last stretch on the road to the Scotsman’s Pack and over the School Field to the finish funnel returned me to more familiar and comfortable running conditions. Equally welcome and perhaps unsurprising, given the predominance of medics in Fat Boys, was the excellent first aid administered to my bleeding hands and knees (with zero waiting time)!

As for my result, I’d set a target of finishing in under an hour and was officially timed in at 59mins 59 secs.  Job done!  More impressive were the results of the other Striders, particularly Nicky Rafferty’s AG 1st Place.

The Seagull? Rob Hall (to my left in the picture) runs the event every year in fancy dress (and finished in 46mins 20secs). The male race was won by Will Gratton of DPFR in 30.42. The female winner was Eve Pannone of Ambleside FR in 32.08

Striders results