Race report by Stuart Jones

I wrote a one-word race report for this one back in 2016 – ‘superb’ was how I put it then. It’s superb, still.

What makes it so?

• The entry fee, at just £12.00, is pretty unusual. No-one is looking to make an unprincipled profit.
• The start time, 1:00 pm on a Saturday afternoon, is really unusual. It means there’s no race in competition, allows a parkrun earlier in the day, and seems to contribute to the friendly atmosphere.
• The organiser, a local to the village but from Howgill Harriers, is unusual. He’s friendly, confident, relaxed, clear, warm and welcoming.
• The route, all on open roads with national speed limits, is unusual. It forms a figure of eight that loops up and out of the village (and down and back in) twice, giving glorious views on clear days.
• The prizes, which include many spot prizes or valuable items such as fire logs and a home-made Christmas Cake (iced and in a tin), are unusual. If you’re not in the room, and haven’t stayed for the soup, French bread, cake stall and prizes, then you don’t get a spot prize – no one can offer to take it for you without being told not!
• The downhill, at a very runnable angle, is unusual. Basically, a mile uphill and a mile down, followed by 1.6 miles uphill and 1.6 miles down (which doesn’t add up to 6.2 miles???).
• The location, at a tiny staging-post village in west Cumbria (or Westmorland and Furness), is unusual. There is the larger, better provisioned, Kirkby Stephen nearby, but organisers opt for the smaller settlement because the other features are so much better.
• The attendance, in large numbers, by so many local clubs, is unusual. It’s a bit like cross country but on road, as almost all the runners are members of affiliated Clubs – over 40 from Eden and we had over 20 from Teesdale AC.

With good holiday accommodation in the area, horse riding, a new cycle path, castles, hills, mini golf, steam engine history, and much more (as they say) it’s a good race to combine with a weekend away.

Striders Results: