Fell Race, High Moss, Duddon Valley

Members: Christine Beeston, John Castick, Virginia Castick, Sabina Cosulich, Trish Cranston, Dave Dillon, Roger Dyke, Joe Flynn, Jim Gregson, Sandy Gregson, Mike Hall, Graham Harkness, Alan (L) Jones, Duncan Lee, Roger Mapleson, Craig Marsden, Neville McMillan, Al Metelko, Julie O'Regan, Lester Payne, Scott Sadler, Jennifer Varley, Dave Wylie (23)

Guests: Vicky Alderton, Cath Sanders, Kate Sparks, Shaun Thompson, Nick Veevers (part time), Trudie Wright (6)

(29 in total)

 

The best weather of the weekend was on Friday afternoon, but only Neville and Roger were present to climb on Wallowbarrow in really hot sunshine and no wind. Saturday dawned cloudier and cooler, but 17 members and guests climbed a wide range of routes from Hard Diff to HVS. Thomas was well-supported, and found quite a giggle by some. Virginia opted for Nameless as a final route, but finding it harder than expected, was heard by many giving the route a selection of choice names, mostly not repeatable. To round off an enjoyable day, many sampled the wares of the Newfield Inn, all for the benefit of the local economy.

Sunday was dry, and clear on the tops, but with a strong cool breeze. There was an air of seriousness in the hut, added to by the medical condition of two members. Duncan had been stricken by a virulent stomach bug during the night, and Graham very reluctantly decided that his asthma problem needed to be taken seriously, so both were declared hors de combat. That reduced the number of runners to 10, but this was increased by five members and three guests who turned up on the day (four quite unexpectedly). Final field 18.

Since last years event had been won in less than 1.5 hours, a more challenging course was provided this year - approximately 11 miles, with 2,940 ft ascent minimum.

Course: High Moss - Goats Hause (SD 2665/9828) - Castle How (NY 2372/0050) - Wallowbarrow Summit (SD 2223/9679) - High Moss

There were many different ideas about the fastest line to Goats Hause, but only Roger and Cath found the slowest route, including paddling in the beck on the way. On the descent past Seathwaite Tarn, Virginia's colourful rigout caught the eye of both sheep and sheep-farmers, leading to a verbal harangue. Virginia claims that the delay was to cost her the Shelagh Manning Trophy, but such special pleading cuts no ice with the referee.

By Castle How the fast guys were still ten minutes behind Julie and Scott of the middle group, and Trish and Wavey from the slow group - obviously not trying hard enough. But it was the supposedly easy, valley stretch from Castle How to Wallowbarrow that really produced the surprises. Al, Julie and Scott got it right by sticking to the forest track. Those who tried to gain advantage by running along the road lost out by at least seven minutes, and some much more. Shaun, one of the fastest three at Castle How, lost 52 minutes on this leg, and others made costly mistakes.

At Wallowbarrow summit, Julie and Scott were still leading the field, with Al nine minutes behind, and Craig still 10 minutes behind. On this final leg, and the uphill finish to High Moss, Julie dug deep. Craig was closing the gap, but Julie showed great determination to be the first home, 2.5 minutes ahead, with Scott third to finish.

 

Individual Results:

Name	Start time	Time at Finish	Time to Finish	Overall Time	Handicap	H'cap Time	Finishing Places
	hh:mm:ss	hh:mm:ss	minutes	hh:mm:ss	min	hh:mm:ss	Actual	KMC	Ladies	H'cap
Craig MARSDEN	12:00:00	14:48:56	168.9	02:48:56	31	02:17:56	1	1		1
Al METELKO	12:00:00	14:51:18	171.3	02:51:18	-78	04:09:18	2	2		12
Mike HALL	12:00:00	15:00:12	180.2	03:00:12	-22	03:22:12	3	3		8
Roger MAPLESON	12:00:00	15:13:02	193.0	03:13:02	15	02:58:02	4	4		3
Julie O'REGAN	11:30:00	14:46:30	196.5	03:16:30	7	03:09:30	5	5	1	6
Scott SADLER	11:30:00	14:50:00	200.0	03:20:00	1	03:19:00	6	6		7
Shaun THOMPSON (G)	12:00:00	15:50:44	230.7	03:50:44	7
Dave DILLON	11:00:30	15:17:04	256.6	04:16:34	76	03:00:34	8	7		5
Trish CRANSTON	11:00:30	15:24:30	264.0	04:24:00	34	03:50:00	9	8	2	10
Virginia CASTICK	11:30:00	16:06:17	276.3	04:36:17	133	02:23:17	10	9	3	2
Trudie WRIGHT (G)	11:30:00	16:14:41	284.7	04:44:41	11
Vicky ALDERTON (G)	11:30:00	16:15:16	285.3	04:45:16	12
Joe FLYNN	11:30:00	16:15:18	285.3	04:45:18	107	02:58:18	13	10		4
Alan (L) JONES	11:00:30	16:18:17	317.8	05:17:47	114	03:23:47	14	11		9
Cath SANDERS (G)	11:00:30	16:53:52	353.4	05:53:22	15
Kate SPARKS (G)	11:00:30	16:54:09	353.7	05:53:39	16
Roger DYKE	11:00:30	16:54:11	353.7	05:53:41	106	04:07:41	17	12		11
Christine BEESTON	11:30:00	15:38:41	248.7	04:08:41			DNF		DNF

And the winners of the trophies were:

• Ken Beetham Trophy Fastest time Craig Marsden 2:48:56
• Sumerfield Cup Fastest Lady Julie O'Regan 3:16:30
• Shelagh Manning Trophy Fastest handicap time Craig Marsden 2:17:56
• Concordia Trophy Fastest first-time entrant Scott Sadler 3:20:00

My thanks to all the checkers, and also to Sabina for producing such excellent food in large quantities.

Start training for next year; we will probably have a change of venue, in the hope of getting thick cloud on the fell tops!

Neville McMillan