Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay

A Triumph from Tragedy

The Ian Hodgson Trophy

With the countdown clock ticking down to Sunday's Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay, Fell Running Briefs spent a couple days on the course monitoring how well the bogs were drying out and analysing the trail of stud marks for the tell tale signs of Ambleside international Ben Abdelnoor's short cuts. The unseasonal weather was ordered in advance and it felt more Cote D'Azur than Coat 'at and Gloves.

Ian Hodgson

The relay was first run on 5 October 1986 in memory of Ian Hodgson of Leeds who was killed in a motor accident shortly after winning the Score class in the Karrimor Mountain Marathon (the forerunner of today's OMM or Original Mountain Marathon) the year before. The Karrimor in October 1985 was based from Patterdale.
A new start

This year the race starts in Patterdale village at the King George V playing fields. The relay usually starts and finishes from Sykeside Campsite at Brotherswater but due to the bad weather we had in the early part of September the campsite proved unusable.
So a new start and finish venue, a change of direction and a reordering of the legs (Leg 1 becomes Leg 3, Leg 3 becomes Leg 1 and Leg 2 and 4 remain the same only backwards! Simples)
2011 course

Leg 1 - 4.5m 1000ft - Patterdale to Hartsop via Angle Tarn

Leg 2 - 7.5m 2600ft - Hartsop to Kirkstone Pass over High Street

Leg 3 - 4.5m 2000ft - Kirkstone Pass over Red Screes to Brotherswater via Dove Dove

Leg 4 - 8m 2800ft - Brotherswater Campsite over Hart Crag and St Sunday Crag to Patterdale

With no entry list published the teams won't find out how stiff the competition is until Sunday morning. Last year Pudsey and Bramley were in the driving seat and looked set to win due to a navigational error by Borrowdale in the first leg, putting them seven minutes down, this gap was slowly closed by the rest of the team and finally overhauled on the final descent by Ben Bardsley and Morgan Donnelly.

This year should prove to be just as exciting with top teams turning out from Borrowdale, Ambleside, Calder Valley, Dark Peak and no doubt Pudsey and Bramley and Bingley too.

A poo with a view? The portaloos at Kirkstone Pass yesterday

We'll be on the course bringing you the news as soon as we can!

Scafell Pike Race 24 September 2011

They Came From Outer Space

While many people on earth had their eyes to the skies, looking up for fragments of satellite UARS as she makes her way back home, the people of Wasdale were treated to the sight of up to a hundred unidentified flying objects hurtling their way off England's highest mountain.

Photo by English-Lake-District.info

1. Martin Mikkelson Barron (Borrowdale) 59:24

2. Mike Robinson (DPFR) 1:02:11

3. Chris Newman (Wharfedale) 1:02:33

Ladies

1. Hazel Robinson (Ambleside) 1:10:36

2. Wendy Dodds (Clayton le Moors) 1:15:43

3. Jenny Caddick (DPFR) 1:16:13

Third lady Jenny Caddick flying down Scafell (pic by Wharfeego)

The Scafell Pike Race is 4.5miles and 3000ft. The record was set by Manx Missile Lloyd Taggart in 2007 and is a mere 49:50. Last year the race was won in 56:38 by Ricky Lightfoot.

The ladies record belongs to Borrowdale's Nicola Davies and set in 1999 (1:03:24) which infact is 8 years after the UARS satellite was sent up into space. Can her record outlive the satellite?

The Scafell Pike race is the last counter (and decider) in the unique King and Queen of the Mountains competition, being the Cinderella to its more flamboyant sister races of Snowdon and Ben Nevis. And there's a 'Jack and Jill' joint couples prize waiting to be won too, which looked like it went to Mike and Hazel Robinson this year.

The results were brought to you by our 'news hound on Scafell' who ran the race, allowed himself the luxury of a quick cup of water then dashed off to find internet cover to tweet the news! Well done news hound @WTWilliamson.

New venue for Ian Hodgson Relay

As we tweeted yesterday, the Ian Hodgson relay will now start at 9am at the King George V playing fields in Patterdale, and will run CLOCKWISE (the Angle Tarn leg will therefore be leg 1).

Lakeland Classic The Three Shires 17 September 2011

Ding Dong - Carl Bell rings again


The Three Shires race is 13 miles and 4000ft, from Little Langdale up over Wetherlam, Swirl How, down to the Three Shires Stone then up to Pike O' Blisco, down to Blea Tarn then up one last time to Ling Moor and down to the finish at the start again. Gavin Bland's record is 1:45:08.


Winner
Carl Bell (recent winner of the Grisedale Horseshoe, Weasdale and 6th at Sedbergh English Champs race - you remember him? - here's one of Jellybabyfairy's photos taken at Blea Tarn just before the final climb up Ling Moor, in case you can't.)

1 - Carl Bell (Howgill)
2 - John Helme (Ambleside)
3 - Tom Brunt (Holmfirth) - winner of last week's Mountain Trial
4 - Mark Roberts (Borrowdale)
5 - Sam Tosh (Rossendale)
6 - Daren Holloway (Pennine) - otherwise known as Daz H
7 - Dave Wilby (Ilkley)

8 - Steve Birkinshaw - (Borrowdale)

All this group came in within a couple of minutes of Carl Bell's winning time of around 2:00.

One of this leading group told the Fellrunner's Forum;

"Lightfoot and Bell passed and re-passed us four or five times before Ricky dropped out, and Carl decided on a tactical vest to follow! Great race with the front few chopping and changing all the time."

John Helme - Carl Bell's lead out man? Photo by Jellybabyfairy

Dark Peak's Rhys Findlay Robinson and Stevie B from Borrowdale seemed to suffer on the final killer climb of Ling Moor. Results.


Ladies
1 - Hazel Robinson (Ambleside)
2 - Lou Roberts (Kendal)

"I slide where Hazel covers"

Hazel has won two Lakeland Classics this year, Wasdale in July and now the Three Shires - picture by Sarah Massey.

Fell Running British Championships 2011 - Round Up

Hitting the Wall Running
Fell Running's Tour of Britain started in the Mountains of Mourne back in April. Spring was in the air which is just as well, as a 'Mourne Category Long' race, can be very tough if Winter drags its feet in Northern Ireland. Boffins have proved that Mourne miles are actually longer than 'normal' miles. This race is just 12.5 miles (6300ft) but it would take more then two hours because of the steep ascents and rough terrain that weaves its way inside and outside the Mourne Wall.

The Mourne Wall - a tightrope walker's dream

It was Scottish club Shettleston that did best on the day with Tom Owens and Jethro Lennox both running under 2:10. Bingley's Rob Jebb, Pudsey and Bramley's Graham Pearce and Borrowdale's Ben Bardsley (V40) made up the top five. Pippa Maddams (Keswick) won the ladies race in 2:31, just four minutes outside Angela Mudge's 2008 record, Helen Fines (Calder Valley) was 2nd.


Milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard
A lovely summer's day gave runners a chance to top up their vest and shorts tan lines at the Welsh Medium race at Yr Aran 10miles(3100ft). Almost the opposite of the Mourne race, not steep, not rough, gently and grassy lovely fast running, not what all fell runners like though (Although @Daleside_ has just been kindly reminded now of the really rough rocky bit at the top - funny what your mind blanks out for you). With 'No-Shows' from Tom and Jethro and a 'Show' from Northern Ireland 'No Show' Morgan Donnelly, the British Championships got itself ready for quite a shake up.

Morgan Donnelly causing a shake up in the British Championships 2011 at Yr Aran - Photo by John Smith

And as all the boys came running down the mountain, Morgan Donnelly proved better than the rest in 1:22:55. Morgan took 30 seconds off the record - a record that 2nd on the day's Tim Davies had held for a couple of years. 3rd was Bingley's Rob Jebb, Tim's brother from Mercia Andrew Davies in 4th (actually does anyone know if they really are brothers!?) and another famous running brother Pudsey and Bramley's Danny Hope in 5th. Pearce was 6th, Taggart who did not run in Northern Ireland was 7th, Steve (Stealth Bomber) Hebblethwaite 8th and o-oh - look who it is in 9th, Darren Kay (voted fell running's best dressed man's - FRA Magazine 2010). Pippa again won the ladies race from Jo Buckley from Calder Valley.


Ding Dong Round Three
This time a larger field met as it was also a counter in the English Championships. The organisers of the British Championships like to give runners that couldn't make it 'overseas' to Northern Ireland, the opportunity to still take part. As this year's Northern Ireland race was a 'Long', the English Championship Long Sedbergh Hills was the alternative counter. (Does that mean if Northern Ireland wasn't the other side of a sea, there would only be three races in the championship!?) At 14 miles and 6000ft and Keith Anderson's amazing record of 1:57 to aim for, was localish man Morgan Donnelly ready to break another record? 'No chance' said Keith Anderson when Fell Running Briefs met him a couple of weeks before - oh actually @Daleside_ made that up, the opportunity to ask him didn't come up - Keith was too engrossed in monitoring @Daleside_'s twitter feed to find out what was going on in the Tour de France. Runners hey!

Andrew Davies coming off The Calf at Sedbergh @Wharfeego

But anyway as it was, Morgz ran a cautious race coming in over 5 mins down on the record (2:02:44) kicking from the chasing Taggart with about 7 miles to go. Lloyd finished nearly two minutes down in 2:04:29. We told you to keep watching for this one as Darren Kay came 3rd, Ben Abdelnoor 4th, Andrew Davies 5th, Tim Davies 8th and Graham Pearce 9th. Jackie Lee won the ladies race in 2:32.


Summit's Up
And so the end is near, we have reached the final curtain.......The decider at the Devil's Beef Tub in Scotland was just 2miles and 750ft. Most of the runners didn't think about the risks associated with shorter races as they darted off in four different directions into head high bracken, or as some of them ran down to the finish before visiting the last summit. As a result some got dismayed, some got angry and some got even. But Morgz made no mistakes and won the race, breaking the record on a foul day by a handful of seconds (five in fact - one for each finger). Lloyd followed him down 12 seconds behind and broke the V40s record. Of those that stood to benefit from a good result for the championships - the one we told you to watch came off best in 7th (Darren Kay who said "I nearly broke my legs trying to chase back down that descent") Tim Davies was 9th with brother Andy in 10th. Graham Pearce who'd been having such a good championship, was one of the lost boys who didn't get angry, or get even, but got marooned into 19th place.

Hell hath no fury - Morgz crossing the line at the Devil's Beef Tub - Pic by Carnethy HRC

Ladies Race
2006 British Champion Natalie White was spectating and said - "There were 25 ladies stood by a fence in a field of bracken, the hooter went off and no-one moved, no-one apart from Wendy that is, who led the way through the bracken." The organiser had set the ladies off before the men, hoping they would carve a way through the bracken and sedge, however I think the men agreed that 25 sets of size 4s didnt really have much effect. Pippa won the ladies race from Mercian Mel Price by a couple of minutes as unfortunately Mel fell and had to take advantage of the local Accident and Emergency facilities for stitches.


Championship Round Up
Results to be confirmed by FRA Statistician - FRA British Championships results page.


Men
1 - Morgan Donnelly
2 - Lloyd Taggart
3 - Darren Kay, Tim Davies and Andrew Davies all with 134 points


Men V40s
1 - Lloyd Taggart
2 - Darren Kay
3 - Ben Bardsley


Funny how at the beginning of the year Darren Kay questioned why he should be valued at 9 pints in the world of fell running's greatest competition -The Fantasy Fell Running League - he knows better now than to question Bill J's calculations.

Darren Kay at Sedbergh - Joint bronze medal in the Open and silver in MV40s -Pic by Wharfeego

Men V50
1 - Mick Stenton
2 - Steve Oldfield
3 - Ben Grant


Men V60
1 - Ben Grant
2 - Pete Booth
3 - Robert Taylor (gets bronze by one point over Jim Patterson)


Team Open

1 Borrowdale

2 Pudsey and Bramley

3 Mercia

Team Vets
1 Borrowdale

2 Dark Peak

3 Calder Valley


Ladies
1 - Pippa Maddams
2 - Mel Price
3 - Lou Roberts and Sarah Ridgway


LV40
1 - Judith Jepson
2 - Aly Raw
3 - Judy Howells (must have cheated!)


LV50
1 - Wendy Dodds
2 - Pat Goodall
3 - Clare Kenny


Team
1 - Calder Valley
2 - Eryri
3 - Todmorden


Let's hear it for the girls
As @Daleside_ has been criticised for not giving much of a mention to Ladies' Fell Running, we are going to dedicate a few words especially to the ladies from the Beef Tub


Morgan Donnelly -" I wouldn't have broken the record if all the ladies hadn't been shouting at me from inside the organiser's tent."

Organiser - "I've never had so many women in my tent." Picture by Carnethy HRC Photos

Is that ok ladies?!


British Championship races for 2012 will be announced shortly......make sure you enter!

Show Girl's Albanian Adventure

Lizzie Adams, who dazzled at Dufton Show last month, was in the mountains of Albania this weekend representing Great Britain in the World Mountain Running Championships. You'll find the best report here on the Mud Sweat and Tears website but Fell Running Briefs had our international news hound at the race with her camera. 

One of the obstacles in the Albanian race - (mailonline)

Maybe Lizzie hadn't trained for absolutely every obstacle that came her way on the race but she managed a brilliant 5th place and helped her team win the bronze medal, as did Emma Clayton who was 10th. The full results are here.

A typical Albanian mountain race finish line - (BBC) 

The trials for this race were held in Witton Park in the mountains of Blackburn, the organiser rightly said "if they'd wanted building sites we could have provided any number"

Devil's Beef Tub - Stadium of Hopes and Dreams

Lamb amongst Wolves 

 L-R Pudsey and Bramley's Graham Pearce, John Heneghan, Tim Austin, Mick Hill and Darren Kay applying a bit of pre race  pressure to Borrowdale's Mike Fanning.

Boys Dont Cry
Those wise words of The Cure's Robert Smith went over and over in his head as he fought back the tears. All that hard work.....the training..... the preparation....those winter nights running with a headtorch through the driving rain and wind........the family summer holiday running in 35C heat under a baking sun....what did it come down to....... a little bit of tape needed at the point the route turned up towards the last hill diverting runners unfamiliar with these hills in swirling mists, away from the more obvious trod down towards the finish too soon.

Graham Pearce and Mark Roberts on the first climb, Ben Mounsey, Scoffer and Simon Booth behind. Photo by Chris Upson.

It's Unbelievable
The strong beat of EMF's classic jumped into his head as he pounded down the hill, crashing through the bracken, sliding over the boulders, leaping on to the trod that he had sought out a couple of hours before. He'd never finished in the top ten in a British Championships race. He had seen all the usual highly placed finishers, hands on knees, pushing their way up the descent that he was now flying down. They had angry looks on their faces. They looked at him and snarled, 'we're going to catch you and make mincemeat of you.....you...... you who didn't go the wrong way'. He descended like he'd never descended before.


The split happened between 2nd and 3rd man. A group of about 20 top runners took a clear trod contouring round the last climb and only confirmed their mistake when they saw Morgz coming down towards them, leaving them no choice but to climb the descent line up to the missed checkpoint.


This is the day when things fall into place
And the great song of The The's Matt Johnson started to ring around his head as he realised this year, it was really going to happen. Hampered by bad luck and injury the year before, it still wasn't looking very good at the beginning of the year, but the training had paid off and the pain and injuries had stayed away. He'd done it. He'd find out a few hours later, when his friends remembered to tell him, that he'd broken the course record too, that was the icing on the cake or the cheese on the beefburger if you were looking for beefy metaphors.

New Olympic Sport - Synchronised Running - Calder Valley's Linda Murgatroyd and Keswick's Rachel Slattery elegantly sprint for the line. Photo by Chris Upson.

Everybody Hurts
Her rival had been leading her all the way round the course, but she knew at the back of her mind she'd get down that last descent quicker. But she didn't imagine she'd get down as quickly as she did, her footing slipped, something happened, she couldn't stop, she slid down the near vertical boulder strewn grass at great speed, she still couldn't stop, she screamed as her bare skin burnt with the pain as she slipped down over a hundred metres. She came to a halt as she reached the bottom of the hill, the pain was unbearable, with cramp all through her legs. But she got herself up and ran towards where she thought the end was. She collapsed in the finish funnel with agonising cramp throughout her legs. Her rival arrived seconds later, picked her up and pushed her over the line ahead of her, not wanting to steal a point from her in the championship classification.


Now if you are one of the many who went away thinking like our first man, well you've probably already bounced back and are planning what races you will be doing next. For those thinking like the second man, you know you were lucky, but Lady Luck has always been your friend, so it will happen again. Those of you who are like the third man.....well you've just got to keep doing the same, and contemplate on simply how much rest you can afford yourself over the winter. If you are like our last lady, we hope the pain goes soon and the bruises heal quickly and remember REM 'Everybody Hurts' sometimes.


Results


So the British Championships are hung, drawn and quartered. Relay season's up next with the Ian Hodgson on 2 October and the FRA Fell Relays on 15 October. Fell Running Briefs will be there watching, listening and sometimes participating, purely to appreciate really how tough these men and mountains really are, and writing down anything interesting on soggy bits of paper for you.

Beef Tub - The essential cuts

Morgan Donnelly - breaks record by 5 seconds, first today and wins British Championships (King of the Mountains!) 19:45

2 - Lloyd Taggart - 19:57 new vets record


Then a long wait for the watching ladies (huddled in the organiser's tent sheltering from the torrential rain) as apparently the chasing group went on a detour - we promise to bring you more on that tomorrow.


3 - Alisdair Anthony - last year's winner 22:12
4 - Paul Cornforth (King Kong Corny IV lives up to his name)
5 - Tim Austin
6 - Paul Jones
Now the group that got lost start to come in
7 - Darren Kay
8 - Martin Mikkelson Barron
9 - Tim Davies
10 - Andrew Davies
11 - Shaun Godsman
12 - Johnny Steed
13 - Simon Booth
14 - Sam Hesling
15 - Scoffer (Andrew Schofield)
16 - Chris Steele
17 - Mick Stenton (V50)
18 - Mike Fanning
19 - Graham Pearce
20 - Tim Werrett
21 - Ben Bardsley
2 V50 went to Steve Oldfield
1 V60 Ben Grant

Borrowdale win first team and the championship team prize

Ladies

Pippa loves a screwtop!

1 - Pippa Maddams wins the Ladies race (and the championship) in about 25 mins (results linked below) 

2 - Mel Price

3 - Jackie Lee

4 - Anne Johnson

5 - Sarah Ridgway

6 - Lou Roberts

7 - Sarah May

8 - Judy Howells

9 - Judith Jepson

10 - Wendy Dodds

V50s

Wendy Dodds followed by Clare Kenny and Pat Goodall.

Results

The King of Rock and Roll

By the time Geraint Thomas, Thor Hushovd and David Millar fly through the Devil's Beef Tub on Sunday 11 September, fighting for 'King of the Mountains' points in the first stage of cycling's Tour of Britain,  Fell Running's own 'King of the Mountains' will already be crowned, be at home wearing his imaginary polkadot jersey, potentially nursing a hangover.
The 2 mile Devil's Beef Tub race  (record B Marshall 2007, 19:50) is the decider in this year's British Championships. With just 750 feet of climb, it will suit..... er will suit... er well .....we can't imagine who it will suit. 

The Devil's Beef Tub - from www.carnethy.com 

It starts in the bottom of the Beef Tub (the place where ancient Kings of Scotland stored their meat during the long hot Scottish summers I think) climbs up tussocky steep hillside, runs across the top for a bit (can't be for very long as it's just a 2mile race) and drops through what a 2002/2003 British Champion described to Fell Running Briefs as "near vertical grass, bracken and boulders" -  just the stuff this former champion loves!
Anyway to cut to the mustard......Let's see how they stand


Men's Open
1 - Morgan Donnelly - 104 pts
2 - Rob Jebb - 96
= 3 - Andrew Davies - 93
= 3 - Lloyd Taggart - 93
= 5 - Graham Pearce - 92
= 5 - Tim Davies - 92
7 - Darren Kay - 90
But with Rob Jebb and the 'Brothers of Mercia' Andrew and Tim Davies not on the entry list, there's all to play for Taggart, Pearce and Kay.


Men's V40s
1 - Lloyd Taggart - 84
2 - Ben Bardsley - 80
3 - Darren Kay - 78
4 - Karl Gray  - 76 (not on the entry list)
Borrowdale's Three 'not so' Wise Men will no doubt put up an entertaining fight for no place on the podium. 
5 - Jim Davies - 73
6 - Mike Fanning - 69
7 - Mark Roberts - 68


MV50s
It looked like Dave Neill of Staffordshire Moorlands had this sewn up, but he can't make the last race, so it'll be a battle royale between Dark Peak's Mick Stenton and Calder Valley's Steve Oldfield.


MV60s
According to the FRA results sheets someone called 'Bernard Grant' is in prime position - is that the old Labour MP for Tottenham, I ask myself. I bet Ben Grant of Harrogate will have something to say about that! Ben Grant leads from Pete Booth (of Clayton le Moors) and both are on the Beef Tub entry list.


Ladies

Pippa Maddams (last year's British Champion) should have this one in the bag ( 64 points) but the fight for 2nd place should be exciting with both Mel Price from Mercia and Helen Fines from Calder Valley on 55 points. Although Fell Running Briefs has just heard a rumour that Helen has a foot in plaster......

Judith Jepson should have the V40s prize from Aly Raw and the invincible Wendy Dodds is likely to take 1st V50 (and is capable of getting a look in on V40 medals too!) By the way if you are under 23, a woman and can put one foot in front of the other, get yourself to the Devil's Beef Tub on Saturday as you have a good chance of coming joint gold medalist! Only one lady (Lucy Harris) has done only one of the races and no U23s are entered yet. Go on do it - I would!

Wendy Dodds at Borrowdale this year - by Wharfeego

Teams
Mens open
1 - Borrowdale - 21
2 - Pudsey and Bramley - 20
3 - Calder Valley - 16
Borrowdale seem to be putting a very strong field forward with nine contenders on the entry list, Pudsey  at the moment (Thurs eve) have only four but Fell Running Briefs have heard a rumour that the 'Hope boys are a coming' if it's just a rumour, the ten runners from Calder Valley could put the red and white barber shop colours into silver.


MV40s
1 - Borrowdale - 24
2 - Calder Valley - 18
3 - Dark Peak  - 17
This should go to Borrowdale as they are such a strong vets club, which  could explain why Borrowdale are putting a strong field forward as winning the open would give them a Gold in all four Vet40s and Open English and British competitions.


Ladies
1 Calder Valley - 24
2 Eryri - 18
3 Todmorden - 16
All three clubs are fielding teams this weekend.

We hope to bring you a live twitter feed (find it in the top right hand corner of this page) on Saturday of the results. The Fell Running Briefs team will be at the Beef Tub, getting you all the pics and post race ramblings from the winners (and losers) but we are not sure about how much internet coverage there is. @Fellrunningbrief will send updates as soon as possible 'For Sure'!
Ladies race is at 12 noon and the men due to go at 12:30 - Saturday 10 September.

Findlay Wild deals England's finest a savage blow

Ben Nevis 3 September 2011

Wild keeps calm in the lead - Picture by Richard Cowan at the Red Burn

In 2010, Lochaber's Findlay Wild beat Deeside's Robbie Simpson by 20 seconds to win the annual Ben Nevis Race in 1:35:39. In 2011 Findlay Wild beat the English double (Open and Vet 40s) champion Lloyd Taggart by over 2 and a half minutes and took nearly 6 minutes off his own personal best. 

Wild ascended and descended Britain's highest mountain (4406ft) in 1:29:21, the first time the race has been won in under 1:30 since 2008.

Lloyd Taggart looks ahead at Wild moving into the distance - Picture by Richard Cowan at the Red Burn

But Lloyd Taggart wasn't the only big name to be defeated by Wild on Ben Nevis. This race is very popular with the best of the best fell runners. Some great talents were tamed by the 'call of the Wild' and made room for the local man.

The day of the race was foul with high winds and heavy rain, with better conditions we've got to consider 'can Findlay Wild go faster and get closer to Kenny Stuart's record that has stood since 1984?'

Results

1. Findlay Wild - Lochaber - 1:29:21

2. Lloyd Taggart - Dark Peak - 1:31:54

3. Danny Hope - Pudsey and Bramley - 1:34:04

4. Simon Booth - Borrowdale - 1:36:38

5. Ricky Lightfoot - Ellenborough - 1:36:48

6. Martin Mikkelson Barron - Borrowdale - 1:37:41

7. David Rodgers - Lochaber - 1:39:33

8. Sam Watson - Wharfedale - 1:41:54

9. Daz Holloway - Pennine - 1:41:56

10. Chris Newman - Wharfedale - 1:42:19

Ladies

1. Angela Mudge - Carnethy - 1:51:14 (31st overall)

2. Jasmin Paris - Carnethy - 1:52:01 (36th overall)

3. Becky Law - Eryri - 2:04:05

FULL RESULTS

The Physician's Tale

Sarah Ridgway was 3rd lady to the top but (as she told readers of the Fell Runner forum) was first to encounter a fellow competitor who had fallen and badly cut his head. Sarah said:

Para Sarah descending into the Red Burn - photo by Mrs IW Charters

"when I got to him he was in a bad way - a severe head injury with a fairly gory laceration on his scalp ........ thanks heaps to the guy who helped me get my buff out of my bumbag as I compressed the injured guy's head wound so I could use it as a bandage"

So apologies if we lapse into calling Sarah 'Paramedic Sarah' from now on. Sarah organises running holidays in Snowdonia so I'm sure her guests are comforted by knowing that 'Paramedic Sarah' knows exactly what to do in an emergency. Sarah finished the run up and down Ben Nevis in 2:18 but her patient, the day after the race was well enough to say on twitter "bad day in the hills yesterday! fell at Ben Nevis Hill Race, eight stitches in my head, my first DNF!".

A Faller's Tale

Mark 'Goldie' McGoldrick turned just behind team mate Chris Newman (who finished in 10th) on the top. Half way down at the great spectator viewing point of 'Red Burn' someone shouted "12th place - Go for the Team prize".

What happened then? Goldie told Fell Running Briefs:

Goldie at Borrowdale where he manged to stay on two feet (pic by Wharfeego)

"That's when the pressure started, I went down after one of the footbridges, got myself up and started running again trying not to look at the blood around my left knee. The path starts to zigzag I decided to cut down.... bang down again...... this time the pain was much worse!! A rock straight to the shin, it really did hurt this time and I just couldnt seem to get it to go!! I slowly managed to get down the track and back on to the road where I was able to run a lot quicker and not be passed again.After half hour in the first aid tent it was time to start thinking about the night out......"

Wharfedale Harriers from Yorkshire managed 3rd team with Goldie 22nd. Cumbrian fell club Borrowdale won 1st team by a Nevis wildcat's whisker with 22 points over local club Lochaber with 24 (lowest number of points wins).
Next year's race is on 1 September 2012.

Hel's Bell

Grisedale Horseshoe - 3 September 2011

Carl Bell today won the Derek Price Memorial Grisedale Horseshoe, 10 miles and 5000ft over Catstycam, Helvellyn and St Sunday Crag in pretty dreadful conditions.


1 Carl Bell -  Howgill Harriers  - 1:56
2 Paul (King Kong Corny IV) Cornforth - Borrowdale - 1:57
3 Tom Addison - Helm Hill - 1:59
4 Scoffer - Borrowdale - 2:01
(Times are approximate)
Grisedale's first lady was our favourite crime buster Natalie White who we are glad to see back racing in Cumbria. Our streets are safe again.

Carl Bell 2nd at Borrowdale by Wharfeego

We know Carl Bell is proving himself to be a real contender these days (1st at Weasdale the day before finishing 5th at Sedbergh British Champs race) but what a great run from Corny (2nd today), who said:

"I led Tom and Scoffer from Dolly Wagon but we were all together, I thought they'd come past me on the climb to St Sunday, but they hadn't......I had a good descent and was amazed to see Carl crossing the river ahead of me. I dug deep but I couldn't catch him. I wish I knew what the secret was!"

Corny at Borrowdale - copyright Wharfeego

Fell Running Briefs understands that Corny celebrated his great run with another steak from A. Contador's farm!


Results


Post Race Ramblings from the Fell Runner Forum

Manhar

"That was certainly a soggy one. Great camaraderie out on the course-performance of the day has got to be from one of my fellow backmarkers who managed to get from St Sundays to the finish despite the sole of his Walsh being virtually detached from the upper part."

Alf

"Some challenging conditions today with all the rain and mist, not least the crossing of Grisedale Beck. I felt my tired legs being pulled out from under me."

Mrs Victoria Sponge Cake

"Great job done by all the marshalls in the bad conditions. The post race cakes were a delight and almost as good as mine"

Benjamin Nevis Esq - A mountain that deserves its full title

The view from the Ben Nevis web cam at 10:42 Saturday morning (visitfortwilliam.co.uk)

The Mountain

At 4406ft Ben Nevis is Great Britain's highest mountain. The Ben Nevis race route is ten miles (five to the top and funnily enough five back down again). The first (and last) mile is road, then it follows a pitched path up to Red Burn at 2200ft. Then the course goes steeply up through boulders nearly two miles to the top. If I'd ever run on Mars I would say it would be quite similar to this.

The Men

We know that at 1pm on the first Saturday in September hundreds of brave men and women will defeat that mountain, but it's a tough fight. For some of them the mountain will win. Kenny Stuart's record of 1:25:34 was set in 1984. There are some who say this record can not be beaten because the conditions of the route have deteriorated. But is this just an excuse for today's runners after all Stuart's other notable records (Skiddaw and Snowdon) remain untouched.

So who's going for the No1 spot?

Before the race we had reports of these top runners being seen mooching around the sports shops and cafes of Fort William, sheltering from the rain, waiting just waiting for that bagpiper to lead them round the muddy rugby field and for that man with the chain round his neck to say 'Go'.

• Danny Hope
• Lloyd Taggart
• Chris Steele
• Simon Booth
• Ian Holmes
• Ricky Lightfoot

For armchair fell running fans, we had a news hound in the field who provided the live broadcast from the start of the race. Before that we delivered an endless drivel of fell running prattle (best read to yourself in an Austrailian accent a la Matt Keenan, ITV4's La Vuelta a Espana commentator)
Updates

11:47 Mark McGoldrick (last year 34th in 1:53:36) informs us the weather is clearing out a bit.  Goldie and Wharfedale team mate Sam Watson are in great shape this summer, they will both be looking to improve on last year's times (Sam ran 2:01 last year)

11:53 Borrowdale have a great team today; Simon Booth, Chris Steele and Martin Mikkelson Barron. MMB was 3rd at Grasmere last week and is a 'real live' Borrowdale resident!

12:00 Last year the ladies race was won by Cecila Mora from Italy in 1:56:01. Pauine Haworth set the ladies record (in 1984) of 1:43:25, the same year as the men's record was set.

12:02 Ricky has been seen! Time to stock up the Blue WKDs

12:34 Last year Ian Holmes was 3rd in 1:37:47

12:38 In 2009 Danny Hope was 2nd in 1:35:13 and Ricky was 4th in 1:37:17 (Rob Jebb was 1st 1:32:33)

12:40 Taggart and Steele we think are both Nevis virgins. The others know this is a race of two halves. If you go too strong on the up, you'll pay for it on the down.

12:45 15 mins to go. Chris Steele needs to remember the advice that Billy Bland gave him two weeks ago "Don't go too hard on the climb,save something for the descent" and stop thinking about his honey.

12:57 Simon says Ben Nevis is one of his favourite races. He came 6th in 2008 with 1:34, 2nd in 2007 with 1:31, 4th in 2004 with 1:32, 2nd in 2003 with 1:30, 2nd in 2002 with 1:30 again, 2nd in 2000 with 1:29 and 3rd in 1999 with 1:31, 4th in 1998 1:33 and 7th in 1997 with 1:39.

13:50 They should be about ten mins from the top. Our News Hound is in the finish field so should be able to relay the announcements as they report who arrives first at the top.

Over, live, to our broadcaster in the field!

14:03 First to turn at the top Lloyd closely followed by last year's winner Findlay Wild.

14:13 Info received that next up is Danny Hope, Ricky Lightfoot and Martin Mikkelson Barron in 5th

14:14 There's a bit of a comms breakdown relaying the info from the top down to the field - and the bagpiper is playing so our news hound is struggling to hear.

14:28 They must be on the last mile now. We'll bring you the news as soon as we hear.......

14:30 1st Findlay Wild 1:29:21 2nd Lloyd Taggart.

14:33 Lloyd was maybe just over a minute behind Wild. (It actually turned out to be over two and half - we're thinking of buying our Nevis news hound a watch for her birthday.)

14:39 3rd Danny Hope, 4th Simon Booth, 5th Ricky Lightfoot, 6th Martin Mikkelson Barron

14:51 Lochaber's Findlay Wild knocked 6 minutes of his winning time last year (2010 1:35:39) thanks for pointing that out @WTWilliamson

14:53 Angela Mudge wins the ladies race.

Results

1. Findlay Wild - Lochaber - 1:29:21

2. Lloyd Taggart - Dark Peak - 1:31:54

3. Danny Hope - Pudsey and Bramley - 1:34:04

4. Simon Booth - Borrowdale - 1:36:38

5. Ricky Lightfoot - Ellenborough - 1:36:48

6. Martin Mikkelson Barron - Borrowdale - 1:37:41

7. David Rodgers - Lochaber - 1:39:33

8. Sam Watson - Wharfedale - 1:41:54

9. Daz Holloway - Pennine - 1:41:56

10. Chris Newman - Wharfedale - 1:42:19

11. Andrew Brown - Clayton Le Moors - 1:42 :28

12. Chris Steele - Borrowdale - 1:43:48

13. Will Manners - Stathearne - 1:43:56

14.Christopher Edis - Keswick - 1:44:05

15. Ian Holmes - Bingley - 1:44:35

Ian Holmes had fallen and decided to drop off the pace. FULL RESULTS

Teams

Borrowdale won 1st team by a Findlay Wildcat's whisker with 22 points over local club Lochaber with 24 (lowest number of points wins). Lochaber's third counter was 16th across the line Ruari Watt in 1:44:59. I bet he was pleased he had that one second spare for a sub 1:45!

Ladies

1. Angela Mudge - Carnethy - 1:51:14 (31st overall)

2. Jasmin Paris - Carnethy - 1:52:01 (36th overall)

3. Becky Law - Eryri - 2:04:05

For a more serious look at Findlay Wild's win with photos from the day read Findlay Wild deals England's finest a savage blow.