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| Stepping stones over the Lowther |
After another disastrously epic delayed journey (it happens every time
and I'm almost bored of whingeing about it so I won't) I arrived to the lovely
small and quaint town of Shap up in the Lake District at nine o'clock in the
evening. I'd emailed ahead to Neil Beatham, the event organiser to say I was
running late, and when I hopped out of the cab he and a member of the team were
actually there outside waiting to shake my hand and give me one of the warmest
welcomes I've ever received. I quickly got set up in the side room of the town
hall where about twenty of us were staying the night, milled about checking
maps and so forth then tried to put my head down. It was a bit of a fitful
sleep, but that's always going to be the case in a room full of twenty
people. Crucially, I was staying on the start and finish line, rather than
camping an hour’s walk away and this makes a massive difference. Not to mention
it only cost me a fiver including a breakfast. All in all, this is the perfect
set up for me before an event.
Next morning I'm up early as all the other runners and walkers arrive.
This event is put on by the Long Distance Walkers Association, meaning that all
their events are primarily aimed at walkers though generally accept runners.
Looking around, it does look like it's mostly runners here today though. The
next decision, which I'm still going back and forth on, is when to start. The
start times are between eight and nine, you can start whenever you want, but
the first checkpoint opens at ten thirty and is about a half marathon in. They
suggest runners start later, but I'm really tempted to maximise daylight and
start at eight and hope to time the checkpoint correctly and not be there
early. It looks like a few others are thinking the same and in the end I just
go for it at eight.
It takes a few minutes to find GPS signal so I'm not one of the first
off like I'd planned, and means that I'm dodging around walkers straight from
the get go. I feel bad shuffling past them, but try to do so in the least intrusive
manner to respect the fact the event is for them not me. There's quite a lot of
stiles in the first few fields so there's a little bit of waiting around, but
I'm pretty quickly ahead of all the walkers and in the front group of runners.
There's about seven or eight of us in the group with the odd one going ahead or
dropping behind here or there but we seem to regroup pretty quickly as well.
We head down a country dirt road and arrive at the stepping stones to
cross the river Lowther, which gives a nice view along the river and by now
we're already out in the countryside. It already feels a bit remote compared to
down south. We follow along the side of the river for a couple of kilometres
and I start chatting to those around me. Lucky that, as we reach a field of
cows and have to go right through the middle of them as they look on either
inquisitive or nervously. I'm still really not a fan of these beasts so am glad
to have others around me. One or two take a step towards us, but that's all. I
do my best to give them a wide berth.
We carry on like this for a while, chatting away which is good to get
things going. Takes the mind off what's ahead. I notice almost straight away
I'm going to cope some flack as a southerner, despite actually being foreign,
though brush it off with a laugh.
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| Sleddale Reservoir |
We reach the first minor hill, which isn't particularly steep but does
go on for a while. It's just a matter here of keeping a steady walking pace and
it seems all of us have the same idea. As we're now ahead of all the walkers
and the faster runners didn't start early like we did, for a short while as I
fast pack it up the hill this has me leading the event. Plenty of time for that
to change, but.
We reach the top of this section and once over the crest of the hill Wet
Sleddale reservoir appears on the left. It's a nice view across it, though the
sky is a bit grey despite the weather forecast saying it was going to be hot
and fine.
The track we're on carries on steadily, now level for a while before it
starts to zigzagging its way up the hillside. We're still keeping the
conversation going, though we've spread out a little. One guy of the pair I'm
currently running with is looking ahead at someone else ahead who is bossing
along cutting corners from the zigzags. This guy thinks that guy isn't really
playing fair and is adamant he'll follow the course description to a T, though
after speaking to Neil last night I think the rules around this are definitely
quite relaxed. His opinion seemed to be that whilst there are rules, common
sense should prevail over any particular rules, which seemed a sensible stance
in my opinion too. And the guy ahead doesn't seem to be getting lost so isn't
causing any harm.
We carry on along the correct switchback route all the same, heading up
the farm track until it eventually disappears. Through a gate and we're on the
open fells. We carry on roughly in the same direction for another while to then
drop down into Mosedale.
I get a fair bit confused here, as I studied the map and am sure I
remember seeing Mosedale as a town. Getting to roughly the point where I think
it should be, cross referencing what I can see in front of me, the route
description and what I saw behind me, my watch telling me the distance
travelled and the route description distance marker matching all of the above,
I'm pretty sure I must be at Mosedale. There's even a bridge to cross the boggy
section at the bottom of the valley, and Mosedale is supposed to have a bridge
according to the description.
I cross it and carry on confused. Luckily everyone around me seems
confident, and my GPS map still looks fine so I put it out of my mind somewhat.
We carry on down the valley between two hills and it's a fast paced
section as it's flat and the ground underfoot is still a bit boggy so nice and
soft. As we get closer to the apex of the valley I see a building nestled
between the two hills and realise that must be Mosedale Cottage, the next stop
on the route. I query this with the pair I'm running with, who confirm it. When
I say I was expecting Mosedale to be a village and it was confusing me, the
woman of the two laughs and says, "A village? Here? You're not in London
now."
We've been steadily climbing for a while now, effectively since the
beginning with a few undulations, though it hasn't felt like it's been too much
as it's been gradual over a few kilometres. As we round the back of Mosedale
Cottage, I see that's all about to change.
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| Mosedale |
There is a small stream winding its way down from the hillside above to the
cottage. There no real discernible path, but we know we're to follow this to
its source. It's also quite steep to get up here. I put my hands on my knees
and try to take some of the brunt with my upper body to save some energy in my
legs. It's not particularly effective this time around.
As we start to slug it out with the hillside, I notice the two I've been
running with for a few kilometres start to move away. I let them go. As much as
it's nice to have a chat, it's better to listen to my body and go at the pace
best for it. I listen to my breathing and focus quite specifically on making
sure I don't run out of breath as it's horrible to end up gasping for air on
the side of a hilltop. It works, I steadily make my way up to the fork in the
stream then further along towards the head.
At this point a couple of other guys come up past me, who also seem to
be a bit better than I am on the hills. As we reach the head of the stream, we
climb slightly away from it and find a path. So this is the one we were
supposed to be on all along, I pontificate aloud, to which they chuckle.
It's still uphill, though, and we need all the breath we have so don't
actually start a conversation, but I do fall in step behind them. We go over a
small crest and see the wall that according to the description will take us to
the first checkpoint. I mentally strengthen my resolve a little. Step by step,
kilometre by kilometre, this is getting there.
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| Stream behind Mosedale |
The wall carries on uphill for several hundred metres and I continue to
keep my pace steady. I'm passed by the people who kept me awake last night by
complaining of anyone snoring and stomping loudly, thus making themselves the
worst culprits whilst dishing out judgement.
The wall stretches on until the gradient slowly becomes smaller until
flat. I look ahead and in the corner of the field is the first unmanned
checkpoint. It's also the highest point of the event today at a touch over
seven hundred metres here at Branstree. As it's been a fairly steady climb with
nothing too dramatic it doesn't have the same sort of wow factor as climbing
other peaks, but it's still a nice feeling to be at the top. I check and see
we're now thirteen kilometres in as well, so a good start to the day.
I did my timing chip in then climb over the wire fence to continue the
journey along toward Selside Pike, the next Wainwright we'll be topping. The
view from Branstree is rather obscured so there's not a huge amount to see, but
as we make our way along, now in a reverse and northerly direction, the nearest
hill to the west passes and we get a lovely view down to the Haweswater
Reservoir, much bigger than the one earlier.
The track is over quite a wide hilltop, then drops down sharply into the
col between the two. It's a nice little downhill to bounce down after the long
climb up to Branstree, and a good chance to stretch the legs. At the saddle I
take another look across at Haweswater as the view is even nicer from here,
albeit a bit overcast.
I then start climbing up again, still following the same wire fence from
the top of Branstree, and it's about as steep as the section I've just come
down so I just take it easy, again wanting to make sure I reserve energy this
early on. No point killing myself on the first ring if I want to get through
all three.
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| Selside Pike |
Sure enough, a few minutes later I crest the top and see a massive cairn
set up here and get a stunning view back towards where we've come from. I stop
a second to take it in, scanning the hills and mountains around and it's a view
well worth the climb to get here.
I take a right turn to follow the same fence, now heading east again. We
take quite a steep downhill, which again is a nice rest from the climbing,
which goes down quite far towards a ghyll (stream) coming down the hillside.
The route description tells me it's Hobgrumble Ghyll and that we're supposed to
cross it then continue in the same direction. There's a pair of runners ahead
and far off to the left, and another pair following the route description who
start to look quite confused by the self-assured pair going off incorrectly. I
join then and we all concur to go the right way so veer right again until we reach
the ghyll. From there we cross it, trying to avoid getting wet, but the ground
is quite marshy so a bit of water still gets in.
On the other side there is a sharp but small climb around a rocky
outcrop so we make our way up it. Near the top one of the other guys sees a big
bird circling and points it out, curious what type it might be. I halve no
idea, I'm no twitcher and that's an understatement.
Now is the point where we veer left to make our way over to a ruined
wall then to a lovely set of rock pools and waterfalls. It's quite unexpected
as the terrain here seems to be large open fell with the odd ghyll and that's
about it, so it's lovely to see some waterfalls, albeit small.
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| Mosedale |
As we're going down I start chatting to the guy directly ahead of me,
the usual about races done, the good, the bad and the ugly. He did the Thames
Path 100 earlier this year so we talk about that, me having DNF'd at last
year's one.
The terrain gets much trickier underfoot, with no discernible path at
the moment and a lot of slippery brush to slip on and it would be easy to do so
and slam a knee into one of the rocks jutting out. Suffice to say I keep an eye
on where I'm stepping. It's a tricky enough section to drop down to the bottom
of the hill here that we all end up improvising switchbacks on various parts of
the hillside until eventually we drop down to the bottom.
In the distance I see Karen Nash, who I met last night and I gather is
rather quick, coming towards us from the opposite direction. We all reach the
bridge together and as she approaches, I jokingly ask if this is one of the
shortcuts she was talking about last night. She tells me she was thinking of
going a different way around the river that the route took last year then
thought it might be a bit cheeky and decided to double back to the footbridge
here.
She's clearly motoring along as she started twenty five minutes after
us, so I let her cross first then we cross as well. There's a great view back
to the waterfall here, so as soon as the guys are over I double back onto the
bridge to take another look.
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| Mosedale |
We carry on along the farmland here. There is a short section that's
very boggy. I'd hoped to keep my feet relatively dry today, but that clearly
isn't going to happen as they're now completely soaked from the bog. There are
also low hanging trees here so I start to wonder if we're going the right way,
but I see Karen up ahead, already quite far gone, so we must be going the right
way. Aside from that, there's a wall on one side and a hill on the other so
there's not really any other way.
The bog gives way and eventually I find a path, now being slightly clear
of the other guys. The bog was a nice diversion, but it's also nice to have
hard ground again and I follow along slightly up of the river and in the
distance can see some construction works and realise I'm just about at the
first manned checkpoint.
I keep the pace steady and eventually find myself crossing down from the
path to the road over the newly built bridge at the construction works to the
large open farm barn at Truss Gap. A kid of maybe ten or twelve comes up with
the timing box. I smile, says thanks and dib in, and then make my way up to the
trestle tables with food on them. It's early on so I'm not particularly hungry
yet, but I know eating early on will be a very wise idea to see me through
later so I scan all the same.
There is a huge container full of what looks like fruit loaf but with a
weird orange thing mixed in. It looks like cheese but that doesn't make sense
so I ask the lady standing behind it. She confirms it is a sandwich made out of
fruit loaf with cheese as the filling. I'm intrigued and grab a piece then head
on my way. I take my first bite and it's absolutely astoundingly good. Sharp
sweetness mixed with sharp savoury makes for a really strong flavour and by the
time I'm back over the bridge having finished my piece and licking my lips I
wish I had grabbed two pieces. I've definitely got an idea for future race fuel
that's for sure.
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| Selside Pike |
I push on, feeling revitalised from the nice surprise of the random food
and the fact that I got to the checkpoint at ten thirty so no issues with
timing. Also, I now feel like things are starting to get underway having the
first half marathon under my belt. It's a steady section over a solid dirt
road, made for the construction crew no doubt, but giving a good break from the
soggy terrain. I like, the soggy terrain, but variety is the spice of life as
they say; and I like the miscellany.
I make my way across this section at a good pace as I've been conserving
energy so far, then reach a point where I need to again diverge off the dirt
road. The main difference now is, well, everything. I'm back on marshy terrain
and within a hundred metres I find myself at another boggy section. It looks
like it's a bad one and I approach it without breaking speed, just scanning
frantically for the best line.
In the end I opt to go for the left option as it's straight and looks
less ankle turning underfoot. In the end I got it wrong. I get another fifty
metres along and see that whilst I may have had to take one step up a verge to
the right, it looks definitively more solid than I am right now as I slip in up
to my ankle and nearly wobble face first into a tasty pie of bogmarsh.
I start to make my way a little over to the right, trying to avoid
stepping on anything that looks particularly bad, and I'm nearly there when I
notice I'm also nearly at the end of the boggy section so it's kind of pyrrhic
anyway.
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| Haweswate Reservoir |
I let a wry smile out as I take the second to last step towards dry
ground and my leg disappears underneath me. I look down and I'm up to my thigh
in a bog. How did that happen? I wrench my leg out and jostle it up to the dry
track that I should have been following on the right all along.
I move ahead to the edge of a farm wall and down across a stream to
reach the dirt road at the farm itself, passing a massive parked tractor along
the way. I cross the road and divert across the farmyard, which is clearly
private property but the nice farmer has given us access for the day. I head up
towards the farmhouse itself, up a small rise and just behind is a small path
with fence on one side and back down the rise to the right. I duck under some
tree branches, then carry on along the fence line for half a kilometre or so.
As it's good and flat underfoot I get through this with a bit of a clip.
I drop down to a little road then across it again and through a field
and a paddock towards the next farmhouse, only when I reach it, I'm pretty
confused as there is a clear sign matching my directions that the track is
through a gate, but the gate is jammed shut insomuch that it definitely can't
be opened. I'm in two minds on what to do, do I jump the fence which is
discourteous and pisses farmers off as it can damage them, or do I go around
the farmhouse the other way, potentially leaving the right of way and
trespassing? I opt to jump the fence and find myself in their private
courtyard. But the sign very clearly points this way so I head over to the gate
at the other entrance to find the exact same issue so have to jump the fence
again. I quickly scarper, not sure if that was the best way to do it or not.
At this point I meet a couple of walkers who stop me to ask which way it
is to Shap Abbey. As I'm following my watch and route description I can't
currently pinpoint myself on a map very quickly and tell them it's back the way
they came as I know I'm heading towards it and they look very confused. I point
out I'm not exactly sure, though, and debate whether to stop and work out a
grid reference so I can be exact, but they don't look to be too bothered, just
confused so I bid them adieu and head on my way.
I pass another farmhouse and the road curves and becomes more defined. I
carry on and leave the road to cross more fields, through more boundaries until
I reach the Parish Crag Bridge over the Swindale Beck. Just before I pass a
sign pointing directly back behind me to Shap Abbey. Seems I gave the walkers
the wrong directions. Oops. A few hundred metres later I'm back at the road,
going over a much more solid bridge over the River Lowther and heading on a
short but sharp uphill to Rosgill. I pass a children's playground on
my right with one rusty swing a one of those swinging seats and feel sorry for
the kids of the area, then take a quick look around me at the view and stop
feeling sorry for them immediately.
At the top of the town I take a right on someone's driveway and go past
their house. The instructions say we need to be quiet here and not disturb the
residents, but it looks like there is some building work going on and the place
is vacant anyway. I've not really got any noise to make anyway so I'm still
quiet.
I leave their garden via the back gate and continue slightly uphill on
the paddock behind the house, check the directions and see it's a matter of
rinse and repeat through the next four fields, with the reward at the end being
Shap Abbey. Anyone that knows me knows I love old historical buildings, so I've
been quite excited about seeing this, but as I approach I see it's down the
hill a wee while away. I briefly consider a detour, but realise it will take me
a good fifteen minutes to go have a look and decide to admire from afar
instead. It looks like a standard medieval church, quaint with a small bell
tower and small nave, but it's hard to tell as there's some trees in the way.
It also looks a bit disused.
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| Shap Abbey |
I carry on through some more fields and directly after the abbey find
one that is full of quite a lot of cows. They're mainly bunched together neat
the middle, leaving quite a wide open space to the left on the higher side of
the field. That's a bit of an unnecessary detour though as my exit I at
the bottom of the field on the other side. There is a smaller gap below the
herd, but it brings me relatively close and there is also one cow stood right
in the middle of my path. It'll probably be fine, but there are a couple of
calves in there so I really don't want to piss any of them off. As there is a
drop down to the level of the Abbey behind me on the lower section, I decide to
go that way as, if I get charged, I can just dive down the verge and hope the
cows won't chase as it's very steep.
I get closer and a few turn their heads to look at me. I get closer
again to the one right in my way, who notice me but barely lifts her head. Soon
enough I'm past them altogether without issue and most of them haven't even
noticed me. Oh well, better safe than sorry I've learned the hard way on
previous excursions.
Through some more fields, then I reach another roads and pass it over a
couple more fields, sensing a bit of a theme on this section. Soon enough,
though, I see Shap ahead of me. I do a mental check and actually feel like my
legs aren't doing too bad and have definitely got a few hours left in them. I'm
a bit nervous I won't make it through today as I don't have the pressure of the
whole series that I did during the last ten races at the Coastal Trail Series.
It means I'm much more likely to mentally slip and drop from the event here
today, but I'm pretty determined to finish, so just have to wait to see what
else is in store.
I round the corner past the residents on the back part of the town. One
of them asks if there's an event on. I tell her there is...and we'll be running
round here all day. I head down a path behind the Library, cross the road and
head into the Memorial Hall and the end of Ring One about thirty kilometres deep now. I'm greeted by Neil with
his ever present energy, which brings a smile to everyone it seems. He tells me
I need to dib into the main computer as well to get a printout of my splits for
the Ring and to go on the leader board that will be up all day here. I head
over to the toilet, swap out my route descriptions and map for the next
section, grab lunch and head back out again onto Ring Two.
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