Race date 15 June 2019. 32 miles. 10,000ft of ascent. Report by Alan Evans
The weather was looking good, with cloud and perhaps some showers in the morning. I had trained hard for this event, so I was confident of completing in a reasonable time. The route is not to be underestimated, with just over 8000 feet of elevation and many difficult descents.
The race HQ was at Grasmere Village Hall. Grasmere was home to William Wordsworth and is about 3 miles north of the northern end of Lake Windermere. The route was an anticlockwise circuit about 33 miles (52 km) in length encompassing some wild and beautiful Cumbrian landscape.
155 were registered for the event, with 20 being walkers who started an hour earlier than the runners. The running group set off at 8.30 and we were soon stretched out in a thin line climbing towards the first summit.
The weather and visibility on the passes was not as bad as it could have been, with a few showers and a bit of mist. As the day wore on and I became more tired, I tripped and bloodied my knee on the way up to Gatescarth Pass. I had refuelled at the aid station at Kentmere and was on top of my hydration but I think I was lacking some salts so I sucked on a couple of tablets that you are supposed to add to your water to replenish salt levels. That seemed to make my legs less wobbly, but I still had to take it slow on the downhills.
The last five miles from Scandale Fell to Grasmere is very runnable and I managed to keep a trot going most of the way. The first male this year was Rob Brown with an astonishing time of 5:23:10. First female was Hayley Evans (6:24:45). My final time was 9:28:17.
I was grateful for the lasagne and cheesecake at the end, included in the race price. It was an amazing day with great support from Ascend events and volunteers and one which I will definitely do again next year.
