Edale fell race.

Fancying myself as a bit of a fell runner today I entered my first ever fell race. Its been an ambition of mine to do a fell race for quite a long time now, why its taken me so long is mainly due to work (I've done a lot of overtime in the past few summers) and partly due to a percieved lack of fitness. This year I'm cutting down on the overtime and getting out more, I'm a little more stable financially and to be frank I want my life back!

Edale fell race is part of the Edale Country Day, a show put on every year in aid of the local school. The race itself is 7.6k/4.7 mile and category AS, A meaning a lot of climbing and S equaling Short distance. Its also categorised ER, LK, NS, which stands for Experiened Required, Local Knowledge, Navigational Skills (the course being unmarked). Well, I might not have raced before but I have run in the area a number of times including recce'ing the route twice in the past couple of weeks.

The course started in a sheep field below the Nab. At 11 o'clock a horn was blown and 200+ runners attempted to run up a zig-zag stone trail up towards the Nab. I say run, I'm not sure what exactly was happening at the front but at the back where I was we started at a jog, then slowed to a brisk(ish) walk as firstly we hit a bottleneck at a gate followed by some steep steps up the hillside. The smell of leg rub (tiger balm?) filled my nostrils and made me wonder if such strong potions were strictly necessary on the legs of a middle pack runner... Walking turned to to jogging in places, and I moved up a few places. As we gained height the smell of muscle rub was replaced by a very welcome light breeze. Passing under Ringing Roger the wide stony track turned to heathery singletrack, with the obligitory random boulders to dodge, which slowed things up a again as the runners in front alternated between running and walking. Soon we reached Golden Clough and a short rocky climb up to the plateau edge.

Running along the edge of Kinder is always a fantastic experience. The terrain underfoot can be sandy, peaty, or rocky, with occasional stretches of flagstones, meaning that you need to concentrate at all times. Lift your gaze though, even for a second, and the views are stunning even on an overcast day. There are multiple line choices to consider, would it be easier to follow the trainers of the person in front or could I move up by trying that line to the left? But then if its a bad line I could drop down a place or two...

By the time I'd reached the top of Grindsbrook Clough I'd lost a few places, being passed by some of the runners that I'd taken on the first climb. Note to self, might be worth saving a bit on the climb to use later. I love crossing the top of the clough, first you drop down a couple of rocky metres, cross the slab that is the stream bed at that point, up a couple of stone slabs/steps then along a tight narrow singletrack running rather close to a fair sized drop onto slabby rockyness. With the clough out of the way the route now points towards Grindslow Knoll (601 metres), and another short climb. Fair weather had now turned to a welcome light drizzle, and over the top we went, past the summit cairn, and then its down down down.

When I recce'd the route I took the stone path from the summit top. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to the descent, the path being steep and potentially perilous. Today though I followed the runners in front who all ignored the stone path and headed quite gingerly straight down the heathery hillside. I made up a couple more places here as for some reason I found that I could descend faster that those in front on this steep section, however once the route rejoined the main stone track and the steepness lessened I lost those places, and a few more as well. A few weeks ago I turned my left ankle on a rocky downhill during a trail race, and that ankle is still a bit weak (I know that because I've turned it a couple more times whilst running through my local fields), so I tend to be a little worried when running down anything stony. The solution I think is to learn to tape it up and to practise rocky descents. A gate appears (held open for us), beyond which is some pleasant running down a grassy sheep field, onto a narrow tree lined lane next to a stream, then we're off down the road towards the finish which is in the country day field.

I finished in 169th place (out of 229 runners) with a time of 57.22, a little slower than the sub 55 finish that I was aiming for. I'm not dissappointed though, I enjoyed the whole race and now I can see where I need to improve ready for the next one.

A few minutes after finishing the heavens opened and I, along with everyone else, sought refuge in a marquee, peering through the rain keeping a close eye out for Dani, who was cycling over from Buxton. Eventually I found her, she'd had a mechanical and had to do most of the ride with her rear mech locked in the smallest ring, good strength training but bad on the knees. Thankfully she didn't have to ride home again, we'd already agreed that she was coming home with me. We stashed the bike in the Landy, changed into dry clothes and went back into the showground. Thanfully the rain eased off, then stopped altogether allowing the sun to return.

The gentleman fell runner...

We rarely visit country shows, which is a shame as we rather enjoyed our afternoon. We watched a dog herding ducks through lines of children, a couple of blokes shearing sheep, local primary schoolchildren doing Tai-Chi, a fun dog show and a local troop of Morris Men (Cotswolds style, we prefer Borders). We ate local sausage and wood-fired pizza, and drank tea alongside fine home-made cake (coffee + walnut). I found it a shame that a lot of the other runners went straight home as the race and show were closely tied and wandering around the stalls was a good way to unwind.

A good day out.

Paul.