Fellsman

Well i am struggling with walking today... but i think it was worth it! Very pleased to complete my longest ever race so far... 62miles & 11,000-ft (~3800m) of ups & downs. The Fellsman is an excellently organised events - many Thanks to Keighley Scout group & also the many volunteers at all the checkpoints.

The race starts in Ingelton and loops round taking in lots of Yorkshire summits and finishing in the village of Thresfield, near Grassington.

Me & Mandy at the start.

There were 381 starters this year -- setting off on a bright but slightly overcast day. We had one really heavy rainstorm and going up Great Knoutberry in the mist & hail was pretty unpleasant. After that though the rain dried up, so for most of the day we had bright views over Yorkshire. I caught up with Julian Brown (a fellow Macclesfield harrier) in Dent and we managed to stay together encouraging each other on and it was very nice to have company. Chatted to a few other runners en route as there were always a few people around, but we were mainly following our own route. I had great encouragement at various checkpoints through the day from my husband Dave and also Karen & Matt.


Setting off round the bog over Fleets Moss... it was a bit wetter than a reccie a few weeks ago! But we did make it across and down to the Cray checkpoint before the 7.30-pm grouping time. I definitely struggled a bit here as Nicky Spinks had suddenly appeared at Hells Gap checkpoint and i felt i really should try and keep up... but as Nicky descended rapidly off Buckden Pike i knew there was no way i could match her speed & strength. So then i relaxed a bit more to the grouping point at ParkRash. We set off at about 9pm so got up to the top of Great Whernside before it was too dark, so the end bit in the dark was fine - the route was aided by beacons and also a very picturesque moon-rise. The final 2 miles on the road weren't quite as bad as i had feared -- we finished in 14 hours 22mins so i was very pleased with my time. Half an hour behind the 1st lady Sarah Rowell. A plate of chili & tea and then to bed. Definitely felling pretty pleased of my achievement today... i think my legs will need a bit of a rest though!

www.fellsman.org.uk