Natural Ability Fell Race 2015

Monday, May 4, 2015

AS / 6.2m / 1148ft

Jo Porter

Finding myself unexpectedly at a bit of a loose end on Bank Holiday Monday due to it being good fishing and motorcycling weather I made a last minute decision to have a ride over to Allenheads and give this race a go. I was a little daunted by it, not being used to fell races, but had read the race information after Paul mentioned it on Wednesday at Striders and it looked okay for beginners.

Arriving at the village I saw it was pretty busy, I wondered if there would be EOD’s left. I parked in the car park they had organised and walked the very short distance to race registration. I paid my £10, took my number and a friendly marshal showed me the race route on a map. He pointed out where the hills were, in particular one steep climb just before the halfway point. I was pretty nervous by then, most of the people around me were obviously seasoned fell runners, without any fat on them, looking like they could run forever. The marshal however assured me it was do-able, fully marshalled and taped and that full waterproofs didn’t need to be carried.

It started at 11am, as advertised. I’d guess there were about 120 runners. I started almost at the back, in short sleeves having ditched my jacket behind a wall before the start as the sun had come out. It was a very slight uphill start on a stony lane, but nothing too steep. Pretty soon we were crossing a couple of fields, the going was soggy underfoot. I’d worn new road shoes as I needed the cushioning, having had a problem with my foot recently. I soon realised that sadly they wouldn’t be clean for long as I squelched across the boggy bits and slid in the odd bit of mud. It was undulating with a good mixture of surfaces, the occasional stile and a stream to cross, or fall in for some! I was enjoying it, listening to the ground nesting birds and the water rushing down the hillside after heavy rain the day before. Shortly before we crossed the main road there was a ford to get over, which meant my feet got absolutely soaked, at least it cleaned the mud off!

Then the climb started… Suffice to say it took me over 9 minutes to cover the half a mile to 3 miles, all the people around me were walking up what seemed like an endless hill. For fit people I guess it was very run able, on a good clear path through the heather, but the gradient was beyond my running capabilities. The top couldn’t come soon enough. We were then rewarded by fabulous views as we contoured along the hillside, I think the next part was overall pretty flat, passing a quarry, along a pleasant stony track, until we reached the road again. The marshals at the road crossing assured me that it was all downhill from there. They were right, it was a lovely downhill initially on grass then the final bit on the road into the village. I tried to sprint for what I thought was the finish line, and managed to catch someone up who I’d been behind for a couple of miles, but on getting there I was directed up another track to the left, where the finish flag could be seen around 50 yards away. A final push and I was finished. I felt like I’d ran far further than 5.7miles, and was glad of the water in the goody bag. I’d taken about 65 minutes, so it was far from fast. There were also a few packets of sweets, some crisps and a chocolate bar in the goody bag. Only a few finished after me, and after clapping them in I walked down into the village and had a nice lunch at a nearby café, sitting in front of a log burning stove. They’d put a barbecue on at the village pub, where they held the prize giving, it smelled lovely as I walked past to go back to the car.

Garmin shows 5.73 miles and 782 feet of ascent, a great, well organised run in lovely unspoilt countryside, definitely worth doing next year. Proceeds go to a charity which seems to do some great work with special needs children.

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