Simonside Fell Race

Thropton Show, Monday, October 19, 2009

Colin Blackburn

Thropton Show is a real shepherds’ show tucked away in the hills beyond Rothbury. There are sheepdog trials (in fact Elfie talked to one guy over from the Netherlands with his dog who’d come a long way to take part), a bit of horse jumping, a small industrial tent, a few stalls but, best of all, Simonside Fell Race. There are several races up and along Simonside. This one sits in the middle in terms of length but is right at the top in terms of fun, if you like scrambling. It’s pretty much out from Thropton, up Simonside, down Simonside and back to Thropton. On the way you get to wade a river, run through beautiful forest, clamber up a heathery hillside and scramble up and over the rocky summit. Lest I put you off for next year, you can avoid the wade and the scramble at the expense of a slightly longer run.

This year Dougie and I were taking part for our fell clubs with just Shaun representing Elvet Striders. As Shaun ran across to register he looked like he was cutting it a bit fine but he still had plenty of time to change into his home-made light-weight racing vest. At 2:20 the 82 runners assembled and were called to order by Phil Green. After a route talk which roughly amounted to, “you have to run to that craggy bit and back”, we set off in wonderful autumn weather.

The show starts and ends in the main show field via a taped-off corridor. There’s a handful of applause and a similar number of bemused looks as we all run out of the show field and on to the roads of Thropton. The short road section is soon over as the river bank path is taken to the “ford”. Last year the course was diverted via the footbridge. This year the river crossing was only knee deep and so deemed safe enough. It’s great getting your shoes wet so early in a race as it means you don’t have to bother avoiding puddles or mud for the rest of the race.

Climb? What climb?

Photo courtesy and © Rob Stephens

For most of this gentle part of the run and as we started to climb up to and through the woods I had Shaun in my sight. As the heather started and the real climb kicked in I felt I was gaining on him, little by little. After hauling myself on to the summit rocks he was just a few strides ahead of me. Then the descent. It is precipitous! It’s a steep rocky track cutting through the heather. The odd boulder is so big it’s best to sit on it and drop down. At this point I passed Shaun, or rather he let me pass him—what a gentleman! As I negotiated the heather I didn’t think too much about how much ground I was making on Shaun (if anyone now has the idea that I had a personal aim here… ). I finally came out of the heather and on to the track and looked back. I had picked up a fair few yards.

The zigzagging descent through the woods here is really nice. It’s mostly on good tracks and is good running. At this stage I was starting to feel fairly alone barring one woman up ahead of me. Every now and then she’d zig and then a few seconds later I’d zig. Then she’d zag and another few seconds later I’d zag. As I emerged from the woods I looked at where she’d gone, saw the tape on the stile and where she zigged so I zigged. After a great descent down a steep pasture I got to the gate to see her stood there asking if I knew where I was going. I suddenly realised she didn’t. I apologise to her now if she’s reading for what might have been a slightly crude comment. A few moments of panic struck…was there tape on the gate? No…was there an obvious route back toward Thropton? No…had I made a really stupid mistake? Yes!

So, I mustered everything I had and ran back up the hill to see runners emerging from the wood and going the other way. I didn’t recognise any of the runners so I guessed I’d lost a fair few places. Ah well, these things happen. The lost woman and me then started to pass the slower runners who were now ahead of us. They all must have realised we’d either paced it badly or got lost. As we got back toward Thropton a runner who looked like he’d finished joined her to cheer her in, it turns out he was the winner of the race. A few seconds after her I crossed the line to see Shaun looking slightly bemused. He’d realised I’d made a mistake and pretty much the same mistake he made last year. I’ll not make it again at this race!

A couple of minutes later and Dougie finished, though he still had the GNR to run! The final runner got very lost with a team of runners going out to look for her once she had been reported missing. She turned up safe and sound.

Would I have stayed ahead of Shaun? Who knows. Was it an enjoyable race? Yes. Will I be back next year? You bet…I just hope Shaun is too!

Results

Pos Name Club Cat Pos Time
1 James Buis Heaton Harriers M 46.17
17 Karen Robertson NFR FV40 55.04
56 Shaun Roberts MV50 1.05.45
68 Colin Blackburn NFR MV40 1.08.58
75 Dougie Nisbet DFR MV40 1.14.25

82 finishers.

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