Helvellyn and the Dodds Fell Race

Threlkeld, Lakes, Sunday, May 29, 2011

AL / 15m / 4338'

Geoff Davis

Susan.
photo courtesy and © Dawn Metcalfe

Those of you who don’t know me and Susan (aka Mudman & Mudwoman) too well might think that cross country is our first love when in fact our number one passion is for the fells and fell racing. There is no better time and place to indulge this obsession than Lakeland in spring and so we found ourselves in the car park of Threlkeld Cricket Club on Sunday listening to the rain hitting the car roof as the whole vehicle was being buffeted by a strong wind. Nonetheless, 40 minutes or so later we were lined up with a hundred other like minded souls (including Phil Sanderson) ready to tackle the 15 miles and 4,300ft of climb that included one of England’s highest mountains.

Geoff does the sideways shimmy down a slope.
photo courtesy and © Dawn Metcalfe

I’d been looking forward to the race as it would be traversing ground I know extremely well having been across it more times than Shaun’s had pints of Old Speckled Hen. [You exaggerate, methinks. Ed. ] Although the rain had stopped and the cloud had cleared the fell tops, we still had a gale force wind to content with but I felt reasonably good as I ticked off the tops of my old friends ‘The Dodds’ on the way to Helvellyn. With a couple of ‘gels’ down my neck, to ward off the familiar ‘two hour death’, I started to pass a few familiar (and younger!) faces on the return trip. Some crafty route choices also put paid to one or two rivals as I made it to the last hill without having ‘died’. A fast descent down my prefered grassy slope saw me sneak in at the finish just under three hours. I was well pleased particularly as a good few of my fell friends, and rivals, were still out on the hill.

Susan too had a very good race finishing 2nd LV50 having helped one or two confused souls with their route choices out on the tops. Our own Phil Sanderson (North East Fell Running Champion no less) finished in a highly impressive 3rd place having lost his car key out on the fell only for it to be found by a fellow runner – how lucky is that?!

Results

Pos Name Club Cat Pos Time
1 PALMER, Mark Mynydd Du MV40 1 2:18:53
3 SANDERSON, Philip NFR MV40 2 2:24:17
41 DAVIS, Geoff NFR MV50 7 2:59:36
46 EVANS, Catherine Keswick AC F 1 3:02:36
93 DAVIS, Susan NFR FV50 2 3:42:40

103 finishers

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