Ian Hodgson Mountain relay - 2^nd October 2011.

Vets report

For the 2011 event the organisers had reverted back to the clockwise route starting at Patterdale. The late change of start venue and route due to the waterlogging at Sykeside left teams either frantically having to re-reccie or trusting in their route knowledge ‘in reverse’. As someone said after the race, ‘the checkpoints don’t seem like they’re in the same place when you run the route backwards’.

Sykeside campsite is beautifully peaceful after a few hours on the M6 and it was good to see familiar Clayton faces in the pub the night before the race. Borrowdale’s Mark Roberts was obviously taking the race seriously, He told Garry and I of his plan to reccie the cattle grids at the start of leg 1 before breakfast. To jump it or put your foot down? Mark knows  AngleTarn  (leg 1 first checkpoint)well enough as he does training runs up there with his fishing tackle. Apparently the species of fish have developed individual characteristics which differ from the same species of fish in other nearby Tarns. If only Charles Darwin had known, he needn’t have bothered with the Galapagos Islands. Still, it’s not always about the facts is it Charles?

Leg 1, Patterdale to Hartsop

Borrowdale went into an early lead, all that training laden with fishing tackle obviously worked  for Mark Roberts as he and Chris Steele stormed in with a big lead from Dark Peak and Pudsey and Bramley. In the vets race Ian Greenwood and I came home in 14^th, 3^rd vets team, 67 seconds behind the vets leaders Dark Peak with Ambleside in 2^nd place. We had a good descent, around 7^th fastest from the Tarn checkpoint and were closing on the vets race leaders at the finish. It was good to see Shaun Livesay running, the Shaun Livesay who still holds the course record for the Half Tour of Pendle inspite of the efforts of Messrs Holmes, Jebb, Hope etc. He’s still difficult to get past is Shaun.

Leg 2 Hartsop to Kirkstone

Borrowdale increased their lead to five minutes but were chased by Ben Abdelnoor and Tom Gibbs who ran the fastest leg, bringing Ambleside  through from 16^th into 2^nd place. In contrast Dark Peak dropped from 2^nd to 16^th. They weren’t the only team to go for a wander around Caudale Moor either. Ambleside took the lead in the vets race, moving into 4^th overall, with Dark Peak 2^nd vets (10^th overall) with Kendal vets Craig Roberts and Paul Dugdale moving into 3^rd (12^th overall). Clayton vets Mark Aspinall and Andy Stubbs had a good start and moved through to 10^th overall on the climb up to  High Street but were one of many pairs who struggled to find the elusive Tarn in the mists on Caudale Moor. It’s strange how mild annoyance ‘where the hell are they?’ quite quickly turns into concern when your team mates are overdue. Thankfully they arrived safe and well, coming home 5^th vets behind Helm Hill.

Leg 3  Kirkstone to Hartsop Hall.

Simon Booth and Mike Fanning increased Borrowdale’s lead , running the fastest leg . Pudsey and Bramley’s Darren Kay and Danny Hope moved through from 7^th to 2^nd and Wharfedale moved into 3^rd.

In the vets race Ambleside retained the lead but dropped to 5^th overall. Dark Peak were 2^nd, Kendal 3^rd, Helm Hill 4^th. Clayton vets Dave Nuttall and Andy Mc Farlane pulled back 7 places to 24^th overall and were fastest of the vets teams on the climb up to Red Screes, but couldn’t catch the top four vets teams coming home as 5^th place vets.

Leg 4 Hartsop Hall to Patterdale

Morgan Donnelly and Jim Davies, although they had time to relax,  didn’t take any chances and ran the fastest leg, bringing Borrowdale home to a 17 minute victory in 3:42:12

Wharfedale caught Pudsey and Bramley’s internationals Rob Hope and Graham Pearce on the last leg to clinch 2^nd  with 3:59:07 to Pudsey’s 3:59:23. Ambleside weren’t far behind in 4^th 4:00:18

In the vets race Ambleside won in 4:05:13 (7^th place overall) from Dark Peak 4:10:23 (10^th overall) and Kendal 3^rd in 4:28:47. Clayton vets Tim Edwards and Garry Wilkinson caught Helm Hill vets and cut Kendal vets lead (in 3^rd place) from fourteen minutes to three, bringing us home as 4^th place vets team and 19^th overall 4:31:28. At the start of the last leg, with a ten minute lead, it looked like Clayton seniors would beat the vets team but Tim and Garry went flying past in the mist below Fairfield.

Sixty three teams finished and the quote of the day? “I don’t need my compass, I know where I’m going”. It’s a good weekend away if you travel up the day before and can live without a post race skinfull. They don’t do pavements by the roads round Patterdale, which is a bit dangerous if you have to walk along a road anywhere, maybe I’ve lived in a city too long.

Thanks to captain Neil Worswick for organising the teams and to Garry Wilkinson for ferrying people around in his van.