Langdale Fell Race

What a day for the runners of the Langdale Fell Race, IWC being one of them. As you can see lots of folk like to get out on the route to support friends doing the race. It's a good way of getting some climbing in without the urgency of actually racing. On this occasion the runners seemed to literally emerge from the cloud.

After seeing the start I had a nice cappuccino at the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel - well it was that sort of day, and then set out myself. We went up over the Band to Three Tarns and hunkered down out of the wind to see the runners. The wet rock made it very testing, and I was glad to be able to just trot along at my own pace. By the time we got to the col, we had just missed IWC but passed the time of day with a few mates. The ground was treacherous and although our plan was to go over the Crinkles before heading down, we could see nothing and decided it would be less than enjoyable, given the conditions.

Almost every runner took a fall or two but escaped with fairly minor injuries - there was a lot of limping at the prize giving. But for the most it added to the stories in the pub afterwards - the falls, the bruises, a broken rib here and there - sadly 'though one runner suffered quite a serious knee injury and was taken off to hospital. For the rest it was a full on day on the hill!

More pics here if its of interest.