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Kevin Allerton's Race Report from the Wrekin
Wrecker 8 miler Fell Race
Foray into fell
or Fool on the Hill or something if you're bored
I inadvertently
saw my first fell race whilst travelling in the car from
a weeks cycling in the Lake District to the Etape du
Dales Sportive in the Yorkshire Dales last year.
A small army of Lowry’s match stick men were hurtling
down the side of a precipitous mountain near the town of
Dent. Having just arrived from Cumbria where even the
shoppers are armoured head to toe in gore-tex and sturdy
boots it was a stark contrast to see these audacious
people clad in little more than a vest , shorts and
pumps tackling such terrain at great speeds. Think the
charge of the highland army but the battle being against
the hills and bracing weather. The victory must be a
sweet one, as only hard earned ones can be.
I guess this image really struck me as I’d just joined
the Tri Club ( with a view to doing some tri’s ) and had
only been running for a couple of months. Just running
on the flat road was a painful and exhausting experience
at the time and these people were seemingly imbued with
other worldly powers. I was amazed at the possibilities.
A year or so on and I find myself on the line at the
Roaches for a B cat middle distance fell race. It’s
bright and breezy and the saturated ground all around is
rugged and vital. I must look a bit of plonker dressed
in too much lycra and a bit too coordinated compared to
the scantily dressed women and men who do this all the
time. I don’t care, I’ve got round much tougher things
than this. All of a sudden were off.
Gasp for air, measure the stride, search for foothold
and hope it’s sound, up and up, down and round. Through
the stream and over rock, slide in mud and slip in
slurry all the while in determined hurry. See the view
in all it’s glory, make it part of life’s story.
Well, I had a few more ache’s and pains than from say a
10k road or cross country race but the satisfaction from
completing such an arduous and beautiful circuit was
incomparable and 41st out of 114 probably better than I
do in road race.
A week on and Steve C of Stafford Tri and I are on the
start line of the Wrekin Wrecker 8 miler ( A cat middle
distance fell race )… ‘A’ must stand for agony,
achievement, ascent and bloomin’ steep !!!! It’s a full
body workout conducted at threshold level, even when
crawling, and crazy concentration and endorphin levels,
but I’m very glad when it ends…a retired cyclist once
said ‘pain is temporary, pleasure is eternal ‘ or some’
at like that. Certainly the view from the top mixed with
the emotion of the event etches something eternal into
the psyche.
If you fancy something a bit different, then fell
running may make an enlivening and refreshing change
Possibly reaches the parts, geographically, physically
and spiritually that other workouts struggle to find.
www.fellrunner.org.uk
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