Wasdale revisited.

Good morning folks

I trust you are in fine fettle.
A quick blog turnaround, if I don’t get it down on paper quick, I’ll forget it.
A bit fellrunningcentric again. Middle of the racing season.
Big race of the year last weekend (for me), the start of the summer holidays (for youngsters, but sadly not the weather, yet!)
Plus a very special day paying respect to and celebrating the life of Joss Naylor.

Wasdale Horsehoe fell race

The Big One!

The Wasdale Horseshoe is a tough old race.
If you stand at the start, near the Wasdale Head NT Campsite and spin round 360 degrees, you get a sense of what is to come!

This year it was chosen as an English Championship race, so instead of the usual 100-ish runners, there were 350 places, which sold out in a few hours.
All the big guns were on the start line, but would Billy Bland’s 1982 record (3:25:21) be under threat?

I first ran this race in 2000, there were 47 runners, it was claggy from start to finish and I had to map-&-compass it all the way round. A tough day out.

This year the race was poignant in that it was only recently that we lost Joss Naylor, one of the greatest fellrunners of all time, and Wasdale was his kingdom, where he farmed. A few thoughtful words from the starter and “Three Cheers for Joss” were part of the start, Joss wouldn’t have wanted us all to be miserable.

It is a “horseshoe”, but in effect a full loop (otherwise the start and finish would be separate, not ideal if you’ve run 21 miles and climbed up and down 9000ft, and can barely walk to your car as it is, even when you are parked at the finish!)

From Brackenclose, you go straight up The Screes, a good path that does eventually top out and then it is good running all the way to Whin Rigg (checkpoint 1-cut off: 60mins), then a steep downhill into a gully and then across the valley bottom, through muddy fields, woods and tracks, popping out briefly on the road at Greendale Bridge (checkpoint 2), up the side of the beck, digging in for an endless, soggy climb to Seatallan (checkpoint 3-cut off: 2hrs25mins), and then a good run downhill, aquaplaning through the bottomless bog of the Pots of Ashness, following a hint of a trod around Haycock, and then up to Pillar (checkpoint 4-cut-off: 3hrs25mins) from here it is a fast path round the back of Kirk Fell, and then you get a sight of Great Gable, the steep side! Not many people run up this bit, and any chit-chat dies off, to the summit at least (checkpoint 5-cut off: 4hrs30mins), and then a rocky plunge down to Styhead Mountain Rescue stretcher box and then starts “The Death March”.
A long haul up past Sprinkling Tarn, (the wettest place in England) to Esk Hause (checkpoint 6) and then turning homewards over the Scafell Massif (a group of mountains, not a gang of Homeboys), dodging the crowds all the way to the rooftop of England, Scafell Pike (checkpoint 7), from here it is all downhill to the col at Lingmell, rocky at first, and then a brilliant grassy run off down Lingmell Nose, sloping steeper and steeper to the last checkpoint (checkpoint 8) at the wall crossing and the world’s steepest stile, and the world’s best race run-in to the end, dodging the masses, hidden boulders and tree roots and then, the finish, stop, and look back at the skyline and smile 🙂

(Races have cut-off times, to prevent marshals, who are volunteers, from being out on the tops in stinking conditions all day, so you can’t dawdle too much, for fear of being timed out. Wasdale has quite tight cut-offs, as some of the tops are remote and exposed!)

I won’t go in to a blow-by-blow-step-by-step account.

The ladies (U23 up to V70)and V55 men (and above, so that’s V60, V65 & V70) all set off at 10:30, the rest set off at 11am, (I am V50 nowadays so agewise I’m towards the back of that bunch).
The winner, the inimitable Flying Scotsman, Finlay Wild, (Lochaber AC), set off like a jet powered steam train and despite running against the very best of the best of current British fellrunners, disappeared into the distance, never to be seen again, until the finish. Time: 3:37:42, the fastest time since 1990, but nobody has ever come within 5mins of Billy Bland’s record.

The ladies race was won by Nichola Jackson (Keswick AC) in 4:29:23 and an impressive LV70 winner was Wendy Dodds. Keith Holmes was first MV70.

For myself, I started steadily, and had a grand plan!

As the girls were up to support me, I hatched a plan for them to have some food and drink for me at Greendale Bridge; 2 sarnies, a chewy bar and a pint of sports juice, leaving me to carry just a fistful of gels, a dozen jelly babies and an emergency slab of Kendal Mint Cake, plus a tiny 20ml bottle. So running across the valley, I was daydreaming about a Charlie Baker sarnie (banana and syrup) and a Joe Quail sandwich (cheese, ham and BOMBA sauce)…

I arrived at the rendezvous point, to meet, nobody!
My support crew were nowhere to be seen.

A mix-up with times left me dithering, what to do, what to do, I had to go, cut-offs were pressing down on me.

I remember watching a video about an American lass doing the Ramsay Round (24hr mountain challenge in Scotland) who said that “Everything can be either positive or negative, but if you want to finish, it has to be positive!”

I mulled over my missing lunch and figured I could get round with what I had on me, so I cracked on.

The clag came in a bit, as did the rain across the boggy bit to Pillar, my rations were a gel on the hour and a solitary jelly baby on every half hour, plus stopping at every beck en-route to slake my thirst. I was under the cut-offs and feeling good. Pillar done, Great Gable climbed, final cut-off ticked off, then I caught my mate John, at the start of the Death March, and then it was just a case of digging in and getting to Scafell Pike and hopefully finding a good line off the top to the Lingmell col. which is ALWAYS claggy.
Glancing at my watch all along the Scafell Pike ridge I figured I might just get under 6 hours, (I ran this last year and back in 2000, but had never got under 6hrs), I think my Guardian Angel was watching down on me as I took a few more risks than usual, lots of slips and trips and had a few near heart stopping stumbles, but no KOs!

On to the grassy bit, I opened it up and tried to coordinate my tired legs dowhill, coming over the brow of the steep bit to see a bloke with the biggest, most ferocious looking hound from hell, that I have ever seen, which luckily didn’t maul me. I had to slam on the brakes to stop for the stile, not falling on my ar$e on the steep side and legged it down to the finish.

Time: 5:56:39

Fellrunning is not about the times, but I was chuffed to bits to do my fastest ever time. (Finlay Wild had got back 2hrs earlier, got changed, had a nap, had his tea and was halfway home to Fort William, but he is another level!)

Had a late lunch, eating my non-rendezvous sarnies and then went back to our digs, feeling a bit weird after necking way too many gels!

A good day was had by all 🙂

Special mentions to Tim from ARCC, who cycled up from Glossop on Friday, raced Saturday and then cycled back (over Hardknott & Wrynose Passes) to Glossop on Sunday, and, to the bloke parked next to me, for whom it was his first ever fell race!
Hardcore you know the score.

If my legs don’t drop off, next on the summer circus tour it’s Ambleside Sports (Rydal Round) on Thursday and then Borrowdale the week after, on my birthday 🙂

Life on the ocean wave

The Nipper and I have an annual summer tradition/treat to go sea fishing off Whitby, to hopefully catch enough for tea and then have a bit in the freezer.

After obsessing about the forecast and booking the best 2 days off work, I didn’t account for:
a) Monday: Perfect weather, but the Captain having a hangover after the England match and rebooking us for Tuesday.
b) Tuesday: The perfect weather predicted last week for Tuesday doing a complete turnaround and becoming foggy, raining and choppy.
c) The crap weather on Wednesday becoming the best day of the week, when I had originally booked the day off but then canceled it and was at work!

British summer, don’t ya just love it!
There’s only Captain Bird’s Eye fish fingers in our freezer for now then.

Raiders round-up

Good and not so good.
Cracking win for the ladies Vs. Huddersfield 🙂

An uphill and sadly non-victorious battle Vs. Batley Bulldogs for the men. 😦

Sunday sees a double header at home, with the ladies up again Leeds Rhinos at noon and the men up against Sheffield Eagles at 3pm.
COYR.
Onwards and upwards!

RIP Joss

Friday the 19th of July 2024 was an emotional day.
A funeral.
Family? No.
A close friend? No.
A person who you really want to pay your respects to? Absolutely yes.

(I wrote about Joss’s history and legacy in the last blog).

In December 2021 Joss had suffered a stroke. He passed away on 28/06/24.
His wish to his family was for fellrunners to run over the hills and Lakeland passes, and to lead in his funeral cortege, to St. Olaf’s Church, the smallest church in England, in arguably the most beautiful corner of the country, Wasdale.

Groups of fellrunners and walkers of all ages and abilities, streamed down into the valley, estimates of 500 strong, coming over from Ennerdale, Eskdale, Honister Pass, Langdale and Seathwaite. Clubs from all over the country.

I ran over with a group of friendly runners from Ambleside AC, from Langdale.
Up at 4am, away at 5am and running by 9am. (Managed to leave all my water bottles in the fridge and the becks were dry, so it was a thirsty day out, but a small price to be pay to be present at such an occasion).

A colourful procession of club vests led Joss on his last run out to the church, followed by a touching service and then burial in his final resting place, looking out over the beautiful valley he had lived in all of his life.

Joss was a pioneer in fellrunning, his limits knew no boundaries and he set countless unthinkable records, he raised a lot of money for people less fortunate than himself and always had a word, or a tale, for everyone he met.

I met him twice, once before my first Wasdale race (2000) when I really was going into the unknown and he gave me some tips and hints for getting round, then again in 2016 at a talk with Nicky Spinks. He was the utimate storyteller!

It was a privelege to be involved and a fitting send off.
The sun shone and the fells were clear.

Ken Ledward gave a touching eulogy.
There is a “Joss Naylor Challenge” for runners over the age of 50.
The route leaves Pooley Bridge to traverse 30 summits over a distance of 48 miles and climbs 16,000 feet (77km, 4877m) finishing in Wasdale, where Joss used to meet all finishers, with a handshake.

A runner was doing the challenge on the 28th of June and Joss was being updated by phone, in his bed with progress.
At 17:58, Joss was told that the runner had successfully completed his run.
At 18:00, Joss passed away.

RIP Joss Naylor – 1936-2024

And finally

Not that I watch the news these days, nor can I say that BBC coverage is impartial, but here is a very good article with a great video about Joss’s last run on Friday. (Link below picture).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz7e80e8l2yo

That is all for now folks.
Until the next time.

Cheers
Johnny

p.s. If you have made it this far, I highly recommend listening to ON THE BACK FOOT Podcast, right here: https://shows.acast.com/otbfpod