Over The Contours

It was a sunny and mild April morning as we drove along the A66 towards Threlkeld. My legs were still a little beaten from the Manchester Marathon and from the Loughrigg Fell race the evening before, but nevertheless, I was keen to make the most of the weather and the time in the Lakes to do a recce of leg 2 of the Bob Graham round. When I plotted the route I’d come to consider leg 2 as one of the easier sections of the round; a long slog of a climb up to Clough Head from Threlkeld and then a long, but steady, ridge run over the Dodds, Helvellyn and down to the Grisedale Tarn. In a way this is exactly what leg 2 is, however, what I hadn’t accounted for was the amount of relative elevation loss and gain whilst on the ridge. Leg 2 “officially” begins in Threlkeld, heading south by the disused quarry and then onto Hausewell Brow. For convenience, Abigail dropped me off just south of Threlkeld so that I could begin the route along the Old Coach Road beneath the Threlkeld Knott...

Three days after the Manchester Marathon and I was huddled with two hundred or so other runners at Rothay Park in Ambleside awaiting the start of the Loughrigg Fell race; a four mile out and back evening race. We'd had a stunning day of Lakeland weather and it was a beautiful evening as the last of the day's sun cast long shadows over the surrounding fells. I was unsure of how I would perform so I positioned myself further back than usual. I realised my error as soon as we set off as two hundred people all funnelled onto the narrow stone bridge crossing the River Rothay. Shortly after the bridge, the route zig zags up a gravel track. I felt reasonably good so I managed to meander past some of the other runners to try to get myself a little more space. After about half a mile, the track turns to fell and I was able to begin picking my own way over the terrain. My watch soon buzzed to signify I'd completed the first mile; at this stage the incline increased and the hard w...

Manchester; a city of music, knowledge, politics, and sport; the industrious beating heart of northern England and epicentre of some of mankind's greatest achievements. Alright, perhaps I'm a tad biased; I grew up twenty minutes outside the city, went to University there and have many fond memories of gigs, football matches and nights out. It's no surprise therefore that I'm equally fond of what is billed as the UK's "flattest, fastest and friendliest marathon" - the ASICS Greater Manchester Marathon 2019. This was my third year in a row running the Greater Manchester Marathon, but my first representing Thanet Roadrunners. I wasn't alone either; fellow Thanet Roadrunners Abigail Cardwell, Andrew Richardson, Jasmine Lasslett, Simon Cowdery and Phil Stevens were all there too. Like last year I parked at Old Trafford. I was ridiculously early and spent a fair amount of time sitting in the car thinking about my race strategy (or lack of). Abigail and A...