Simonside Cairns Fell Race
[22-Dec-2014]
At the Christmas Party on Saturday evening, fell racing came up
in conversation when I mentioned I was intending to do the Simonside
Cairns race the following day. Kevin Freeman was most enthusiastic about the
idea and said that we need to do more to promote fell races within the club, so
with this in mind I should do a race report.
What follows may not be very encouraging to most people, except
perhaps the more masochistic characters within the club.
Race registration was at the Newcastle Hotel pub, with an entry
price of only £5. The race was a medium ‘B’ race, approximately 11 miles with
around 1500 feet of ascent.
The race start was near the pub, just north of the river. The
route took us south over the footbridge then steeply up on road through Whitton, quickly turning into a farm track.
After about 1.5 miles we hit open fell. This was the small hump
we had to cross to reach Lordenshaws car park. This was a steep short ascent of around 300
feet in only half a mile. In summer the surface would have been pleasant to run
on, being grassy, but wet conditions had turned it into something reminiscent
of our cross-country events, but hillier, and it was here I realised that my
trail shoes just can’t cut it in fell races. My grip was so poor that I
considered withdrawing at Lordenshaws, but decided to
soldier on.
Once at the top of the hill there was a short pleasant descent
on grass to the car park, a brief respite before the proper climbing started.
Once past the car park, we started up the steep rock path up
onto the Simonside ridge, heading south-west. I
caught and passed a couple of people, including an older chap from Esk Valley Fell Club, whom we’d been talking to briefly
before the race. Due to the relatively mild temperatures in comparison the
previous days, there was a lot of water pouring down this path from the melting
snow up top. I took the opportunity to stop and look behind and could see a
string of runners still coming over the little hill, so was relieved that I was
nowhere near last.
After this initial steep climb, the land levelled off to a more
gradual climb, but the surface deteriorated. I had never seen so much mud.
Essentially the fell was just one big bog. To make it worse, we were running
into a very strong headwind, though so far the rain had held off. Despite the
flatter terrain my pace was a lot slower than when I’d been climbing on a
better surface.
I was just looking forward to reaching the southernmost point of
the route, so I could turn around and have the wind behind me! I thought things couldn’t get any worse.
Silly me!
After just under 5 miles, I reached some woods. The route took
us on a short loop through here, over a couple of felled trees, but nothing too
taxing. Popping back out of the woods again I finally had the wind slightly
behind me, though the large crosswind component made it less easy than I’d
hoped. The route was now going north, to approach Simonside
Crag from the rear.
Despite the slight tailwind component, my pace deteriorated even
more as the surface became even more difficult to run on. Rather than the mud
I’d experienced until that point, there was know
snow, partially melted snow, and patches of standing water shin deep. It was on
this section that I was caught and passed by a group of around 6 people.
We ran down into a dip where there was a traumatising obstacle
involving a deep stream, a plank and a barbed wire fence. After surviving this,
we began the last big climb up onto the Simonside
Ridge.
I had the opportunity to see a large proportion of the route
behind during this climb, and realised there was only one person in view behind
– Mr Esk Valley. I was second last!
As we climbed up to the ridge and curved round the western edge
of it, the poor weather that had been forecast decided to sweep in. This meant
rain and stronger winds – strong enough to blow a little lass like me over at
one point. The temperature took a dive and the driving rain felt like little
icicles hitting the side of my face.
I’d lost touch with the group of half a dozen who’d passed me by
the time I reached the highest point of the course. I started eastbound along
the ridge. There is a good path along the top and this was runnable
in places, but wherever there was a dip, there was lots of snow and ice, so my
progress was very slow. I came to the conclusion that I’m a crap descender.
The ridge would be a lovely run in drier, clearer conditions,
with beautiful views over the valley to the north.
I could see the group ahead of me receding into the distance,
and whenever I looked behind, Mr Esk Valley was
closer. I started to get upset about the idea of being caught, not just because
I would finish last, but because I would be the last person on the fell in such
horrible conditions.
Finally Lordenshaws car park came into
view. I cannot describe how relieved I was. Mr Esk
Valley had caught me by now and was running close by. This final steep descent
that I’d been dreading was actually much better than I expected, as it was wet
but no longer icy. During the descent I looked ahead at the hill between Lordenshaws and Rothbury, but the
runners in front must have already passed over the brow – the gap had become
insurmountable.
Dave was spectating at the car park,
so I greeted him with a “Shit! We’re miles behind the rest of the field!”
I took off up the short final climb, gaining an advantage on Mr Esk Valley, but he caught me on the mudslide down the other
side. However, I suspected that once I reached a decent surface I would have
the advantage. So once I hit the farm track again I just went for it – no way
was I coming last!
After just less than a mile on farm track I reached the road
down into Rothbury, and as I came down the hill I
could see a man walking ahead. I assumed he was a hiker, but then he turned,
saw me, and started running. He was a competitor! I had an opportunity to come
3rd last!
I was determined to catch him, but didn’t quite get there before
the narrow footbridge. To my surprise, however, once over the bridge, he
stepped aside and proceeded to walk again, so I continued at a run to the
finish line, followed by Mr Walking Man then Mr Esk
Valley.
It was then we learned that there was still a runner out there,
and were a bit concerned as we had not seen her behind us, but were then reassured
she had a tail runner with her. So it turns out I was 4th last.
So if you haven’t been put off by my report and are interested
in giving fell racing a go, I have some advice:
More info on fell racing can be found at http://fellrunner.org.uk and http://www.northumberlandfellrunners.co.uk/
Claire Calverley