28th
April 2012 saw the 50th classic ‘Fellsman’ fell running/walking
event in the Yorkshire Dales. At 61 miles with 10,000 feet vertical it starts
at Ingleton, crosses ten Yorkshire peaks to finish at Thresfield. The runner’s
record is 10 hours 6 minutes. A strong walker would expect to take 24 hours.
I’ve succeeded twice and failed 3 times. Weekly 30 miles
walks with partner Fiona made us fit, confident and expectant.
Logistics: mountain-top checkpoints; roadside checkpoints
with hot & cold refreshments; 6 intermediate checkpoints; the start/finish
area in a Threshfield school providing sleeping, showers, hot food,
quartermaster, radios, transport, first aid, Mountain Rescue and event management.
Friday 18:00:
Fiona & I check-in, compulsory gear check, then back to B&B for early
night. Saturday 06:30: left
B&B, drove to school, collected race tallies, breakfast, coached to
Ingleton. Weather clear, sunny, high cloud and cold NE wind. 09:00: 450
hopefuls cross start line. Some road then onto the Ingleborough track, runners
way ahead. 10:15: tallies
punched on Ingleborough in very strong wind, descend carefully the steep, rocky
far side. On a bog boardwalk Fiona trips and gets a wet arm and leg, but she’s
Ok. 11:00: Hill Inn
checkpoint with orange squash and biscuits then up Whernside. Windy summit crowded
with ‘3 Peaks Race’ runners, walkers and onlookers. Fellsman hiker with
sprained ankle curled up in a bivvy bag with people fussing around; later
helicoptered off. Tallies clipped then descend
to Kingsdale by 13:05 to
hot drinks but flapjack all gone, so biscuits again.
Next the 1000 foot climb to Gragareth, then a 3 mile ridge
with a wall for wind protection to Great Coum. Descend to Dent checkpoint for
tea, sausage rolls, baked beans and biscuits. 16:00: refuelled, climb to Blea Moor checkpoint at 18:00. A walker behind us is very
tired; he’ll be retiring at Stonehouse checkpoint
where we arrive at 18:45
for tea, hot pasta and cake. Before dusk, competitors are grouped for the night;
Fiona & I are with two other strong walkers and at 19:00 we leave the sheltered valley back into
the gale above. 20:05: Great
Knoutberry checkpoint then Redshaw at 20:50
where we sheltered from the wind in a marquee and ate and drank. Leave at 21:00, almost dark, so head torches on
as we followed a fence across the moor, a half moon and bright Venus overhead. A
flashing beacon guided us to Snaizeholme checkpoint at 21:45 then follow a meandering drystone wall
to join the Pennine Way
to reach our attack point for Dodd Fell. Steeply up into the darkness on a
compass bearing as snow started to fall, confused by too many lights, tallies
clipped around 23:30, then south to a stream and wall then an easy track to the
Fleet Moss checkpoint at 23:58.
In the warmth of the marquee there’s hot food & drink.
Two people covered in foil sheets in the corner being fussed over; they’re
hypothermic; it really is cold out there. While they wait for an ambulance we
refuel and put on all our clothes. Groups are rearranged and two more
walkers join us. We are hustled out into the night just as an ambulance
arrives.
Next are the notorious Fleet Moss bogs. I have inside
information from an earlier recce and lead our slightly disbelieving team into
the darkness and am heartily congratulated when it becomes apparent that we’ve
avoided the first bog completely. Now a series of walls lead eastwards across
high, dry moorland towards the next bog. Google Earth indicated a dry route.
The group follows, and the route is reasonable except for a few wet patches; even
so there are some grumbles from the back. An icy stile and frost on the ground
now and the wind still fierce. More dry ground following another wall. Earlier
stomach cramps have now passed but several waves of nausea make me think that I
may vomit; this eventually passes. Again we’re onto ground that I’d
reconnoitred and I feel confident. Over a stile, follow the faint track beyond,
past markers posts, fork right and a kilometre later the checkpoint lights. We’re
clipped and offered some buns; Fiona wolfs one down as we stand outside in the cold
and dark.
Now two kilometres on a compass bearing across the roughest
ground so far. Interminably onwards into the wind until at last our lights hit a
fence. Follow this for 1.5 kilometres, along a rough lane to the Hell Gap
checkpoint where we’re clipped. It’s just two kilometres downhill to the
comforts of the Cray checkpoint, at which point we will have completed 45
miles, leaving just 16 to go. As we descend, Fiona’s knee starts to hurt and I
support her for a while. Lights coming upwards are the sweep team who inform us
that the whole event was cancelled three hours ago and that we’ll be bussed to
the finish. Three cases of hypothermia and multiple cases of cold-induced
vomiting led to the very difficult decision to bring everybody down. It’s the
first time in 50 years that it has been cancelled. Some runners finished before
the cancellation, but most are bussed back. We are the last down. Nobody
dissents or complains; in a way that it’s a relief; we’ve battled the elements,
we’ve done our best, we know we could have finished, but now we just have to give
in to the inevitable. By 06:00
we’re back at the finish and it’s all over for another year.
My video on Youtube: http://youtu.be/S2F8lEEFe6o
