Pre-Race Gathering
On the Saturday morning of the Brathay 10in10 training weekend at Brathay Hall we got the opportunity to run round the course whilst being supported by the Brathay team giving us a taste of what we will experience in May. I did enjoy being out on the course again as I do find it so beautiful.
On the Start Line
As always in the Lake District the weather seems to play an important factor and this time it didn’t let me down. During the previous day there had been an awful amount of rain and on the day of the run the wind was incredibly strong with a small helping of soft hail thrown in for good measure.
6 miles into the run and I’m running along the edge of Esthwaithe water with a pine forest to my right. The strong wind was making the extremely tall slender trees sway like I’d never see. The noise of the wind through the branches was incredible noisy. Not only leaves but branches were being blown off the trees and they were landing all around me on the road. I was hoping nothing too large would come off the trees and hit me. Then some 50 yards to my right I heard a loud wood cracking and splitting noise. I looked across to see the roots of a large tree being ripped out of the ground and the tree start to lean then come crashing down to the ground. I was amazed to be there to witness such an unusual nature phenomenon. I continued to run on while watching the trees along the ridge to the right waving all over the place then again another tree went hitting another and then another, 3 more came crashing down. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Another 100 yards along the road and again another tree starts to fall, again it hits another and then another and like dominoes 3 more are laid horizontal. I was totally amazed 7 trees which had been there 20 or 30 years or more were felled by the power of nature within a minute. I was utterly stunned, I’m sure it is one of those moments in life that you only ever experience once.
The Swan Hotel in Newby Bridge – Mile 12
The rain from the previous day was still running off the fells and across the roads at many places and it wasn’t long before my trainers were completely soaked. At some points whilst going south down the west side of Lake Windermere the road was like a river and there was a few small fords to run through. Nothing too extreme but also nothing like what I was going to come across while going north up the lake on the east side of the lake, It didn’t even take long for me to get to the first one shortly after Fell Foot park at mile 14. The ford covered the road for a 30 yard stretch and was about a foot deep, it was great fun running straight through the middle although it made my trainers very wet, heavy and made my feet very cold for a while. There were several more fords over the coming miles but the “Big Daddy” of fords came at about 19 miles, it was deep, well over a foot and for over 50 yards. As I approached it, I watched a couple of 4 wheel drives slowly roll through creating large waves and a broken down car on the other side of the ford which I think was a casualty of this temporary water feature. It was then my turn. I decided to go along the right side as it looked less deep but as I ploughed through I went over on my right ankle, loss my balance and found myself doing a forward dive straight into the water. I was completely covered and even collected a mouth full of brown, salty tasting water. I suppose that meant the council had been gritting the roads! I quickly got up and continued on dripping. A mile up the road Aly head of the support team stopped to check on me and kindly changed my gloves so I could at least start to dry my freezing hands. I was glad there was only 7 miles left.
Ford Near Fell Foot Park – Mile 14
I pushed on for the remainder of the course slowing down over the last couple of miles due to the strong blustery wind and how cold and wet I felt. Over the last 7 miles the wind actually seemed to blow dry me to a large extent but it left me ever so cold and unable to feel my hands. As I can up the drive at Brathay Hall I was cheered in by Tony, Kate and Lesley holding dry towels which was much appreciated in my cold state. In the end I was just glad to finish and lay on a wooden park bench in front of Brathay Hall to celebrate completing a very memorable run for some very unusual reasons. It might not have been the fastest run but another good long challenging run and mental battle which will help in my preparation for this May’s 10 marathons in 10 days.
Big Daddy Ford – Mile 19
Finishing time and war wound
