When I entered this race I knew it was going to be extremely tough but little did I know just how tough. I have run many hilly races and fell races but still nothing like this race. Often the going up can be very slow but usually time can be made up with some fast down hills during the second half of a race. But with the Scafell Pike Trail Marathon it just wasn’t the case and here’s the tail.
It was great to meet Dave Sloane a fellow A&Ter brave enough to take on this event at the start. Shame I hadn’t spoken to him during the week, we could have been more environmentally friendly and car shared.
The race started and finished from different points on the northern shore of Derwent Water. The course took us south down the western side of Derwent Water, taking in some gorgeous lake side views. We then continued south through the Borrowdale valley with some truly stunning scenery which probably rivals anywhere in the whole Lake District. I ran with a race back pack to hold mandatory items we had to take with us, including full body cover, water, map, compass, mobile phone, first aid kit etc. so I also decided to take my camera. I’ve never run a marathon with a camera before but as the course was so hard and pace so slow I was able to capture some lovely images of the course. Onward the course went to what I can only describe as the tiny hamlet of Seathwaite and our first and last feed station before the real climb up Scafell started. At this point I was already feeling very hot and tired from the warm humid conditions.
The climb started with a pretty decent path albeit rather stony, we then crossed a quaint little stone bridge which seems well known to walkers called Stockley Bridge. At this part of the race I enjoyed good company from Dave Sloane as we battled the hill together. Now the climb gradually got steeper, rockier and harder to follow. By the time I had got to Styhead Tarn I was almost in the cloud. The base of the cloud was only a few feet above my head and it felt a low ceiling. A short way ahead I was in the cloud with only 20 yards of visibility (if that) and at check point 1. For the next mile or so I was following other runners who seemed to have more idea of the course than I did as I had hardly any way of telling where I was.
Eventually and quiet to my surprise we came through the cloud and I could see the summit, sadly much further away than I hopped. There was hardly any defined path, it was simply make your way over rock after rock after rock. Totally energy zapping and impossible to run (well certainly in my eyes and ability). Dave was finding the accent more of a struggle than me and I left him behind. Finally I got there, I had conquered England’s highest mountain and reached check point 2. It had taken 2 hours 50 minutes for only 12 miles.
Surely going down would be easier? The short answer was no. Difficulty started almost as I left the peak. The route down was steep and had many loose rocks, too dangerous to run fast and my legs were too tired to do anything clever so a much more careful and slow approach was necessary. After this initial awkward section there was another awkward section, this time the mountain was covered in very large bounders and you had to carefully leap frog from one to another or if they were bigger then carefully climb over one and on to the next. Again very tiring and hardly able to run a stride. Eventually I had left the bounder field behind and reached check point 3 which then lead on to a decent trail and a bit of reasonable running before returning to Styhead pass for the second time and check point 4.
After check point 4 (which this time wasn’t in the cloud) I was back on the rocky path down to Stockley Bridge which with my very tired legs was tough to run but I managed to keep a half decent pace going. Back towards Seathwaite and on to the food station I was caught up by Dave, I had been going 4 hours and felt totally worn out.
Back in the Borrowdale valley I thought I only had about 7 or 8 miles to go and most of the hills behind me. How wrong was I? At 22 miles came the sting in the tail, we turned right and ascended Watendlath Fell, a 1000 foot climb, I couldn’t believe it! Eventually and to my relief I reached the top, having again left Dave behind, the course turned me back to the southern end of Derwent Water. I was still very high up and there was a fantastic view looking up the lake. I stopped for a minute to enjoy the view and got a lady who was with her family to take a picture of me. Looking up the lake I knew I still had a good way to go. I had already done nearly 25 miles so it dawned on me that this marathon was not only incredibly hilly but was also going to be much further than the official 26.2 miles of a measured marathon.
I continued for the last couple of miles pushing my body when all it really wanted to do was stop. Every turn I hoped I would see the finish but it just didn’t seem like it was ever going to come. The 26.2 mile point came and went on my Garmin. Eventually I came out close to the shore of Dewent Water and knew I was within a minute or two of finish. I ran into the finish at Lake Road in 6 hours 2 minutes and 43 seconds, a PW but an incredibly tough challenge completed, through some of the most stunning and varied scenery I have ever seen during a race.
I’m so glad to have done this event. I’ve always wanted to climb up Scafell Pike as it is the highest peak in England and to couple it up with a marathon was perfect for me but now I have experienced this race and how tough it was, I may not enter it again.
