Grizedale marathon starts and finishes at the Grizedale Visitor’s Centre in the Lake District, situated between Coniston and Lake Windermere. It is made up of two half marathon loops.
The first loop which is also offered as a half option, takes you to the East and up into the Grizedale forest. It is a tough 13 miles with a lot of climb in the early miles taking you to the top of the forest. This loop is mainly on good hard core tracks, mostly wide enough for vehicles and weaves you through the vast pine forest. For some reason, I can’t put my finger on it, but there seems to be much more climb than descent and this that wears you down before starting the second loop which really turns the thumb screws.
If you thought the first half was hard then you are in for a shock with the second half. The terrain is much more testing, lots of narrow, rocky, muddy paths, some with streams running down them, some with streams crossing them and all the time you are either running up or down. I don’t think there is 100 yards that is flat. There are only two short sections on tarmac road which offers a little bit of relief from it all.
I’m not in love with the scenery through the first half with its managed pine forest, it isn’t natural to the Lake District but at least it is great to be in the hilly countryside, miles away from traffic. There are some lovely views from the top of the forest looking down at Lake Coniston far below. Although a little spoilt today by the low cloud, even so it made for some dramatic views.
I much prefer the second half. The terrain is so much more interesting even if much harder running. We get to pass some quaint Lake Land villages and farms made from the local neat, grey, Lakeland stone but my favourite section is between 19 and 20 miles running south along the eastern shore of Lake Windermere in natural unspoilt deciduous wood land with a carpet of ferns and mosses. For me this is a wonderful part of the Lakes and truly stunning.
For me this race is never about time, it is too tough to compare it to normal road marathons with its rough terrain and over 3300 feet of climb. This race is a bit of a beast and I’m sure the race organisers won’t mind me calling it that. This event is all about experiencing the Lakes in it’s harsh winter beauty, battling the elements, the cold and all mud it throws at you.
For the record I had a finishing time of a little over 4 hours 28 minutes, which included a few stops to take some photos. Hopefully I can return next year to do it all over again.
