Race Reporting: Edale Fell Race 2009
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By Lucy Harris (ShUOC)
After watching the Castleton fell race on the Friday in preparation for the Stretton Hills race on Saturday, me and Zanthe were not going to miss out on the Edale race too, so aching legs were ignored and race numbers pinned on!
The pouring rain of the day before had cleared (well long enough for the race anyway) and it wasn’t as hot as the previous weekend so perfect running conditions (you could see the top as well!).
The first climb is always a killer up Ringing Roger, I tried to keep it steady so I might have something left in my legs at the top. I could see Zanthe for most of the climb so assumed she was using the same tactics!
On the edge path it took a good mile for my legs to start moving properly (they weren’t happy with me) but then we were away! I stopped dropping back through the field and started catching people up.
My favourite bit of this race is the descent off Grindslow Knoll. There are two options, run on the rocky path all the way which is slightly further or go for the straight down the grass option. There was no question, down the grass was quickest for me!
As we headed off the track I lost concentration for a second and that was enough for me to hit the floor. It hurt, landed hard on a combination of my face, chest and elbow(which came up in very pretty colours!). I lay there for a minute before I got up and realised that I’d damaged my ankle in a way that meant I couldn’t fly down the descent! All this before it even got steep!
I hobbled off from there and managed to get a jog going on the road.
When I reached the end it appeared Zanthe had also crashed, except she chose the edge path to do it on. As she came down the road it looked like there was blood coming from everywhere, and she’d cut her face! But as she got closer it was revealed this was only war paint that she had added to her face. The first thing she said with a grin was ‘I was winning’. Clearly that was more important than the hole’s she’s put in herself!
St Johns ambulance cleaned and bandaged her up in time for the prize giving and the spot prize for the person with the biggest crash was much appreciated! It was ideal as not many bum bags that size fit Zanthe!!
Lessons learnt from the day, if your going to crash, choose grass to land on and avoid large rocks!
There has been no stopping of training due to injuries – in fact I don’t think she’s had a days rest since, so all set for Tebay.
I need to test out my ankle soon, having spent the last weekend mountain biking to avoid using it, hopefully it’ll be alright for next weekend and the rest of the Accelerate Gritstone series!
