Tour de Hellvelyn, 18th December 21. 37.87 miles, 2,191 m of ascent. 10 hours 28 mins 06 seconds. Joint 123rd of 160, 30th lady
A stunning day in the lakes running above the mists which magically settled in the valley floors. Frosty initially but the lack of clouds meant it was warm running once the sun came up.
A panic before we started as Andy couldn’t find his headtorch. The Tour de Hellvelyn is well organised and has a 2 hour staggered start time, we registered and got our SI tags which would register that we’d been past the official points on the course. You then go through kit check and your race starts as you head out the door and your tag is bleeped. Wonderful to see friends faces as we headed through the process. I was ready to go but sat on the floor as Andy checked his drop bag, went back to the car then returned to say he’d need to go to the hotel to check our room. Luckily he didn’t have to go that far as he rechecked the back seat of the car. It meant the sun had come up a little more as we headed through Askham on the slightly icy road. Great sunrise views behind.
A steady stream of people over took us over the moor before we hit the Lakeland 100 route above Ullswater which had sunk beneath the clouds. I took a wrong turn before Howtown and was about to get back on track when people behind us said it was a more direct route. It took us along the icy road and then a steep climb up, we got to the church at Martindale but we were envious of people on the off road route. The marshals didn’t seem bothered which direction we came from, there were quite a few ahead and behind us. More road until the climb up and over to Patterdale. The 10 mile check point was on the road rather than the cafe, no flooding this year.
Great visibility made following the path to Sticks Pass and down to path parallel to Thirlmere easy to follow. I wasn’t as confident as those heading over the bracken on more direct lines. In previous years I’ve envied them as they raced over the mud oblivious to how slippy it was but today it was drier with the golden bracken cover but still slippy in spots. This path along the bottom was tough at times due to the sun in our eyes. Andy had been in a Tshirt after the hot climb up from Glenridding, I unzipped some zips but was just about right.
We knew the route well so expected the sharp climb towards Grisedale tarn but weren’t sure of the best way to head down back to Patterdale. People were choosing different routes. Our lower one was rolling and boggy so perhaps we should have stayed higher with the others. It was a rocky path down from the tarn, a guy caught us up saying he’d stayed close to the stream as he’d seen others doing that and that was easier.
It wasn’t long before we were retracing our route back towards to Askham, we missed the track back over the main top so had to cross the bracken to get to the stile at the top. I blame Anna Troup for interrupting us as she stopped for a chat! At the church at Martindale we took the proper off road route and really enjoyed it. I was surprised thinking I’m sure I usually out my head torch on around the church area but we were climbing up above Ullswater before we needed them. We took a few wrong or different paths across the moor towards Askham, trying not to follow others but were soon heading back to the start, very pleased with our day out especially as it was a PB! Good to catch up with others at the finish
Making lifes adventures - Sarah Norman 