Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race June. 23 miles / 7500'

Race report by Steve Long 2006

The race is usually held on a Saturday in early June and for the last couple of years has had hot sunny weather.

Where does it go? If you know the Lakes, or have a map, the checkpoints are these: start and finish at Ennerdale Scout Hut at the west end of the lake, Great Bourne, Red Pike, Blackbeck Tarn (near Haystacks), Green Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar, Haycock, Iron Crag, Crag Fell.

What's it like? The start of the race is a dash to the foot of the first climb - about 3/4M. Then a struggle up Great Bourne follwed by undulating running along the valley. Usually, by the time you get to Black Sail pass between Kirk Fell and Pillar you know you are in a tough race. The descent from Kirkfell is graded as a scramble and can be daunting for the uninitiated - use the gully to the right of the natrual descent. After this most of the exitement is over, in terms of rock and scree, but the terrain has taken its toll. You know that if you can just get over Pillar the rest of the course is relatively easy, plenty of grass, smaller climbs, more down than up. The funny thing is, that's just not how it feels, and crossing the grassy expanse of Iron Crag you know you should be running hard but it's all you can do to run at all. So for many the early part of the race is about pitting technique against the rocky ground, trying to take the best line between checkpoints, and holding sufficient back for later. For these same many, the later part of the race is about making it to the finish.

What happened this year? This year it was hot, and there were plenty of hydration packs being carried. There were also plenty of people out on the dry course with water bottles for clubmates and anybody in a bad way. Mike was generous enough to carry some water up to Black Sail pass: it was just the tonic at that stage of the race! It was windy this year too, and climbing Pillar in particular there were several places where the wind was strong enough to knock you off course.

Recommendations

A good preparation for Saunders with enough recovery time before the event. The race is normally on a Saturday so you could plan something easy for the Sunday - Skiddaw perhaps.

Carry water if hot - a litre is probably about the minimum to carry.

Here are the Tring results for 2006:

20 Kevin Harding 4:23:35
53 Rick Ansell 4:48:23
100 Steve Long 5:19:42
216 Alan Whelan 6:51:47