Just Rewards

Have you ever seen a more inappropriate medal than this? This was the one presented to me by the Gala Queen after my attempts at the Langdale Gala Fell Race.

How exactly was the lead vehicle supposed to get up and down the fell? It is at least engraved with the correct race details on the reverse!

Anybody else received any strange or inappropriate medals/goodies after a race?

Went Up A Mountain, Came Down A Hill!

It was pointed out by Debs that I may have spelt Caroline’s name wrong during a part of my WHWR video. You are in fact mistaken. Caroline in fact has an Austrian cousin called, Craoline, who looks very much like her, and was kind enough to come across to Scotland to support me during the race. Thank you Craoline, and thanks Debs… she may never have noticed!

Anyway, here I am sitting in the bar of the lodges I am staying in this weekend in the Lake District. With beer in hand and lap top connected to the real world, here’s my latest running tales…

Thursday 0 miles, Friday 0 miles, Saturday 0 miles, Sunday…

11:08 4 miles 28:01

1 6:51 2 6:47 3 7:05 4 7:18  Average 7:00 min/miles

This was a pretty hilly route, actually, I’m in the Lakes, it was a very hilly route. Well the first two miles were anyway. I didn’t feel like I was really pushing things, but with the first two splits, the undulations, and the way I tired as the miles went on, I was clearly faster than I should have been. Still I enjoyed running somewhere new and was pleased with my pace overall. I’m sure the tiredness in the latter stages is still a result of the WHWR… and a few beers the day before!

…anyway, in the afternoon, I came 14th in my first ever fell race!

15:05 1.27 miles 18:04

…14th out of 18 competitors that is!

If you’ve ever seen the Father Ted episode which involves the Craggy Island Gala Day, you may appreciate a little about the Langdale Gala Day. The announcer had a dry voice, and the announcements were always informative, “there’s only one tomato plant left now!” The stalls and the events were also comical, tombolas etc. filled the stalls, and as for the events… there was the vintage car display (4 cars), the dog show (not many dogs worth showing), the falconry display, in which the bird just looked at the guy and said “no, I won’t fly and get that meat, you’ll bring it to me!” Then, there was the traditional Cumbrian Wrestling. Two guys hug each other until one can’t take the lovin’ anymore, they then lose and the winner goes off to hug the next competitor! If this was performed by women it might have attracted my attentions, but as it was I was off to find the registration tent. 

There’s a history regarding Lake District Gala/Sports Days, and the beginning of Fell Races. I can’t remember the exact details, and don’t want to bore you with the details, but I felt that this was the time to give fell running a try!

Signing up I asked what the standard was, “there’s not many applied you should have a good chance”, I corrected him, and pointed out the reason for the question was not that I expected to win, but that I didn’t want to embarrass myself!

So standing on the start line I looked up the hill and waited for the word go! The uphill burns, my calves are still on fire now, but the downhill was great fun. I didn’t have the kind of fell shoes that allow you to just let rip, and wasn’t going to kill myself running for fun. Myself and a guy running just behind me both had the same problem. He passed me approaching the bottom of the hill. It wasn’t deliberate, he fell, shouting, “coming through left”, and continued to basically fall till the road at the bottom! I tried to catch him, and almost did, sprinting downhill on thickish grass, looking something like Phoebe from friends, arms and legs swinging out of control. Unfortunately though, like parachute jumping, the best bit was over too quickly. It takes ages to get up, and no time at all to get down. However, it was so much fun I was on a high for ages!

It cost me three pounds to get into the gala. Registration for the race was free, and I got sports drink and a medal for competing. In the words of Mastercard, “participation… priceless!”