On Saturday, 6 hardy Lostock fellrunners headed up to the North Pennines to compete in the first club fell champs race, High Cup Nick.
Starting at the quaint village of Dufton, a total of 412 runners set off on the 9.3mile race with 1509ft ascent. The route heads out of the village along a road section under before heading onto the fells. It was a lovely sunny day but the recent downpours had made the stream crossing tricky and route up the valley extremely boggy and heavy going.
Higher up the valley, the bogs made way to boulder fields that rose steeply to a near vertical scramble as we reached to top. Those that took the opportunity to look back will have seen the perfect U-shaped valley, a stunning sight for which the summit is renown.
From here, the race to the finish is almost all downhill on the Pennine Way following rough, rocky paths, tracks and finally fast running through farmland returning to Dufton.
First Lostocker to cross the line in a superb time was Rob Sharkey in 1:28:42 followed by Josie Greenhalgh in 1:35:41 taking 3rd LV50 prize. Then, in quick succession followed Tony Marlow 1:38:01, Tom Grundy 1:39:21, Mark Shuttleworth 1:43:16 and finally, a fine performance from Amanda Smith on her comeback to fell racing in 2:37:15.
