Race report by Fell Captain Josie:
This afternoon, 4 Lostockers headed over to Barley to do the Pendle Fell Race, 4.5mi/1499ft. For 3 of us, this was the second fell race in 5 days with this one tipping the scales on elevation!
Starting at Barley village hall, runners head up the lane for half a mile before turning off through muddy farmland up onto the moors. The Lostockers started together at a sedate pace but were soon spread out along the road, Mark Shuttleworth taking the lead. The route climbs steadily uphill where I felt an opportunity to forge ahead and passed Rachel. Short of the summit, it drops off the side along a path almost to the foot of Big End on the Barley side. Here, it takes a direct off piste route sharply up the hillside to the trig point. It was here I spotted Shutters, fighting his way through the strong headwind which had blown a contact lens out! As close as I was to Shutters, the battle through the wind to catch him was extreme! It just stole your breath away and every step took a massive effort.
I eventually caught and passed Mark, waving to acknowledge him & made every effort to stay in the rough for traction. Unfortunately, the greasy surface beat me & I took a spectacular tumble worthy of a 9.5 in gymnastics!🙈🤣 . Back on the road, it was a short run in to the finish where it was good to see fellow Lostockers run in shortly after.
All the best fell races have cups of tea and cake at the finish, which we polished off during the presentation. The biggest disappointment of the day was the offer of £100 vouchers for the 100th finisher & Mark Shuttleworth finishing 102nd!🙈🙈😩 Doh!
A tough little race for just £5 with a great turnout. Results:
94th Josie Greenhalgh 52:09 (3rdLV50)
102nd Mark Shuttleworth 52:55
129th Rachel Hancock 57:51 (6thLV50)
178th Mark Checkley 1:13:00
Well done folks!
