Sedbergh Hills Fell race
On 17th August 2008 4 members of the Long Eaton fell runners made the 162 mile journey over to Sedbergh to compete in this tough 14 mile AL fell race, which involves 6000 ft of ascent.
This year Andrei Vais was absent. Phil “Blue Lips” Abbott and Vicky “Vixen” Yeomans were joined by two new comers to the race, Colin “Broken Compass” Bostock and Sean Gauton.
There was a smaller field of competitors this year and despite all the recent rain, there was a break in the weather as the runners lined up at the start. The ground was heavy going in places and crossing the various streams en route required a wetsuit and goggles!
The course is much more runable than say Borrowdale, although the soggy ground did zap energy very quickly. The course through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales was breathtaking, although the weather did take a turn for the worse, with persistent rain and wind. The clag came down around Checkpoint 5 and despite most runners sticking hats and jackets on, one male runner continued topless. According to Vixen, his name was Andy!
The mud and slippery long grass made some of the descents very tricky. The boys engaged in a spot of downhill mud skiing on a couple of the very steep descents. Not to be out done, Vixen, and a couple of other girls took part in the newest Olympic sport of downhill mud toboggan.
Blue Lips made light work of the course, despite the poor weather conditions, pushing himself to the limit, hence crossing the line with a somewhat pale blue complexion to his face. He finished 101st overall in a new course best time of 3:06:25. Vixen also finished in a new course best time of 4:07:57.
Broken Compass finished in 3:32:29 and was most disappointed when he realised this race wasn’t in the Fell League. Sean finished in 3:56:52 and headed straight for the refuelling station.
There was a great camaraderie between competitors and marshals on the day and no doubt the Long Eaton crew will be back next year to do it all again!
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