UKA Hill Running Relay Championships - 20 Oct 2018

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LouB
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:03 pm

UKA Hill Running Relay Championships - 20 Oct 2018

Unread post by LouB »

The hill and fell running community descended on Grasmere, Lake District, at the weekend for the 2018 UK Athletics fell running relay championships. The event was organised by Ambleside AC and 250 teams of 6 runners had entered including an FV40 team from FAC, consisting of Leg 1. Louise Provan, 2. Hilary Ritchie/Jocelyn Scott, 3. Anita Laidlaw/Moira Grainger, 4. Louise Burt. The routes offered the best in hill running: up valleys and along ridges to stony summits, steep rocky ascents and descents, contouring on grassy trods and tussocky slopes. The weather was described by the (very amusing) race announcer as ‘inclement’; it rained/drizzled for most of the day and didn’t stop until the bulk of leg 4 runners were setting off. The cloud came down to 300m and persisted on the highest summits so all runners were in cloud at some point.

Louise Provan ran a storming leg 1 despite having stopped, in the true spirit of hill running, to assist a casualty and then fell heavily herself on a long descent down a grassy nose made very slippery by the rain. Hilary and Jocelyn took over for the long, long climb to the summit of Fairfield; they negotiated the tricky descent on a narrow, rocky ridge and flew down the cobbled paths back to the event field. Leg 3 is traditionally a navigation/orienteering leg and this year the runners were handed maps some 500m beyond the changeover, out of sight of waiting teams. The poor visibility caused problems for several pairs, including local lads (from Keswick AC) who set off in first place. Anita and Moira successfully navigated their way crossing the ridge south from Fairfield and back again. There was a sneaky change to the finish of leg 4 because the organisers didn’t want anyone to recce it beforehand: instead of a meandering final 1.5 km on footpaths as expected, the route plunged straight down the hill to the event field providing a fast, muddy and exciting finish to the race.

The winning men’s team was Pudsey and Bramley (in a time of 3:43:13) and the winning women’s team was Helm Hill (4:43:20). The Fifie Wifies (6:30:36) finished 217th out of 245 teams (11th in category).

Next year the relay championships are being organised by Dark Peak Fell Runners and so we are looking forward to a trip to Derbyshire fells. Perhaps a few more FAC teams will join us? Can’t wait!
FAC team
FAC team
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LouB
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:03 pm

Re: UKA Hill Running Relay Championships - 20 Oct 2018

Unread post by LouB »

A report of the relay by a team from Tyne Bridge Harriers (at the following link) provides more of a flavour of the race than my rather tame effort above- it is an entertaining read.
http://www.tynebridgeharriers.com/2018/ ... hips-2018/

Leg 1 runners setting off.
Leg 1 runners setting off.
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