Cracken Edge Fell Race, 3 Aug 2023
Wednesday fell races are a great way to get through the working week. It was a classic British summer evening; the rain was pouring. I love these races as they're sign up on the day, so there's no pressure and you can just see how you feel. However a disadvantage of a pay on the day race is you have to be organised and remember to take cash. We finished work a bit late and amongst the chaotic faff turned up without any money. So, a jog to the local shop where a friend drew out the entry fee (£6 each). We'd pay him back in beer at the end. Despite all good intentions of Tim putting a warmup into the calendar, in reality my warmup consisted of trying to keep up with the boys running to the start line.
Looking around I could see that most people had waterproofs on, or at the very least a base layer under their vests. However despite the rain I was already quite warm, so I stuck with my decision to 'Be Bold, Start Cold', a phrase which resonated with me from a recent podcast. Cracken Edge Fell Race is Kinder Mountain Rescue Team's annual fund-raising race, and a popular event in the local running calendar. It's around 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of off-road running with 1450ft (440m) elevation. It's hilly, and technical in parts.
At 7.30pm the race started. It was immediately up a (very slippy) uphill track, but I was feeling good and managed to run/shuffle the whole thing. This put me in good spirits and confirmed I was in the mood for a race! There was a standard bottleneck at a stile, where we formed a polite queue and I enjoyed a rest. A flattish field and another stile, and then onto the first proper climb. This felt more like a stream than a path, and it was a bit rocky underfoot. I noticed a lady ahead, and decided to try to keep her in eye-sight. I'm not strong at climbing, but if I could push myself I knew I'd be in for a chance on the downhill. Turned out she was really good at descending and we both overtook a few men which always makes me feel good! I changed my goal to trying to maintain my current (women's) place.
Suddenly we were climbing again, up the eastern edge (Cracken Edge) of Chinley Churn. Despite the screaming legs, this section was beautiful with quarried craggy gritstone to my left and a drop with expansive view to the right. I tried my best to run this but I did have to switch to my duck walk in parts! A short, very steep climb up and I was at the top. Now for the descent. It was boggy, rocky in parts, and the ground was at a camber; definitely ankle-sprain terrain. I loved it! Suddenly I was in a short dark woodland where it got quite technical. I realised that I was right behind the lady that I'd been chasing, and just remember thinking if I stop I'll fall, so said 'on your right' and overtook. At this point we probably had less than a mile to go, so I gave it everything. Down a grassy hill and a sprint to the finish. I managed to snag 6th woman (out of 41). This is the best I've done in a race and it's super nice to see the training finally starting to pay off.
Then to the pub for a diet coke and takeaway pizza; the recovery of a true athlete!
Georgia Roberts