After the previous week’s washout in the Lake District, and the cancellation of the last two Lakeland events we were due to race, it’s fair to say Sprog and I were hoping Lady Luck would be good to us as we made our way up the M6 for “The Dirty Double.”
Having said that, as soon as we saw the snow capped peaks, the view alone was worth the trip…
The “Dirty Double” saw a race run on the Saturday, and the now legendary “Steamy Surprise” to follow on the Sunday.
Rather worryingly, we hadn’t checked out the route for the Saturday and had a little panic when we realised that Helvellyn was second only to Scafell in height! Thankfully, the route did not see us having to reach its peak!
Saturday’s 14ish km route saw us from the bottom of Ullswater up into the foothills of Helvellyn. There were a few inclines, but really, this was the easiest race in the series. Nothing too challenging and the water was fun!
(Glad I had my flash new Gore-Tex Innov 8s on!)
The “Steamy Surprise” of last year was the race that introduced us to this series - and we knew it was a tougher course. (We weren’t popular in the pub for sharing that info!) The start line is a half hour journey, via the Steamers, from Ullswater pier to Howtown, and despite a false start (being sent the wrong way!) we were quickly on our way. The 12.7km route sees you hug the shoreline around Ullswater itself – at various heights….. Lots of rocky terrain, tree roots to navigate round and a nasty incline at 8km, where only the most sure-footed could maintain any speed. The views around here are incredible – perhaps if I spent less time looking at them, I may go faster…
The aim and format of these races is simple – make running in hills more accessible to more people, and they do that through superb organisation and 2 tiers of event to enter. There’s the Challenge Series for less competitive runners (and some Nordic walkers) and then the Trail Race proper, where World Champion Mountain Runners compete against the masses.
I am a bit worried though that Sprog (11th on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday) may be banned from the Challenge, while I am allowed to languish there and take in the views for next year!
We’ve been a bit quiet about these races – but having had the best weekend either of us can remember for quite some time, we felt it was time to spill the secret…
Graham and the team at Lakeland Trails work with the strapline “Inspiring Races in Beautiful Places” and, for us at least, they fully live up to the blurb!
Add in a pretty luxurious holiday cottage let to us for one night, a friendly pub (full of fellow runners) 300 yards up the road, and a good dose of crisp autumnal sunshine and we reckon you’d be hard pushed to find a better way to spend a weekend.
Get in early for next year if you fancy it – they fill up quickly….
Kelley
www.ullswatertrails.org
www.lakelandtrails.org
