Kentmore 17k Trail
Race
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Official Results |
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Having booked a few days up in the
Lake district for some hill/trail training I took the
opportunity to take part in my first ever Lakeland Trails event,
the Kentmore 17km Sting in the Tail.
I arrived in Staveley (4 miles
outside of Windermere) in plenty of time before the unusual
start time of 1400, this was due to their being a 10km race and
a 17km Challenge event prior to the 17km race. The Challenge
event went off 45 mins before us, meaning we had the luxury of
chasing the walkers and less competitive runners over the
course.
I tucked into some porridge with
chocolate and cranberries before the race, not my usual pre race
routine but the lure of the local vendor stalls tempted me in
and I was glad I did, as I was soon going to need the fuel.
Having chatted to a few locals prior to the race and been
advised not to go off too fast as it was hilly (strangely
enough!!), I heeded their advice and settled into the pack. The
first 4km was on the tarmac gradually climbing out of the
village towards the fells, and then we left the familiar comfort
of the road for the stony trail and grassy boggy fells. After
5km the course flattened out and we dropped down into a valley,
just long enough to pass through a feed station in a random farm
yard and then we began climbing again. As there had been a
significant amount of rain the night before, the footing was
tricky and there were some large puddles to plough through as
well as some treacherous downhill stretches that had been
churned up by the Challenge runners.
After about 11km the first two
climbs were out of the way, and it was an undulating run across
the exposed fell side, negotiating gates, styles, brooks and by
now the tail enders from the Challenge event who were all very
encouraging and I tried to return their enthusiasm.
The infamous 'Sting in the Tail'
was still to come though as with the thighs beginning to burn
and the finish within touching distance (2.5km) you have to
climb Reston Scar, which was taking it's toll on several people.
A steel band greeted us at the top, as did the view of Staveley,
which was now only 1.5km of downhill negotiating away. I say
negotiating as using the term running would be very tenuous. It
was steep and slippery and overtaking was proving tricky. I
think you needed to have a blatant disregard for your own safety
as you hurtled down the hill before joining the riverside walk
footpath to run back to the finish, where you were greeted by a
large enthusiastic crowd.
It was a tough challenging course,
but by no means impossible, and you get a fantastic technical
t-shirt. The village/event atmosphere is excellent and if any of
you are in the Lake District when one of these events is on then
sign yourselves up for it... Certainly makes a nice change from
running through the streets of Bedford!!
Ian.
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