Thursday 4 June 2009

The Fellsman - 9th May 61 miles

The Fellsman was a bit of an afterthought after a conversation at pilates along the lines of 'a 17 hour Fellsman will set you up well for The Bob'. My previous attempt had taken 22 hours so I figured I'd better go and do it again to give me some confidence going into the attempt at the Round.

I ordered a new pair of shoes half a size smaller which arrived on the Friday just in time for me to drive up. I was so busy worrying about my ankle I'd forgotten to prepare for the event at it was 30 mins before I twigged the route may have changed since I marked my map 3 years earlier - it hadn't so panic over and we set off up Pen-y-Gwent. Our grouping off the start didn't go to plan and leaving Dent I was on my own. Another drenching and waterproof incident was nearly my undoing as I left it late getting more layers on and had trouble opening my pack with frozen fingers. Once off the moor the weather improved and I romped across the hills for the next 4 hours enjoying the easy ground underfoot.

As I headed out round Fleetwith Moss, I caught up with a group that included Julie, the lady I'd met on my Easter recce, I guess the ultra running fraternity isn't that big but it was great to see her. We stayed together then till the finish discussing all things Bob. We came in in 16:20 and my ankle was no worse, so all set for the Bob.

No comments: