"It's a Goldilocks Day! Not too hot, not too cold".
Those were the erudite words of Davy Newell, who is part of the organisation of The 'Lap' - a trail run which takes you round England's biggest lake; Windermere.
Sounds quite cosy until you realise that the course bends, twists and inevitably climbs its way around the lake for a juicy 47 miles. The route is predominantly on singletrack and un-manicured trails, with some sections of boardwalk, fire road, steeper fell paths and occasional unavoidable short sections of quiet country road. The ascent is 2,500m. The race runs twice a year. In September it goes anti-clockwise and in May, which Don and Sarah from The Northern Line signed up for, it goes clockwise. Starting at Low Cunsey Farm near the west bank of the lake.
Sarah and Don had spent the winter (muddy) months recceing sections of the course and it was with mostly excitement, mixed in with a slice of nerves as they readied themselves for the start.
Don't go near the front, they're serious cats there, toned calf muscles and economically packed rucksacks. Don't go near the back, it'll be, well, busy. There's over a thousand competitors and twice that number in legs, so tactics are required before the start even starts!
The one thing for sure, when you're lucky enough to be a resident in the Lake District, is you know it's going to be scenic and it never fails to impress and with a Goldilocks Day, with a light cloud cover and bursts of sunny spells, the Lakes was in full show-off mode.
up Loughrigg and down Loughrigg
It's not a blog which is intended to take you through every mile of this race, but something to recount is the realisation that individually, peaks and tops around the Lakes are rewarding and a little test for the thighs. However, the early parts of The Lap take in three tops in relative succession, namely Latterbarrow, Loughrigg and Wansfell and cumulatively they are, ultimately, a bit of a bugger and by the time Wansfell has been peaked, you know you're slap bang in the middle of a challenge and it's a quarter of the way into the race. Lovely views though!
up Wansfell - down wansfell
Wansfell, having peaked, means there's a lull in head down swearing under your breath... for a while. Drop down eventually into the picture postcard village of Troutbeck and there, awaits, a food stop offering pizza slices. In the scheme of things, and remembering this is still fun, a stop offering Pizza is like a banquet befitting of Kings, Queens, Lottery winners and Rap artists.
A third of the way into this race, with the village of Windermere not yet into view was a good time to re-set. The comprehension of 47 miles of running, lumbering up inclines with walking poles as a saviour is possibly never been more vivid. But the car is parked at Low Cunsey Farm, and this is no time to consider the corporeality of paying attention to thighs, calves and other deviants of doubt.
The south head of Windermere from Gummer's How
The section running from Orrest Head, overlooking Windermere, that leads to Bowness and ultimately to Gummer's How is an area of stunning beauty and even affords areas of moderate dips and luls to stretch the legs and knock off some miles.
Gummer's How provides wonderful panoramic views and is the beginning of a drop (of sorts) that leads to the village of Stavely and a short pant toward Newby Bridge. It's the very southernmost part of the lake and with it, the turn north and the west side of the lake, effectively the last leg. Easy peasy, which other than sharp climbs, steep descents, followed by some teasing sharp climbs is more or less what it is. The finish line is somewhere. Night has fallen, head torches dance and shine light on a landscape that is clueless, but eventually that finish does appear, with cowbells ringing, shouts of encouragement and the overwhelming feeling that this race is beautiful, filthy, rewarding, cruel, fun, not fun, unmissable and with all the discussions with the band of brothers and sisters on the way, something that reminds you, there is nothing you would rather be doing.