10th May Buttermere Sailbeck Fell Race

9 miles  : 4,300 feet

After a long bout of colds and sinusitis over christams and into the new year, I felt as overweight and unfit as I have for at least 5 years. So my comeback at Buttermere Sailbeck was going to be a case of giving it a go, as I was still a bit Chubby and my cardio and strength wasn't great either.

It was a mild day but with a forecast for wind and heavy rain, there was an air of tension. The last time this race was held sadly a runner died. The weather turned out to be not too bad. After Ard crags descent we then started the tough climb of Causey pike where it started to rain. On the ridge to Whitless pike the rain started to get very heavy. One of the bonuses to carrying a bit of fat (there aren't many for this in fell running) was I didnt,  have to put a jacket on, as many did. As i descended crag hill I went too far left, this didn't help matters as I was already pretty slow. Loosing two minutes or so just made my result a bit worse. But at least I was back in the game. my friend Bill Williamson had a great run and finished 27th overall and 2nd vet 50 in 1h 53.25. I finished 41st out of 104 in 2h 01.42. The winner Phil Davies finished in 1h 34.21.