I always look forward to the SLMM, it is in the summer, it is a relaxed event, good courses and never far from home. Having competed in the Bowfell Class last year with Russ, I was now entered in Kirkfell class with Helm runner, Kath Aubrey. This was Kath’s first mountain marathon and, with her having been struggling with an injury since her fantastic result in the Windermere marathon, together with a pretty rough weather forecast we headed over to Wasdale with some trepidation.
It was wet when we arrived and in the gloom there was very little change for us to meet up with others competitors so we concentrated on sorting our kit and being very organised for our 08:15 start. Although I was kindly loaned a Terra Nova Ultra Laser Ultra 1 by Charlie, given the forecast, we opted for the roomier Terra Nova Voyager Superlite; we were also using Klymit Inertia X-Frame mats and my carrying an OMM Mountain Marathon Classic 25l, with Kath carrying a Raidlight Endurance 10l.
Amazingly Saturday dawned dry, bright and very still, how lucky was this. We stuck with our original kit choices though and soon regretted long sleeved Helly Hansen baselayers and ¾ length tights ! The start, in Mosedale (the valley North West of Wasdale Head) was further away than we had expected and so we were 10 minutes late starting, fortunately this didn’t actually make any difference as our clock started when we dibbed at the start.
We carefully plotted our route and set off for the first control, this looked easy to me and we soon located it in the re-entrant; many teams around us went straight past it ! Then on to Black Sail Pass and a traverse around the back of Kirkfell and Great Gable to Stone Cove. We were, perhaps, a little low heading round to the second control but this meant we easily located it as we climbed the stream to the obvious junction.
From here we decided to head back into Stone Cove and climb to the col between Green Gable and Great Gable, before a descent of Aaron Slack to Styhead. A brief stop to care for blisters and we were soon on to control 3, not far from Piers Gill. The weather was amazing, dry, sunny and very little breeze, we could not believe this. 3 to 4 was mainly along the Corridor route and then a nasty looking climb took us on to the lower slopes of Sca Fell and a big contour to a sheepfold below Slight Side.
We were running well but on from here the ground became harder – tussocks ! Down to Burnmoor Tarn and then we climbed to the col between Illgill Head and Whin Rigg. The control was much lower down in a gully; I must confess to being slightly thrown by a larger gully and decided to check this out and, in so doing, temporarily misplaced Kath ! However, she was in the right gully, I wasn’t – soon regrouped we crossed the end of Wastwater and navigated through intricate farms and field to climb close to Buckbarrow for control 7.
From here to the overnight camp was a bit if a trudge through a forest and we were both relieved and pleased to get to the remote overnight camp. We were in 15th place, 6hrs 20mins after the first day. Helm runners, Robin Stones and Seb Sillito were in 1st place in Kirkfell in an impressive time of 5hrs 18mins.
The overnight camp was relaxed and gave us the chance to catch up with friends, eat and drink and chill out in the good weather. Kath was unfortunate to have suffered from blisters on the first day, so she carefully treated these in the hope that day 2 would not be too uncomfortable.
After a comfortable nights sleep, we woke to a dry and bright morning, again we couldn’t believe this. Maps marked and kit packed we set off just behind the mass start; we had a big trail of people to follow and steadily picked off other teams as we carefully navigated through the tussock ground. From Glade How the terrain became much more enjoyable, higher fells and better running. Passing Joss Naylor, out for his Sunday morning run on the fells, we headed towards Low Tarn and then on to Scoat Tarn, this looked a great place for a wild camp.
A steep climb from control 5 took us close to Red Pike and then round to Black Crag and a control at Windy Gap, familiar terrain. A climb towards Pillar and then a traverse below the summit brought us back to the path and a descent to the control on Looking Stead. The end was in sight, a rapid descent back into Mosedale and a control at a sheep fold and we were then sprinting to the finish in Wasdale Head. We crossed the line in 4hrs 28mins and picked up two places, putting us 13th overall. Robin and Seb held on to their lead to win the class. Another great event.
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