Rivington Pike Fell Race – Race Report

3 miles – 700ft of climb – straight up and straight down Rivington Pike – Easy – Not!

The weather was perfect for this, the fourth race in the Championship. I met up with Craig Cheetham before the start and then ran into Paul Johnson and Ian Riggs who were making there Championship debuts. We made our way to the start line and, learning from previous races, I edged forward a little closer to the front of the 356 field.

The first 0.4 of a mile was somewhat packed, but it was a nice introduction along a gently inclining section of tarmac; fine I thought, I like tarmac, you know where your foot is with tarmac. However, we then turned off the road and started to head up Rivington Pike. Wesley Mort then passed me, saying hello as he did so, and the track’s inclined steepened. This went on for a mile, with the gradient touching 20% in places. I lost sight of Wesley as I focused on the climb, but a couple of times I had to slow to a brief walk to catch my breath and edge past some of the others runners who were also suffering.

Finally I reached the top, glancing at my watch as I did so (14:50) and the descent started – totally different and, in its own way, just as bad! This was my first proper fell race and descending down a grassy, bumpy slope was somewhat nerve-racking as I was sure I was going to turn an ankle and take a tumble each time my foot landed on the uneven ground – yes, as a result, I descended like a total wuss!

Surprisingly Wesley passed me about half way down; I didn’t realise that I’d overtaken him on the way up. “Well run” I shouted as he went past me – or a word to that effect anyway! :)

Finally we were back on the road and onto that gentle descent into the finish, 3 miles and 700ft up and down later. Craig, Ian, Rob Holgate (who I hadn’t seen) and Paul came in soon afterwards. What a horrible, but great run; really enjoyed it!

Our runners’ results are as follows:

1) Wesley Mort - 134th 23:38

2) David Simmons - 162nd 24:20

3) Craig Cheetham - 227th 26:42

4) Ian Riggs - 241st 27:21

5) Rob Holgate - 247th 27:32

6) Paul Johnson - 302nd 31:00

Special mention to James Titmuss, who, whilst not in our Championship (yet, joining?), finished in a fantastic 23rd in a time of 19:26.