The Old County Tops Fell Race is a 37 mile/11,000ft. event (distance and climb dependant on whether you go the right or wrong way). The Race starts in Great Langdale and takes in the tops of Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston.
This was my first time competing in the OCT but i had heard quite a lot of nightmare stories about poor weather with large numbers of runners getting lost and hypothermic or very hot weather with large numbers suffering dehydration and sun stroke.
The start
So it was with much trepidation that i stood on the start line looking at the runners around me wondering what i had let Ronnie talk me into – this is a pairs event and Ronnie was my partner. We set off at a steady pace, Ronnie tucked in behind protecting his recently pinned and plated left hand which, to his great annoyance, still had a plaster cast on.
All to soon we were on the long climb up Helvellyn and already i was struggling to keep pace with Ronnie, thoughts of quitting were creeping in. Perhaps i had bitten off more than i could chew? I had done far too much training recently and my quads were suffering, my head was banging and my back hurt.
Of course Ronnie laughed at me and told me to get my head down and get on with it, no way he was letting me quit after all the hard training we had done – besides – we would get a ‘T’ shirt just for finishing in less than 12 hours. There was also the small matter of a pint of larger we would have to buy for Mark and Paul if they finished before us.
Helvellyn summit greeted us with a layer of crispy snow and a cold northerly wind , great, just what i needed. We followed some other runners off the summit and down to Wythburn car park for hot coffee and sticky malt loaf. About this point i made my mind up, i would make it to Scafell Pike and if i still felt crap i would quit.
Wythburn
So head down and dig deep, the slog up Wythburn to High Raise is tough but i began to feel stronger with every mile, we passed High Raise and pushed on across the bogs to Angle tarn. I stopped and looked up at the climb to Esk Hause and new my race head has finally joined me.
On to Scafell Pike and i was feeling great, we took a food break and decided on the direct route off the back of Sca Fell. The weather had started to clear and the fog was lifting. We also had other runners to follow so didn’t have to think too much about navigation.
The descent was steep and we had to take it easy, a fall for Ronnie could be disastrous, after all he shouldn’t be running with his recently pinned left hand still in plaster. He had been warned that a knock could bring serious consequences.
Down the descent, through the bogs, a little correction in our navigation and a nice easy, gentle path down in to Cockely Beck. It was about this time that Ronnie took a nasty fall, landing on his left hand. He jumped back up holding his hand, obviously in great pain and quite sure he had heard a crack when he landed. After a few minutes of cursing he decided that Ibuprofen and pain killers would sort it out.....
Cockley Beck check point
We ran on to the next check point at Cockley Beck, in the distance the final big climb past Grey Friars, we murdered it, passing 3 other pairs of runners and pushing on strongly to Coniston old man. Even managing to land on the right trod to miss the summits we didn’t have to visit. This left us with a run down to the Three Shires Stone and a final small climb back to Langdale.
With only one mile to go Ronnie’s injured hand had swollen and his fingers were turning purple, he was getting very pale and his forehead was covered in sweat. He began to feel dizzy and couldn’t run, every step sent a pain shooting through his damaged wrist and it was all taking its toll.
Obviously time for more pain killers and the rest of his food, washed down with some fresh water from the beck and we were off again.
The finish - Langdale
We finished in 8 hrs 55 minutes, 21st overall and second in our age group, i am amazed Ronnie made it to the end and i have a renewed respect for his grit and determination.
