LEG
1 Set off from
Pooley Bridge an hour before midnight in decent weather and good
visibility. Even the full moon made a brief appearance above Loadpot.
But that changed dramatically by Raven Howe and for the rest of the
leg the rain, wind and clag slowed the pace. But excellent navigation
and support from Dick and Dave meant I was only 21 minutes down on my
schedule by Kirkstone.
LEG
2 The rain and
wind never let up on this leg and my headtorch packing in just after
Red Screes didn’t help. Decided not to stop to replace as dawn
wasn’t far away and keeping just one step behind Chris meant we
didn’t drop our rhythm A couple of minor navigational errors and
the tough conditions meant we arrived at Dunmail only 30 minutes down
on schedule. In the circumstances, very promising as the forecast was
for better weather to come and my 20 hour schedule meant I still had
a 3 ½ hour buffer.
LEG
3 Relief as the
rain began to ease as we climbed up Steel Fell and by the ascent to
High Raise it had stopped. We had our first glimpse blue sky and
conditions improved by the minute. From the top of High Raise to
Greendale conditions became nigh perfect, with only a hairy moment on
Rossett Pike, when a sudden gale nearly blew us away, and a difficult
traverse on wet rocks over to Bowfell to slow us down. We rapidly ate
into the time deficit and by Sty Head we were only 8 minutes of
schedule. Now we could relax, confident of a successful finish.
LEG 4 Spirits high, fortified by a feast brought up from Wasdale Head by our supporters, we bounced up Great Gable in glorious sunshine. This leg was a dream and the clear views across Lakeland we magical. The contrast to legs 1 and 2 couldn’t have been more dramatic and we picked up time on each summit. We even had time to take a break on Haycock, admiring the sight of the Isle of Man basking in bright sunshine. Climbing up Seatallan was always going to be tough but that came and went quickly enough and we could enjoy the run through Middle Fell and down to Greendale Bridge. The finishing time was 18 hrs 55 mins, over an hour ahead of schedule and over 5 hours ahead of the time allowance.
My heartfelt thanks go to the
most wonderful and accomplished team of navigators and supporters
anyone could wish for: Mike, Dick, Dave, Chris, Iain, Mark, Andy,
Mary, Gavin, Philip, Jonny, Serena and Kezi – my successful
completion was as much their triumph as mine. A big thank you to my
sponsors, whose generosity will be greatly appreciated not only by me
but especially by the Macmillan Cancer Nurses and the Orienteering
Foundation. And, of course, a big thanks to the great man Joss, who
despite recovering from pneumonia was there at the finish.
Julian
Lailey (M70)
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