The Anniversary Waltz has a reputation for being one of the most popular races in the fell running calendar, and as the timing of the race seemed to fit pretty well with my 3 Peaks preparation, and as the 1st race in the FRA English Jnr Championship was running alongside it, I pre-entered. The only downside was that by running myself, I'd miss watching Matthew and Sarah as the junior races were running in parallel to then main race.
Although the distance of 11.5 miles is less than half of the 3 Peaks distance, the ascent of 3,600 ft is only 900 ft short, and hence it was no walk-in-the-park. My plan was to start slow, and then pick runners off as the race progressed. For me, holding myself back is always a major problem, but I was determined to do just that.
The weather was perfect, sunny and clear, so navigation was unlikely to be an issue, however there were still opportunities to take a bad route, particularly on the descents.
The first checkpoint (Robinson) was at about 2,300ft, and it took me just short of an hour to reach that point, I made a route choice to go for a steeper section on the climb, but I don't think I gained anything. Still, I felt reasonably comfortable on reaching the top, then a fast descent followed by another climb to checkpoint 2 (Hindscarth). Less of a descent followed to the 3rd climb and checkpoint (Dale Head), and I was still making up a few places.
Then came the steep and technical descent, and I was feeling pretty cautious, I also took a line which didn't work out too well, and lost a few places, However, I was still feeling ok climbing to checkpoint 4 (High Spy), and remember thinking to myself how good I was feeling. Then it hit me, as the climb to the final checkpoint started, so did my tiredness, and by the time I reached checkpoint 5 (Catbells) I was flagging. Luckily, from there, it was downhill to the start, although some of it very technical.
On the descent, I managed to turn first my right ankle, although a neat forward roll, and I was back on my feet, but within 100m, I then did the same on my left ankle, again a forward roll and I was back running, but that one hurt like hell. It's a real sign of tiredness when you start to do that, and I was pretty annoyed with myself for losing concentration. I lost maybe 4 or 5 places from Catbells to the finish, but overall I was pretty satisfied.
I'd recommend this race to anyone, although it's not for beginners, because it's just too technical. I enjoyed it thoroughly, although the weather obviously helped. The only downer is the long drive up to Keswick, which meant spending 5 hours at the wheel of the car.
Although the distance of 11.5 miles is less than half of the 3 Peaks distance, the ascent of 3,600 ft is only 900 ft short, and hence it was no walk-in-the-park. My plan was to start slow, and then pick runners off as the race progressed. For me, holding myself back is always a major problem, but I was determined to do just that.
The weather was perfect, sunny and clear, so navigation was unlikely to be an issue, however there were still opportunities to take a bad route, particularly on the descents.
The first checkpoint (Robinson) was at about 2,300ft, and it took me just short of an hour to reach that point, I made a route choice to go for a steeper section on the climb, but I don't think I gained anything. Still, I felt reasonably comfortable on reaching the top, then a fast descent followed by another climb to checkpoint 2 (Hindscarth). Less of a descent followed to the 3rd climb and checkpoint (Dale Head), and I was still making up a few places.
Then came the steep and technical descent, and I was feeling pretty cautious, I also took a line which didn't work out too well, and lost a few places, However, I was still feeling ok climbing to checkpoint 4 (High Spy), and remember thinking to myself how good I was feeling. Then it hit me, as the climb to the final checkpoint started, so did my tiredness, and by the time I reached checkpoint 5 (Catbells) I was flagging. Luckily, from there, it was downhill to the start, although some of it very technical.
On the descent, I managed to turn first my right ankle, although a neat forward roll, and I was back on my feet, but within 100m, I then did the same on my left ankle, again a forward roll and I was back running, but that one hurt like hell. It's a real sign of tiredness when you start to do that, and I was pretty annoyed with myself for losing concentration. I lost maybe 4 or 5 places from Catbells to the finish, but overall I was pretty satisfied.
I'd recommend this race to anyone, although it's not for beginners, because it's just too technical. I enjoyed it thoroughly, although the weather obviously helped. The only downer is the long drive up to Keswick, which meant spending 5 hours at the wheel of the car.
Spen Results
161 Chris Jones MV40 2:16:07
469 finishers
Full results here
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