Winter Hill Fell Race Report by Paul Jackson

11.5m 2750'

Well, the new fell season is up and running and what a toughy to start with. Perfect conditions for a fell race, clear blue skies, no rain and more important good visibility.

Pete Mulleady, Mark Ruscoe and I mustered at the start of the race near to Rivington High Barn and were chatting with other runners when we had a surprise visit from an A&T posse consisting of Gary Stevens, Lyndsay Carter, Craig B and Brenda who had rode up to Rivington on their bikes to see us off. There's nothing like a good shot of the A&T team spirit to spur you on. Having said that, as we were busy passing the time away with our club mates, the start was called and we found ourselves right at the back of the pack.

Off we went with a steady climb along the track towards Rivvy Pike. The first checkpoint is a stream junction just to the west of the pike but there was no need for the map & compass as there were 190+ runners snaking through the moors. From there over the rough tussocky ground to C/P 2, the old shooting hut, then over to the Belmont side of the moors over boggy ground to were there is a stile at the corner of the woods C/P 3. That's when the real climbing starts, along the long path that takes from C/P 3 to a stone post at the top of Winter Hill C/P 4.

Mark had obviously gone off at pace as I couldn't see him ahead of me but thankfully Pete had his Dayglo A&T hat on which gave me someone to aim for in the distance. From the top of the hill it was a long descent towards a knoll at the far side of the moor near to Belmont Road C/P 5. The ground on the north side of the hill was open to the wind so it was frozen solid in places causing many runners to slip and fall, even in studs. I closed in on Pete as we got to the knoll and even passed him on the way up. The sight of a blue vest in front to Pete though is like the smell of blood to a shark, and it wasn't long before Pete stepped up a gear, passed me, then created some distance between us as we pushed up the steep ascent/scramble to the trig point at the top of the hill (again!) C/P 6. Then back down to a bridge near the old quarry C/P 7 then turn around and go back up over the hill to the stream junction again C/P 8. Thankfully now was a long down hill and towards a path junction C/P 9 near to the school on Rivington Lane then a sting in the tail, a long uphill run along the track towards the finish line.
As I approached the finish Mark was there to cheer me in and Pete had beaten me by a couple of minutes.
Mark had an excellent run in his first Winter Hill Race coming in 48th out of 196 runners, and both Pete and I were pleased with our runs.
Mark told me that during the race he lost a shoe in the bog at one point and even stopped off for a pee! God knows where he would have come if he'd had a clear run. He's now set the standard for the other fell runners in the club to beat.

1st Rob Hope (Pudsey & Bramley) 1:26:54- New Course Record
48th Mark Ruscoe 1:54:07
79th Peter Mulleady 2:05:30
93rd Paul Jackson 2:07:38
196 runners.

Thanks to Gary, Lyndsay, Brenda and Craig for your support!

Next race- 28th March 2010 Lad's Leap(AS) 5.9m 1700' (Run The Moors Grand Prix)

Full details to follow.