A busy day yesterday for the lads out running. Following on from Ricky's run in the Lakes in a Day event, we had 2 at the Langdale Horseshoe and 3 over at the XC event in Penrith.

Richard McGrath and Dava Williams, our leg 4 pairing at the HBMR, both took part in the Langdale Horseshoe. The race starts and finishes at the Old Dungeon Ghyll. The course climbs to Stickle Tarn before heading to Thunacar Knott, Esk Hause, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags and Pike of Blisco. The route is approximately 13 mi in length with 4,760 ft of ascent. It includes much rough and rocky ground. Langdale is also one of the races in the Lakeland Classics Trophy series.

Both our runners appeared to have good legs and ran well on the day, however, both having very differing results.
Richard McGrath made places up throughout the race, finally coming in in 19th place in 2:22:31.
Dava Williams was running well until slipping down a grassy descent shortly after Martcrag Moor. he soon noticed his timing chip had tore off his wrist. Originally thinking that was his race over. However, after heading back up the fell and spending ten minutes looking around, the timing chip was found. He carried on and immediately started to make places up. On reaching Esk Hause shelter he was down in 152nd place. He continued to make places up all the way to the finish finally coming back in 113th place in 2:54:47

It was a record turnout for the race this year. 400 runners starting, with 377 making it to the finish.

Alex Roberts, Chris Knowles and Peter Kemp headed for less rocky ground at Penrith. Taking part in the Cross Country race. These races are usually really muddy affairs run at fast pace.
Alex headed the Elbra runners home in 6th overall in 12:37.
Closely followed by Chris who came in 9th in 12:38.
Peter 16th in 12:39.

Well done all. A great weekend of racing 💪

#Elbra

News just in from the Lakes in a Day Ultra.

Ricky Lightfoot has claimed the win and also taking the course record.
The previous record was held by Kim Collison, who set a time of 9 Hours and 12 Mins.
Ricky has just completed the course in 8 Hours and 47 Mins.

The Lakes in a Day is a 50 mile and 13000ft of ascent run - a journey starting at the very top of the Lake District in Caldbeck to the very bottom, at Cartmel, via Halls fell, the Helvellyn Ridge and the western shoreline of Lake Windermere.

Well done Ricky, now enjoy your Nightshift 🤣

#Elbra

Today was the much anticipated Hodgson Brothers Mountain Relay in Patterdale.

It is the longest-running mountain relay in the country.

The race is a tough one, with 4 legs each, ran in pairs (so 8 runners per team). Each leg throwing up their own separate challenges, including hard climbs and steep descents on difficult terrain. The route requires careful navigation, especially in bad weather, it is not a race for novices wanting to enter their first fell race. The race represents one of the highlights of the fell running calendar.

With such wet weather recently the conditions under foot were incredibly wet. Many runners struggling to stay on their feet at times, especially during the grassy descents.

70 teams are lucky enough to get entries to the event, with many more waiting for a place should one become available.

Elbra were lucky enough to get an entry back in 2009 and have fielded a team ever since. In general punching above their weight given the size of the club.

This year we managed to finish well in the top half and just missing out on a top 20 place, finishing 22nd overall. In a time of 4:28:22.

Brilliant stuff lads 💪

Leg Splits:
Leg 1
Daz Wylie & Shaun Atkinson 00:44:37
19th Position

Leg 2
Peter Kemp & Alex Roberts 01:22:48
32nd on leg 24th Overall

Leg 3
Chris Lister & Simon McCarthy 00:58:46
16th on leg 22nd Overall

Leg 4
Richard McGrath & Dava Williams 01:22:11
29th on leg 22nd Overall

#Elbra