GREAT LANGDALE
Last year Angela and I went up to Great
Langdale and ran the half marathon, so we thought it was time we did the
full one this year. We couldn’t think of anywhere else we would rather do our
first marathon, so we entered earlier in the year and got stuck into some
pretty serious training. 4 months of training later we had the van packed and
set sail to our B&B in the Langdale valley.
We arrived Friday teatime in excited spirits, both of us had been looking
forward to this run since the start of the year. We unpacked our junk and
strolled off down the valley to the Sticklebarn
Tavern for a couple of pints and our tea. A hearty burger and chips washed
down by some carb loading lager was wolfed down before we headed back to base
for a nice early night.
I flung the curtains open first thing the
following morning to hopefully get a lovely sunny view of Lingmoor Fell, sadly that is not quite what greeted my overly
optimistic eyes. I could just about see Lingmoor
Fell through the torrential rain that was lashing down on the strong wind.
It did ease slowly as the day progressed though, it had even stopped by the
time we had finished the race!
We had agreed an early breakfast, as we all
know a Full English takes time to
settle pre marathon. This was duly dispatched and washed down with orange juice
and coffee, so without further ado we kitted up and headed back down the valley
in the van/mobile changing room.
We decided to hide from the rain for a
while in the car park, as I didn’t want to get soaked before we ran. Emma and Charlie came round and had a chat at the side of the van, no room
to let them in out of the rain I am afraid. We then all went and watched the
fun run before attending to our last pre-race kit checks.
The marathon sets off with the half, so I
was very careful at the start not to go chasing people who had only 13.1 miles
to run. Angela and I had planned all
the way through our training that we would try and ignore everyone around us
and just concentrate on keeping to whatever pace we felt comfortable with, this
I managed to do all the way round.
The first mile is the only relatively flat
mile on the whole course and it eases you into the vicious hill that is mile 2.
The bright side of this winding leg destroying ascent is the wonderful view you
get of Blea Tarn and the Coniston range as it comes more into
view. The views down the Mickleden
and Oxendale valleys are pretty
special as well.
Once you reach the cattle grid at the top,
you have a couple of mainly fast downhill roller coaster like sections as you
pass Blea Tarn House. Once you get
to the crossroad that takes you left toward Little Langdale a calmer section awaits. This is where I always
feel like I am getting into the run, even though it is probably about the 5
mile mark!
Once again you start to ascend up weaving
country lanes with ever changing views of the
This part of the race is the loneliest; you
are surrounded by trees and dry stone walls, with no other people other than
runners about. Good place for a pee stop if you are getting desperate! From
here you wind up to the tiny little hamlet of Skelwith Fold where once again you are assailed with breath taking
views of large swathes of Lakeland.
This is the start of a very short and fast downhill back to the road that leads
to
This is the 1.5 mile climb up to an area
called Red Bank, which you think may
never feel your feet treading upon it. Steep is an understatement for the first
couple of hundred yards of this road, I find nearly impossible to even walk up
it! Once you pass this section you slowly weave uphill around the lovely Loughrigg Tarn and begin to turn and
start gazing toward the Great Langdale
valley once again.
This point started to feel like a watershed
for me on the second lap, I knew I could get round ok at that moment. On the
first lap I was too busy trying to catch Angela up as she scooted past me while
I was stood trying to get my insoles to stop riding up to the front of my by
now, very wet trainers. I had been having this problem on every fast downhill
section I came too; I eventually had to stop 6 or 7 times during the 
entire race. I must have looked a right “good
lad”, keep taking my trainers off on the side of a road in the pouring
rain. I will be gluing all my insoles down in the future!
As we ran past Loughrigg Tarn I had a quick chat with Angela and then set off to finish climbing to the turn at Red Bank that would herald a long winding super-fast descent onto the
main road at Elterwater. I really
enjoy this section as you stare straight down the mouth at the valley, with the
impressive Langdale Pikes beckoning
you toward the home straight. A 3 mile home straight, along
winding undulating roads of course.
This section flew by as it is busier with
homes through Chapel Stile and there
are also plenty of people about from here on in. I really was surprised that I
felt so fresh as I approached the halfway point, I
didn’t even feel jealous of all the people in the half who veered off into the
pubs field to finish their race. I was boosted by the support shown by some of
the Wesham faithful, especially Mick Edge and the Eaton’s. Simon had long finished the half by this point.
From here I ran the next mile with a bounce
in my step, well I was back on the only flat bit of the course and I was now
full of jelly babies. I weaved past the National
Trust camp site and headed once more towards the steep Blea Tarn road, full
of confidence that I would breeze my way round the second lap. The hill round Blea Tarn soon wiped that dream from my
silly brain, my legs felt shattered by the time I had route marched to the
cattle grid.
Once I had stumbled past this climb I
needed my legs to work again. For the next couple of hundred yards they seemed
to have died on me but slowly they got propelling me along at a decent pace
again. The second lap was now much quieter and I got some lovely gaps where i was totally alone, this gave me the space to really start
taking in the views.
It is astounding how running somewhere you
love, however tough the hills are; can really make it all seem so much easier.
I kept at a nice pace for the next few miles apart from my stops to reposition
my insoles and really started to enjoy myself yet further. The tiredness was
starting to creep into the legs quite a bit as I hit the killer hills near Loughrigg Tarn again but I knew I was
well on my way round now.
Heading back up toward Red Bank I relaxed as much as I could, knowing I had less than 5
miles left and once the Langdale Pikes
peeked through the trees at me I knew I was on the last part of what had been a
long journey. I seemed to find a new lease of life for the last part,
adrenaline is a great thing! I came into the finishing field very tired but
absolutely delighted with my time of 4.01 and it wasn’t long before Angela chased me in for 4.05 and 1st Vet 40.
Throughout all the training and the race I
had a fantastic time, even while I have been working 10-14 hours a day during
the summer I managed to enjoy running 50 miles a week. The end product of
running a beautiful marathon with good training behind me, made every second
worthwhile. This is a fantastic and cheap marathon to run; I really would
recommend it to anyone. The only thing I would say is make sure you do loads of
hill training and long runs before you try it. That is probably good advice for
any marathon though I suppose.
Written by:
Charles Colby
Submitted: 13th
October 2011
Edited by: Brenda J
Earnshaw WRR Editor