Grasmere Gallop 17K Trail Race - June 2015

On Saturday 6th June 2015 I ran in the Grasmere Gallop 17K Trail Race.

I set my alarm for 8am, and the first thing I did when I got up was to look out the window to see what the weather was doing!  I felt slight dismay when I could see the trees were swaying manically in the wind, but thankfully it was dry although the clouds looked a little grey!

I had my usual pre-race breakfast of porridge and a banana washed down with a mug of coffee before getting dressed in my running gear!

My friend Julia picked me up at 9am for the 17 mile journey to Grasmere. 

The traffic flowed nicely and we arrived at the race Head Quarters in Grasmere at around 9.45am.  

We were directed to park in a field (free of charge) and then set off to collect our race number from a nearby marquee.  

Everything was very well organised and we were soon ready with our numbers pinned on and back in the car in a vain attempt to keep warm!

By now the wind was exceptionally strong and there was even a few drops of rain in the air!  I was beginning to wish that I had entered the 10K event instead of the 17K!

At 10.30am we braved getting out the car and stripped off our outer clothes before meeting 3 more friends at the "muster point".

There were 5 races in total - a 5K, 10K and 17K run, a Teddy Dash plus a Nordic walking 10K! 

It was exceptionally cold and windy waiting around for the race to start! 

We were all gathered together at 10.45am at the "muster point" before we were then walked through the village following a piper to the start line for a 11am race start!

There appeared to be a lot more people taking part than there had been last year, and there was quite a bit of jostling going on as people were trying to get to the front as this wasn't a chip timed event.

No sooner had we arrived at the start line and we were on our way! Despite all the competitors being asked to line up with fast runners at the front and walkers at the back I was particularly annoyed to be stuck behind and blocked in by gangs of Nordic Walkers who had selfishly ignored this instruction!

I would say it took me a good mile to weave my way in and around all the walkers and slower runners!  

I think the runners and walkers should be set off at different times as it made it particularly dangerous for runners who had to negotiate there way past walkers who were wielding sticks around with no thought to those around them!  I was tripped up by one stick and had another planted on my foot in all the congestion!

Anyhow, with my blood pressure soaring I was soon making my way up out of Grasmere along Red Bank Road.

This road twists and turns and just when I thought I was at the top another corner would reveal another climb! 

Eventually after this exhausting climb we turned off the road onto a trail through Deer Bolt Woods. At this point the 5K race took a left turn to return to Grasmere!  

After following the trail through the woods we had a further climb onto Loughrigg Terrace and over the shoulder of Loughrigg. 

By now the trails were extremely rough and rocky but we had fabulous views over the lake.  The sun had now decided to make an appearance although we still had the exceptionally strong winds blowing us back making it hard work!

The path passed the famous Rydal cave before plunging down a treacherous shale steep hill which had some sharp bends. 

The loose rubble underfoot made me very nervous and I didn't dare go too fast in case I came a cropper!  


The 17k and 10k routes split at this point, with the 10K route turning back along the shorelines of Rydal Water and Grasmere! The majority of runners appeared to be doing the 10K route!

As I was doing the 17K route I continued along the track and I was soon running on tarmac which meant I could pick up the pace ... but not for long ... before the pain really began ... as we made our way very slowly up Loughrigg fell! It was a totally exhausting climb!

We were soon off the tarmac and back on rocky tricky terrain and the wind had notched up its strength yet again to add to the experience!

There was an opportunity on the way down the fell to make up for lost time but I didn't have the confidence to just "let myself go" as I had visions of me face planting the path if it all went wrong!

We were soon back on familiar ground as the race looped along the terrace above the lake. This time we took a sharp turn and plunged down a steep, narrow path down to the lake itself to join the last few kilometres of the 10k route. 

Yet again I began to encounter 10k Nordic walkers strolling two and three abreast and unaware of anyone else around them!  Even loudly shouted "Excuse Me's" failed to get them to give way, and I had to continuously change pace and tread carefully around these idiots which made it really hard for already tired legs!

The final stretch took us back along the lake shores and we had just one final climb to go, before we were back on the tarmac and heading down Red Bank Road towards the finish line!

I was pleased that they had slightly changed the finish from last year which meant I didn't have the torturous lap of the car park field to do before getting to the finish!  

I saw one of my friends just ahead of me and I mustered all my remaining energy to attempt a sprint finish to catch up with her!  3 of us all finished within a few seconds of each other which is amazing considering we hadn't run together! 

On crossing the finishing line I stopped my Garmin and was delighted to see I had finished in 1 hour 46 minutes 21 seconds.  
Better than I had anticipated considering I hadn't done enough trail training and the windy conditions! You can view my route here!

After crossing the finish line we hugged each other, laughed, joked and then strolled into the finishers tent where our bar codes on our race numbers were zapped - We later discovered after receiving the official results that this is the actual point they take the time from! 

I feel very disgruntled about this as we weren't in any hurry to get into the tent and no one made us aware that our time was still ticking by! I even let my 2 friends who finished after me go in front of me - If I had known that this would have enabled them to beat my time I wouldn't have! I wasted my energy on a sprint finish for nothing! I cannot believe that the finishing time is not taken at the finish line! 

However, despite this insane system my official time of 1:46:18 is still 3 seconds faster than my Garmin time!

We were given a medal, a piece of gingerbread and a cup of juice!  

I was slightly disappointed that the medal was identical to last years medal with no date or distance on it!  Whatever distance you did you got the same medal, and whether you ran or walked you got the same medal!  

We waited for the rest of our group to finish before heading to the car to get dressed in some warm clothes before we walked into the village to have lunch in a lovely little cafe!

Someone could have told me I had my medal on backwards!

Despite the windy conditions I did enjoy the run, but I much preferred the 10K route I did last year!

I would highly recommend the 10K route, but not the 17K unless you are a lover of hills and tarmac!