Blencathra and the Summit Shelter of Doom

Ricky Lightfoot sets a new course record - 58 mins 13

Racing up to the top of Blencathra to marshal on the summit, Andy, Ron and I felt the immense chill of a cold, clear night setting in. The wind belted around the summit like a jet stream, and clothes that seemed excessive at the car park were now painfully thin.

'Indiana' Sharples being eaten by a killer storm shelter

Andy quickly unfurled the summit shelter, an oversized burkha which had to be tethered with summit stones, feet rucksacs and hands. It didn't take long for the first runner to romp over the hummocky grass, and it was Ricky Lightfoot, closely followed by James Bulman and Jim Davies.

Steve Birkinshaw nearing the summit

Heading down the mountain after the last runners had gone through, I joined the other marshals who'd swept the course. It's always a crashingly fast descent, racing each other in our own quiet ways.



The hunt for the Terry's chocolate orange..

The Blencathra fell race is beginning to feel like a milestone in the year- everything is different, yet all is the same. Last year I hobbled up Blencathra, grappling with new orthotics, pain at every step to a summit steeped in rose petals and ashes. Someone had been carefully placed there, while a fell race went on around them.

This year the race was also lodged in the calm before the LAMM. Taking it easy, but afterwards crashing down the mountain regardless. From the ice cold summit to the warm fug of the car park, it was another good race to watch, another good time to have been part of.