Ennerdale Horseshoe 2021

I’d like the record to show there was a moment at the Ennerdale Horseshoe when I overtook Brennan Townshend. Unfortunately it was before the race started—he was jogging his warm up, I was legging it from the car park to try and register and go to the loo. Suffice to say once the race started I never saw him again.

The Ennerdale is one of the Lake District Classics, a 37km/23 mile circuit of the fells surrounding one of the most beautiful valleys in the Lakes. It’s been ran for over fifty years and is steeped in the mythos of the sport. The list of winners reads like a who’s who of fell running greats; Joss Naylor, Kenny Stuart, Billy Bland.

I was excited to be pulling on the purple and green of Northumberland Fell Runners for the first time, and after so many cancellations in the past eighteen months it was great to get back to a mass start. It all felt refreshingly normal.

The first 3km are flat and fast around the western end of the lake, with the starting pace largely set by your position in the heaving mass making its way towards the fell. This seemed to work well, with no crushing or overtaking and little in the way of bottlenecks at the stile.

From running steadily by the river you hit a 40% gradient up onto Great Bourne. It’s a sharp steep climb—calves bursting and hands on knees—but leads you up onto the ridge and it feels runnable for a good while after that. We skirted Starling Dodd before climbing Red Pike and following the Ennerdale side of the ridge to High Crag.

The drop from High Crag to Scarth Gap is the first of three scree descents of the day… it feels more like surfing down the stones than running.

The drop from High Crag to Scarth Gap is the first of three scree descents of the day. I just can’t master scree, only coming across it in races and then finding myself cautious while other people fly past. It feels more like surfing down the stones than running. I’m getting a little more confident though, which was pleasing—even if it did result in having to pause and empty stones from my shoes at the bottom!

From there I followed the fence line round onto Haystacks. Runners were choosing one of two lines here but when we converged again I don’t think there was much difference. For me the fence felt reassuring nav wise and had a well worn trod by it. I stopped by the tarn outlet to fill my flasks and then fell in with another lad from NFR as we pushed our way up onto Green Gable.

There’s a real adrenaline buzz from pushing your body in a race and I definitely had the runner’s high summiting Gable still on my pace target. It’s the next two hills that really test you though. There’s another scree descent down from Windy Gap before picking up the trod to Kirk Fell. Kirk Fell itself isn’t too big a climb but it is steep and then tips you straight out into a scree gully and onto the final big climb of the day up Pillar.

I’m finding I fair better climbing than I do descending on fell races and made up some places passing people on the way up. I know I need to get better at taking the brakes off on the way down, but I’m not there yet.

It was about this point though that impostor syndrome kicked in. What was I doing in a fell race again? Why do I keep entering these things? I had the sudden feeling that everyone would realise I’m not a real fell runner and that at any moment the remainder of the field would surge past me. I had to give myself a talking to and persuade myself that if I wasn’t a “real” fell runner, I wouldn’t be hauling my self up the side of a mountain, fifteen miles into a race. It’s completely illogical as anyone who runs on the fells is of course a fell runner, but something about the big Lake District races brings out my inner impostor.

What was I doing in a fell race again? Why do I keep entering these things? I had the sudden feeling that everyone would realise I’m not a real fell runner and that at any moment the remainder of the field would surge past me.

People lead you to believe it’s runnable after Pillar, and on fresh legs it would have been, but with all that climbing done it still felt pretty tough going across to Haycock. Unsure of the bypass path, I kept the dry stone wall on my right and headed straight over Black Crag and Scoat Fell. In hindsight I can see that this added some unnecessary elevation and rocky terrain, though it probably only cost me a couple of minutes.

I hit the top of Haycock feeling like I might have timed my effort right. I set off at a brisk pace for the downhill, but suddenly found myself slowing on the way to Iron Crag. I kept doing the maths in the head and knew I could still come in on target but my legs just wouldn’t play. As I was passed, struggling up to the checkpoint, I joked that it was going to be a long walk home, but the other runners encouraged me that the second wind would come. I found a bit of pace again on the way down but was still being passed by a few who’d paced themselves better.

At the end of such a long race the hundred metre climb onto Crag Fell was a real sting in the tail. I decided to hike up to the summit and then use anything left in the tank for the run back in. Even after that respite the first part of the last descent was painfully slow until I hit the stream and was able to drink again. It was a belting hot day and there’s no water sources on the course once you pass the tarn. With some water on board I was finally able to pick up once more.

It’s a flagged course into the finish and was nice to come through the trees to a proper finish line atmosphere with some encouragement from the spectators and other finishers.

I’d hoped to be a few minutes faster but finished with nothing left in the tank. With a couple of better lines I might have been able to make up a minute or two but not much. As I sat under a tree eating a Cherry Bakewell and drinking orange squash, I was satisfied that I’d given it everything I’d had on the day.

Finishing a race knowing I left everything I had out there on the fell? That’s good enough for me.

Gear: Salomon S/Lab Speed 2, Salomon S/Lab Sense 8 Vest, Suunto 9 Baro, Harvey’s Race Map

Many thanks to Grand Day Out Photography for the photos.