DARK PEAK NEWS - Dark Peak Fell Runners

Dark Peak News October 2007 page 26Simon Harding won for the second year and improved his time. Early leader JonMorgan was just behind him, having been hampered by the wombling activities of thehelpful soul mentioned above. He got the V40 trophy. Jenny Johnson got the cup forfirst lady.Tim Ray won the newly inaugurated prize for first runner who arrived by tractorand Elizabeth Bridgen was awarded the much-coveted and prestigious prize of thePresident’s Spurtle (honestly… it’s not in the Concise Oxford but try Googling it), forthe runner with the muckiest legs.Thanks to all of you who ran and marshalled - hope you enjoyed it. For those of youthat didn’t turn up this year, hope you enjoyed what you were doing half as much as therest of us did. If you see a bloke on the hills with a load of red and white tape stickingout of his rucksack please throttle him with it.See you all next year.Dave MoseleyLake District Mountain Trial, Sun September 9thThe 55th Trial (held at Hartsop Hall, Patterdale) was a cracker. Good weather forrunning, (warm with a fresh wind and some low cloud on the tops in the afternoon). Thecourses were tough but offered good route choices and a lot of climbing.Mens trial ‘ideal’ route was 22.6 km with 2700 meters of ascent. The womens trial was17.5 km with a height gain of 1710m visiting checkpoints two, three, four, six and sevenused in the mens trial. The short course was 14.2km with a height gain of 1450m.Jim Davies of Borrowdale won the mens race in 4hrs 12mins. Dark Peak runners putin some great performances with John Hunt in fourth and seven of us inside the top 35.We were also second team, narrowly losing out to Borrowdale.The womens race was won by Karen Nash of Preston Harriers in 4 hrs 3 mins. Kirstyfinished fourth, ably supported by Nicky, Julia and Jo. Ambleside won the womens teamprize.Ben Stevens of Ilkley Harriers won the short race. A good showing from Dark Peakwith nine finishers.Richard Asquith, author of ‘Feet in the Clouds’, presented the prizes, (after completingthe short race), and the tradition of a free pint for competitors was revived this yearcourtesy of Jennings Brewery.I’ve put the results and prize winners on to the Trial website (www.ldtma.org.uk). I’mhopeful that in the next week the winners’ routes will also be available.Finally, entries were up 40% this year and we reached our limit a week before theclosing date. If you are thinking of competing next year, (and you really should do - thisis a race ALL fell runners should attempt, including our chairman, although tight fittingleopard skin lycra is banned), then make sure you get your entry in early. Entries openin June next year............Simon Patton