Round 5 of the Cumbrian Galoppen tool place on Sunday (27th Sept), organised by LOC. It was an excellent event, but unfortunately will stick in the memory for the wrong reasons. Firstly, there was the weather. The timing couldn’t have been worse – it started raining at about 10am, and stopped about 3pm, and it was windy too. Not surprisingly cagoules were made compulsory and there weren’t many people who didn’t wear one for their whole course. A big thank you to the start officials who endured two hours standing in the rain.
Secondly, many competitors were affected by the print rubbing off their maps. Those out for a long time were worst affected. but it also seems to depend on how you fold your map, whether you wear gloves and how much you use your hands to climb steep slopes. Some people were left relying on compass and pacing by the end. The cause is being investigated, and hopefully overcome. Let’s hope we don’t need to resort to old-fashioned map cases.
Attendance was low by Galoppen standards (115 starters), probably because Dunnerdale is a long drive from most parts of Cumbria, and because of the long walk to the start (160m ascent and 1.5km). But, once you overcame those deterrents, the event provided great terrain (runnable, complex fell) and well planned, challenging courses
Top ten results came from a number of BL members:
Jeff, 7th on Brown
Dan, 10th on Brown
Isabel, 6th on Blue (and first woman)
Natalie, 1st on Green
Nancy, 3rd on Very Short Green
Results and Routegadget available here
Cumbian Galoppen events are densely packed this Autumn, with three in November and one in early December. Next up is the BL event at Eycott Hill on 1st November – details and entries available soon.
