Rab Mountain Marathon

Race: Rab Mountain Marathon, day 2
Peaks: Gray Crag, Thornthwaite Crag, Mardale Ill Bell
Area: Eastern Lake District
Time/Position: 170 pts in 4:56 (10th from 271 [4th Vet])
I decided to throw caution to the wind today, given my overnight position. Started off at 8am, under cloudy skies, and jogged comfortably up Bannerdale back to Angle Tarn. It seemed pretty obvious to go for the big value checks around High Street again, although it is distinctly possible that a more subtle approach bagging more accessible lower value checks further north might have been more productive: certainly, the end result suggests that was the case. That said, the route choice felt right today from the off: I never questioned it (which is sometimes the case). From Angle Tarn, I headed up the ridge before contouring awkwardly to Hayeswater for a CP before the very steep climb up Gray Crag. This wasn't as bad as I'd expected, and it was satisfying to dib the 40 pointer in the mist on the summit. Thick mist and cold wind meant I felt the need to play it safe for the crossing of the plateau - going to the top of Thornthwaite Crag and navigating across the various paths (which I know from past experience to be confusing in mist) to the easterly route to Mardale Ill Bell. The wind tore a big hole in the clouds as I descended, superb views down Kentmere and superb running. This got even better as I descended the obvious spur from Ill Bell down to Blea Water. On my own, apart from one other well-placed runner who had pulled ahead after a chat. Some scrambling, a great rocky descent. Feeling good, I ran down to Haweswater and then faced a classic mountain marathon dilemma: whether I had the time/legs to reascend to 600m+ to gain a distant check in Randale Beck. The ethos of the day was to go for it, so I did, finding the Coast to Coast path a great help. I met up with the other chap again, and we ran together over the spur due east to pick up the Haweswater track at Whelter Beck after some awkward terrain and a tricky descent. This was always going to be the escape route, but I ended up cutting it finer than expected. It all culminated in a desperate race-pace dash for the final 6k, sprinting up the path to Aika Sike and getting a 10 pointer at Burnbanks before a final 2k sprint to the finish: 4 minutes to spare, 405 points. This was the hardest day I've had on a mountain marathon, in that I pushed it and maximised the time available: far more so than yesterday. So it was a surprise to find that I had missed third place by 3 points! That said, it was a fantastic event again and I was even more surprised to have the legs for the event, given that I'd spent the last two months training for entirely different purposes.