Where Langdale, Cumbria
When April 22, 2007
First Man Damian Nicholls 32:55
First Woman Sue Brigden 43:42
Last Finisher 1:16:17
No. of Finishers 288
"The valley rings with mirth and joy/Among the hills the echoes play/A never never ending song/To welcome in the May." Wordsworth may not have been among the crowds who cheered on runners in the third St George’s Langdale 10K, but his evocation of Dungeon Ghyll ravine in the Great Langdale Valley was as true on April 22, 2007, as when he wrote it 200 years earlier.
This time, though, the "mirth and joy" was that of the 288 runners, not shepherd boys – and this despite everyone becoming slowly but surely drenched by a typical Lake District drizzle that the thousands wilting their way through the Flora London Marathon 350 miles south on the same day would have given their last jelly baby for.
The out-and-back road route, identical to that of the Christmas Pudding 10K, weaves its way along one of England’s most beautiful valleys. As runners left Sticklebarn Tavern and headed for Elterwater Common they were surrounded by the majestic crags of Langdale Pikes that attract hundreds of fell walkers and climbers to Cumbria each year.
The awesome scenery ensures that the smattering of small hills feel like molehills. According to one first-timer these majestic surroundings, combined with supportive marshals and marvellous camaraderie from other runners, "made you smile all the way round".
