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| on the fells | |
 I always get mixed feelings about articles like this. On the one hand, fell running is the purest most joyful thing I know. On the other hand, don't tell everyone!
Here are some things I've learned in the last five years or so: * Running on the fells is different to fell racing. The races are the best way to learn the landscape, meet people and build the stamina you will need, but you don't have to race if you don't want to. A lot of people don't: they just like to run in the wild, alone or with friends. * You don't need anything fancy. When I started out I was always looking for clever solutions to the problems of drinking, finding my way, etc. Now I just carry a very small bottle and a map. Anything else is clutter, and the fitter you get the less you need. * Footpaths are for walkers. * Fell running is like surfing. After a while you get a sort of faraway look and part of your mind is always away flying down a warm grassy fellside. * There's nothing wrong with a bit of weather. * People worry about hurting themselves but it's much safer than you think. I've had far more injuries pounding the roads and I run downhill like a maniac. We've decided it's because you never repeat yourself: every step is different, so you never build up the wear and tear that road runners get. * The language will be strange at first. Every bump on every hillside has a name. People will tell you things like 'come off Kirk down Joss's gully and you'll find a spring on the wasdale side of black sail'. It doesn't take long for it all to make perfect sense. * Join a club. it might all seem a bit strange at first - what are these people talking about? - but within a month you'll feel like you belong. The fell clubs include every level of interest and ability, most have road running offshoots, and they know the best pubs in the world. I can't imagine life without mine. * You might think you're fit now, but you wait! * It takes years to get good at this, unless you're born with it. The people who win fell races - and I am certainly not one of them - are a different breed. Normal, friendly people- maybe a little skinnier than average- but they can run five minute miles across rocks and heather and go uphill faster than I go down. * Dropping off a snowy crag covered in mud, running between the parked cars of startled holidaymakers and disappearing up a gully that appears to go nowhere is always going to feel good. * One day you'll find yourself running past a frozen waterfall in brilliant sunshine and perfect silence and you'll feel like the luckiest person alive. | ||||
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 .Will...........totally agree.....couldn't imagine life without it | ||||
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 The language will be strange at first. Every bump on every hillside has a name. People will tell you things like 'come off Kirk down Joss's gully and you'll find a spring on the wasdale side of black sail'. It doesn't take long for it all to make perfect sense. Thats yorkshire running! Welsh running is in another laguage for some. So Cwm/Carn/afan make sense to welsh speakers to englsih speakers its like why this name? | ||||
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Wasdale was in Cumbria last time I ran up it!!!
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 .Will - that should be carved in tablets of stone. Amen! | ||||
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 wow. totally agree with will. as a northerner moved south i miss the Peak and Kinder Scout. Now i have to make do with less arduous terrain, but having said that (and don't berate me for living in london) there are some really nice places to get out of the rat race and enjoy some early morning weekend hills. For like minded londoners, North downs, box hill, leith hill and the weald are only 30 mins drive out of south london. Still with a lot of rain and this week snow, climbing into messrs walsh and bland's studs is just a perfect way to break up the monotonous marathon training. definitely no probs walking up the occasional steep bit, it all gets made up on the downhills where a 7 minute miler can easily cover the same distance in under roger bannister's famous time. sssssshhhhhh! | ||||
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Suprisingly like this: http://thebmc.co.uk/Feature.aspx?id=2329
hm. i can't comment on the plagiarism but i have to say that your advice is far better than theirs. It's a great article and they should have just run it. What's really interesting is the difference between this: which shoes are best? The ones that fit. which is exactly right, and this: expect to pay between £50 and £70 for a mid-range pair which is meaningless - all fell shoes cost about £60 (unless you get to the New Balance factory shop) and coincidentally is exactly what you would say if you depended on the revenue from companies trying to seduce the gullible into spending £130 on a pair of running shoes. | ||||
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 Will, you're soOOOO lucky to live in the Lake District. Mr Faery and I are down there about 3 times a year on our hols, we love it. We were even there on our honeymoon in February. None of this going abroad rubbish. Besides can't take the dog and the cat abroad!! There are great hills in Scotland where we live but there's something special about the Lakes. | ||||
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 Iain - have stern words with them. You wrote the BMC article ,and shared it months ago with us on the fellrunning forum. RW ought to have the decency to recognise your "input".
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 They should have at least included a link to the full article; it's called referencing your source. Cheers - HLS | ||||
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 Wow - that's well out of order lifting the meat of the article from BMC without acknowledgement..... I've only been out fell running a couple of times and I always love it. I must make more of an effort to get off these roads more... | ||||
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 You're so lucky to like near such lovely landscape. I'm between the north and south downs and venture out there occasionally. I need to learn how to read a map with a compass properly before I venture further.
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| Edited: 29/03/08 21:57 | ||||
 My local long run up The Old Man of Coniston  I have only been running about a year now, but 99% of my running has been here in the Lakes. I tried the Notts 1/2 marathon last summer and the Tarmac killed me. Running on the surrounding hills and interweaving trails is my daily escape. I am crap on the flat, I get tired and bored quickly and wish I was on my road bike, or better still, back in the hills. However I like my Beach holidays as I get to move it- move it for mile after flat mile on soft sand. The hills are big enough for all of us | ||||
| Edited: 29/03/08 23:00 | ||||
 Quite stunning - why go abroad?
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S1eepless - have you ever done the Coniston trail race? We've done it the last couple years and it's fab.
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Hill faery- I didn't manage to do the race last year, I was scared of races. Thought I wasn't fast nough, but am going to do it this year. I am down for the Hawkshead and Brathay races and did the Grizedale with stunning views of Coniston. swittle- I am going to Ske for a holiday, can that count as abroad? | ||||
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