Humbleton Fell Race
A new course record for NFR Will Horsley. Karen Robertson continues to reign as first lady.
Humbleton Fell Race – 18 June 2014
This was the third running of the Humbleton Fell Race and the weather has been kind to us every time. This year was about as hot as it gets in Northumberland and it made for sweaty work marking the course. A couple of heavy showers before the start freshened the air slightly but it was still a warm evening for racing.
Will Horsley of Northumberland Fell Runners missed a critical stile crossing last year which ruined his race. He returned this year and made amends in fine style, winning the race and smashing the course record in the process. Andy Green of Tynedale followed his second place at the Roman Wall Show race the previous Saturday with second here. These two had formed a large gap over the rest of the field. Karen Robertson continued her fine form and completed a hat-trick of finishing 1st lady and 1st LV40 in the race, by quite a margin.
The bad news of the day was an unfortunate injury to one of the competitors with what turned out to be a fractured ankle. The incident happened within a short distance of one of the marshals who was able to phone the back marker/first aider, who diverted to get to the scene as soon as possible. Three of the following runners kindly stopped to help and the injured runner was carried to the turnaround checkpoint where a car was waiting. She stoically said she is going to come back next year and finish the race!
Senior numbers were down on previous years (the distraction of the World Cup maybe), but 40 starters is still a decent turnout for a fairly low key, mid-week race. There were 36 finishers with the injured runner and a runner who retired to assist her; plus two DQS who inadvertently cut a corner and missed the checkpoint. They conscientiously pointed this out as soon as the returned to the finish.
Numbers were up for juniors this year, with a particularly strong contingent from the local Triathlon Club. All did very well on what is quite a testing course.
The race raises funds for the local primary school PTA, whose members help with marshalling and providing refreshments. My thanks to them and the school, for hosting the registration and prize-giving, and to all the other marshals and helpers.