A race and a half: Bernard Kivlehan and myself represented NFR at the Whitfield Village Show Fell Race this year. The race had an excellent turnout of 34 runners including a large contingent of Blackhill Bounders and Elswick Harriers. As in previous years the field of runners was escorted up the road onto Whitfield Moor by a quad bike.
The steady climb onto the Moor should have continued for about a mile, however after 3 miles and nearing the top of Pike Rigg (~500m) it became apparent we had missed a left hand turn somewhere along the way. A downhill bog trot quickly saw us back on route shepherded by a quad bike mounted race marshal. Most runners managed to record between 5 and 7.5 miles for this 4.7 mile race. Bernard came in 3rd with a time of 1h 7m only a minute behind the race winner David Lee. I managed to stagger home in 19th place in a time of 1hr 23m in 19th place having clocked a route of 7.2 miles. All in all a very enjoyable run on Whitfield Moor with thanks going to the race organiser Katherine Halliday.
Andy Russell
