Cumbria Way Ultra
Saturday 17 September 2016
73 miles (117.5 km); 10,000 feet (3,048 m) of ascent
Starting in Ulverston the course follows the Cumbria Way through the middle of the Lake District past Coniston Water; along the Langdale valley; up to Stake Pass; through Keswick; past Skiddaw House via the Latrigg Car Park; to the summit of High Pike; down to Caldbeck; through Dalston and finally to the finish inside Carlisle Castle. With an ample time limit of 27 hours there was plenty of time to stop for a pub lunch along the way and pop into a cafe or two for cold milkshakes and ice creams rather than racing about in the mid-day heat on an unseasonally hot day. The race starts in darkness and runners are greeted by the sunrise before too long and most runners will also see the sunset too and there was a superb full moon to illuminate the night and provide a distraction from weary legs towards the end. Along with solo runners there were relay teams of either two or five per team for those wishing to spread the journey between several runners. The results below represent just the solo runners.
Starters: 57
Finishers: 46
Retired: 11
First Man: Andrew Horrobin; Helm Hill; 14:11:20
First Lady: Sabrina Verjee; 4th overall; 14:41:23
Jim Paxman: 21st; Dark Peak Fell Runners; 20:11:06
Steven Jones: 37th; Dark Peak Fell Runners; 22:47:56