Buckden Pike – Men

Buckden Pike - Men on Sat 18th Jun 2022

Buckden Pike - British and English championship counter.

It’s been a good few years since your reporter has been into the Yorkshire Dales, and what a treat it was on to return! The small hamlet of Buckden is most of the way up Wharfdale, the broad base of the valley belying the excruciating steepness of the valley sides.

The fell race coincides with the village fete with all the accoutrements you would expect: beer tent, bouncy castle, jams, a small show ring for the dogs with the waggiest tail, the egg & spoon and the sack races.

The fell race was run in two tranches, men and women this gave ample spectating and some fete time for all.

The race has all the hallmarks of the local BOFRA races, short and fiercely steep. It starts on the main (only) street, for at least 100 metres and, after two swift bends, hits the fell - a bit too literally for those not sufficiently warmed up! After that initial sprint, the race climbs 150m in 400m distance. Whilst the climbing eases a little after a kilometre or so, those who spent themselves on the lower slopes struggle to break into a run before topping out just shy of the pike. The descent has a bitter sweet traverse in the middle; giving a steeper top section and more running in the middle. Then it’s back on to the outbound route for the plummet into the valley. The bottom to the super-steep grassy descent provides a comfortable amphitheatre for the masses. What a show they got!

The finale of the women's race was good - some superb feats of descending as well as some cautious descending to maintain gains from earlier in the course. Great racing. Fabulous style and technique. A few thrills and spills.

But the men’s race! Heart in mouth stuff for the crowd... and possibly some of the racers. There is no escaping from the basic statistics of physiology. Or the maths of gravity. Much of the men's field shot down the final descent. There were some fabulous displays of power, speed and skill. There were a few spills - some runners doing so repeatedly. There were more than a few plummeting bodies with shot legs, unable or unwilling to slow, rubbery, fairly directionless and wild - so wild!

There was a final sting in the tail - a beck to cross at the bottom of the hill, trickling over polished limestone slabs. The unwary, or the inexperienced who stepped on the damp bits universally discovered ice-skating for a (thankfully) brief moment.

In the women's race, Majka was the first brown vest home, in 16th (3rd F40). Helen E was 2nd brown vest in 28th (2nd F50) - delighting in her return to gala running in the extreme and banking those descending skills with a 3 second win over 3rd F50. Zanthe had a good run, coming in 3rd counter. Although shy about agreeing, Aritri had a great race, despite limited experience of these BOFRA style events. Incognito, Eve Pannone had a great run coming in 7th (1st FU23).

In the men's race, Finlay Wild set a new record, as is his way. Finlay Grant was first brown vest home in a fantastic 4th place (1st MU23). Euan Patton was only just behind him in 9th (2nd U23). Aidan Smith came in 31st with Josh Williams in 32nd as 4th counter. Lova (I'm only out for a nice run) put in one of the most stylish descents of the day, coasting past numerous fellow competitors looking calm, collected and in control. Yet another MU23 was Alex Mason in 38th. Laurie Baxter was a little less of the 'in control' posse; his legs had evidently given out on him on the descent. He did well to keep it together and skip across the dry bits of the beck to a good result. Right behind him was Rich Bradbury in his usual un-brown vest. The Real Carshare (Dave Tait) rounded out the brown vest field. But Lova appears to have finished a second time just for good measure.