Following much hype about the brilliance of the Windy Gyle Fell Race from Saltwellians who had previously taken on the border race, the midsommar fixture was added to the Saltwell Fell Series. With a heatwave coming into affect, the Saltwell Six headed up to the Cheviots, courtesy of the ever welcoming Northumberland Fell Runners.
A fair weather tradition in our household is a summer solstice trip to Windy Gyle, so we duly headed through Alwinton past Barrowburn on the Saturday, to hike the direct route up to Russell’s Cairn on the border, welcomed by a cool breeze and stunningly clear skies with views through the Scottish Borders, The Cheviots and along the Pennine Way. Map in hand, I checked my bearings for the race the next day, a ‘mini’ route recce of an area I know well. Finishing our obligatory mid-hike sandwiches and snacks, we chatted to a couple of other hikers who were keeping an eye out for the Montane Summer Spine Tail Runners, tracking to the Schill, on their final leg of the Summer Race. Despite the apparent lack of crowds on such a beautiful day, it was a clear reminder of the importance of the Cheviots for many of the more extreme, exciting and stunning physical challenges in the UK and added a little more excitement to the weekend. Then it was time to head back down to the Coquet for a quick dip, before setting up at our campsite
In Low Alwinton for the evening
After a good feed, looking out over the views and enjoying the skylarks, we settled in for a quiet night, disturbed only by a wild dose of hay fever and an absolute eejit of a dog, loosing his mind over some deer, who happened to be minding their own business late into the night and early hours.
Sunday arrived. Fuelled and hydrated, we headed through the sheep riddled gauntlet beyond Alwinton, to meet the rest of the Saltwell Six. The official start line and meeting point was ‘sheep pens 800m N of Barrowburn Farm’. No sheep were harmed in the completion of this journey. On arrival we welcomed Phil to his first ever fell race. Having been briefed by the lads, complete with Youtube training videos on the journey up, including pointing out the first hill, Phil seemed a little apprehensive about what he’d signed up to. But we offered enough reassurance that he was keen enough to start the race. The usual conversations happened around what kit we needed – basically everything, as per the rules, and also, what we might not take as there were not going to be kit checks on the day. Then we were informed that the race was low on Marshalls due to illness. So common sense dictated that we should not only follow the rules, but for our own safety, should an unfortunate incident occur, carry all the regulated kit. At this point I suspect Andy was doing some maths and weighing his water out, having probably filed millimetres off his compass to save weight. This is clearly a very successful approach for him!
Laden with fluids, salt tablets and all the waterproofs we would never need, we set off on what we hoped would be an 8.5 mile or less route. Heading up Barrow Law (419m) was a canny warm up. I’ve been slowly working on improving my fell running (very slowly as it turns out), but I was really chuffed with myself for running almost 2/3rds of the route up Barrow Law, just about out-pacing those walking that I passed. From there the beautiful weather allowed the runners to the rear of the race to enjoy the spectacle of the front runners stretching out towards Murder Cleugh. For many, this enjoyment was tempered by the sound of heaving breathing and rasping we recovered from our ascent, the sense of salty sweat drying on our skin and the realisation that we still had ‘more than one Parkrun’ to complete and we hadn’t even got to the top of the hills yet. At this early point in the race, I started my first gel, practicing my fuelling strategy for the much longer race I have lined up at the start of July.
Crossing the track by Murder Cleugh on the approach to Ward Law, an errant Saltwellian was hollered at by a fellow runner in a, thankfully successful attempt, to point them in the right direction, before they headed off in the direction of the Cheviot instead. I felt like a proper grown up fell runner heading out to Ward Law (483m) and Little Law (495m), the dryness of the land helping me find some good shortcuts, easily passing some other runners, through route optimisation rather than pace! Again, it was awesome to watch the front runners approaching the ‘top of the hill’ – Windy Gyle, particularly seeing Andy had stretched out his lead by a few hundred metres. As a back of the pack runner, it’s so rare to actually get to watch these guys sprinting over the moors and up the hills, so a little bit of spectating really added to my experience. Just before the final ascent to Windy Gyle, contrary to pretty much every other fell race, there was a tiny puddle which I delighted in stomping in. With the cool water barely splashing my leg, I fuelled with a salt tablet and a sip of water and cracked on to the top. With barely a breeze at Windy Gyle (619m), most of us cleared the stile in to Scotland, delighting at the views. With no Marshall checkpoints, there may have been some confusion by some Saltwellians as to where the race route trod was, however, no rule breaches were reported and assumptions of route optimisation were accepted with declarations of ‘I don’t think you’re meant to be in that side of the fence’.
Very much looking forward to the undulating descent from Russell Cairn on Windy Gyle, we headed back toward England, more or less half way through. Within earshot of the old ‘Mountain Dew’ (illicit whiskey) distilleries, we headed towards the smugglers route of ‘The Street’. I was delighted to meet an extraordinary 78 year old gentleman, who was racing in front of me. He kindly held a gate open for me, and we ran a few hundred metres together, enjoying a bit of a chat along the way, until I took my turn to hold the next gate open for him. Every Fell Race I do, I consider myself privileged to be able to run in the company of some incredible folk. It’s always a pleasure to get a few moments to connect with a fellow fell runner and be truly humbled by some of them.
With mile six underway, I cracked into my next gel, for fuelling training (I wouldn’t normally take so much so soon, particularly over a shorter distance like this, but apparently fuelling training is a thing). Enjoy some longer descents and much shorter ascents, with firm ground underneath, I was hoping for a cruise to the finish line. But the stillness and the heat were making themselves known. With nothing to prove to myself and my second gel threatening to make reappearance, I opted to proceed at a slightly more cautious pace, accepting that finishing in one piece was my personal preference. With Black Braes (509m) and Swinside Law behind me, I approached the final stile. I’ve been over this stile 10’s of times, but with stiff knees and a few miles in my legs, I realised for the first time that the upright post was on the wrong side of the stile – the lower step side! Whilst this minor nuance won’t be a game changer for most, my inner leg measurements significantly increase the technical difficulty of stepping over things, particularly when it involves teetering above a thin metal wire. (At this point I’d like to thank the Saltwell Six for letting me stand on the road, rather than in the ditch for the team photo and maybe request Andy stands in the ditch next time?). Thankfully, no one was about to witness the spectacle of my stile clearance, how the smugglers managed it, I’ll never know.
And then, the fun really began. Taking on the moderate incline, the lack of bumps and divits, the smooth and gentle curve and the slightly grass-cushioned but reassuring firm final descent, I wonder if the smugglers felt the same glee as me, on their approach to the Slyme Foot Inn, the old site of which sits just below the path? Employing my ‘Phoebe’ arms, (as coached by Lyndsay on one of my very first Saltwell club sessions) and enjoy the tail wind of gravity, I stormed down the hill with an easy and significant 1/2mile PB time, leaving a few hundred metres of track to the finish line where I was warmly greeted by the fantastic Northumberland Fell Runner organisers and all the runners who crossed the line before me. And also by my partner and Paddy, damp from another dip in the Coquet.
With Andy taking a clear win, my first individual category win and a Men’s team win for Saltwell, it was a very successful day. And, having just turned up to enjoy the much hyped Windy Gyle Fell Race I can 100% confirm the hype. Well done to Phil for biting the bullet and finishing his first and hopefully not last fell race. A lovely feeling of community and care, with some real challenge thrown in. Heading to the Rose and Thistle in Alwinton, we reconvened for a debrief, which mostly seemed to consist of some unfortunate skiing incidents. It was such a pleasure to spend the day in and around Windy Gyle with Sunday’s Fell Running Crew, what a great wee Fell Running community Saltwell has curated.
Whilst it was clear the heat had impacted everyone, the importance of being prepared for the route from a navigation, kit, hydration and appropriate fuelling and looking out for fellow fell runners, all came in to play during the race and after the race.
How do I prepare for fell race as a mid to rear of the pack runner?
- Shoes- excellent treads on the soles – avoiding waterproof shoes on the fells as the water can’t get back out when it gets in – it will get in!
- Compass and readable map – knowing how to use them. Yes, I have had to navigate mid race before.
- Waterproof jacket with a hood and water proof trousers with taped seams – I don’t want to get disqualified by a random kit check failure, not after the effort I put in!
- Whistle – my hydration vest has one incorporated, but I have a separate one if I’m just using a waist pack.
- Gloves and a hat, running cap or woolly cap weather dependant. I like a peaked cap to keep the rain out of my eyes.
- Focus on where my feet are hoping to land and try not to get distracted by the views!
- Recce- as far as possible complete a race recce, or spend a good few hours on OS Maps and Google satellite running through the route virtually before the race, as a second best option.
- Accepting that my race is in the hands of mother nature and anything she throws at me from the land or the sky and being prepared to look out for myself, including with my kit.
- Fully appreciating that the organisers and race Marshalls are all in the same position as me. If I start the race, they are also put at risk by anything unfortunate that happens to me.
- Working with a fuelling and hydration strategy (including electrolytes) that suits my body and the time that I’m going to be out on the course for. Having an immediate post race refuel plan, often coke a cola, salty crisps with some kind of protein. Hopefully a cold pint and some cake, regular features of the Saltwell Fell Series.
- Always having the goal of being able to enjoy myself. If it’s not type 1 or type 2 fun, it’s not for me.
Windy Gyle Fell Race, in summary: Same time next year anyone??!
Lynsey Hetherington
