In the height of summer, Margaret and I decided to book a few days at the Kendal Mountain Festival*, where a friend of ours is one of the organisers.
Basking in the sunshine, I decided to enter the Adidas Terrex Trail Race that is held as part of the festival, imagining a bright late autumn morning, skipping 10k around the fells above Kendal.
Skip forward 5 months to last Saturday morning…
Waking to see the upcoming race time weather was 2 degrees (but with wind chill feeling like -9 degrees) with heavy snow forecast was therefore something of a shock.
[There had been a clue the day before when it was confirmed by the race organisers that a waterproof jacket and gloves were going to be compulsory for participation!]
The short walk from the car to number collection was in torrential rain, meaning both Margaret and I were soaked through before the race had even started. Looking at my lightweight windproof top and seeing what my fellow runners were dressed in, led to a quick warm up jog to Pete Bland Sports (Lake District legendary running shop) to buy a new waterproof running jacket – fortunately both on special offer and in harrier colours.
So having dried out and resplendent in two LS tops and my deckchair + my new waterproof and two neck sleeves, a hat, gloves and a headband, I lined up on Kendal High Street ready for the start, which was amazingly well supported (including Margaret) given the still torrential rain.
Then we were off and I’d heard the start was uphill – it was – the first km was non stop uphill (66m elevation) as was the second (51m elevation). I kept it steady and was pleased to have run all the way up.
Now we were on the fells where the heavy rain quickly became heavy sleet!
The race was just a brilliant experience with lots of encouragement and advice from the heroic marshals…” be careful, it’s very icy underfoot”…” watch the rocks they’re very slippy”…”look out in the deep water, it’s ankle breaking underneath”…”take it steady going downhill in the water, it has icy rocks below the surface” etc
So I slipped, slid and tripped across open fells, up woodland trails, over hay bale stiles to clear dry stone walls, with lots of running and wading in ice cold water – I lost the feeling in my feet at one point – with a kind of maniacal smile frozen on my face, before beginning the descent back to Kendal.
It was no easier as it was down steep stone steps and through narrow cobbled alleyways (I was most definitely not in Cathy Gill flying fell runner downhill mode) before finally hitting the High Street for a memorable finish, with still amazing crowds cheering everyone home.
With an overall elevation gain of 291 metres, an extra 500m due to a course change and horrendous weather, it was certainly challenging but also one of the most glorious running experiences I’ve ever had and I would highly recommend giving it a go and visiting the KMF.
I finished in 1:18:21 in 452nd place from 674 finishers (326 entrants chose to stay under their duvet)
First Male : Tim Lamont (Helm Hill ) 43:09
First Female : Holly Page (Edinburgh Uni) 48:30
* The Kendal Mountain Festival is held over four days (20-24 Nov 2025) and has films, exhibitors, music, presentations, high profile guests, kit to buy, book launches, basecamp, ceilidhs, outdoor activities, yoga sessions etc and covers all things outdoors (and also has lots of bars)
See www.kendalmountainfestival.com for details
Andrew Deighton
Harrier and Fell Runner