I feel it on my fingers, I feel it on my toes, Rain is all around me, And all my feeling goes…
Yes, it's the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon 2008, based around Helvellyn. YAC are represented by Carmen and me doing the "Bowfell" course and Simeon and Alan on "Carrock Fell".
Despite the forecast of rain from the start, it actually stayed dry (but windy) with cloud clear of the fells until about 11.30 on Saturday, at which point the heavens opened. Torrential rain alternated with short relatively dry spells for the rest of the day, as we took a long anti-clockwise loop around Helvellyn. Simeon and Alan, though supposedly on an easier course, took a remarkably similar route – I think the planner got it slightly wrong, as there was a 30% dropout rate on that course!
The overnight camp was near Dockray, only about 5km as the crow flies from where we started. Luckily we had some evening sunshine in between the rain, so our soaked clothes had a chance to dry out. But on Sunday, it was raining from the word go, so the dry clothes soon became soaked again. The rain was lighter, but constant, and low cloud made for some interesting navigation, but the course was shorter and it wasn't long before we were on the final knee-wrecking descent, avoiding falling bodies slipping on the wet grass as we went.
A really enjoyable weekend, in a thoroughly miserable sort of way, and both YAC teams managed to finish roughly half way down the field in their respective classes.
No photos from me, I didn't bother taking a camera due to the weather, but further details (and some pictures soon) are on the Saunders website at http://www.slmm.org.uk/