The Young Feller

Following on from yesterday's race round up, I did mention that I'd dramatically increased my racing experience in the Lake District as of late.  The main reason behind this was due to the fact that I don't really consider myself a strong enough runner to run a time I would desire, or more importantly, I don't feel strong enough to take on a lot of the races.  Obviously everybody has differing standards in terms of what they class as being acceptable, in every walk of life, but for me I want to be able to push myself to the limit, which in turn, makes it an enjoyable experience, while at the same time running a somewhat respectable race time.  Like some of us, I get the most out of myself when I am pushing beyond my comfort zone, obviously only to a certain extent...I won't be going for a Bob Graham round next month or attempting Wasdale fell race any time soon, but never say never! After giving Kentmere Horseshoe a go last year, along with Scafell Pike & L...

I joined Darwen Dashers at the back end of November in 2014.  I had toyed with the idea for a few months but wanted to have a crack at playing football at a higher level than I had done previously.  My expectations of it seemed much higher than I found and my interest in playing the game was fading fast.  I just didn't have the drive or motivation to play the way I used to on a regular basis.  It wasn't anything to do with the team/manager or anything like that, just on a personal level, I felt like I didn't have the same desire anymore.  Even when I scored, I didn't feel that same buzz and I had dabbled with 2 or 3 runs per week for a couple of months, only 10 miles max in total to be honest. When I joined the Dashers, I heard about a trophy that was given to the runner who'd done the most races over a season.  I knew about the club championships on the roads & fells, but being so fresh to the running scene (knocking on a 20 year absence), I knew ...

I've yet to title a blog post after a specific race, but, I thought this one deserved it.  What used to be famously and formerly known as the Half Tour of Pendle, was rightly renamed in honour of Clayton Le Moors and fell running legend Stan Bradshaw.  The route was also slightly adjusted to reduce erosion, but the name of the race is the topic to start with in this post. A little about Stan... Stan sadly passed away at the age of 97 in 2010, leaving behind a wonderful legacy in the sport of fell running.  He became only the second man to break the 28 year old record of Bob Graham, who in his famous "Bob Graham round", climbed 42 lakeland peaks in 24 hours.  He ran his first fell race at Rivington Pike in 1930 and due to being the eldest member of the Fell Runners Assocation (FRA) he was officially the worlds oldest fell runner.  To somewhat maybe top all those feats, he finished second in the inaugural Three Peaks fell race in 1954, which he went on ...