62nd 3 Peaks race 2016 – 30th April

Ali Nash reports …
I seem to remember saying ‘never again’ last year…..however, my finger slipped and ended up entering again, athough queued up at the start I was considering my sanity. Conditions were looking interesting to say the least. Thick snow covered all 3 Peaks, and despite the weather forecast for ‘warm, sunny, clear and still’ there were some very ominous looking fearsome black cumulus developing to the north, and the wind was already whipping snow off the top of Whernside…..

Igs (Robun), Stoney (Richard Stone), Bernie (Bernadette Cook) and Stuart (James), joined yours truly at Horton-in-RIbblesdale, ready for a 10:30 start, along with 800 others. The first 3 miles are a fairly stiff climb straight up Penyghent, climbing well above the snow line, before a sharp snowy descent and the long 10 mile cross country effort, passing the first checkpoint cut-off at High Birkwith across to Ribblehead and the second cut-off checkpoint, where every runner is welcomed in by name & club over the tannoy. It was at this point I opted for full waterproofs, hat, buff and both pairs of gloves…. I could see what was sweeping up and over Whernside….snow

Igs and Bernie were loaded onto the ‘Bus of Shame’ at Ribblehead, just missing the time cut off – but probably luckier to miss out on Whernside! If Penyghent can be likened to a boxer playing to the rules, it’ll knock the stuffing out of you but let you get your breath back between rounds, then Whernside can only be described as a malevolent street fighter…..punches, kicks, elbows you to the ground and then just as you think it can’t get any worse his mates join in…… The ascent up the 3 false summits of Whernside before ‘the cliff’ was a quagmire….with snow…..and hail…..and wind….and swirling mist. It got worse on the summit ridge with drifts up to the wall tops and a mixture of freezing slush and mud for the descent, ‘fell shoes’ were correctly named, falling big style 3 times in quick succession just to soften me up for Ingleborough.

Now if Penyghent is a boxer, Whernside a street fighter, then Ingleborough is a bouncer who’s lifted you up by the throat, whilst you’re swinging and thrashing away but getting absolutely nowhere…..Conditions on Ingleborough were just about OK, but I was very glad to be off the summit – you’ve got to give the 100 marshalls, radio volunteers and mountain rescue credit for being out all day in that and for recovering a few casualties off the peaks. It was extremely slippery coming down the 5 miles back to Horton over polished limestone liberally coated with liquid mud, but at least it’s mostly downhill. What a race, tough conditions but still a (small) PB. Never again.

268th Ali Nash 4:14:11
534th Stuart James 4:55:15
543rd Richard Stone 4:56:26
DNF-Ribblehead Bernadette Cooke (Timed out)
DNF-Ribblehead Igs Robun (Timed out)

Full results