Kendal Mountain festival 10k – 21st Nov.

Ali Nash reports …

Kendal Mountain Festival 10K (and a bit) trail race

-3C windchill, gale force northerly and clear blue skies….perfect racing weather for an exposed ridge above Kendal……
Race HQ at the lovely and warm Town Hall, being expertly organised by Open Adventure (although given the outside temperature, watching some of the ‘adrenaline junkie’ films showing at the same time was a tad tempting).

11am start on the High Street with huge crowds and Ultra-ultra-ultra endurance athlete Sean Conway starting us off ( quote ’10k not his distance, he gets warmed up after about 3 months…..). 50 yard dash completed, and we turn the corner onto Beast Banks. The name says it all for the first mile. Followed by up, stile, keep going up, stile, and then go up some more, up through the limestone outcrops onto the top of Scout Scar.

Bloody hell – just a.ma.zing views out over the snow covered Lake District mountains. Bloody hell – how strong is that wind. Bloody hell – how cold is that wind. Bloody hell – cliffs….vertigo…..dont look left. Running along the scar, trees, fields, more stiles and a final sneaky uphill (there’s always one) across the golf course. Coming into the outskirts of Kendal the route shot downhill on a crazy series of narrow steep, stepped, cobbled ginnels onto the High Street and a short blast to the finish through brill crowds. A cracker of a race. 6.5miles.

27th Ali Nash 47:09
111th Steph Wilson 56:06