I have spent an incredible 3 days in the Lake District. The event, called the Great Lakeland 3 Day, is organised by Ourea who also organise Cape Wrath and Dragon’s Back. (If you know you know!). The principle behind GL3D is to visit prescribed checkpoints in the shortest possible time. 5 course options range from Café which covers the shortest distance and least challenging ascents. Clue in the name, it also passes cafés. The most demanding is called Extreme (again clue in the name!) Nominally 115km (71 miles) and 8,340 metres of ascent. One final option, called Adventure, invites participants to design their route and visit as many of the 42 checkpoints from all the other routes.

I decided to enter Adventure as that allowed me to flex the route according to how I found the event. That was a sound decision! Naively on the first day, I decided to attempt Extreme – that was not such a wise choice!!

Friday

After a long drive, we arrived at Race HQ at about 7:00 pm where I dropped off my overnight bag carrying my tent, sleeping bag, changes of clothes, food, and cooking equipment. In return I was given a course map with only the locations of the checkpoints marked, a GPS tracker and the dibber to record my arrival at each checkpoint I visited. Ann, Rachel, Jo, and I then headed to the Airbnb for dinner, route planning and a night in a comfortable bed.

Saturday – Day 1

Distance: 39.84 km

Elevation:  2,258 metres

Duration:  12:35:11

Up early, the family drove me to the start in good time for the 7:00 am start. The forecast was wind and rain, so I set out in my wet weather gear. The first few km was easy running along roads until I found the track for the first climb of the day, Craig Fell, 410 m ascent in 1.2 km. By this stage I was in the clouds, getting soaked by the rain and bedraggled by the wind. The route now tracked along a wall which acted as a useful handrail as visibility was about 50 metres. We headed south over comparatively level, but boggy ground for about 3 km and the second checkpoint at Lank Rigg.

Finding the next checkpoint required retracing my steps to find the path along the wall and then heading southeast to Caw Fell. Unfortunately, poor visibility and the summit being a few metres on the other side of the wall meant I went right past the checkpoint. By the time I realised my mistake, I was well on my way to the fourth checkpoint, so I decided to press on to Steeple. This rocky outcrop was reached via a sketchy track that involved clambering over slippery rocks which I found unnerving. This checkpoint was designated as a cut-off point for time. Although I was still well within the time limit, I was getting cold and feeling spooked by the challenge of the last checkpoint, so I decided to cut my losses and head to the campsite.

I worked out that there was a path through to Pillar which would then lead to routes down into the valley. There were other runners who also found the conditions overwhelming and were planning to follow this route. I picked up the track but somehow found it becoming rockier and more difficult to navigate. I realised others were on higher ground, so I clambered back up to re-join the trail. The terrain gradually became less technical, and I reached the trig point that marked the summit of Pillar. I tried to find my route down from here into the valley, but I was getting cold, so I returned to the trig point where I had seen a stone circle I could shelter in for a few minutes. I ate some food and put on all my extra layers. I was joined by three guys doing the Bob Graham round who were shivering almost as much as I was. My hands were so cold that I struggled to put my gloves on.

My plan to get off the summit was now urgent as I knew that staying there any longer, I risked getting too cold to make any progress. Re-energised by the food I found a path headed down in the direction I wanted. Initially, it was tricky picking my way through boulders and scree but gradually the path became easier going and I was able to pick up my pace and get warmer as I got out of the clouds and wind. 

The path I was on crossed a stream which I waded through and then continued down into the forest. I then found my way down to the bottom of the valley with a river flowing through it. I followed the river downstream until I found a suitable crossing point. I then clocked into one of the checkpoints from the Café course at a YHA hostel before picking out a route towards the campsite via Red Pike which involved a climb of over 525 metres. By now I was feeling warm and comfortable again. The climb was steep and demanding in gradient but otherwise easier than some of the earlier trails. As I gained height the weather closed in again and I was pleased to reach the summit, collect my checkpoint and start to go down the other side to the camp. I strode out on a suitable path and warmed up as I reached lower ground. However, it became clear that I was getting further from the campsite rather than closer so I started to backtrack. Improved visibility meant that I could see the path I was looking for and I realised that I could cut across the heather, cross the stream and join it. The path was steeper than I anticipated and rocky so more scrambling was required. Serendipitously it also took me past another checkpoint at the very beautiful Scale Force Waterfall (sounds like a business sponsorship).

The valley floor and Crummock Water were now in striking distance, and I was soon on a level, runnable path alongside the lake. 2 km later, 12.5 hours since I set out, I ran through the finish arch and clocked in at the end of day 1.

I was keen to erect my tent, change into warm dry clothes and get some hot food before it got dark. I enjoyed a free beer from the organisers and enjoyed some camaraderie with other runners.

Sunday – Day 2

Distance: 26.88 km

Elevation:  1,238 metres

Duration:  8:03:42

I awoke at 6:00 am after a refreshing night’s sleep to hear raindrops on the canvas. As is often the case it sounded worse in the tent than it was once I ventured outside. I went across to the gazebo to have my breakfast and pack my backpack for the day. Over porridge, I planned a route based on the mid-range difficulty Wainwright course. At 8:00 am I clocked on for the start of the day and took the track across the valley to the village of Buttermere and followed a road alongside Buttermere itself to a bonus checkpoint. I then tracked inland to climb Robinson. The gentle incline through the woods quickly became a steep and tricky climb. The path consisted of steps in the soil, and rocks which took careful navigation, I was grateful for my trekking poles. Even so, there were several times when the wire fence adjacent to the path acted as a vital, literal handrail to haul me along. The cloud was high so there was plenty of opportunity to look back down over the valley and the two lakes. The views were stunning. With the summit at 737 metres high, this was the highest ascent of the weekend. The summit was shrouded in clouds, but the wind was weaker than day 1 I was still pleased to have my waterproof jacket and trousers to shield me.

Having clocked into the checkpoint I set off on a 2km loop to the next checkpoint at the summit of Hindscarth. En route, there was a gentle dip in the plateau before a gentle climb to the summit at 727 metres. The checkpoint was just beside the path and having clocked in I ate some food before proceeding out along the ridge that descends into the valley below Catbells. This was a narrow and challenging path for much of its 2km. There were sections with a steep drop to the right where it was difficult to overtake or pass anyone coming in the opposite direction. In other places, I resorted to climbing down backwards to have secure handholds and footholds.

I had previously decided that I wanted to get back to the campsite around 4:00 pm so when I reached the next checkpoint at Little Town I decided to take a low-level route to Buttermere. I ascended the valley on a path running parallel to Rigg Beck. This was a comparatively gentle climb but still 500 metres of elevation gained. Once again, the scenery was beautiful, and I enjoyed the 4 km ascent. The descent to Buttermere alongside Sall Beck was similarly enjoyable and I arrived back at the camp on schedule.

As I crossed the bridge and ran through the timing arch, I noticed that many people were bathing in the stream, so I decided to join them. The water was cold but refreshing and it was good to wash away the sweat and grime from the previous two days. I changed into a dry set of clothes and organised myself with food and drink which I consumed sitting next to a fire pit. I enjoyed a chilled 4 hours talking with other participants, sharing our ups and downs of the previous 48 hours, along with our tales of other adventures. It was comforting to learn that many of them had also scaled down the routes they were doing. We even enjoyed pockets of blue sky and a beautiful sunset. 

I retired to bed a little earlier that evening, feeling much more contented and satisfied after a much more enjoyable day.

Monday – Day 3

Distance: 15.91 km

Elevation:  652 metres

Duration:  3:22:38

I woke early again on the final morning to gentle rain which dispersed almost as soon as I got out of my tent. I was keen to get going as in addition to breakfast and preparation for the day  I needed to decamp and hand my overnight bag to the transport back to Race HQ and the finish. Having lowered my expectations as to what I would achieve over the weekend I decided that it would be a good plan to make the focus of the day enjoyment, and an early finish rather than pushing for extreme challenge. Also the race organisers were giving a briefing at the start warning that thunder and lightning were forecast and giving guidance on how to stay safe in the open during a thunderstorm. I decided to follow the route called Herdwick which tracked for 5km along the bank of Crummock Water. This path was comfortably runnable with only gentle undulations and a few boggy patches. The first checkpoint at Low Ling Craig was on a small spit that jutted out into the lake for about 100m and afforded great views up and down the valley.

The second checkpoint was partway up a ridge en route to the third checkpoint at the summit of Hen Comb. Despite the thunderstorm weather forecast the weather today was the best so far. I was comfortable in shorts and tee shirts, and the limited cloud at the summits was pleasantly cool after the climb rather than cold. I then crossed a boggy valley before climbing to the summit of Gavell Fell for the final checkpoint of the day.

It was then literally downhill from there to the finish. About 4km of runnable trail interspersed with a few short sections of bog. I ran through the finish arch at 11:30 am being serenaded by an accordionist playing Just One Cornetto. That meant that I was able to hand in my dibber and GPS tracker and collect my overnight bag in good time for lunch. I caught up with the people I had sat round the firepit on the previous evening. Together we enjoyed chilli con carne and cookies, and another chance to share stories. Having had moments of intense gloom on the first day where I was questioning my life choices my mood at this point was one of elation and contemplating my next adventure!

I have looked at the overall results for the event and am pleasantly surprised that I came 35^th out of the 51 people who registered for the Adventure category and 5^th out of 7 in MV60 age group. I have also discovered that only 12 people completed Extreme out of the 36 people who registered in that category and only 1 person in MV60. Which makes me feel a lot better about not completing what I had intended to do.

I have learnt a lot about myself and this kind of event and would approach things differently next time.

I hope my musings may inspire others to give it a go and help them to choose at what level to pitch their entry.