CLAREMONTRoad Runners

Staveley 18K Trail Race, 4th May 2024

Thanks to Sarah Kerr for sending this report of an 18K trail run at Staveley in Cumbria. Sarah was joined on the day by Anton Mirafsari and Jonathan Gilroy.

“A few of us were looking for a trail run over then bank holiday. Anton suggested one of the Lakeland Trail Series. I’ve always wanted to try a trail race in the Lake District so I was up for it. We signed up late in the day and I hadn’t had time to read into what to expect. I’m still a bit injured and Anton is too, and Jonathan was recovering from Flu earlier in the week.

The weather forecast was a nice dry, sunny day but, as often seems to happen, on the drive over the weather took a turn for the worse and at one point the visibility turned so bad we could barely see anything. So given how we were all feeling and the weather, we decided that we would swap our entries to the walk challenge (a walk around the same course) and focus on having a nice day out. However the walk started an hour earlier! Morale was a little low when we arrived in the car park and realised that we were too late to change the entries to the walk because it had already set off.

The mood changed though we arrived at the race village and we were met with a brilliant atmosphere despite the drizzle. A band, trail runners jigging about, and decent food and coffee stalls. There was even a stall selling Inov8 trail running gear, which was handy as Jonathan hadn’t brought a waterproof and so is now the proud owner of a nice new jacket. I have to admit to having to rush to the start line as I was taking a video of the band for my dad!

I think we were all a little bit in denial that we were going to give it a go. So we set off like the three musketeers. Even despite the drizzle and the visibility not being great, the views were spectacular. My favourite was the view of a forest down from a rocky ravine. The terrain in parts isn’t for the faint hearted, but most of it wasn’t too bad, mainly paths with a couple of fell sections and a little stream to run through, but I couldn’t believe the hardened fell runners who were brave enough to run down the rocky ravine. Other experiences I won’t forget are drinking water poured into my hands at the water station because we didn’t realise you were meant to bring a cup, and bumping into a Storm Trooper at the top of the last hill they call the sting in the tail. Jonathan blasted off in typical Jonathan style and managed to come an impressive 7th overall. I had to walk down most of the hills because of the injury but tried to make up for it by pushing up the hills with Anton.

Overall a challenging but scenic run in a beautiful part of the world and the adventure with friends we were looking for. I always feel like you know you’ve had a good run when you wake up with mud still in your nails. Will be trying to make more of the Lakeland Trail Series.”