A few questions that often come up. If you have more, send them to will at duddonvalleyfellrace.org.uk and I’ll find the answer.
The long race: yes, unless it’s a championship race, and in 2011 it probably is. The short race you can always enter on the day.
Both races are on Saturday 5 June 2010. The short race starts at 11:20 behind the Newfield Inn in Seathwaite and finishes in the same place. The long race starts at 11:00 in a field on the other side of the Duddon, about 10 minutes gentle walk from the pub. Eventually it too finishes in the field behind the pub.
The Long Duddon has always been listed as a 20 mile/6000 ft race, based on ancient measurements done with maps and string and rules of thumb. The other races were calculated in the same way and so you know that the Duddon is probably a bit harder than Borrowdale and probably a lot easier than Wasdale. If you go round now with a GPS – and take the best line – you’ll find the real distance is a touch under 18 miles and the real climb more like 7000 feet, but in old money we still think of it as a twenty mile race.
Because in 2007 it was a counter in both championships and we had twice as many entries as usual. The footbridge over the Duddon is quarter of mile from the old start and only one person wide. Some of us argued that this was exactly the sort of thing that made for good spectating but in the end the start was moved to a field on the far side of the footbridge and nobody got squashed.
It depends on the weather, but this is a long race and we’ll normally err on the side of caution. We suggest you bring a proper waterproof coat with a hood in case it turns out to be required.
In the first half, yes. Probably up to the knee. Second half, no. Once you’re past the Three Shires Stone there is almost no water to be found until you’re in the bog above the Newfield and we don’t recommend drinking that either. Sometimes a kind neighbour will ferry water to the Walna Scar or up White Pike but there won’t be a huge amount and you can’t afford to rely on it. Carry something to drink in the second half.
Some of them are, yes, including the one on the way to Hardknott. The only one you’re likely to cross is down the middle of Mosedale and that one is not live, or it wasn’t yesterday.
No. It messes up all the arrangements. You can camp at Turner Hall Farm, which is a proper campsite and only about half a mile further up the valley.
No.