From Petra Bijsterveld…
Photo credit Anna Jebson
Lady Anne’s Way (LAW) is a waymarked long distance walking trail from Skipton to Penrith. Lady Anne Clifford was born in 1589 in Skipton Castle. After her father died in 1605, as the only surviving child she spent much of her long life in a protracted and complex legal battle to obtain the rights of her inheritance, which included the great castles of Skipton, Pendragon, Brough and Appleby. She regained the estate in 1643, and set out to restore her properties when the Civil War ended in 1649, when she was 60 years old. She died in 1676. You can read about her fascinating history here.
NAV4 organises a 75 mile (8500 ft) race along the route, starting from Skipton Castle passing Barden Tower, Grassington, Kettlewell, Buckden, Askrigg, Pendragon Castle, Kirkby Stephen and Brough Castle, with the finish in Appleby. There has been a race in the past covering the full 100 miles to Penrith, but the final 25 miles contain a lot of road for not much added value in terms of scenery (or so I am told) so this section has been removed. There are a few stretches where the race route deviates from LAW and travels along the Pennine Journey.
The seemingly incessant rain since the start of this year had already prepared the ground for the mudfest that was awaiting us. Heavy downpours in the preceding week as well as fairly consistent rain from mid-afternoon on race day until the next morning just completed the quagmire. It was very difficult going underfoot and this slowed many of us down considerably, with many runners slipping and falling multiple times, though the winner (Derek Fuller) seemed to have had few problems getting round in an astounding 15:42.
I had managed to recce the second half of the route, which definitely helped a great deal when it came to the race. I had not been able to recce the section over Stake Moss (the guide book calls it ‘bleak and inhospitable’, though it praises the views of Addlebrough), between Cray and Askrigg. Darkness fell once I started the climb up, there was thick fog, fairly heavy rain, and visibility was limited to a small circle of light in front of my feet. Lighting up the mud….Gates appeared out of nowhere when I was almost upon them already. Navigation was doable but needed concentration, especially as I was on my own. It is a byway for many miles and as such it reminded me of trudging along the Cam High Road during a similar night on the Spine Challenger South. I tried to count my blessings, e.g. there was mainly a tail wind, it could have been even colder, it could have been icy underfoot (though there were still small patches of snow up there). After what felt like a thousand hours and finally a stupid navigation error on a patch of moorland which had me temporarily go round in circles I managed to regain the road and the village of Worton (near Askrigg), which had a heaven sent bus shelter where I could reset and put another layer on. After Worton I had recced everything which was a relief. From here on I was sliding over familiar rather than unfamiliar mud as it were.
The night was very long, daylight came just after I left the third checkpoint at Winton (north of Kirkby Stephen) at 7 in the morning. There was no stunning sunrise, but I enjoyed the crowing of a cock and singing of the birds. And it finally stopped raining! Only 15 miles to go from there but I knew that would take me a depressing 5 hours. My legs and back were very tired and sore (in large part probably caused by so many hours of trying to stay upright on the mud) so even on stretches of road I was not able to really run anymore, and if I did manage a jog the pace was depressingly similar to hiking speed. I got through it by enjoying the landscape, it really is very nice up in the Eden Valley, and by feeling pleased that I now sailed through bits my friend and I had floundered on during the recce, the effort had paid off!
I had expected to take no more than 25 hours, but that dream was abandoned somewhere on the moors in the night. It didn’t really matter anyway, and with a generous cut-off of 30 hours there were oodles of time. I arrived in Appleby in 27:11. Of the 53 runners who started the race 22 retired and only 31 finished.
Whilst the underfoot and overhead conditions did not make this the most fun race I have ever done, in terms of being looked after it was right up there with the best, and I would therefore recommend it (and the other NAV4 races) to all. There were three indoor checkpoints in village halls (Kettlewell, Askrigg and Winton) with lots of food, drink, warmth, toilets, and volunteers who could not do enough for you. There were a further seven vehicle checkpoints along the route, supplying water and a friendly word of encouragement from a marshal. Lovely other runners, met some old friends, made some new. I ran with others for some sections, but was on my own for much of the race, all good. The finish venue at the Appleby Hub was exceptional, and again wonderful food was supplied by NAV4. I had a rest there before hopping back home on the train (Appleby is on the Settle Carlisle line) with a bunch of other finishers. It is a race I would do again. And if you don’t fancy running 75 miles in one go I would still recommend the route as a multi-day hike or fast pack.