Birthdays are for running

By Natalie Hawkrigg

Every year when my Birthday comes around, I like to create a running adventure. This year was no exception and Wales was booked, but the weather in Wales was grim and I had to come up with a plan B.

At the recent club presentation night Angela Wilson had got me excited about a joint ladies Great Cumbrian Traverse attempt but winter gave us a reality check on a full traverse. The idea of a winter relay instead grew in my mind. Then Eureka! – plan B for my Birthday was formed. 

How wonderful when you contact your female club friends and propose an idea, that immediately they all reply excited and available. All we needed now was a perfect weather day for my birthday which happened to fall on the New Year Bank Holiday Monday 2nd January 2023.

The Great Cumbrian Traverse can be split into 3 or 4 manageable legs with good change over points. I decided four legs was more inclusive and meant I could see more of my friends on my birthday and dial up more fun. 

Fell running relay ‘rules’ generally dictate that you have 2 runners paired up on each leg, so we stuck to this basic principle, with 2 paired runners ‘owning’ each leg. In the end it was rather more organic, with some of us choosing to do more than one leg, some running backwards on the leg to meet others coming along and our club Ultra Queen, running 35 km to the start of her leg! I left logistics to each pair knowing they were all experienced enough to sort themselves and then we were ready to go.

The 2nd of January was a oasis of glorious winter weather sandwiched between days of miserable wet windy greyness. We couldn’t believe our luck.

Leg 1 – Broughton Mills to Three Shires – Natalie Hawkrigg, Steffi Weiss, Clare Regan and Liz Berry.

Not sure if it’s because I really like to punish myself (it was my Birthday after all!) I had the first leg which meant a 5 am start at Broughton Mills in South Cumbria. This meant a 2.30 am start from home. Logistics for this leg meant retrieving a car from Broughton Mills afterwards. 

Short of a partner to do the whole leg with me due to logistics of car retrieval, I roped in Steffi Weiss my German friend who was staying with us for New Year. I told her it would be a ‘bit’ in the dark, 12 miles and a great adventure. I purposely skimmed over some of the details like the ascent, navigation, lack of paths, terrain and cold. More important to have her committed and locked in the car on the way to the start first before divulging details! I also took along my 16 yo son Ruben Razzetti for good measure. 

Clare Regan and Liz Berry will park at Three Shires and run up to meet us on Old Man of Coniston then help with car retrieval afterwards.

Steffi soon was quiet shocked by the terrain. “Are you sure? But there is no path? Really?, Sraight up there?” These were repeated questions, and I brushed them all off with really annoying motivational statements.

Great Stickle, Pike of Stickle and Caw all passed by in a blur of cold darkness, but the promise of sunrise ahead was what we were all looking forward too. The sunrise sky as we summited White Maiden and reached easier ground did not disappoint. Steffi even gave me a huge hug and thanked me for the adventure (Phew!). The final few miles passed quickly with sunrise photos and then meeting Liz and Clare on Brim. Quick ‘Happy Birthday greetings’ exchanged and we were on a the descent to Three Shires. 

Leg 2 – Three Shires to Styhead Stretcher – Jess Richardson and Angela Wilson

Angela and Jess had been waiting patiently at Three Shires much entertained by Gwen (Jess’ daughter) There had been concern about getting to Three Shires the night before due to yellow weather warmings for ice, but Paul (Jess’ partner) had made it confidently in the 4wd truck. Dressed up warm for the cold wait, Angela reported afterwards that she was over dressed and too warm for the rest of the run.

“Run like the wind” we said as we handed over the relay. I was keen for Angela and Jess to make up some the lost time from leg 1. They promised they would try, but the ice paths and the Crinkle Crags paths, plus the descent off Great End made it hard to pick up speed. It is debatable whether ‘The Band’ descent off Great End is any faster than a detour round to Esk Hause. 

Angela and Jess had a sugar coating of frosty snow on the high tops, and the day was proving to be breathtakingly beautiful in all directions, and Angela had to severely restrain herself from taking too many photos predicting the Hawkrigg-wrath for ‘wasting time!’ 

Leg 3 – Styhead to Honister – Jenny Russell and Clare Dickinson

Jenny and Claire had the task of running to the changeover leg for 1130 am, so they also had an early start in Rosthwaite, climbing out of the shadow into the sunrise of the morning light. Jenny who is mountain leader had it all prepared, with a bivvy tent made out of old parachute material. The plan was to layer-up and wait inside the bivvy for the Leg 2 runners to arrive at 1130 am. They had to find a high spot above the col at Styhead to find a sunny spot for that extra degree of warmth.

Due to the delay on Leg 1, Leg 2 runners were running an hour behind schedule and poor Jenny and Claire had the most miserable shift waiting the extra time in the cold with no phone signal and no updates, wondering about why there was delay. 

Emma Stuart (Actually a leg 4 designated runner) had decided to run from Keswick to meet Leg 3 to simply put ‘some more miles in her legs’ before her actual leg started. She struggled to find Jenny and Claire at first, not realising they were huddled inside a multicoloured parachute bivvy higher up on the Great Gable path. Meanwhile Leg 1 runners where by now smugly enjoying cake and coffee for breakfast in the warm interior of the Coniston Bluebird cafe.

But all was well when Jess and Angela turned up and the ladies were united and started the Leg 3 journey over Great Gable to Honister. A perfectly executed leg, apart from stopping to take photos of a snowman and dress it up in a club vest, despite concerns about more wrath from the Birthday girl!

Arriving at Honister they must have felt like they were on a BG, such was the whistles and shouts from the support vehicle below. There was a sea of red vest descending the fell with Jess, Angela, Jenny, Claire and Emma all running together. 

Leg 4 – Honister to Moot Hall – Keswick – Rose Singleton, Emma Stewart

After cake in Coniston, we collected Rose in Keswick and drove to Honister, meeting my family on route who were bringing cake and warm Chia. The welcome party at Honister was quite large with us all there, and we set up a welcome camp in the back of the van, with Birthday cake and warm Chia for the arriving runners.

Jonty (my son) has mastered the art of wolf whistling and was doing a grand job of heralding Leg 3 arrivals with little Gwen looking out for her Mum, and happily scooping up Honister slate sludge in cups. 

More ‘Happy Birthday’ greetings and the Leg 4 girls were ready for the off, with Ultra Queen Emma showing no signs of tiredness, and Angela carrying on too, so not to miss a sunset (We all know how much Angela loves her sunsets). They were sent on their way with ‘a sub-12 hours would be good’ – and a target time to aim to reach the Moot Hall.

Emma knew a good trod off the Dale head path to traverse round to the col before High Spy and the girls made excellent time. Regular updates on the WhatsApp group by Rose and it was clear they were flying.

Meanwhile Natalie had stopped at Mary Mount Hotel for more cake and drink, and whilst just settling down to a well deserved meal received an update that the girls where already on Catbells. Blimey!

Abandoning family at the Hotel I ended up stuck in a 3 mile long traffic jam in Borrowdale. So I did an illegal park of the car in a dodgy lay-by and sprinted into Keswick just in the nick of time to catch the girls arriving at the Moot Hall.

In the end, an overall elapsed time of 11hrs and 17 minutes, and still daylight and plenty of time for more cake, beer and banter at The Pocket Bar was a perfect end to a brilliant Birthday day out.

I think it’s true to say that we have all fallen in love with the Great Cumbrian Traverse route, so watch this space for some full traverse attempts this year. I know I certainly will get it done.