6.1 miles didn't sound too bad when I looked at the details for the latest race in the Summer Fell Series - even the 980 feet of elevation didn't seem too daunting.  A few other Quakers thought the same, with 12 of us on the start line (quite a low turnout by our standards, especially for a Championship Race).

 

The race got underway at about 7:20, which was a little later than scheduled, due to people still registering, and the requirement for a few detailed instructions to make sure no-one got lost.

 

The first mile was quite straightforward, albeit busy, with my Garmin giving me a time of 9:13 - so far so good.  The second mile saw the field thinning out, and a section of a relatively flat single-file trail keeping the pace steady, my Garmin giving a time of 8:30 - no problems so far.  During the third mile, the reason for the race being called Grunt+ became apparent with a near vertical slope that was more of a climb than anything else, my trusty Garmin showing 18:14 - ouch!!  Mile four was undulating, and wouldn't have posed much of a problem, had it not followed the Grunt - 9:51 on the Garmin.  During mile five, the trail leveled out more or less, and headed out to the moors (and a lot of flies!) - Garmin says 9:03.  Mile six saw the trail loop back on itself as the cinder path petered out to a sheep path through the heather which became harder and harder to be certain of (by this point I had made the mistake of overtaking the runners ahead of me who knew the way - 9:24 including a few stops to scratch my head and consult the map.  Mile seven (not bad for a 6.1 miler!), brought us off the moors, and back into Guisborough Woods, zig-zagging our way down the slope, and passing two Quakers who had got lost, and were having to retrace their steps - again, lots of map referral slowed the pace to 10:16, even though it was downhill.  The last quarter of a mile was easy, being on a road and downhill - despite chatting to a fellow runner who had pointed me in the right direction a few times, the pace was a respectable 7:53 without having to try too hard.

 

 

The finish line had a few Quakers waiting, some who I expected to see, and some who I didn't - in all, two had to drop out due to injury, and four did not compete the course after getting lost, and the dark closing in, making completion too risky.

 

All in all, an enjoyable race which required an element of map reading, together with a head for heights - definitely worth a reccy if running it next year.