Making the most of a weekend in Teeside I spied this race on the Sunday morning. Having unsuccessfully tried to recce the route over Christmas (I couldn’t even find the start so plumped for a run over Roseberry Topping instead!) I was rather unsure as to what to expect, but the race is advertised on the FRA website as a ‘BS’ and as the only other category ‘B’ race I can remember doing is the Trigger race (a 30km, 1500m race across the Peak District with several small but painful climbs spread across it) I naively thought this might involve something rather similar. I was wrong. I would describe the Commondale Clart as a trail race, mostly on paths, some road and with only 200metres of climbing over the 8 or so kilometres. As a result it was painfully runnable the entire way round. It also transpires that spending the evening before overindulging at a wedding is not the best preparation for such a short, fast race.
However, 10.30 saw me successfully at the start (helped by the 100 or so other runners this time) and with the organiser seemingly in the middle of a lecture about the lack of safety kit on show he suddenly started us. In the confusion (I think half the field were still wondering whether they needed to return to their cars to get additional kit) I found myself with the front group on the first (and only!) climb of the day, up a 20% incline out of Commondale and onto the moor. I managed to drag my tired legs to the top in 4th with a couple of runners just in front and a York runner way out ahead. We should have all saved ourselves the pain of a 7k tempo run and just turned around there and returned to the start, because that’s how we finished after another 30 minutes or so with a tarmac-slapping scoot down the 15% incline back into the village from the other direction. No other Carnethies on show as far as I could see but the women’s race was won by Scout Adkin who used to run for Moorfoot.
Having hoped for the hills to be steep enough to justify a nice walk, the race was far faster and eminently more painful than I had anticipated. Still, I managed to get a bottle wine for my troubles, which means I got my entry fee back in a more drinkable fashion.
Results here http://www.eskvalleyfellclub.org/results/fell/nehra/Commondale%20Clart%208-Jan-2017.pdf
Alex McVey