Chapelfell Top Race – 16th July 2024
by Brad Wight
Myself and Sam Etherington travelled up Weardale to St Johns Chapel last Tuesday night. We thought it might be hard to get parked in a small village but there’s a decent sized car-park right beside the village green where the start line was. Torrential rain in Bishop and Crook probably put a lot of people off entering as numbers were half what they normally are but the weather was perfect up the dale. Mild with a tiny hint of drizzle in the air. Entry £8 on the night.
We met Joe Addison who was running for his other club, Durham Fell Runners. DFR host this race and organised it very well. Maps were handed out but with visibility being as good as it was you didn’t really need them.
32 of us set off from the village. The first mile was on a farm track, the limestone gravel was hard on the ankles so I jumped on to the adjacent grass as soon as I could. I’m not in shape for hill climbing and had to take a breather at the one mile point which was where we passed through a gate onto the open fell. From there things didn’t get easier. Relentless steep bog all the way to the summit. Quick turnaround at two miles then back the way you came.
I went a bit off piste in the first bit of the descent and ended up lost in a bog with chest high rushes. Unfortunately another runner followed me and she lost some time too. When I say “lost” I just mean I’d lost the beaten path, of course you can’t really get lost up there because you just have to head down. It’s a bleak featureless fell with no cliffs to fall off so there’s not a lot that can go wrong! We got through it soon enough and I felt much more at home on the fast final mile-long descent down the gravelly path.
Sam Etherington was 2nd runner to the top of the hill but was passed by Joe Addison and another DFR runner. Joe finished 2nd, Sam 4th and I was right back in 26th place.
A big group of us went for a very nice pint in the Blue Bell afterwards. It was a good race, hard work on the climb but not too challenging, I think a lot of you XC and trail runners would enjoy it next year. They also do a winter race in the dark but you have to be very confident in your navigation and survival skills. I’ll leave that to the serious fell runners!
Brad
