Honister Pass

Looking back on a long slog up to Littledale Edge from Gatesgarth on a glisky autumnal morning. 24 hours earlier the Lakes had been inundated by a tumultuous downpour with 75 mph winds forcing the abandonment of the 2008 Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) that “could have ‘turned mountains into a morgue’” according to one sensationalist headline.

Look closely and a few stragglers can be seen still toiling up the boulder shewn Honister Pass to the event centre over in Borrowdale.

I was out collecting in some of the controls including informing one manned control which was in a mobile blind zone. He was fine having spent a cosy night on the fell. I was the only person he had seen. He had suspected something had happened when no competitors turned up, but he had stoically remained at his post.