After the last minute publicity for the event, a total of eight made the trek south to take part in the Isle of Wight SEAA Fell Running Championships. The format involved three individual XC races over two days and we would be competing for the Southern Counties title. No-one had run a proper ‘fell race’ before, let alone this many races in such a short space of time but everyone learnt fast and the resulting performances did this club proud.

Train, ferry & tube (in this order) took us down on the Friday and our rehydrating time was mainly spent comparing the Isle of Wight to Greenwich/Primrose Hill, congratulating Simon for looking like a proper fell runner and discussing which of the four pairs of trainers Richard had brought with him he should wear.

Saturday morning dawned bright, sunny & warm. Race 1 (3 miles) took the runners up from the seafront straight out through the town & onto the top of St Boniface Down. If you’ve ever been to the Isle of Wight before then you’ll know that it’s certainly not flat and this is one of the biggest hills on the island. The climb up was brutal (apparently even the winner walked the majority of it – I know I certainly did) but it was the descent back down that was particularily special. Apparently the trick is to disengage your brain plus any thoughts of self preservation and throw yourself down. Evidently this comes quite easy to Hugh as he managed an impressive 3rd. The rest followed him in and we managed to pack the top
ten with 5 runners and signal our intentions to the previous team winners,
Cambridge Harriers.

Saturday afternoon was spent nervously waiting for race 2 (7 miles) – pretty sure no-one went near the pub which goes to prove the respect this series was now getting . This route took us on a circular route up and along what is known as the Ventnor Horseshoe before another headlong descent, via St Boniface, back into town. It also introduced new hills (more walking required) and some interesting steps that we’d learn to appreciate the very next day . The longer distances seemed to be suiting us more and again we managed a 3rd (courtesy of Simon) and 5 in the top ten.

Saturday evening was spent rehydrating and restocking energy levels again. It was clear that some people were taking this significantly more seriously than others now especially as i have a vague recollection of one persons bid to win the next days stage being scuppered by someone offering him another pint and at least one other spending the entire night drinking only water.

Sunday morning was spent trying to encourage non functioning legs into one more effort or desperately trying to digest a full English before the race started. Race 3 (13 miles) took us along the esplanade for at least a mile of undulating bliss before heading up into the hills again. We headed inland in a big circle before joining up with what was effectively the last half of stage 2 and those bloody stairs again. This was the best stage of them all with 5 in the top ten again but Simon being less than a minute behind the winner in 2nd – if only he’d refused that extra pint (i appreciate how unlikely that would be)! The presentation was long as there were lots of prizes to give but we certainly picked up our share.

SEAA Team Champions – Simon Barrett, Hugh Tory & Richard Phillips
Overall Team – Simon, Hugh & Richard (complete with a new trophy to add to the collection)
3rd on stage 1 – Hugh
3rd on stage 2 – Simon
2nd on stage 3 – Simon
3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 30th & 40th overall (injury prevented Miguel from starting stage 3)

There was also a request for teams to bring more ladies for the next edition – as if we’d disagree! The overall ladies team prize (recently dedicated to the memory of Eddie Leal – a founder member of the fell running association who started this event) remained on the island due to a lack of eligible teams.

Other highlights included (in no particular order) beards, slightly different beards, icing the legs in the sea after each stage, the old man in his pants, the missing invite to the wedding reception, Hagen Dazs & fried bread being used as race food, the antics in room 11, the tube journey down to Shanklin, the bus journey back to Shanklin, the need for vaseline all over your body during fell races (not mine I hasten to add!), looking forward to the really steep hills (we did – honestly!), finding a trainspotter in our midst, drinking sambuca the night before a performance & the locals in the Blenheim/Rose/Tintos.

Overall a very good result in a very well organised and laid back series of races. We’re going back again next year with the aim of adding the women’s team prize to the results this year (Hugh & Miguel have already volunteered) but generally just to enjoy a top weekend away in a great part of the world with plenty of sun & sea to go round. Put the date (21/22 Sep) in your diary now.

Andy Robbins