Scafell Pike: enough of that

We're down from Scafell Pike and I'm happy. I'm not happy with the result: I'm happy that it's over and I'm happy with the run. We were well and truly beaten by GFT's runners: Allen Smalls and Chris Sennel. They had a magnificent run to which there was no answer. They beat us by 30 minutes in 6h33m (we did 7h03m). Although some of that time difference could be attributed to a puncture repair we had to make, there is simply no getting away from the fact that theirs was a totally class performance.

We set off on our bikes in the mist. Martin set a cracking pace and I did evrything I could just to hang onto his tail. He was very good to me and would slow down to let me slipstream him. It took us 1h07m to ride our mountain bikes to Ennerdale youth hostel: where I was very glad of the enforced 5 minutes break.

As ever, we had a plan: 1h10m to Wasdale Head, 1 hour up Scafell Pike, 40 minutes down and 1h30m back to the bikes at Ennerdale.

We set off up the track to Black Sail YH at a good pace, Martin leading the way, waded the river and then set off for the graunch up to Black Sail pass. This was hard work but it was soon over and we were greeted with a lovely view of the clouds clearing Yewbarrow as we went over the pass. A quick trot down to Wasdale Head saw us in 2 minutes ahead of plan. Unfortunately, we found that we'd lost 15 minutes on GFT since Whitehaven.

The ascent of Scafell Pike was incredibly sapping. The sun came out and the day was warming up. By now, we were nearly 3 hours into the leg and the miles were telling on us. We watched in envy as 3 other teams descended, but just stuck at it aiming for the top. With a little sharing of rucksacks to equalise speed, two very tired runners finally got to the top of England's highest mountain: 8 minutes behind schedule. There was no time for summit pleasantries: we were straight back down the way we'd come. At least the tourists were impressed by how we were running.

I think we ran down the mountain well. I don't know how, but we seemed to be on a good surface most of the way down. I was sure we were catching GFT and when we got to the Wasdale Head checkpoint, we found that we were indeed the fastest up and down the mountain itself. This lifted our spirits for what seemed like the long run back to the bikes. We had descended well and were back on schedule.

The run back didn't just seemed like a long way: it was a long way. I remember steep grassy slopes, sun, sharing rucksacks, wet feet, sweets, miles of track and willing my GPS to count down to the finish. Winning the running leg was out of the question now, but winning the combined sailing and running leg was a distinct possibility (or a straw to grasp at) and performing for our sailors now provided us with the motivation.

Ennerdale YH was a great sight. Seeing Nunatak's runners leaving was a better sight: this meant we were just 5 minutes behind them: progress. We had got back bang on schedule in 4h20m: faster running than the record we set last year - incredibly (it felt slower than last year). This turned out not to be enough due to GFT's storming run. Happy thoughts of a run well executed were soon dashed. After our enforced 5 minutes break, we went to pick up the bikes only to find that Martin's front tyre had picked up a puncture. The most plausible explanation was that the heat of the sun had caused the air to expand in the highly pressured black tyres and this had caused the puncture. There were reports of spontaneous bangs coming from the stored bikes!

The puncture repair cost us between 5 and 10 minutes. I cannot say that I felt any more rested for this interlude. The ride back was purgatory. The initial hill was fiendish, for the rest of the way, I just slipstreamed Martin and willed Whitehaven to appear: which of course it eventually did. With one final spurt, we raced to the finish caravan where the sailors cheered us in and we had time to collapse and feel both sorry for ourselves and elated (the latter sentiment only flowering quite some time after the event). The efforts of Pete, our support driver, were greatly appreciated. We're extremely grateful to the support he has given us.

The lock gates at Whitehaven wouldn't open for another hour and a half and so we were able to relax with a shower, a pint and a pizza (not all together!). Martin and I were casually grazing on pizza on EADS Innovation Works's decks when the sailors suddenly appeared from the cabin (living quarters down below) untied the mooring lines and set sail. We headed straight to the lock, parking up behind a couple of fishing boats. The lock gates closed behind us and we were the first boat out of Whitehaven!

It almost goes without saying that we grounded in the Outer Harbour, but I think we only just grazed the bottom. Seeing Geoff deal with the situation was to watch a master at work. As we lent over the side to heel the boat and with the mainsail up, Geoff wiggled the rudder and revved the engine. Within 10 minutes and thanks to a friendly swell, we were off and motoring out of the harbour in first place.

Since those heady moments, the wind has dropped. We seem to be wallowing around in very light winds. It is all very reminiscent of yesterday. At least we have the promise of a sunny day on deck tomorrow. A slower sail up to Fort William will give us runners time to recover, but in terms of recovery, there's a mountain to climb.

I'm still in awe of GFT's time on the Scafell Pike leg. They ran a fantastic race. It's great to see a Vasque series competitor (and 2007 series winner) doing so well in this race. I've always thought that the ideal runners for this race would come from an ultra running background and it looks like Allen (and Chris) will prove me right. There's still one more mountain to go though and anything could happen....