Blisco Dash results

Despite heavy rain during the afternoon, plenty of KAC members turned out for the latest club champs counter - the Blisco Dash on Wednesday last week . By the time the 74 runners set off up the road to Little Langdale, the rain had subsided to light drizzle. Once onto the fell the runners found the going wet and a little slippy, but nothing to worry about. The top third of the Pike was shrouded in mist, which was fine on the ascent, as the route follows the footpath up a series of scrambles onto the summit. However, it made the 'off piste' descent difficult to find for those who hadn't recced the course or done the race before - as several runners found to their cost (including at least two KAC members - but I'll spare their blushes!). For those of us who were new to the route, there was no (sensible) choice other than to take the slow way down via the main footpath.

The race was won by Chris Newman (Wharfdale) in 43 mins 48 secs. Keswick's Chris Edis was at or near the front from the start. He lost a little ground (and time) to the Wharfdale man on the descent, finishing an excellent second in 44:13. Eden's Sam Ware was third in 44:23.

Kendal's Lou Roberts had a comfortable win in the women's race, crossing the line in 54:49. Sharon McDonald and Carol Evans (both from Settle) were second and third in 56:21 and 59:59. Keswick's Kim Clark and Lesley Malarky were first V50 and V60 respectively.

Apart from Chris, Lesley and Kim, there were lots of good performances from Keswick athletes in both races:

8th - John Nichol (45:46)
13th - Ian Davies (48:26)
14th - Craig Smith (48:38)
17th - Andrew Slattery (50:08)
18th - John Beetham (50:27)
41st - Simon Thomspon (57:21)
54th - Quentin Merritt (61:48)
61st - Sarah Bennett (65:54 - first KAC lady)
62nd - Lesley Malarky (66:09 - first V60)
64th - Rachel Slattery (67:21)
70th - Kim Clark (72:22 - first V50)
71st - Chris Clark (72:23)

I'm pleased to report that Keswick failed to pick up prizes for either 'fattest man' or 'last person down'.

Finally, thanks to Selwyn Wright for organising a terrific race again, and giving the most idiosyncratic prize giving speech since last year's!

For full results, see here.