Forestburn Fell Race - Simonside Show ; 11 August 2013

Happy days ! Our team for the race - left to right : Jane Bloomfield, Barry Young ,Gary Robson , Mal Slater , William Robson. The countryman off to the right is carrying a box marked 'Handle with Care ' - which  contains Dave Johnson's shattered confidence after witnessing this formidable Poly presence.

This is a fine show race held in the shadows of the Simonside Hills under the control of NFR's Wil Horsley. For 2013 - the weather was jolly nice to.
The race and show had to be cancelled in 2012 owing to the monsoons that swept through last August. A good dose of rain doesn't put off real Northumbrians or the fell race community- but it did make  it  impossible to organise any parking; while the Cumbrian wrestling would have  become mud wrestling bouts . This year the show had been relocated to a new field just off to the south of the Forest Burn. This meant a re routing of the course - which now went clockwise rather than anti clockwise - and cut off a short section thereby reducing the length to about 4.5 km. .The new start also resulted in a sharp tarmac descent to the Gate pub before cutting right and onto the fields for the fell run proper.

Finally , they're off , as Gary tracks clear of any trouble on the inside

The leaders bolted from the gun - but an early miscalculation on route selection meant they were aiming for the waterfall - and  had to divert back to join the others before hitting the first stream crossing . From there - a longish (but runnable ascent on to the high point of the moors before sweeping down and across the moors). The view of the field from the high point was impressive as Gary was in hot pursuit and seeking  to narrow the gap to Bruce Crombie and a Dark Peak runner . The leaders then swung north back towards the show field.

Fine running from our no 2 - William Robson with a top 10 finish. Note how real fellrunners stick to the grass rather than the track

Straggling further back , it was pure luck to meet up with ex Poly runner (now Morpeth) Claire Bruce. She's more into marathon type stuff these days, where you run along counting lamp posts for 3 hours or so. It was that stage of the race where  wrong route choice decisions could be made, Claire (the quiet fox) wasn't going to make any mistakes as she carefully picked a path which turned out to be a good one . Our group were all soon back on track !  We  hurtled for the line after negotiating the rather depleted Forest Burn and a copse of birch and oak trees.
Fine runs from the  Clan Robson saw Gary get home in 3 rd spot - with William a few places back in 10 th. Mal Slater slotted in back in  15th  . Jane picked up   32nd  . Congratulations to Bruce Crombie for his first outright win - Bruce had also had a 2nd placing in the previous day's Glanton fell race outback of Thrunton Woods.

Jane Bloomfield makes it home in her first fell race - and all in one piece - against the background of a very cheerfully coloured tent (not sure which club has those colours  but it's probably a hippy one) . A good way for Jane to start her career - and all the Poly back home  and dry !

We all celebrated Poly success by slurping down the Morwick Farm Ice Creams http://www.royaldouble.com/from the royal blue kiosk they'd set up. Some rather fine flavoured ices with tropical fruits; a few traditionals  and some nutty ones . Fortunately, ice creams have stayed well clear of those daft, pretentious names afflicting other parts of the food service trade. Naval gazer,  Dave Johnson predictably went for the rum and raisin but there wasn't enough rum in it for him.  More sport was to follow as all bar one of my strikes hit the coconuts  but none of them pitched over . My final shot narrowly missed DJ's bobbing head so that remained intact and we left with nothing to fix on traitors' row on the  spikes outside NSP HQ.

It looks like he didn't stay out of trouble for long as Gary is chased to the line by what looks like the Incredible Hulk - either that or an angry Phil Green who has discarded his NFR shirt

The show was a mixture of livestock ; classic tractors (like footie coaches , red Fergies are best)  and traction engines and farm machinery including  a 60s Triumph GT 6 sports  - probably used for carting hay bales round the farm ; hawk displays with scimitar winged grey peregrines ; a border terrier sprint race ; Cumbrian wrestlers . We stayed until late - so late that DJ's Sunday bowl of sprouts were cold by the time he got home as cold as the ice he'd chomped on . So the day ended truly successfully.
Thanks to Wil ( and I think ) his one helper who set up the race ; Ben Robson was the day's nifty cameraman.
Full results here :http://www.northumberlandfellrunners.co.uk/html/raceresults/2013/Forestburn_results_2013.pdf

Now time for Mal Slater to break from cover for the line - with Dave Johnson (in the background)  ashamedly  hiding his head  behind an oak tree . A hijab comes in handy when there are no trees.