Windy Gyle Fell Race 22 June 2015 - A Bridge Too Far

Deja vu (at least if you're a French speaking Belgian ) as for the second year running , William Robson picks up the U 23 prize for this race. ( Photo taken  by Andy Russell in 2014 .....no cameramen this year).

Two Hundred  years   after the British had again rescued Europe from disaster  at Waterloo  , 1000 Belgian paratroopers  in commemoration of liberation   had drifted from the Northumberland skies and  into Otterburn Camp a week before the WG Fell Race  . It was one of the biggest parachute drops on UK soil in recent memory. They landed unopposed .
The Belgians  had  a week to decamp and trudge east across the badlands to reach the Border ridge and into our fellrunner territory for mid summer.
By Sunday morning  , the Belgians had streamed into 8 man sections  scattered across the hill flanks and up onto the ridges . They were weighed down with fridge sized radios , 50 kg Bergens and armed to the teeth with rifles and heavy machine guns . They were ready for a fight and had established an OP on the high point at Windy Gyle a site renowned for mayhem and murder  with our reivers .
By contrast ,our fellrunners were the Light Brigade as they set off for the RV at Windy Gyle lightly clothed  and only armed with a keen sense of direction , guile and  a steely determination.
A fell race is  guerilla style warfare with hit and run in open country while  a road run is the formation fighting of Waterloo . It's hard, scruffy ,  with no quarter given and none asked and no  surrender . For a fell runner , the race is a mental battle with the terrain and weather constantly  eking out each and  every advantage through lines , gulleys and trods   ;  for  a roadrunner  race advantage  is about calculating time and distance usually between  bus shelters to make sure you keep dry  .
The first the Belgians saw of our assault was Phil Sanderson and Lee Bennett from the reds at Elswick Harriers breaking through the rain squalls and cloud like Spitfires and  out and onto the OP at Windy Gyle . They were then followed  by  wave after wave  of attackers from myriad clubs ( some admittedly in unpatriotic colours of purple and green ). Our own reds were well represented - a strong contingent of  9 (second to  NFR)  .
Led out by junior officer William Robson we took the fight to all comers in the way - Belgian or Brit. Chris Rowe ,  with his submarine commander beard again took on the assassin role and dangerously tracked Will out and across the high country.

Running home down the Street - a very empty place .

Off Windy Gyle we were beating west  into the wind and rain (it was barely above freezing)  pressing on towards the Street. As the fellrunners moved onwards columns of Belgians were retreating east towards Windy Gyle and away from the volleys of SS 20 artillery pieces  booming just over the hill tops at Otterburn . Belgians had  out foxed or out run  the guns of the Royal Artillery  and were well out of range by now.
Fearlessly ,  the fellrunners  rode on  towards the direction of the gun  fire - this was madness (sacre bleu) for the Belgians.
Just up ahead  , Lt Col Michael Kane was busy weaving in and out the bog filled re entrants on the ridge like a weasel. Covering our rears, were  some more new faces with Sgt Lisa Henderson - well kitted out for a day in the mountains and Pte John Brettell in appropriate dress with a  Tory blue rain jacket .
 Some of the females proved  a bit slow on Border Ridge . They proved rather impressionable at the sight of uniforms and their brown smeared hands and faces at the finish  testified to their succumbing to the offer of chocolate from the Belgians. (The Americans would have plied them with nylons which could have been worse ; they'd get no more than some stiff upper lip from our boys ).
The race descended hard and fast with the gallop back down to the Coquet valley - which saw the assassin (7th) cut past Will (8th) on the flat run in. I faltered over the line in 34 th but it proved a Bridge Too Far for Michael Kane in 36 th   (and not a lot of people know that ) . We could count back our  Polyrunners as they advanced over the line in pairs - with Lisa and Katherine Davis (46.47) , then the  war horses of Majors  Chris Oliphant (50) and Ian Richardson (54) (ret'd) , Rachel Inman at 56 ( a new face but the assured and angelic looks belie an experienced hillperson) , and then George Adamson (one of our finest and most experienced hill runners of all ) and finally John  Brettell (61).
Phil Sanderson was the eventual overall victor over Lee.
This was Keith Cooper's last organisation of this fine race. Next year  Phil Green will take the cudgels. At least that is the plan , if Phil is still around to do it. As the race prize giving  broke up , Phil Green was being frog marched off at the head of 2 columns of Belgian soldiers - with some opportunists calling on the Belgians to shoot him . Will he escape in time like Tintin ? Tune in for the next instalment. For the Belgians , they arrived too late in the valley  to make the finishing  list as various sections crossed  some 30 mins after our last runner. They need to get some lightweight kit next time they take on the fellrunners but  they leave  with some tall stories to tell in every bar   from Bruges to Brussels of their unexpected confrontation  with the fellrunners in one of Northumberland's emptiest quarters.
Phil's blog here with results :http://thehottrod.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/windy-gyle-fell-race.html

Michael Kane as Lt -Col Vandeleur (a Belgian sounding name ) of the Irish Guards Armoured Division in a 'Bridge too Far ' is well kitted out in his buff as he gets some advice from the posh Edward Fox .