Memories of Hawkshead from Phil, owner of Lakeland Trails

I’ll never be able to decide which my favourite Lakeland Trail is.  Since I ran my first one in 2013 (Keswick) I’ve made many memories and often ‘the last event’ will be the favourite, as I’m reminded of what I love about it.

My first memory of Hawkshead was attending an out-of-season get together of volunteers and crew in 2014.  I hadn’t been back running long and injuries were niggling me (I’m a bit wiser now and usually adhere to the 10% rule – only increase your distance by 10% each week) but being unexpectedly greeted by Ian Rayner, one of our non-running volunteers, who was sitting at the bottom of the Coffin Trial with a bag of jelly babies definitely was!  Even outside of race day, our marshals go the extra mile!

The Coffin Trail is most definitely a challenge.  Most people don’t run it as it’s 0.9 miles long with steps at the start so it’s hard to get into a rhythm and keep the heart rate down.  That’s not a problem though as we give runners plenty of time to complete the course…and one of the best things about trail races is that most of our runners will walk at some point regardless of the length or gradient of the climb.

It was a huge sense of achievement when I made it all the way up without stopping in 2015, finishing mid-pack in the race.  I wasn’t expecting to be at the front (and was 26 minutes behind the winner) but it wasn’t the winning which was important, it was the personal challenge.  There’s only ever going to be one winner so like the majority of our runners, completing was, and is, just as important as competing.

The photo is taken from Wise Een Tarn on the course, a nod to my wonderful running coach, Andy Brock who had us performing Hakka poses as part of our warm up sessions!

Why not sign up to Lakeland Trails in Hawkshead and find out for yourself what the Coffin Trail is really like?