Ultra 100k - a Marshal's Perspective
An Ultra Night on Nan Bield
Andrew Dobson (Course Marshal Mike 3)
I began Marshalling with Lakeland Trails after I retired in 2018 and have been lucky enough to marshal at the majority of events since then. For the last five years I’ve enjoyed taking position as Mike 3 on the summit of the Nan Bield Pass for the Lakeland Trail 100K Ultra.
About an hour and a half into the race, after its start at a minute past midnight, the ascent over the pass presents the first major challenge for the runners in the hours of darkness.
In the early years others marked the course, sometimes running a bit low on flags after marking in from Kentmere, but in recent years I’ve marked the course from the checkpoint at Mardale Head to the summit of the pass. This provides the runners with more detailed route selection around several difficult steep sections where false paths and multiple paths can confuse in the dark. I find that 40 reflective flags does the job nicely with just enough left over to give arrival at the summit a bit more of a sense of arrival.
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A Lonely Spot
A lonely spot when you get there as the daylight is fading. Then the magical twinkle of head torches in the distance changes everything
The runners really value the fact that someone is there to greet them after the hard ascent.
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Preparing for the Night
My evening starts with collecting my radio and kit from Rothay Park at Ambleside and catching up with the rest of the team at the Marshals' briefing. By 8.30pm its time to head off to Mardale Head which can only be accessed from Shap and the lanes through Bampton. I always hope there’s parking space at the car park at the head of the Lake which is coming under much more evening pressure from wild campers on Friday nights. This year I note that security staff from United Utilities are dissuading campers to reduce the risk of wild fires and littering.
Loaded up with a fairly heavy rucksack containing warmer kit for later, and enough food and liquids to get me through the night, I head off up the well trodden path up the pass, placing reflective marker flags along the way. This is a night section so its always useful to think about those sections such as stream crossings and sharp drops where the runners might need warning of an obstacle.
The last steeper section past Small Water needs particular care in marking to guide the runners on the best route where paths split and around particularly difficult technical sections. I get to the top of the pass and the welcome sight of the summit shelter just as the light is fading, and make my preparations to get some rest before the runners arrive in the early hours.
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A Night on the Summit
In past years I’ve snuggled down under my group shelter on the stone slabs in the summit shelter, using my rucksack for a pillow. To be honest its not a comfortable night. It requires groping round in a confined space to extract food and drink from the said “pillow” and constant movements to find a comfortable position.
This year I’ve had enough and took a small dome tent to place on the nice soft grass mound above the shelter. I can tell you it was a much more pleasant experience. Some years ago I was lucky to see traces of the Aurora Borealis over Penrith but most times the early part of the night is simply quiet, and a bit lonely apart from the sheep.
Effective communications with Event Control are very important. In the earlier years we had sim radios on loan which meant I could follow race progress throughout the night. In recent years better 4G signal has enabled us to use phones and a WhatsApp group. Just as effective but loosing a bit in that personal touch of hearing friendly voices when your alone in a remote location. I particularly miss our late dear friend Nick Archer’s regular check ins to see “if your still alive up there !”
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The Runners Arrive
Around 1.30 am it all changes. I’m up out of the tent wrapped up in warmer kit and pacing around the stone shelter looking down Kentmere for the first signs of head torches. Once spotted they come thick and fast like an illuminated worm twisting down the valley towards me, disappearing momentarily until emerging with pants and groans along the last part of the ascent to my position.
I like to use spare torches to illuminated the shelter and give a warm welcome to the runners who genuinely appreciate the fact that someone is waiting for them, confirming that they’re in the right place. All respond in different ways depending on how their race is going. Some just give a brief greeting as they adjust quickly for the descent immediately in front of them. Others take time to take a breather, perhaps photograph an impressive Moon or light show over Penrith, and others just have a good moan before regrouping for the challenge of the descent.
There’s a constant flow for a couple of hours whilst an impressive collection of moths, bats and nocturnal birds buzz around my head torch periodically. Most years a gentle cooling breeze helps cool the runners down after the hard ascent. Glimmers of dawn normally coincide with the flow of runners slowing down and its usually light by the time the Sweeper arrives.
For several years a retiree from the race arrived with the sweeper and I’ve brought them down safely and returned them to Ambleside to enable the sweeper to catch up with the runners ahead. For the last two events however I’ve been able to descent alone running the gauntlet of early morning midgies waiting eagerly to feast on my exposed skin. There’s some skill in getting out of your kit and into the car to escape morning swarms at Mardale Head.
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Heading Home
My shift ends with a tranquil but visually spectacular drive home alongside Haweswater in the early morning tired but immensely satisfied that all’s gone well. I always end by shouting encouraging words to the runners I pass in the lanes near Brampton before I head east to Shap and home.
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