LAKELAND 100, The British UTMB experience, without ‘The Stiff Upper Lip’ !?!?!
Is the Lakeland 100 and 50 the UK equivalent of the UTMB experience, without the elitism, commercialism, extortion of staying in Chamonix and the ‘you need so many magic rocks to have a chance in our special lucky dip!’
Don’t get me wrong, anyone who knows Lakeland 100 and 50 will also know that YES, it is still a ballot process, but YOU DON’T need to run around the country, or in some cases planet, to collect these so called magical, mystical stones, to stand an extra special chance of getting a place, on a Lakeland event!
Before heading out to witness some of my running friends take on one of these distance challenges, as well as witness so many others achieving greatness, I’d never even thought to delve into the extent of the Lakeland experience. I suppose when you get use to being around the ultra-community, and events in the UK, you start to assume that all ultras are the same in terms of a spectator/supporter point of view. Usually, a couple of friends or family members, if any at all, every now and then on the course, a quick and quiet ‘how are you doing?’ or ‘you are doing great, keep moving, keep pushing, one foot in front of the other!’ followed by a jam butty, some jelly babies, or whatever your thing is, and on your way to the next checkpoint, or meet up point you go, until you eventually get to the finish, where you, and if you have any support crew usually quickly disperse back home or to your accommodation!
Unfortunately, I had a busy day of work on the Friday and Saturday booked in, so I made the decision to head up to Ambleside after work, hoping to catch some friends passing through one of the last major checkpoints, while also capturing some of the Lakeland experience from a spectator POV, thinking I’ll capture a few nice pictures as runners pass through Ambleside quietly! ‘HOW NAIVE WAS I!’
I can honestly say up until now I’ve never experienced anything like this on the UK ultra scene, the streets lined out with masses of friends, family, locals, and even random lake district visitors bemused by what was going on, all joining in, shouting, chanting, ringing cattle bells, screaming, whooping and so on. I have to say it was something special to witness.
I’m sure we all know despite its ever-growing popularity, ultra-running, and its community is still very much a niche, and in the UK anything that is a niche is usually less celebrated and kept to a ‘we’ll just do it quietly in the corner’, or a ‘don’t worry we won’t disturb you; you won’t even know we’ve been here!’ sort of attitude. NOT AT LAKELAND!
At Lakeland every year the event gets a theme, and every checkpoint has its own theme, that’s all designed to get everyone into the fun, games, and community spirit of the event. Next comes the different distances ‘the baby one’ (out of the two choices) a 50miler, and ‘the big daddy or momma’, the 100miler, which word on the trail has it, is actually 105 miles! The reason I mention the two distances, is simply because of the specialness I witnessed in the crowds at Ambleside!
Every runner coming through Ambleside all got a big celebratory welcome but, the moment someone realised a runner making their way down the lined streets, was wearing that 100miler bib, there would suddenly be a shout out ‘100 hundred, 100 hundred, 100 huuuuunnndred!’ followed by even bigger chants, cheers, whooping, and bells ringing. To see and hear that special recognition of those runners that had made it about 90 miles into their journey so far at that point, a journey that had thrown some horrendously changeable whether at them, from a drenching on the first night, trailblazing through bogs, to a warm afternoon, (and at this point not knowing that they were going to be pushing on into what turned out to be an unseasonably cold night!) was absolutely awe-inspiring to witness!
As the evening started to draw-in, and I could start to feel ‘a nip in the air’ so I decided to head over to the finish in Coniston to see what was happening over there, catch-up with a fellow Spine Media buddy, the man that actually started my journey into capturing ultra runners, Will, and wait it out to see my running friends complete their goals.
Yet again, ‘HOW NAIVE WAS I!’
So, I hung about in the finish gate area, seeing people get the same welcome in the street of the finish line on a little smaller scale to Ambleside, as they crossed through the finish arch. Thinking this is still special, a little different, but a bit more towards the usual ultra events welcoming comity.
After a little while I noticed people were heading beyond this point, through a side gate, past the finish arch, I assumed this was just to use the little boys or girls rooms, help grab their runners things, etc.
After a little while longer, realising there was plenty drifting in but not so many coming out, curiosity got the better of me, so of I went to explore. It was at this point I realised where all the extra cheers were coming from! Beyond the gates, two big marquees joined together, one that was used as a collection and assessment point that runners were filtered into, while the other marquee, the main welcoming one, was filled with food and drinks venders, and a huge welcoming comity of friends and family, with everyone having a good time, while every runner had their own individual, special announcement and introduction into the tent, before being gifted with there massively well earned finisher medal, t-shirt, and finishers picture. All the while, the crowds continued to welcome the next runner on what seemed to be a never-ending conveyor all night long. There wasn’t a single moment that I witnessed all night long, that the noise got lessened, or the crowds thinned out, all night long the energy remained the same, this is something that was mind-blowing to witness on the UK ultra events circuit!
All in all, it was something spectacular to witness from a spectator POV, but from a runners POV, is this something I personally would like to take on? For me personally I always remain open, and ‘Never Say, Never’ but probably not! That is not me taking anything away from my experience as a spectator or all the runners who do take on the challenge, it’s purely and simply, because I enjoy my alone time in the mountains, I enjoy the peace and solitude, with the odd chat with a fellow runner or rambler passing by while out on my own journey!
However, if someone wanted a tough challenge, with what I imagine a UTMB experience to be like (granted on a smaller scale), with-out chasing ‘magical, mystical stones!’ I would say, go and experience LAKELAND 100 or 50, whether that be as a spectator first, or going ‘all-in’ and entering the ballot to take on either of the huge feats, I would 100% say, GO FOR IT!
IMMERSE YOURSELF FULLY INTO THESE RAW MOMENTS BY PLAYING THE MUSIC ABOVE, BEFORE YOU START TO EXPLORE THIS COLLECTION.
