Ennerdale Horseshoe Fell Race

The route is a horseshoe (arguably the best) but, in many respects, it is an out and back race. If you retire at or near the midway point (green gable ish!) you have a 10-mile jog, walk, stumble back to registration along the valley floor. The route is flagged from the start to halfway up Great Borne GR 113166 and from the final summit of Crag fell to the finish. The only guaranteed water is at Black Beck tarn GR 201129. There is sometimes water on the way round to Beck Head from Green Gable and some carried by summit marshals and friends. Save for squeezing water from grass and from the many cactus plants there is little or no ground water on the return leg past Beck head. The last 6 to 7 miles of the race route is (can be) fast running as the ground changes to low angled grass slopes. If you’ve left enough in your legs from the run out and over Pillar you will be able to take advantage of this. People often go wrong by descending into Buttermere from High Crag and by turning south over Red Pike Wasdale and into Wasdale. These are both painful and potentially expensive route deviations. There is no transportation / taxis provided by the race organisers if you descend into the wrong valley so these parts of the route are worth fixing in your mind and on your compass. There is a dangerous and difficult section of the race in the descent from Kirk Fell summit 194104 to Black Sail Pass 192114 - details of this and advice will be given on race day.