The Lakeland Sports Promoters Association

Over the years I have had so much enjoyment out of competing at the various fell races and sports meetings throughout the north of England and especially Cumbria that I thought I would put something back into the sports I have and still enjoy, so 8 years ago I got involved with the Lakeland Sports Promoters Association in volunteering to help out at some of the meetings that are registered to the Association. My role within the L.S.P.A. is the Secretary & Treasurer, also I am the Track race Manager at Grasmere Sports and handicaper in the track events at Beetham & Rusland Sports.
So I thought I would take this opportunity to let people know that the Lakeland Sports Promoters Association season is just about to get under way with their first event on Thursday 7th June which is Killington Sports nr Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria starting at 6pm.
How the Association works is that we promote traditional sports in Cumbria such as Fell Running, Track Running & Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling. At the end of the season we compile all the results in the Junior & Senior events at all the sports meetings registered with L.S.P.A. then at a committee meeting we pick out the competitors with outstanding results & sportsmanship and then they are notified that they have been nominated towards the Junior or Senior Sports Personality of the year Award, every one that is nominated also receives a prize for their performances throughout the season, the awards are presented at our dinner which is held at the Heaves Hotel, nr Kendal at the end of November.
The Association was formed in 1960 and there have been some great names over the years that have won the Senior prize including Fell Runners Bill Teasdale MBE, Fred Reeves, Tommy Sedgwick, Ian Holmes, Track Runners Joss Watson, Harvey Gott, Matt McMahon, Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestlers Tom Harrington MBE, Alf Harrington, Allan Jones, Graham Brocklebank and last year we had the first lady winner of the award which was Fell Runner Melanie Hyder so as you can see some big names from over the years. I hope that this interests a lot of people and encourages people to come and support the events listed below and any one wanting any further information please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Visit from a Fell Racing Legend

Last weeks plan was to have a recovery week with a race at the end of it which was going to be Fairfield Horseshoe near Ambleside in Cumbria. A fell race that covers 9 miles with 2999ft of assent but as everyone knows things don't always go to plan. So Mondays training was an easy 40 minutes xcountry run which went very good then Tuesday was a rest day. On Wednesday i set of with the intention of doing an easy 50 minutes trail run but after 20 minutes of running with no warning my right calf muscle tightened up on me which brought me to a sudden halt, after stretching the muscle out for a few moments i tried to jog on but it just tightened up again so as any sensible runner would do it was a case of turning back round and walking back home and not injuring my self more. For the rest of the week i have been getting plenty of massage, ice and rest for the injured calf. This is very disappointing for me as i had built up a good base of training since January and wanted to test my self in a race  to see were i was before starting to include some speed work into my training. When injured you have to stay positive though and remember that the injury is a result of stress to the body so by treating the injury the right way and plenty of rest which will hopefully result in you coming back quicker and stronger. With not much to write about on my running exploits this week i thought i would mention about a surprise visit i had from a Fell Racing Legend a few weeks back his name " Reg Harrison " from Dalton in Furness. Reg was staying in his caravan not far from were i live and he called round for a chat. I first met Reg back in the early 1980s when competing in the then open Professional Fell Races when he was coach to a good group of runners from the west side of Cumbria namely Barrow & Ulverston areas. Reg first started running in 1956 and was coached by Vic Brockbank & Dennis Bevins, his first race was at Ambleside Sports were he finished 2nd  in the senior Guides Race but a few weeks later at Rusland Sports he gained his first win were he beat the King Of The Fells " Bill Teasdale " MBE from Caldbeck.

Reg Harrison & Bill Teasdale Rusland Sports 1956

 Also that year Reg finished 3rd in the Guides race at Grasmere Sports behind the winner Teasdale & 2nd placed Jonathon Gibson from Burneside. In the following year 1957 Reg made his mark at Grasmere Sports by winning the senior Fell race from 2nd placed Bill Teasdale in a record time of 13min 14 seconds, Teasdale who finished over100 yards behind said " The young 'un was to fast for me coming down'. Teasdale & Harrison had climbed to the top of  the fell together in a time of 10 min 30 sec, but on reaching the  top Reg threw himself into one of his legendary descents that he was famous for and came down in an amazing time of 2 min 44 seconds which is probably still the fastest descent time for the course. Reg won at Grasmere 4 times and won just about every fell race going through out his career and he was also a very talented track runner too. I have been quite privileged over the years to of meet and got to know a lot  of the Fell Running Legends especially the likes of Teasdale & Harrison, it is absolutely fantastic to here them talk about their days of fell running in an era when there was a lot more village sports and fell races about.

Fell Racing Legends Grasmere Sports 1985
Bill Teasdale, Tommy Sedgwick, Bob Morton, Reg Harrison, Joe Richardson, Tommy Garside

An inspirational day

In contrast to the previous weeks weather this weeks was a welcome change with plenty of sunshine which made things a little bit warmer for running. It has been another good week of training for me with 3 xcountry runs and 2 fell runs. On Tuesday I met up with ex Bingley Harriers team mate Eddie Irving who now runs for Ilkley Harriers for a training run. We set off from my house and headed down to Burnsall following the Dales Way footpath, on reaching Burnsall we then joined the path to Thorpe which has some tough little undulating fields. From Thorpe we ran down the old back road towards Cracoe for 3/4 of a mile then climbed over the stile on the right hand side of the road to follow the path down to Linton village. Upon reaching Linton we then took the path to Threshfield after which we crossed the fields back to Grassington where we started, a nice little training run that has a good mixture of terrain in approx 60 minutes. On Saturday it was back up to Cumbria to meet up with Martin Spooner & Andy Kirkup for a training run over leg 3 of the Bob Graham Route. Once again we were very lucky with the weather it was an absolute fantastic day for running. When we set off from Dunmail raise there was a cold breeze in the bottom but as we climbed out over the top of Steel Fell there was little wind at all so making it quite warm. As we made our way across the tops conditions under foot were quite dry in places to which made running a lot easier, for those not familiar with this section of the route it can be very boggy at times making it a hard slog. With the conditions being so good we made excellent progress to Bow Fell, then it was onto Esk Pike, Great End, Ill Crag, Broad Crag, and Scafell Pike.

Myself on Great End with Great Gable in the back ground

 After fighting our way through the bus loads of people at the summit of Englands highest Mountain at 3,209ft we dropped off down towards Sca Fell and to the bottom of Broad Stand. Upon reaching Broad stand we came across Dave Sleath from Derbyshire who at 68 years of age was attempting to become the oldest person to complete the Bob Graham Challenge. Dave was doing an anti-clockwise round so when we saw him he was climbing down Broad Stand with the aid of ropes and made this look so easy. It was absolutely amazing to see a person of this age under taking the challenge of the Bob Graham, a truly inspirational individual. I am pleased to say that Dave did achieve the feat of going under 24hrs with a time of  23.59 top man. After watching Dave we headed back up to Scafell Pike where Martin & Andy headed of back to Esk Hause and down to Langdale where they had arranged to be picked up. I headed of down the Corridor route to Sty Head Tarn, then onto Seathwaite were my lift was waiting for me. Another fantastic day out on the fells.

Dave Sleath Climbing down Broad Stand