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