ORREST SUN UP 2024
Sun? What sun?
A cold wind and drizzle was all that greeted the 35 fools taking part in the uphill mile of the Orrest Sun Up race on midwinters morning, December 21st.
The race poster – hastily drawn three weeks before, after inspiration for the race took hold – had lured them all there by promising to ‘Celebrate the return of the sun on midwinter's day with a pure test of all-out off-road up-hill running speed, arriving at the top of Windermere's laal fell at the moment of the winter equinox.’ But a bit of dampness never put off proper Lakeland runners, and the merry group gathered by the roadside, ready for the off at 9am sharp(ish).
Erstwhile Ambleside AC men’s Captain Jack Wright was on hand to show me how to properly count runners (thanks!) and smart money could have been on him to take the win, given local knowledge and current form. However, presumably inspired by the sight of the Phoenix Centre running track just outside registration (where he regularly goes toe to toe in track sessions with the Race Organiser) it was the ever-nippy moustache of Zak Knill leading out the pack from the start line and through the trees. Zak loved the first 30 seconds, being flat, and then hated the next 6 minutes, being uphill.
Jack Wright picks up the tale, from inside the peloton…
“The pace off the line felt madras spicy as Cooling and Knill sprinted off. I thought to myself “idiots” and carried on at what I thought was a sustainable pace, tucked in behind the ever reliable Tom Simpson, fear etched across our faces about the daunting prospect of Adkin (Scout) in tow.
We hit a bit of gradient and the gap closed a little to the front pack of two. The road runners. “Can’t be beaten by the roadies, surely?”. I slowly moved away from Simpson who appeared to have blown a gasket and pulled up to the fast starting road-shoe-wearing Knill. Fortunately we hit another little bit of gradient around the inside of a hairpin and I was able to move clear.
Focus now turned solely on the shiny carbon shoes of Harry Cooling, seemingly effortlessly floating around each bend. Blinded by the dazzle of the carbon, try as I might, I could not get any closer. I said a little prayer for gradient but alas, it did not come, and our lad Cooling cruised across the line a country mile ahead of the rest. What a stallion.”
And so it was that adopted local Troutbeckian – Harry ‘King Trotter’ Cooling – claimed victory (and, yes the Strava segment), after extending an almighty lead of fifteen seconds, reaching the top of the inaugural Orrest Head race in a lung-busting 06:11. Jack took second, and Zak third. Shout out to my walling mate Rog who came and ran in his work boots!
The only question remaining was how many men would be beaten by Scout? Answer: obviously almost all of them (5th overall). But she was late to claim her prize because she carried on and did four more reps of the climb! That’s how you become a world beater, folks.
My favourite events are small races with a cocktail of local runners, racing die-hards and elite top end talent. So I’m chuffed that’s exactly what we had at OSU: England internationals, British Bronze medallists, Lakeland Classics podiums and world champions. Plus a couple dozen of the rest of us too! Ideal.
Mince pies, brownies, teas, prizes, and one happy race organiser. Over £200 raised for good causes. All done and dusted and out of the hall by 11am, before the other race of the day (somewhere up in the wilds of the north Lakes, where Gorillas roam) had even started.
And of course, as soon as it was all over, the rain cleared off! Typical.
Massive thanks to Rose, Alice, Ugne, Sam, Will and Tom for their help, and to all the runners for showing up!
__________
This race report was originally written for The Fellrunner - the journal of the FRA - for Issue 141 (Winter 2025).
Bobby Gard-Storry
Cumbria, 2024
__________
