2023 Race Director’s Report

By Shane Ohly

The swan metaphor feels very appropriate for this year's SCARPA Great Lakeland 3Day. From my conversations with participants, it is clear that the event has been an overwhelming success with fantastic stories of Lakeland adventures, new friends and campsite camaraderie. However, in the background, we were paddling harder than usual to keep the show on the road, as you’ll see from this report.

As regular readers will know, I write reflective Race Director Reports, as I want everyone to have a sense of what is involved in organising our events. I also want to share openly and honestly the challenges and success of each event, and of course, our vision for the future.

There is an incredible number of successes to celebrate at this year's events and I’d like to focus on the most important one first. The GL3D has been billed as a ‘fun, friendly and supportive’ event for a wide range of abilities and, as the event has grown from 53 participants in 2012 to almost 1,000 entries now, we have managed to maintain that all-important ethos of the event. There are no plans to change this, and we’ll continue to invest in infrastructure and facilities to support these numbers at the GL3D. 

Much of this success is down to the evolution of the courses. This year we had more courses than ever before, and the combination of the linear Café, Herdwick, Wainwright, Fellrunner and Extreme courses catered to everyone from steady-away-walkers through to speedy mountain runners. The addition of the Adventure course this year was a resounding success, with some extremely positive feedback from both walkers and runners that wanted to choose their own adventure. It was encouraging to see so many participants taking advantage of this newest addition.  

For the 2023 event, we also introduced recommended route GPX files for the 2 shortest courses: the Café and Herdwick courses. For the first time, we also made a digital map available via the Avenza App.  

We have found over the years that the navigation aspect of this event can be daunting for those who are new to finding their way in the mountains. While many people will still prefer to navigate using a map and compass, it is our hope that by having these more accessible options available, it will give people the confidence to attempt more navigation events in future and progress to navigating on some of the harder courses. We’ve already had some really positive feedback on this, and as always, we would be keen to know your thoughts.

It was a relatively late addition to the event, but the HUB, with a programme of speakers, presentations, films and talks was another great addition to the evening line-up of activities. It was brilliant to see so many in attendance, and I’d like to thank the speakers who gave up some of their evening to give these talks. We’ll certainly look to develop this element of the event for 2024. It would be interesting to know what (or who) you’d like to see next year.

Overall, I hope you will agree with me that it was a fantastic weekend. In spite of some rain and clouds on Day 2, the overwhelming impression I got from participants was one of enjoyment and optimism. It was great to walk around the overnight camp seeing so many people sharing stories of their adventures out on the fells with friends old and new. It has certainly cemented in my mind that this really is a special and unique event which welcomes people from all different backgrounds and abilities. Whether you were out for a relaxed, enjoyable day on the Café Course, were challenging yourself to complete the Fellrunner or Extreme Courses, or did something in between the two, I hope you have come away from the weekend having created lots of wonderful memories.

Thanks to SCARPA

This was the first edition of the Great Lakeland 3Day with SCARPA as our new title sponsor. The event and the brand are a natural fit, and we are truly delighted to be working with SCARPA and their team, including Dave, Jo and Mark, who attended the event to share their passion for the product and trail running.

Vast numbers of SCARPA shoes were tried on and tested from their demo tent during the three days, and these clearly proved popular with the participants. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve been training in a pair of Spin Ultras for the last few months, and have run days 1 and 2 of the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® in them. My strong impression of the brand is of quality and excellence, and I’m looking forward to hitting the trails in my Spin Ultras after work this evening.

Thanks to the Event Team

There is a year-round effort by the Ourea Events team to organize the SCARPA Great Lakeland 3Day. This is focused on planning, permissions, logistics and operations. All that said, we are completely reliant on the Event Team to bring our ideas to life and deliver the event each May, and I’d like to express my deep gratitude for their hard work, expertise and enthusiasm.

With every event we organize, we expect some late withdrawals, and a few no-shows from the Event Team, and plan accordingly. However, this year at the GL3D, we were 15% down on expected numbers. Approximately half of these were last-minute withdrawals (we do understand that life happens sometimes) and half of these were no-shows (this is always disappointing). This high percentage is very unusual, and results in the remaining Event Team working harder, working longer, and having fewer opportunities to socialize. There were a few standout members of the Event Team who really did go the extra mile to help the event run smoothly. We all owe them a big thank you.

The Event Team is a mixture of professional staff and volunteers. The volunteers get a race credit equal to the value of the race that they are volunteering on, and this is a fantastic way to build familiarity with an event and form friendships, as there is always a large number of the team either taking part or volunteering at each event. Perhaps you’d like to join us at next year's GL3D and experience for yourself the deep satisfaction of making it all happen.

Once again, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to the simply brilliant team that included the following: 

Marquee Team

Anton Fleming-Williams

Callum Clark

Jess Byrne

Kieran O’Sullivan

Seb Oliver

Tom Jobling

Zak Benaton

Catering Team

Anna Watkinson-Powell

Fiona Massey

Hilary Maylon

Jennifer O'Neill

Kath Lowe

Keith Montgomery

Laura Smith

Tim Glasby

Medical Team

Natalya Kennedy

Nikki Archer

Nikki Sommers

Rich Griffiths

Robyn Cassidy

Race Control Team

Abbi Forsyth

Chris Plant

Matthew Gemmell

Course Operations

Ann Perry

Colin Harding

Darren Graham

Derek Allison

Gillian McColl

Jenny Lewis

Littledave Cumins

Paul Beeson

Philip Wilkinson

Response Team

Dave Howarth

Dan Romberg

Iain Airth

Sarah Graham

Timing/Tracking

James Thurlow

Daniel Carrivick

Media Team

Steve Ashworth

Main Camp Team

Alastair Baillie

Andrew Bidolak

Chloe Lumsdon

Colman Herron

Daren Piper

Dave Phillips

Donna Heath

Hanna Bennett

Helen MacMullen

Ian McFarlane

Jacob Holder

James Caldwell

Jon Sellick

Martin Webb

Melanie Dennis

Rachel Platt

Roddie Grant

Scott Mathers

Sophie Lipthorpe

Wiebke Lammers

Info Point Team

Angela Emms

Liane Shaw

Peter Huzan

Technical Services

Daniel Richardson

Ian Cowie

John Ware

Kevin Nairn

Philip Sturgeon

Tom Rouse

Ourea Events Senior Team

Charlie Williamson

Eleanor Claringbold

Greg Mickelborough

Janie Oates

Jen Edson

Lucy Scrase

Neil Davies

Shane Ohly

Sue Dowker

Tom Hecht

Supporting Mountain Rescue

We are delighted that we raised over £2,000 for the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association. This money was raised through participant donations and then topped up by Ourea Events. It was a privilege to present the cheque to the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team at the overnight camp. Furthermore, we also filled 3 collection boxes for the Kendal Mountain Rescue Team.

The work our Mountain Rescue Teams do is really valuable, and I would like to thank everyone who helped us raise this money by donating generously.

Stakeholder Thanks

The SCARPA Great Lakeland 3Day would not be possible without the consent and support of various landowners and stakeholders in the event area. I would like to extend a sincere thanks on behalf of all the participants to these organisations and individuals. In particular, I would like to thank the Rydal Estate, Lowther Estate, Forestry England, the National Trust, and the Lake District National Park Authority.

Event Coverage

You can catch up with everything that was posted during the event on Facebook, Twitter  and  Instagram, including some wonderful photos from out on course and the overnight camp from Steve Ashworth.

Steve Ashworth has also put together a lovely Event Film - relive your experience, and share it with friends and family:

Finish line Photos

The finish line photos from Andy Milton are now all uploaded to Facebook here. Please do tag yourselves, like and share these on social media, so you can share your experience! 

If you don’t have Facebook, you can also access the photos and download them here. 

Results

The biggest challenge by far that we experienced was with the timing system. Whilst we hired the kit from SI Timing, we were operating the download/results system ourselves without the expertise of an SI Timing person at the event. The problem was a result of user error rather than system error, but for some time we had nonsensical results, and a lot of hard work was required to allow us to get daily results. We are only publishing overall results today (a few days after the event).

Therefore, for the time being, these results are provisional. Whilst we think we have resolved the problem, I’d be very grateful if you could take a moment to check that your personal result is correct. If you spot any errors or have any questions, please get in touch ASAP and we’ll aim to finalise the results this time next week.

Feedback

Feedback is very important to us. We are always keen to hear your thoughts. Whilst we don’t promise to incorporate every piece of feedback received, we do promise to read and consider it carefully. Participant feedback has really helped us refine and improve the event and we are always incredibly grateful to those who take the time to send in any thoughts, no matter how big or small. So, please don’t be shy and send any comments you have using our contact form or email us directly.

Keen to return next year?

Saturday 4th to Monday 6th May 2024

We are delighted that entries are now OPEN for next year's event! Join us again for another wonderful weekend of camping, camaraderie and mountain adventures. Perhaps you'd like to try a different course, or maybe you are looking to explore a different part of the Lake District?

The first 250 entries get the early bird price - so sign up now for the best deal!

What’s Next?

2023 MONTANE DRAGON'S BACK RACE® - LAST FEW PLACES 

4th - 9th September 2023

Looking for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? Join us for six epic days of mountain running through stunning Wales! The 2023 Montane Dragon’s Back Race® starts from Conwy Castle and runs the length of Wales, linking many of the country’s iconic mountain summits, to finish in Cardiff Castle on the South coast of Wales.

2023 SALOMON SKYLINE SCOTLAND® - ENTRIES OPEN 

16th - 17th September 2023

Be part of the UK's biggest weekend of trail running and skyrunning, with races ranging from 5km-80km. If you're looking for a skyrunning challenge, why not try the 52km Salomon Ben Nevis Ultra? Or for something even longer, why not enter the breath-taking Lochaber 80? 

2024 SILVA LAKES TRAVERSE AND NORTHERN TRAVERSE - ENTRIES OPEN 

Saturday 6th April to Wednesday 10th April 2024.  

Entries are open now for the 2024 SILVA Lakes Traverse which takes place on 5th April. Enjoy 100km across the stunning Lake District landscape as you journey from St Bees to Shap. 

Alternatively, if you're ready for an even bigger adventure, join us for the SILVA Northern Traverse, a 300km race that spans the entire width of Northern England. 

2024 CAPE WRATH ULTRA® 

19th – 26th May 2024 – ENTRIES OPEN 10TH MAY 

Interested in a multi-day racing experience? Join us for 8 incredible days of running through the stunning Scottish Highlands on the epic Cape Wrath Ultra®. This awe-inspiring expedition race starts in Fort William and winds its way through some iconic Scottish landscapes to finish at the Cape Wrath lighthouse, the most north-westerly tip of the British Isles. Entries for 2024 are on sale from the 10th of May and are likely to sell out quickly.