2023 Course Planner’s Report

By Littledave

A few years ago, I visited Banishead Quarry whilst out exploring in the Lakes. It is one of the Lakes’ hidden gems, tucked away from the crowds that flow up The Old Man of Coniston, a stunning flooded Quarry fed by a beautiful waterfall. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to include it as a control for the GL3D. After a recce last November to collect photos, grid references and find the best place for the control, I was ready to put my case to the other two planners. Last week, I completed the journey as I ran on a bearing across the moorland heading for the quarry, with the control in my pack and a sense of excitement knowing I was going to be sharing a real hidden Lakes gem with the participants of the GL3D.

I got addicted to the GL3D back in 2012 as a participant, and it changed my life. It created a love for the Lake District that still burns deeply now. It was a different event to the modern day version (one course, mega miles) but most importantly, it was an adventure – a journey of discovery through the Lakes, which remains the ethos today. I volunteered the following year and every year since. The GL3D is the first thing to go in my calendar every year. In 2018, I was lucky that my requests to help with the planning of the courses was accepted, and every year since, I’ve assisted Graham and Tom to produce some great GL3D adventures.

My intentions are to create routes that are an adventure, seeking out the best locations in the lakes, utilising fell race routes and running challenges I have enjoyed. I want to create legs that offer route choice between the controls and, especially on the Extreme and Fellrunner courses, create possibilities where fortune will favour the brave – straight line up Coniston Old Man anyone…?

The first steps to creating the event involve locating the Event Centre and Overnight Camps, something that is now quite tough as the event has grown. Back last September, I received an email from Graham informing me of the locations and asking if I’d be interested in helping on the planning again. Life stops as I immerse myself in maps and lose myself in the Lakes.

The initial challenge is to create a Café course. This is the most restrictive course, as distance and the requirement for cafés limit our choices. As a triumvirate, we each create routes independently before we have the big reveal, where we put all our ideas and routes into the big magic GL3D melting pot, give it a stir and the courses then start to fall out.

Tom had pretty much created the Café and Herdwick courses, leaving me with the joy of the longer courses. These courses are definitely easier to plan – there is much more freedom and scope than the shorter courses.

Coniston to Langdale is a delight for planning routes – it’s basically just a great big playground of opportunities for adventure, or as Wainwright describes it… “Southern fells comprise two well defined mountain systems: The larger is the Scafell - Bowfell massif, within this area the fells are the highest, the roughest and the grandest in Lakeland. This is magnificent territory for the fell Walker. The smaller group, the Coniston fells, compact, distinctive, with several summits just above 2500’. The dry turfy ridges are a joy to tread.”

I wanted to keep routes off the ‘normal’ path to the Coniston Old Man, but also wanted to have the courses visit it. Whilst visiting the quarry last November, I took a direct approach to climbing the Coniston Old Man from the south, a tough climb early on the courses, but an excellent start to what I wanted to be a memorable adventure. The journey had begun. For the Extreme and Fellrunner routes, I want to create opportunities to go ‘off road’, leave the path more travelled and enjoy some open fell descending. I ran the first half of Day 1 back in February, heading to Scafell on the Extreme course and returning via the Fellrunner course, utilising different routes and considering different options runners may consider. I finished my big day out buzzing, having enjoyed some great routes over the fells. The routes were coming together, and I was confident we had created an adventure worthy of the GL3D.

Planning the GL3D means I’ve now realised how small the Lake District really is. Langdale has been used numerous times by the event, but, as Tom wisely said to me a few years back when I worried we had used Langdale too often, “No one is ever going to regret a visit to Langdale”. It is an amazing place, and not just because they sell OP in the ODG.

Day 2 was an opportunity to explore Langdale (as well as adventure out to Heron Pike in the Eastern Fells for the Extreme course). The Langdale horseshoe was a big influence on routes, as well as visits to the popular Langdale Pikes summits. Crinkle Crags is one of Wainwright’s favourites, and no surprise it featured on all the courses. The control was placed on Crinkle 2, Long Top, but there was opportunity for five other Birkett summits along the ridge for those wanting to explore rather than race.

The weather of day 2 certainly provided additional challenges, and I heard stories of runners searching for controls on complex summit tops. The weather stole some of the amazing views that I hoped would delight participants (the view from Sergeant Man is worthy of a sit down, sandwiches and hot drink), but I’m sure we’ll be back to Langdale at some point in the future. I was concerned that Tarn Crag may create some navigational challenges in the clag, as the Wainwright summit is not the highest point, and it’s a complex summit in good weather.

The new Adventure course added challenges to the planning, but mainly the implementation of the courses (I’m also lucky to be part of the Course Ops Team, putting out and collecting the controls), the controls now all being out until course closure on Monday. Following consultation with the bosses, I took the decision to collect some of the far NW controls on Sunday evening, assuming that nobody was going to take a trip out west on the final day – apologies if anyone had planned a run up Scafell that day. It seemed to be the correct assumption chatting to people on the start line Monday.

The adventure course included a few controls that were not on the linear courses. Slight Side is a rock tor summit, that when I visited in February had lost its summit cairn. Nothing to secure a control flag meant it could be an issue. Not a problem – a quick text exchange and a friend local to the area agreed to run out on Thursday with a large bag, collect some rocks and build a cairn on the summit. I’m hoping some of the participants enjoyed the scramble up to the control.

Another control only on the adventure course was Glaramara. I was concerned that it was going to be a control with no visitors, so my excitement watching the tracker on Day 2 and seeing two people visit the control was enthusiastic beyond acceptable reason.

The Adventure Course seemed to be very popular after the first day and sits very well in the ethos of adventure that the GL3D is all about. Looking forward to the course next year, will anyone manage to sweep the whole course?

Chatting to friends on the event, I started to realise that perhaps I’d overloaded the final day on the Extreme course. Only slightly shorter with only a little less elevation than Day 2, it was going to be a big ask to get back to Coniston by course closure time. It’s always my intention to create an Extreme course that lives up to the title of Extreme, but I also want to create something that is achievable as well as challenging. The final day route I considered to be more runnable, and perhaps the final stretch back up Wetherlam and the Coniston horseshoe was a big ask, but it is also such an amazing route. Wetherlam is one of my favourite mountains, and I didn’t want anyone missing out on the scramble up the Prison Band. Perhaps I should have loaded some additional mileage/climb on the first two days to reduce the demands of Day 3. I will study the tracks of the runners from Day 3, and please feel free to comment regarding the route.

I like to tell anyone who would listen that I created the Wainwright course idea back on the 2012 event when I would wander off the course to collect Wainwright summits, as I was a Wainwright bagger. I told Shane about this post event and I think the seed was set, formalised a few years later. (Similarly, I claim intellectual ownership of the Café course concept, although I’ve yet to approach the Ourea Legal Team regarding these matters).

Planning the Wainwright course is an adventure, the requirement being to put together numerous summits and attempt to tease participants with additional summits slightly off the ‘racing line’. Back in 2018 (the 20th anniversary) we attempted to get 20 Wainwright summits on the route. It’s not a definite requirement but I’m happy that this year we had 14 Wainwright controls with another 6 easily achievable for the keen Wainwright bagger. Planning the Wainwright course over the last few years and being involved in the Wainwright Round attempts, I have developed an unhealthy interest in the Wainwright summits. Hours spent studying Wainwright websites, reading the Wainwright books and visiting summits have turned me into a kind of Wainwright nerd. The sort of idiot who will inform walkers out on the fells that the summit of Thunacar Knott is not the Wainwright summit…

I will use the summit or feature that I feel Wainwright may have chosen for my control location. This is normally the Wainwright summit (the smaller cairn on Holme Fell is Wainwright’s summit rather than the more impressive Birkett Cairn), but there are always exceptions to the rule. Whilst out recceing in February, I visited Rossett Pike. It was a miserable day, cold, wet and very blustery. I was confirming information and taking photos. Sat at the summit of Rossett Pike, feeling cold and battered by the weather, I decided to visit the other cairn to the east. It’s not the summit but arriving at the cairn, even on the cold grey drab day the view was magnificent and my mood was elevated skywards. Back at the van later that day I was recording my findings and reading through Wainwright Volume 4 and the author described the Mickleden Cairn on Rossett Pike as the principal cairn, admitting lower in height but greater in visual delight (I’m guessing the visual delight was impeded by the clag of Day 2, but honestly it’s hoofin’). Decision made – Mickleden Cairn it is – the Wainwright Class will most likely travel over the summit cairn to reach it, so that ticked the box for the Baggers on the course. I also like to throw the odd concentration control out there too, knowing those with local knowledge would be heading for the popular Bob Graham summit on Rossett Pike, perhaps not concentrating fully on the map detail – this IS still a navigation event.

Another control that was special and a definite requirement was the small tarn to the east of Stickle Tarn. This was the final control back in 2012 before descending back to the Event Centre at Middle Fell Farm. It caught me out initially that day as I was heading to Stickle Tarn, not reading my map or control description correctly. Fortunately I was running with my new friend, Tom (if only we knew then that in 11 years, we’d be planning this same leg) and he was bang on with the nav. I collected the control from the tarn this year, a massive smile on my face of all the GL3D memories created this year, joining the many happy memories of previous events before completing that same descent down to Middle Fell Farm.

Over the weekend, I tried to speak to many people, listening to feedback about the courses, and generally it would seem that we created adventures that people will remember for years to come. I hope that is the case, and I would welcome feedback on all aspects of all courses. I’m hoping to get an invite back to the planning team for 2024, so all comments will be valuable to help create another special event next year.

Finally, I’d just like to thank the team at Ourea, Shane, Graham and Tom for allowing me to be involved in GL3D but my biggest thanks must go to all the participants, without you there would be no event. Enjoying the energy and enthusiasm of the participants throughout the whole of the weekend is massively rewarding for me, knowing I’ve helped create adventure is an unbeatable feeling.

Entries are now open for 2024

Where will the adventure take you next year? Join us for another fantastic weekend of exploring the fells and camping in the beautiful Lakes!