Report from Event Organiser and Race Director (submitted to Fellrunner Magazine)

The 42nd Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon was held on 3/4th  July in the North WestLake District with the event centre at Gatesgarth and the overnight camp at Seathwaite. Our thanks to Robert Wilkinson and Peter Edmondson respectively. The courses were planned by Julie and John Ferris Worth who did a great job of making the most of classic Lakeland terrain with the shorter courses heading north into BG Leg 5 territory on day 1 before sweeping back over Honister and then skirting the Gables before descending into Borrowdale. Day 2 saw a more direct route back to Buttermere.The longer linear courses and the score course used an area as far as Scar Crags in the north and the central Scafell plateau in the South. Karen and Dan Parker played an invaluable role as Controllers in making sure the courses were challenging but safe and delivered winning times to our standards. The weather was classic lake district, with all the seasons in one weekend and added to the navigational challenges. Harvey maps provided our usual high quality dedicated mapping at 1:25,000 on Hartex synthetic paper.

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