A dirty brown willy
Filthy Cornwall
[Insert standard excuses about writing a blog post months after the run]
Julie and I have a very similar sense of humor, so I’m somewhat ashamed that I hadn’t noticed
the county hill that would obviously be the most fun. Brown. Willy. tee hee hee. This hill, by
far, was the most hotly anticipated for us. I think Julie spotted the name sometime in the
summer. A very quick Google of Brown Willy (with the parental filters on), turned up a dream
come true - the Brown Willy News Year day run! We figured that as we were
travelling half way across the country over Christmas, we may as well go the whole hog and finish
in Cornwall for New Year (also, this is one of the furthest points from Cambridge on the South
Coast). The race starts and finishes at the (in)famous Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. Little did we
know that this pub was famous, as it forms the setting for a book of the same name by Daphne du
Maurier. Numerous ghost stories had been reported by guests staying at the inn over the
centuries, some no doubt fueled by the dark corners and even darker rum they serve.
What a great location to see in the New Year! We booked a couple of nights, and over the course of a week slowly made our way down to Cornwall, stopping with friends and family along the way to enjoy the festive season (and train on a few hills).
The route was a pretty straightforward there and back again, with a little circuit up the side of Brown Willy then off the back and around the base to pick up the same trail. As this was an organised run it meant the navigation would (hopefully) be trivial. We’d heard that the moors can be pretty grim at that time of year, and had been warned several times about the mud - more mud more fun! The race start time was 11am on New Years day, so there was plenty of time to relax after the nights celebrations (though we only just made it to midnight :/). The crowds started to build from about half 9, then they swelled (I think close to 500 runners turned up). Officially this isn’t a race, but it doesn’t stop the first back from being hotly contested. We’d had a good few practice runs through the week, but this was unfamiliar terrain to us, and it looked like there were some very serious runners in the crowd. Our goal was to get there and back in one piece.
From the start point at the Jamaica Inn we followed the road round under the A30 and along a few country lanes until we were diverted onto a rutted farm track. It was quite tight, with only 2 runners abreast which meant having to speed check and keep our wits about us in the slightly cramped conditions. Soon enough, after about a mile or so the track opened up into the moor and gave us a bit more space to settle into a more comfortable rhythm. Everyone was in high spirits, and clearly enjoying the event atmosphere. This is something I’ve found from previous running events, that everyone is in a really good mood and wants to be there. We’re all in the same boat, embracing the suffering! The route headed up and over a few hills (Tolborough Tor and Catshole Tor according to the map), when Brown Willy emerged across the boggy moor.
A couple of miles across the bogs, we carefully picked the right, and mostly wrong, paths to avoid the worst of the deep mud. Thankfully Truro running club had laid out markers all along the route to help guide us. They did an absolutely sterling job at organising the event, I doff my cap to your skills. As we closed in on the base of Brown Willy the front runners started to pass us. I don’t know who “won” in the end, but there was a bit of a gap between the “first” and “second” place at that point. Perhaps even more impressive was the young teenager keeping up with the adults in the top 10 or so runners.
This was my first proper fell race, and I’ve read and heard repeatedly that if you can’t see the top of the hill then walk. Other than my lack of fitness on Moel Famau, this is the only other county top so far where that was necessary. This part of the run formed another bottle neck as runners slowly picked their way up the steep side of Brown Willy. I would have liked to move a little bit faster, but caution is the greater part of valor, so it was better in the long run as we were only at the half-way point by then. After trudging up the hill, for what felt like 10 minutes, we emerged onto the top, and the highest point in Cornwall!
The top was crawling with elated runners, so we took a few photos, including the ubiquitous summit snap (thanks random person), and enjoyed the view. The cold wind kept us from hanging around for too long, it was January 1st after all.
Before the cold took hold we made the descent off the back of Brown Willy. I quite like this part of hill running as you can let loose a little and just let gravity do most of the hard work. However, the broken boggy rocky path had other ideas. We carefully picked our way down the steep track, trying not to turn an ankle on the hidden rocks and rabbit holes. Elated with having made it to the top of Cornwall we made our way around the base of the hill and re-joined the route back to the Jamaica Inn. Back through the mud, back through the sticky bog. Although this year was reputedly some of the driest conditions in the history of this run, it still didn’t stop us from getting caked in peaty mud.
The mud continued until we got back to the farm track, by which point we had well and truly settled into a comfortable pace, and were just enjoying the ride. There’s always a sting in the tail, and this was no exception. The final rise up to the Jamaica Inn paled in comparison to Brown Willy, but ensured that we had to really earn this county top.
- Start and finish at a pub. Check.
- Run at least 10km. Check.
- Summit photo. Check.
- Track route. Check.
I think this was the first time in quite a while that we’d hit all of the orignal requirements for a county top. Nice one Cornwall. I really enjoyed this hill, and so did Julie. Without the pressure of navigating we could just settle into the run and really enjoy the scenery. I think I’ll try to find some more county tops that have races in the future.
Share this post
Twitter
Google+
Facebook
Reddit
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Email