British duo Damian Hall and Anna Llewellyn were the brilliant winners of the Lakeland 100 on Saturday.
The pair actually ran together for large parts of the event before Hall moved clear and then had to then get the better of first Jarlath McKenna and then Ry Webb to come out in top in both the men’s and overall race.
Llewellyn meanwhile, who earlier this year took the overall title at the Fellsman, was hours clear in the women’s event and would take sixth overall.
The Lakeland 100 is actually a circular 105-mile route encompassing the whole of the Lakeland fells and includes around 6,300 metres of ascent.
Here’s how it all played out…
Big ambition ticked off
Hall had made no secret of the fact that a win in the Lakeland 100 was a big ambition of his and had been on his wishlist ever since he took up the sport of professional running more than a decade ago.
He said: “When I was getting into the sport, circa 2013, Lakeland 100 (L100) was the Big One domestically. And to many of us, it still is.
“I ran L50 11 years ago, when I was still a newbie, and it was a hill area bellyflop. But I was blown away by the atmosphere of the event.”
But having focused very much on achieving success at UTMB and Tor des Géants during the majority of his career, Hall always felt that a Lakeland 100 bid might be a little too risky… until now.
And he took his chance in style with a winning time of 19 hours and 33 minutes, 48 minutes outside mark Darbyshire’s course record from last year of 18:45.
Rollercoaster ride for McKenna
Jarlath McKenna actually led early on and was five minutes up on Hall and Llewellyn just over three hours in at the Wasdale Head checkpoint.
There was just a couple of minutes between them at Buttermere and then they were running together at Blencathra early on Saturday morning.
McKenna nudged ahead leading towards Dockwray but then it all changed.
And McKenna explained what happened when he told the race media afterwards: “At about 30 miles in, my stomach just couldn’t take any nutrition and then about 20 miles later I was ready to stop. But the crew at Dockwray got me going again.”
Hall and Llewellyn would go clear, with Hall then moving ahead – but now the big threat to him was Webb.
Webb actually moved into the lead between the Dalemain and Howtown checkpoints but Hall responded and gradually put distance between them.
But it was only in the closing two to three hours then he was able to build a significant buffer.
Lakeland 100 results
When the line came he was the only runner to go under 20 hours, with Webb just over half an hour back in second and then a further 35 minutes to McKenna who rallied well to take third.
Neil MacNicol was fourth while Rory Harris overtook Llewellyn late on for fifth.
Llewellyn though had the significant consolation of an utterly dominant win in the women’s race and sixth overall.
The women’s podium was completed by Charlotte Fisher and Sarah Page.
Fisher moved ahead of Page at Dalemain, but by then they were almost exactly two hours behind Llewellyn.
Later on they were running together but it was Fisher who asserted and took second, just under 20 minutes ahead.
Men:
- Damian Hall (GBR) – 19:33:33
- Ry Webb (GBR) – 20:05:31
- Jarlath McKenna (GBR) – 20:41:15
Women:
- Anna Llewellyn (GBR) – 22:20:29
- Charlotte Fisher (GBR) – 24:21:29
- Sarah Page (GBR) – 24:40:59
