Anniversary Waltz and Teenager with Altitude Fell Races

On Saturday morning my son and I sat off far too early for a drive up to Stair near Keswick for the last ever Anniversary Waltz and Teenager with Altitude Fell Races.  These have been held since 1997 and have helped raise thousands of pounds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Sadly Steve Cliff died from MND this year so this was the last ever race.

The Teenager with Altitude (TWA) started above the village with a first ascent up Causey Pike then 15.4 miles with 7,600 feet of ascent before finishing back at the village. We set ourselves up to capture the 300 runners who had signed up to this gruelling race:  

It as wonderful to hear the respectful applause and then cheer on the runners at they took a steady start to the run:

It made for a colourful spectacle as they wound their way up the fell side:

There was an hour gap before the Waltz was starting which was just as well as it took nearly 20 minutes to cross back through the village and reach the foot of Cat Bells where the race would start. This is the short race with a mere 11.5 miles and 3,600 metres of climb!

Once again there was a respectful round of applause before the approximately 800 runners set off:

Whilst the runners were off on their epic races we had time to appreciate the views from the side of Cat Bells:

I just had time to make it all the way to the summit (something I had never done before):

As well as plenty of hikers there were lots of supporters waiting to cheer their loved ones on:

It is such a rocky descent that I came back down so slowly that I nearly missed the first runner and only just filmed him as he ran away from me along the ridge! Then I managed to get further down to capture the action. The runners were all pretty amazing to have undertaken such a tough race on what turned out to be a 22C day. My son and I filmed the runners until we had either had filled our memory cards or used up all the batteries. It has been edited into over 1 and half hours of footage:

What a wonderful advert for both fell running and the Lake District.