Sheep - Teggs Nose fell race

We got there early to this race so the kids could have some lunch at the sheepdog trials and we could take in some of the stalls. I've always been pretty impressed by rounding up sheep with sheepdogs, and this year my respect for these guys (and dogs) has been increased further.

Local lad and former One man and his dog TV star, James Gilman (pictured), was doing the two dogs round where he had to collect his sheep, take them through a few gates, then split the pack into two lots of three sheep. This looked like the hard bit and none of the other competitors managed it. He then had to pen three in a three-sided pen and leave one dog guarding the sheep. Then he had to also pen the other three using the remaining dog. All this while the stopwatch is going. Apparently, he had also won the championship trials the day before.

Next to all that, my race sounds pretty tame.

We had the usual race round the fields before being on the course proper. As usual, most people seemed to be running too quickly towards the start of the race, and for once I wasn't with them. I was wondering whether Cracken Edge was still in my legs, so I took it steady, hoping to make up places as the race went on.

In the end I steadily worked up to 7th, which is where I finished up. I normally aim for the lady's record, as it's a good indicator for me. Olivia's course record (of last year) was 59.23, and I managed to run it in 59.20. I was very pleased with this until Mrs Noel told me she had been talking to one of the organisers, who said the course was 100 metres shorter this year.

We also introduced Mrs Noel's sister, Sam, to fell racing. She has been nursing an injured back for a while, so well done to her on giving this one a go and still having a smile on her face at the end (or maybe a bit after the end). Well done Sam.