Notes
Good grief. Just over 600m of ascent in a mile and a half ... so I knew it would be steep, but even so ... Slightly disastrous for me, as I had no desire to race either up or (especially) down a 1-in-3 snow slope with hundreds of feet of exposure down to a frozen Stickle Tarn. So for me, it was really 2 x 0.5 mile races with a 2 mile walk in the middle. But for the most part ... a fast, hands on legs, sort of walk. A million people overtook me on the snow.
Virtually none of the upper section of the course is actually runnable, and the upper part was steep wet snow over grass or scree. Dubious. Glad to enjoy the final descent (overtook two on the sprint in!) and get back complete!
Amazing weather, clear blue skies - a week of cold, clear nights and mainly sunny, cool days. I would only do this race again in perfect, dry, snow-free conditions. (This course different to usual and shortened due to snow - up and back same way instead of all round H Stickle). We saw the mountain rescue helicopter hovering over Stickle Tarn as I started jogging home.