15/09/2026
Last but most definitely not least of last weekend’s LETC exploits, Claire tackled the legendary “The Lap” in absolutely biblical weather 😅. Here’s what she thought about this super challenging Ultra:
“The Lap is a 47 mile (76km) ultramarathon around Lake Windermere in The Lake District with approx 2500m elevation. It is run anticlockwise in September and clockwise in May. You have 24 hrs to complete the route, with cut offs at certain aid stations.
I registered on the Friday night with my friend who was due to run the course with me. Registration was 7 to 10pm. We got there around 8pm and there was a long queue but it was very well organised and moved fairly quickly. Registration included a kit check, getting a tracker attached to your pack and an optional bag drop for the halfway point (spare shoes and whatever you can fit in them) as well as t shirt collection. After registration we went back to our hotel and I managed around 4 hrs of sleep before we had to get up at 3.30am!
We left the hotel around 4.30am for a 6am start as traffic can be an issue on the narrow road to the race village. Arrived with an hour to spare. The atmosphere was very friendly and positive but the rain started almost exactly at the same time as the race! The fast runners were set off first and then the rest of the masses. We were mid-pack at the start and nobody was running so we walked the first bit and actually I was momentarily not even sure if we had officially started! Once we got off grass and onto the road people started jogging and for the first few km as did we.
There then was a bottleneck where we went through a gate into a wood where it was single file for a long stretch. This was frustrating as we were probably waiting a good 45 mins and the very slow going for a while so probably added on an hour. Lots of people were unhappy with this especially with the cut offs. I think it happens every year but this year was worse because of the mud.
We had constant heavy rain for about the first 6 hours of the race and having this delay near the start wasn't ideal as people got cold waiting. The 8km to the first aid station took us something like 2h 30m because of the delays and all the mud. When we got there my friend was unsure whether to continue because she was not enjoying the wet weather and she was worried that she was slowing me down and we would not make the race cut offs. She was advised that if she wanted to drop out it was easier to do it there than continue another 14km to the next aid station which was in a more remote location. She made the decision to quit and walk back with some other participants who had also had enough. I went on knowing I had to push myself to have any chance of finishing.
The second section was tough going. The ground was largely swamp or any stony paths were like rivers so my feet were sodden. I saw several people suffering with injuries from slipping on wet mud or slippery rocks so although I was trying to keep up a reasonable pace I also was very cautious. It was very misty with strong winds up on Gummers How.
I did my best to keep pushing forwards, largely walking but jogging any easy sections. The rain did die down to a drizzle in the afternoon. Thankfully I managed to reach Troutbeck which is just over halfway in distance and halfway in elevation by 4.15pm. You had to be leaving this aid station by 4.30pm in order to continue. I managed to quickly change my top and socks and apply some blister plasters. Topped up my water and grabbed half a vegan pizza to take with me which I ate whilst walking. Lots of people quit or were time out at this point and many had also quit at earlier aid stations.
Having done a reccy of the next part of the route in May I knew some of the hardest hills were to come. Climbing Wandsfell was hard work but OK except very boggy so my feet got sodden again very quickly. Coming down was a big struggle because it is very steep rocky steps and my left knee did not like the incessant descent. I was very slow but a marshal kept me company as I was the final runner. I was happy to make it to Ambleside but concerned about time as had to make the next aid station by 10pm and knew I still had Loughrigg Fell to contend with and only around 2.5 hrs to play with. It was getting dark at this point too and I was on my own at the back (the Marshall had left once I was safely down Wandsfell). Thankfully a nice woman who had been a little ahead of me had been to a shop in Ambleside for supplies and waited for me. She suggested we team up for safety over the night time section and kindly shared a bottle of coke with me. She was called Jen and we stayed together for the rest of the route.
Loughrigg Fell was again quite boggy but the markers showed up well in our head torch light as they are reflective. We passed a male participant who we spoke to briefly who said he planned to drop out at next aid station as he had had enough. We made it to the top, took some trig point photos and chatted to the marshal there who followed us to make sure we got down safely. The descent was again hard going but not as bad as Wandsfell. We went past a campsite where the campers cheered us on which was nice and made it to the next checkpoint with about 10/15m to spare. Managed to top up drinks, plug our phones into battery packs, have a quick loo visit and got going again by 10pm
After that it's all a bit of a blur. We just kept pushing forwards. Chatting helped distract from the pain. Going up and down Latterborrow in the dark was a challenge - Jen was struggling with her knee by then. Mine was feeling better after some pain killers! I did get concerned that we wouldn't make the final 3am cut off at Far Sawrey and would have hated being timed out so close to the finish!
Thankfully we reached the final aid station at about 2.40am and were cheered in. There were portaloos and still a good selection of food and drink so refreshed our supplies. They told us we had 5k to go and "just a small hill". It did not feel small at this point!!!!
The final few km felt tough. My feet were hurting and I just wanted to get to the end. There was a stone flight of steps a couple of km from the finish which felt unnecessary! Then after we came into Cunsey when I thought we must be almost there it seemed to go on forever with no sign of the finish line and then a final stile to get over which just seemed like torture! Anyway finally the finish came into view and we matched as best we could towards it. We got a big cheer for being the final finishers and my friend was at the end to congratulate me and guve me a hug. Jen's husband and dog were there for her.
We got medals, official finish photos taken and were given hot dogs (vegan one for me).
Overall apart from the weather and the hold up early on, this was a great event. Extremely challenging terrain, very technical in places but very well marked and organised with well stocked aid stations. I might consider trying the May version sometime but it sells out fast so probably have to be 2028 at least. Would like to better my time of 23h 29m but am happy that I completed it as it was my biggest challenge yet!”
This is just staggering, Claire! Massive massive congrats!
