Runners star in yacht race (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Runners star in yacht race

4:12pm Thursday 8th July 2004 in Sport By Dennis Aris

SUPERB running by the three Lake District women who took part in the Three Peaks Yacht Race boosted the '5girlsinaboat' team to a magnificent third place overall.

The only all woman team to take part left international crews and forces teams way behind as they sailed from Barmouth, Wales, to Fort William, Scotland, scaling Snowden, Scafell and Ben Nevis on the way.

Fifth at Caernarfon (where it took two goes to pull alongside the pier) runners Wendy Dodds and Nicky Lavery then put in a fast time on Snowdon (5hours 31minutes) despite unpleasant conditions.

Alon Peled of the Israeli team on Tactix said: "The paths on Snowden were rocky, the cloud dense and with almost no visibility it was so cold, we were shivering. The ladies came up so fast behind us I thought they were on bikes, and running in shorts in that weather. Incredible!"

After sailors Sue Rutter and Julie Fawcett got them safely through the treacherous Menai Straits and across Liverpool Bay to Whitehaven the runners then turned the heat up on the opposition with Wendy and Nicky taking just 8 hours 17 minutes for the cycle to Ennerdale and the nighttime climb of Scafell, overtaking three other teams, before leaving harbour in second place overall.

The long haul to Fort William, with difficult winds and current between the Scottish islands, took nearly 42 hours, but they arrived third despite paddling the last few kilometres to the finish.

They had hoped to scoop the Tilamn Trophy, for getting four members of the team to the top of at least one fell, but decided to abandon it and just send Nicky and Ali Bramall up Ben Nevis.

"We decided to be safe and keep our third place," said Wendy. "If Sue or Julie had gone up it would have taken a long time as neither are runners. We would have had one person waiting for another who was much slower and if they turned an ankle or something it would not be safe. We'd probably have lost a lot of places."

It was a wise decision as conditions on Ben Nevis were at their very worst with heavy rain, no visibility and cold, strong winds on the summit.

After the race Wendy Dodds said: "We thoroughly enjoyed it and were very grateful for all those who sponsored our charities, Breast Cancer Care UK and St Wilfred's Hospice.

"There were many exciting moments and with all the runs being done during the night, with challenging navigation on Snowdon and Ben Nevis. We were a little weary at the finish. but delighted to hold onto third place, though would have liked to have stayed as close to Hellifix, the winners, as we were on departure from Whitehaven. We were also helped by Grizedale Mountain Bikes, Innov8 (fell shoes) and Salamon (packs)."