DALE fell runner Charlie Ing is off to a good start towards retaining the Kendal Winter League title he won last year after taking top spot in the Whitestones Fell Race on Sunday, January 9.
This was despite spraining his ankle several times along the boggy 4.1 mile course.
Mr Ing, who only took up the sport two years ago, was unaffiliated when he came eighth in last year’s event, a little over two minutes after the winner Josh Jardine in a time of 31:32.
Now racing under the banner of Calder Valley, he shaved off almost half a minute to finish this year’s race in a time of 31:07.
He said: “The weather this year was so much boggier. There were two hills in the race and they were partly dry, the rest of the race was knee-deep in bog. There were still bogs last year, but they weren’t as bad.
“Whitestones is a race where you get a lot of high-profile runners because it is known as being a bit boggy and a bit different.”
Explaining how he beat his previous time despite the additional difficulties, Mr Ing said: “Last year I burned out a bit early. This year I just tried to coast it and conserve energy.”
The runner’s aims for the coming year is to improve on his time and become quicker by working more on the technical side of things.
He said: “Physically you can’t get any fitter, but technically you can improve. My uphill run is fine, but I do lose time downhill. I want to get my technique right.”
He hopes to have partly improved his technique in time to take part in the Welsh leg of the British Championship at Yr Aran on March 14.
