Report from the event organiser
The 2025 Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon took place in some of the most challenging summer conditions the Lake District can serve up. Congratulations to every competitor who completed it. The weather tested not only the runners but also our entire organisation, and it is a testament to the commitment of our volunteers, commercial partners, and extensive contingency planning that we were able to deliver the event safely.
We have received around 400 survey responses so far—thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share your feedback. (If you haven’t yet completed the survey, please do.) While many of you recognised the difficulties we faced, I wanted to share some background to help put the weekend into context. Because of this, my report this year is longer than usual.
We were very grateful to Jean Rowand for hosting us at Stool End Farm. It was especially poignant that her late husband, Keith, who helped us agree the arrangements last autumn, wasn’t there to see the event unfold. Keith had strong views, shaped by experience, on how the site should be laid out and operated—many of which turned out to be a blessing under the circumstances.
Regular mountain marathoners will recall that the OMM had to cancel its 2021 event at this very venue after a storm destroyed their marquee. We had our own version of that when high winds the week before the race damaged our marquee beyond use. Fortunately, the marquee company was able to provide a replacement, albeit smaller, older, and prone to leaking. Despite the conditions, Andrew Leaney from Sportident and James Thurlow from Open Tracking somehow managed to keep their equipment dry and operational—we’re hugely grateful to them for tolerating substandard working conditions with such good humour.
Mark Hudson was a fantastic host at Blackhall Farm, but no one could have predicted that two of the three roads into Cockley Beck would be closed for roadworks. This made moving infrastructure into place significantly more complicated. We could not have got the sites up and running without Kevin and Susan Dews, who dropped all their plans at no notice and moved into a campervan in Langdale for the week. Their work wasn’t over once the event began: the overnight camp was half blown down on Friday night.
That Friday night brought appalling weather. Our parking team did an incredible job adapting when half the site was suddenly lost to flooding from the small beck, which became impassable—something we had never seen there before. Many of our volunteers, whose median age is over 70, spent hours soaked through, carrying on with humour and determination, knowing that was just the beginning of the weekend.
By 9pm, torrents of water were cascading off the Langdale Pikes, in places not even marked as streams on the map, giving our safety team flashbacks to the 2008 OMM which was abandoned mid-race (news reports of “1000 competitors lost in the Lake District”). At that point, we decided to switch to bad-weather courses, avoiding major rivers, and prepared additional safety measures for Saturday morning if the water levels fell overnight as forecast. Maps were issued early so competitors could mark safe crossing points in advance. Fairfield competitors also received maps early to allow time to familiarise themselves with safe crossings, rather than having to do this under time pressure during their seven-hour allowance.
We could only switch so seamlessly to alternative courses because of the huge amount of work by our Planners and Race Directors – Julie and John Ferris-Worth, and Karen and Dan Parker – over winter and spring. They created bad-weather versions for all six linear courses, producing 24 courses in total alongside the two-day score course, and walked and ran more than 500km to do so. Planners report below.
When assessing competitors’ ability to cope, it’s important to remember their huge range of navigational skills. We pride ourselves on the inclusiveness of the Saunders, which attracts everyone from elite orienteers who can find a re-entrant in a snowstorm to people who wouldn’t know what one was if they tripped over it (I count myself among the latter). The harder courses are not only longer but also require advanced navigation, which is why newcomers are restricted to Wansfell and Harter Fell.
It was a huge relief to get everyone safely back to camp and to see the weather start to improve. We have never been more glad of our decision a few years ago to require competitors to be in pairs and to introduce trackers. While trackers help us see where teams are (when not in a dead spot), the fact that competitors are in pairs gives us confidence that help is always nearby if there is an incident. Some survey responses suggest that tracking alone would make the event safe for solos—it does not.
The value of mutual support was clear when several of our competitors stopped for over an hour to help a runner with a broken ankle, keeping him warm in a tent while awaiting the air ambulance. That he wasn’t even in our event is incidental – it exemplifies the Saunders ethos perfectly. Using the tracker timestamps, we were able to credit this time back to those who assisted, though we know none of those involved were concerned about that.
The marquee at the overnight camp provided welcome respite for many, although some feel it contradicts the self-sufficiency ethos of mountain marathons. It is there primarily to support timing, tracking, drinks distribution, and volunteer welfare, and also to serve as a place to socialise and follow results. Next year, we’ll be clearer that it is not for cooking or drying clothes.
Survey responses confirm that most people assessed the courses fairly given the conditions: over 95% felt they offered the right physical challenge. There were some comments about controls being crowded but these should be seen in the context of the event being focussed on a smaller area.
We’re especially proud that 37% of this year’s entrants were women. The SLMM has led the mountain marathon world in fairness, offering equal status and prizes across all categories, right through to our veteran categories which are handicapped for age and gender. A third of the vet prizes went to female-only teams, who made up 17% of the vet entries.
We have had reports of ticks, so please do check yourself thoroughly: look over your entire body, paying close attention to warm, hidden spots – armpits, groin, behind the knees, belly button, and hairline. Ticks are small, dark, and may feel like a tiny bump. To remove a tick, use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick tool to grip it as close to the skin as possible, then pull upwards steadily without twisting. Clean the bite area afterwards with alcohol or soap and water. Never use heat, petroleum jelly, or nail polish. If you develop a rash, fever, or flu-like symptoms in the next few weeks, consult your GP promptly.
Thank you again to everyone who took part. You showed extraordinary resilience, and we look forward to welcoming you back next year – hopefully in gentler weather.
We are already turning our thoughts to next year’s event – the location, the logistics, and the team that will make it all happen. I know that a couple of our long-standing volunteers have other plans and will be stepping back, so I’m keen to start building the team for the future.
If you love the Saunders, see yourself contributing over the longer term, and can commit to being 100% reliable, I’d be very interested in hearing from you. Succession is essential to keep the event thriving, and that includes the role of Organiser.
I’ve been doing it on a voluntary basis for the past six years, and I’d like to see someone gradually take this on over the next few years. Ideally, this would remain a voluntary role, but it is becoming increasingly demanding, and we would also consider creating a part-time paid position for the right person.
The SLMM is owned by Lakeland Events CIC Ltd, and we are looking to appoint two additional directors: one with a technical background in event safety, and another with expertise in CIC tax and compliance. These are volunteer positions, can be undertaken remotely, and require much less time commitment than operational roles.
If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, or if you’d like to have an informal conversation about how you might get involved, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Those who have competed in the Saunders before results were available in Si might be interested in this amazing work by William Winter who has digitised historic results and made them searchable here.
Competitors who enjoy a navigation race in the Lake District might be interested in entering the Lake District Mountain Trial. It takes place on the 14th of September and this year it starts from Patterdale.There are three courses. The Classic, The Medium and The Short. Competitors may run as a pair on the short. Over 14’s may run with an adult on the Short. Full details can be found on the race website https://www.ldmta.org.uk/.
To get a flavour of the event , the links to previous races and results will contain a link to RouteGadget, where you see, for more recent years, the courses and routes taken by some runners.
Another event of interest is the Border Liners Orienteering Club Long-O on 31st August. It is at Watermillock Common on the west side of Ullswater There are courses from about 5km to 18km, and it can be run either individually or as a pair. Entries open early August. For further details see https://borderlinersorienteering.org/events/
See you next year, provisional date 4th & 5th July 2026.
Stephen Ross, SLMM Organiser
Report from 2025 course planners
As another roller-coaster of a Saunders ride comes to an end, we are both relieved, happy and sad but mostly, very tired. We are used to this mixture of emotions, but it was heightened with a whole new set of worries caused by the downpours of Friday this year.
We spent the Winter trying to build-in route choice and spreading courses out over the area, whilst not overlapping recent year’s territory too much – clearly, in a Central Lakes SLMM, there is the highest chance of overlap. So, it was disappointing to have to move to the Bad Weather courses – I may not have hidden this well…
The area is cut by Lingcove Beck and we had always discussed that this would be the boundary of the Bad Weather courses. The safest spot to cross was identified early and an extra control added to a very nice boulder to constrain routes. Most of you appreciated that Bad Weather courses always necessitate confining competitors to a smaller area with the inevitable loss of route choice as we had to lead you all through safer routes. The poor visibility, we hope, gave you some sense of isolation, but your trackers showed us how concentrated you all were.
Sunday’s return to full courses gave us roughly predicted winning times and some spectacular views. It was lovely to talk to so many competitors about the courses and hopefully the new planner’s routes for Fairfield were appreciated. I am going to give up trying to stick duct tape to a wet tent though – look out next year for some smart correx board mounts!
As always, Dan and Karen have guided us through this process with kindness and we really appreciate their experience and knowledge. We have run the legs together this year (Garmin says 263 miles since the courses were finalised in January), and we’ve learnt so much from them.
John and Julie Ferris, SLMM Planners