Going Downhill Fast

No, not a comment on my general physical and mental state, a skill to be learnt in fell running.

I am something of a fell running novice, having only competed in my first race last October. I have two main weaknesses on the fells, but they are significant, running fast up hills and running fast down hills. Now running fast up hills is a problem I seem to share with the vast majority of competitors and in comparison to many I am reasonably fast, I just need to work on my endurance for long ascents and probably man up a bit. Descending fast appears to be much more of a dark art.

A number of times I have been overtaken on descents by runners who I am much faster than on ascents and particularly the flat. Whilst I am never going to worry the sharp end of a fell face, I definitely want to try and get better.

I don’t descent particularly fast even on the road, I have quite a short stride, which helps me climb those hilly roads at a decent speed, but isn’t great for gravity assisted acceleration. On the fells this is compounded by the technical nature of many descents which make the action as mental as it is physical.

The standard advice is to turn off the brakes and disengage the brain. Braking not only slows you down, it causes additional stresses on your body and some would argue actually makes you more likely to have a fall. The problem is you only want to disengage part of your brain that tells your body to constantly brake, not the part that reads the terrain and helps you stay upright.

I think a big part of the problem is that I am a chicken, who likes to feel in control, as my bum twitching experiences of forty mile an hour plus hill descents on my road bike can testify to. That said; there are skills to be learnt and practiced to at least give the brain an illusion of control and most importantly get faster.

I thought it would be useful to try and gather some more detailed advice from some people who have managed to hardwire the skills into their partially disengaged brains.

A common theme seems to be that great descenders are born and not made, but some basic schooling in the art can improve the ability of most. I have looked at and practiced to varying degrees, three tips for going downhill fast.

1.         One international mountain runner and winner of numerous fell races, told me that the position of your upper body is crucial, it is in effect both accelerator and brake. Lean into the descent and keep you body weight forward. This takes a certain amount of bravery and can look somewhat reckless, but it does seem to work.

2.         Linked to body position is the position of your feet, when descending all but scree, foot should be pointing down the slope, to maximise stud contact. This takes a bit of work, but it is definitely easier if you are starting to get your body position right.

3.         Norman Mathews in his book, Fell and Hill Running, talks about “fast feet” by this he means having good eye / foot coordination. I guess this is the hardest and most natural skill to learn, I have certainly found it the most difficult part of my running to change, but there are tricks to make it easier. Look ahead and trust your brain to move your feet without actually looking at them and make sure the length of your stride is matched to the terrain, long strides are inappropriate on ground that is strewn with boulders.

So, how have I got on trying to get faster running down hills. I have had a couple training runs and a fell race since I first started researching and I think I have seen some progress. I managed to overtake a few people on steep descents when I raced at Bull Hill and think I have got quite a bit faster on less steep descents simply by adjusting my body position, but I still have a lot to learn and don’t think I am a natural, so learning will be hard work.