Go climb that mountain just for fun fun fun!
No, I haven't gone mad, this little ditty is just to set the theme of the weekend of 24th/25th September, in which 9 Exmouth Harriers made the long trek up to Bethesda in North Wales to participate in the RAB Mountain Marathon. Amongst them was Terry Oldham who has written the following report which gives a real 'flavour' of the event and what our intrepid 9 Harriers had to tackle over the two days!
‘What you doing here then?’
'Taking part in a Mountain Marathon', I replied.
‘Where’s that going to be then?’, was his next question.
‘On a mountain, isn’t it!’, his friend interjected.
Well, the local teenagers wandering around the Dyffryn Ogwen school playing field in Bethesda, North Wales, as it was turning rapidly into a camp site, may not have been the brightest buttons in the box, but I could not deny that mountains play a role in a mountain marathon. And at the RAB Snowdonia Mountain Marathon on the 24th and 25th September, 2011, that role was as principal lead.
My exchange with them occurred while I was trying to erect, (no sniggers there!), David Backway’s tent, in a gale blowing down from the mountains that form such a dramatic backdrop to Bethesda. However, at 9 pm, it was dark, it was raining, I had never seen Dave’s tent before, and I was trying to engage a group of teenagers in conversation made difficult by their strong Welsh accents. I could see that this weekend was going to be about challenges.
For those that are not familiar with the sport, this is essentially a giant orienteering course played out over two days with an overnight camp in the middle. All competitors have to carry all that they need for the camp, including food, and return to the finish with their kit (minus the food!).
So, add to that a course that can take you over 26 miles on each day, with an extraordinary amount of climb, then this is something not to be taken lightly. It has to be said that the elite runners are usually the only ones who cover this sort of distance. For those classed as ‘standard’, then the average mileage is about 13 to 15 miles each day. It will come as no surprise that I was in the ‘standard’ class.
There were a large group of Harriers at the event, with Bob Keast, Paul Champion, Sue Wilkins, Dave Backway, Katie Comer, Lorraine Gilson, Jon and Lorraine Croome, and me, Terry Oldham, all on the start line on the Saturday. The weather on the Saturday morning had not improved much from the overnight strong winds and rain showers, so a challenge indeed.
Lorraine Gilson and I formed one team and we were joined throughout the event by Dave Backway and Katie Comer who formed another. Dave and Katie were new to the sport and so wanted to see a master at work. Why they were running with me I am not sure.
It is difficult to describe the terrain and the competition, and so I hope that there will be some photos to accompany this report in due course (there now are: see below! (ed.). They at least will show the terrain but may not give you full sense of what it is like to try and run over. The rocks and stone are slippery when wet (it was raining), the peat bogs are, well, peat bogs, there is tussock grass, heather, streams, rivers, and very steep ascents and descents. So, running was reserved for the occasional burst unless you were one of the stick thin elite runners who appear to be able to run up and down anything and have x-ray vision.
As for the competition it is all about points and gaining as many as possible in the time available. The first day gives you 6 hours and the second day 5 hours. If you go over the time limit you start to lose points and if you are more than 30 minutes over you lose all the points.
During the day you have no idea how any one is faring save for your own team (or two!). I have to say on the first day we also had no idea of how much time we had, which may explain why we finished about one hour early. I think we were having a Zen moment and so rejected all external goals, or something.
Anyway we had the benefit of choosing the prime location on the camp site, which in itself was in a prime location. A beautiful valley with a river running through it, which was helpful given that that was where we had to get our water from. By this time the weather had turned around to a warm and sunny afternoon and evening, and we had the pleasure of being able to sit in the sunshine and hear the tales of ‘who did what’ that day.
Sunday morning dawned warm and bright and so it was back to the hills for day two. On this day we took on the ‘external goals’ and actually knew what time it was and what course we wanted to attempt, so much for ‘Zen and the Art of Mountain Marathons’.
My route choice took us up the steepest way out of the valley which involved crawling up part of the hill, and who was it who said that the direct approach is not always the best? However, going up steep hills was what we did for most of Sunday and what a great day it was. We four really got in to the swing of it and actually scored some points too. We also got the timing right finishing with a long downward run in to the finish with just 5 minutes to spare.
I am pleased to say that all the Harriers returned intact and to a warm welcome at the finish. As for Dave and Katie I think they are now converted to the sport given that they were discussing the next event (even though still covered in peat bog and sweat, that was just Katie) only a few minutes after the finish.
So, thank you to Bob K and Paul and Sue for inspiring Lorraine and I to return to the hills and for introducing Dave and Katie to the delights of the electronic dibber. Don’t ask!...'
Terry Oldham.
All together now: WHAT IN THE BLUE BLAZES IS AN ELECTRONIC DIBBER? (And most importantly - is it legeal?!)
Pre-event carbo loading in camp!
Just a small hill to start with...
Beautiful Welsh weather for the event!
Slippery when wet! Terry and Lorraine pick their way over the wet rocks with intredipation!
Chairman Bob Keast leads his fellow Harriers through a river crossing
A peat bog! This stealth-like silent killer lay waiting in ambush for Katie to pass and then sucked her in, up to her waist! (Luckily Lorraine was on hand to mount a rescue!)
Lost?
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