Well, the mountain marathon is a two day adventure race - you set off on day one and are given a map with some checkpoints. You race to the overnight camp, then in the morning do the same again. Oh yes and in that time you and your partner are totally self sufficient. Did I also mention that you don't know where the race starts until a few weeks before so you cannot reconnoitre the area.
So basically that's it!
Way back in the mid to late 1970s I was looking for a new rucsac, in those days there were two major suppliers of high end rucsacs (Karrimor and Berghaus), and got a copy of the Karrimor technical guide. Once I'd ploughed through all the rucsacs (the Vallot or the Alpiniste? was the question), I found a section on the Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, a two day race in the hills requiring excellent navigation and mountain skills. As a teenager my interest was raised but never thought I'd be up to it.
Fast forward to 1994 and Richard Bolam suggested that we enter the KIMM, we did and didn't get in. The same occured in 1995. Finally in 1996 a large brown envelope arrived - we were in.
The training started and I gave up alcohol for two months. We were out in the hills every weekend and road running in between. Commemorate T shirts were ordered as were various bits of specialisty equipment.
From then on lots of interesting things happen;
On one of the early ones Chris Brasher (of London Marathon fame) and Eric Langmuir (author of Mountaincraft and Leadership) were competing together. In the car park a large crowd had gather round Brasher but I made my way towards Langmuir and had a good ten minute chat with him about his books etc whilst Brasher was being mobbed by fans. Certainly seemed to cheer Langmuir up.
KIMM 1996 - Galloway Forest with Rich Bolam - It rained but we are ready. Or so we thought. The next two days were a very steep learning curve. As we drove away from the area it flooded!
KIMM 1997 - Kielder Forest with Rich Bolam - lovely weather all weekend. Even ran and a section in shorts.
KIMM 1998 - Howgills with Rich Bolam - the original one with the rain, before 2008 happened. Rich knew it was windy when I was blown off my feet on the Calf. Got back to the start to find that our tent had been destroyed in the storms.
KIMM 1999 - Cowal Penninsula with Rich Bolam - my first retirement. We had been upped a level to B class and it was hard. As night descended we'd had enough. Overnight Rich's rucsac was blown away!
KIMM 2000 - Lakes with Rich Bolam. Back in a more comfortable class - remember a long section on road and a long descent at the very end.
KIMM 2001 - Clydes Muirsheil Park with Rick King - no date on the car sticker as it was the year of foot and mouth. Great views over Glasgow as the sun went down on the Saturday night.
KIMM 2002 - Cheviots with Rick King. Late arriving at the overnight camp meant that we pitched the tent on a slight slope - in the morning the site was flooded and we were fine!
KIMM 2003 - Langholme Park with Andy King - my planned partner fell ill on the Thursday before the event and my usual "back ups" were all spoken for. Picked Andy up on the way to the event. Sadly day two was a little too far and we were timed out.
KIMM 2004 - Brecon Beacons Park with Rich Bolam - swampy entrance to the overnight camp. First time we managed to meet up with friends at overnight camp.
KIMM 2005 - Ullswater with Rich Bolam - An area we knew very well but we were confused by it not giving the names of the hills on the map. Bit of a panic at the end when a large sign said "You have finished the last ever KIMM" - we were not aware of the change of branding but were reassured by the marshals that it would go on.
OMM 2006 - Galloway Forest with Rich Bolam - back to where it had all started. Thick mist late in the afternoon and we spent ages trying to find the last checkpoint (it was on a rock face).
OMM 2007 - Lowther Hills with Rick King - late start time resulted in us getting benighted and we retired at the end of day one.
OMM 2008 - Borrowdale with Rich Bolam - the wet one - much has been written about this. Yes, it was challenging but that's what we enter it for. We reached the overnight camp to be told that the event had been cancelled, apparently I looked into the sky and said "Why?" We then trudged over Honister in the teeth of a gale and slept in the car. My eldest son took part in this - it was his 16th birthday!
OMM 2009 - Elan Valley. Last one with Rich, he announced his retirement on the way to the event and the weekend was like he was doing a lap of honour.
OMM 2010 - Dartmoor with Tom Bacon - finally get to compete with my son (he did 2008 & 9 with a family friend). Day One absolutely glorious weather, even complained that the sun was in our eyes for the first few hours. Day Two rain, high winds and raging torrents where once were streams.
OMM 2011 - Comrie with Tom Bacon - Tom was ill the Friday night and it was an achievement to get to the start. We didn't get much further and retired soon after starting (top tip; don't do a mountain marathon if you are really ill!).
OMM 2012 - Howgills with John Bell-Winfrow - John was drafted in as a late replacement a few days before the event after Tom injured his ankle. It was wet and cold, in fact I think that at one point John's hands went blue.
OMM 2013 - Black Mountains with John Bell-Winfrow - the day before bad storms were due to hit South Wales.
OMM 2014 - Cheviots with John Bell-Winfrow- very windy. We thought that the overnight camp would have some shelter - it hadn't and we amusingly watched some people trying to pitch their tents.
OMM 2015 - Tweedsmuir Hills with John Bell-Winfrow. 20 up!
OMM 2016 ? Bring it on.
KIMM/OMM in Numbers
20 Entries
16 Succesful Finishes
5 Partners
5 Pairs of Fell Shoes (+ numerous resoles)
3 Rucsac
2 Tents (both Terra Nova Geminis)
2 Hats (both Lowe Alpine)
1 First Aid Pouch (in need of patching)
Tips?
- Always take a decent sized mug - one year we went with small light ones. You need a good mug of tea/coffee/hot chocolate at the end of the day.
- Check your plastic bags (for your feet) to make sure that they have no breathing holes in them (postage bags are good).
- I have always taken a mountain tent rather than skimped on weight and gone the Laser route due to the time of year of the event and always got a good night sleep. On a few occassions I've seen teams huddled up next to a wall with the remnants of a tent wrapped around them.
- Take wellies for the Friday night and so you help push out cars on the Sunday.
- Finally, have fun and enjoy it.
Many thanks to Jenn Longbotham and all at the OMM.
