Wednesday 29 September 2010

Team Ibuprophen. Rab 2010


Wow! What a brilliant weekend. That was probably the toughest but most enjoyable and satisfying race Ray and I have done together. A week on I am still buzzing.

Planning, prevents, pish, poor, performance.
 It didn't prevent us both forgetting to start our stopwatches. Doh!... Doh!...


 It all started two years ago when I had heard or read the phrase Mountain Marathon. Like most people I presumed it meant a twenty six mile race in the hills, I am glad to say I was wrong. A mountain marathon is; a two day fell race/Navigation challenge with competitors carrying all equipment necessary for an overnight camp.
After much research it was obvious that navigation was the key skill and if you will excuse the mixed metaphor. I could not find my way out of a wet paper bag. 
While searching the interweb this report by  Simon Willis came up. Simon recommended the excellent  Nav4 course.  The Two day course run by Joe Faulkner was a wake up call for me. The instruction was bang on, covering all aspects of MMs not just the nav but it also made clear to me, I was not up to a full mm. No matter how good the instruction was, what I  needed was practice.
The practice came in the form of fell races and Dark and White mini mountain marathons. 2008 also saw the birth of Team Ibuprofen, Male Veterans, combined age 100/109 Ray Mansfield and Stephen Burt.
SLMM 2009 
2009 I teamed up with ndm for the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon a very unequal partnership with me being very much the junior. Norbert is a true gent and all round mountain genius, a tough old goat, he snapped his anterior cruciate  ligament but still kept on going, ouch! 
On to the Rab 2010. During the SLMM Norbert was organiser, navigator, cook and very much team leader (Tks ndm I am eternally grateful) but this time it was my turn.  
The weekend went well Ray and I finished 138th of 271 starters but more importantly we enjoyed it and are still good friends, in spite of me nagging and bullying him. Well done Ray! Its easy to forget  Ray Qualifies for the winter heating allowance, I hope I am as fit as him in 20 years time. 
Next up, Mini MMs  with Ray and hopefully the Highlander with Norbert
next year.
Looking down on Brotherswater






A pleasant Sunday morning stroll. Control #129 Steel Knotts

The first and last photos by Jon Brooke of Right place right time 



Tuesday 14 September 2010

Peak Practice #2

The mermaids pool

More of the same. This time using some of the controls from the Hayfield round of last years, Dark and white mini mm,  visiting a few sights along the way.

I parked at the Bowden Bridge car park starting point of the 1932  Kinder trespass. Heading for William Clough I took the next re-entrant along, to the "shallow spur@ marshy junction head of main re-entrant". Then contoured past Sandy Heys, for a look at the Mermaids Pool. 
sheep in the clouds





From there to the bottom of the Kinder Downfall. The previous nights rain meant it was looking good.
A clamber up to the downfall and a run along the edge of the plateaux, before dropping down to Cluther 
Rocks, on to Broad Clough and back to the car. 



A good run out and the last one before the Rab.



Sunday 5 September 2010

Peak Practice


After years of using OS maps ( badly ). I needed  some practice using Harveys maps. The Rab uses Harveys maps  so I marked up a 1:25000 Superwalker map with the controls from one of last years Mini MMs and headed off to the Peak.

The weather was much better than the 50mile an hour wind and torrential rain, we had last November. The vis was good and it was cool enough for running with just a gentle breeze.

The route was up Grindslow, down into Grindsbrook Clough, up to the top, down into Crowden Clough, up the other side to the Woolpacks
then back down Crowden to the Pennine Way and home to Edale. A nice little run with no major mistakes.