Rab Mini Mountain Marathon
Coniston
Organised by Dark & White, this was round two of their Autumn Mini MM series and what a stunner it turned out to be.
D&W had tweeked the format slightly. For this event we were given four hours, instead of the usual three and the mapping was by Harveys, as opposed to Ordnance Survey. Both of which we were chuffed about. O. S. maps are good, with fantastic detail on their 1:25000 maps but I find the stripped back orienteering style Harveys much easier to read, when running and the extra hour, what is not to like about more time in the hills?
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| Herdys enjoying the views towards Grisedale and a mist covered Windermere |
Race day- A quick blast up the M6 to the lakes, our reward for the early start and long drive. Mist/low cloud in the valleys, blue skies and sunshine above. Autumn in the Lakes at its best.
The start was from Miners Bridge where Ray and I were handed a map and a list of control descriptions. Being a score event, the map was pre-marked up with 20 controls(check points). the challenge, to visit as many controls as we could in 4 hours.
Martin Bagness says in his book Mountain Navigation for Runners Factors to consider when planning route choice are ; Height climb, ease of running( the shortest route between checkpoints may not be the quickest), points values etc.
Ray and I usually simplify this to 'clockwise or anticlockwise?' 'What d ya reckon mate?' 'Er, that way'.
We went for anti clockwise this time and had a cracking day out, visiting; Red Gill head, Weatherlam, Black Sails Swirl How, Goats Hause, Goats Water, Little Arrow moor, Torver Bottom. Rounding it off with a short, sharp climb up to The Bell and a steady run in to the finish.
No dramas or nav issues just a classic day of running (well shuffling about) in the Coniston fells.
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| Strait up |
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| Photo pinched from Dark & White Challenge Events Time for a cuppa T |
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| Tea is nice but......... |
Other highlights and randoms
- Bluebird bitter from the Coiston Bewing Company
- Herdwick sheep http://www.herdwick-sheep.com
- Amusing place name; Boo Tarn
looks like the perfect day and the perfect end to the perfect day. perfect
ReplyDeleteps when was it?
Hi UC 11th of Nov. Yep the Bluebird rounded it off nicely.
DeleteLooks like a perfect day finished in the perfect way. Running and beer, two of my favourite past times.
ReplyDeleteRunning and Beer. always best in that order.
DeleteBluebird is one of my favourites.
Beautiful conditions to be running in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. It was a cracking day to be out.
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