The Mamot Dark Mountains (http://www.marmot-dark-mountains.com/) is a Mountain Marathon for pairs
taking place overnight in January. Obviously the weather overnight in January
can be really tough, but that is the beauty of the event, it is a real test of
mountain ability and navigation.
Last years event was in the Peak District and I was in the
winning team with Tom Gibbs. This years event was taking place in the Howgill
Fells. I was running with Jim Mann and we were expecting 10 hours of hard
running and navigation. With two other top teams (Kim Collison running with Adam Perry and
Tim Higginbottom running with Alex Pilkington) it was going to be hard to win
again. The weather this year was actually very kind. Patches of snow, but dry
and a bit windy but nothing too bad.
Kim and Adam had a storming run to easy win in a time of 8
hours 34mins for the 53 km course with 3000m of ascent. So congratulations to
them. I have run with both these two at recent OMM’s and I know how talented
and determined they are.
There was something strange with the map at the 3rd
control on the elite course. It was in a sheepfold and although it was in the
right place the contours all seemed wrong, its altitude seemed to be around 20m
higher than it was meant to be. Kim and Adam found it quite quickly, Tim and
Alex looked for around 10 minutes found another bit of wall and decided it was
not there, whereas me and Jim eventually found it after 35 minutes searching
(including going back to three different attack points and trying again). We certainly
know that slope well!
After that I started to struggle and the next three hours
was really bad. Jim was brilliant and just accepted I was doing my best and
carried my pack up the hills. But I am really disappointed. I thought I was
running well again and it is hard to realise this is not the case. I do
actually wonder if I am good enough to compete at the top any more. However, I
always try to look at the positive side of a race so these are:
- We actually finished the course with a time of 10 hours 41 minutes. I seriously felt like dropping out at times but as I have said before feeling a bit tired is not an excuse to give up (http://community.berghaus.com/athletes/running-tips-coping-pain/)
- After feeling absolutely awful for 3 hours I picked up a bit
- I am not injured and got round without doing myself an injury (which is probably surprising considering thenumber of times I fell over
- It was great being out all night with Jim, navigating around the Howgills
Thinking about it I have not done a run longer than 2 hours
since the OMM at the end of October. So I guess my body was just not prepared
to run this far.
Below are the before and after photos from Ian Corless (www.iancorless.net). The photos speak for
themselves.
Thanks to Shane, Charlie and the team of volunteers for
putting on a great event.
