The OMM – Elite Kit Choice

The OMM is a two day navigation event that requires paired runners to carry all of their equipment including kit for an overnight camp.

The OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) takes place in October, when weather conditions in the UK can be bad, and visits remote upland terrain. Thus competitors are faced with a conundrum:
To go fast and light, carrying as little kit as the rules allow and thus skimping on comfort or..
Take a bigger pack and more comfortable kit but at the expense of having to carry the extra weight around the hills for two days.

A glance at runners’ pack sizes on the start line clearly shows those who have opted for a decent sized tent, roll mat and warm sleeping bag whilst others seem to have hardly brought any kit at all (and are facing the prospect of a cold and uncomfortable night ahead!)

My partner Spyke and I entered the Elite class with the intention of being competitive and so opted for the minimalist approach (what’s one night of discomfort between friends?) aiming to limit the amount of weight carried as far as reasonably possible.

The weather forecast for the event was for bitterly cold northerly winds with possible snow showers which had some bearing on my kit choice. Here is a breakdown of the equipment I carried with some explanations of my choices.

Mountain Marathon kit

Mandatory Kit (each competitor must wear or carry the following):

Taped waterproof jacket with hood
I used the latest version of the OMM Kamleika smock. Not the absolute lightest of waterproof jackets but more robust than some very lightweight options and likely to keep me a little warmer if the weather was as cold as forecast. I ended up wearing the jacket continuously whilst running and taking it off to use as a pillow overnight.

Taped waterproof trousers
Again I chose OMM Kamleikas for the above reasons although mine are an earlier model. They stayed in my pack during the day but I rolled them with the jacket as a pillow at night.

Clothing suitable for mountain running and walking
I wore a long sleeved merino wool cycling top. It was quite thick and whilst I have lighter base layers I felt that I needed something a bit more substantial given the forecast. It had quite a deep zip that I could undo to regulate heat.
I chose a pair of Ashmei 2 in 1 shorts with a long merino wool inner. These really help keep my glutes, hamstrings and quad muscles warm and so are more comfortable than a pair of tights. These combined with knee length CEP calf sleeves meant that only my knees were exposed to the elements. I chose calf sleeves over knee length socks because they stay fairly dry allowing me to keep them on at camp whilst swapping my wet socks for a dry pair. The calf guards also gave some protection to the lower legs when running through deep vegetation (we encountered heather, bracken and gorse on both days).

Spare base layer top
This was an old Helly Hansen and was the lightest base layer I had. I put it on over my merino top as soon as we reached camp.

Spare full leg cover
This was a pair of Asics tights and again these went on over the top of my shorts as soon as we got to camp.

Warm layer top
I chose my OMM Rotor Smock. This primaloft top has really good warmth to weight properties, retains its insulating properties when damp and packs down very small. I put it on as soon as we reached camp and slept in it.

Hat, Gloves & Socks
On my head I wore a simple windproof beanie with a buff round my neck which I pulled up over my nose and mouth when the wind was coldest on day one. I wore a pair of Rooster Sailing liner gloves and carried a pair of Goretex Extremities Tuff Bag mitts in case the weather got very cold and wet (I didn’t actually need these but they stayed easily accessible in the jacket pocket of my waterproof jacket).
Socks were a pair of 1000 mile trail socks with a spare pair of lightweight Salomon socks for the overnight camp. I put the wet ones back on to run in on day 2 – nice!

Footwear designed for trail and fell use
I used the trusted Inov-8 Mudclaw 300s for the maximum grip possible, particularly useful for the steep grassy downhills but generally good on all off road terrain.

Head torch capable of giving useable light for a minimum of 12 hours
This was a tiny Petzl E+Lite. I would have struggled to run or do much meaningful navigation with it but I figured that if we weren’t back at camp by nightfall then we wouldn’t be running anyway.

Whistle & Compass
Whistle was an integral part of the strap on my pack. Compass was a Silva Race Plate Zoom chosen for its fast settling needle. It doesn’t have bearings marked on the dial which takes some getting used to and means that you can’t set a pre taken bearing.

Map (as supplied)
Harveys 1:40,000 handed out at the start of each day.

Insulated Sleeping system
This was the OMM Mountain Raid 1.6 sleeping bag. The Primaloft fill means that it is still effective when wet so is a good choice for bad weather. My concern was that at only 450g it wouldn’t be warm enough. My sleeping mat was just a small piece of foam carpet underlay to which I’d stuck a layer of bubble-wrap. It only weighed 55g and was just long enough for me to fit hips and shoulders on it if lying in the foetal position. We also used our emergency survival bags as additional ground insulation and protection from the damp sides of the tent. This worked to some extent but they rustled at the slightest movement and mine wouldn’t repack into its bag in the morning and had to just be stuffed into by pack.

photo of improvised Mountain Marathon camping mat

don’t expect to get much kip on this!

First aid equipment
A few basic bits from a standard first aid kit plus 6 sheets of toilet roll and four paracetamols.

Pen/pencil and paper capable of being used in wet conditions
This was one sheet of Rite in the Rain waterproof paper and a stubby Ikea pencil. I also carried a permanent marker in my pack hip pocket in case I wanted to mark anything on the map (not used).
The First Aid kit, notepaper and pen plus head torch were carried in a tiny dry bag.

Survival bag (not a sheet)
I used an Adventure Medical Kits emergency bivvy. This is a really useful bit of kit to have with you for remote runs.

Rucksack
This was my Inov-8 Race Elite 20. (no longer available) It is a very lightweight pack with zipped hip pockets for access to food and was just about big enough to fit everything in.

Inov-8 Race Elite 20L packed and ready to go

Emergency rations
This was basically the extra food that I didn’t eat on the hill. For each day I carried 3 packets of Clif Shot Bloks, 3 Nakd bars (or Aldi equivalent) and a couple of gels. I had a packet of Shot Bloks, a Nakd bar and a gel left at the end. I find the Shot Bloks very easy to consume even when I’ve got a dry mouth. They are a lot more expensive than Jelly Babies but I find these way too sickly and can’t stomach them.

Water carrying capability
This was simply a 1 pint milk carton cut down to make a cup which I clipped to the waist belt of my pack. I didn’t take a soft-flask because 1; my pack didn’t have the pockets to carry one and 2; I wanted to keep my hands dry when refilling from streams and this is virtually impossible with a soft-flask. The plan was not to carry any water at all whilst running but to drink from natural sources as we came across them. This just about worked as the weather had been dry in the lead up to the event and some of the upland streams shown on the map weren’t flowing sufficiently to drink from. Day 2 was warmer and I did slurp from a couple of sources that I would normally have avoided but fingers crossed I haven’t suffered any ill effects! The home made cup system worked really well apart from occasionally rattling around on my waist belt buckle which annoyed me!
Water was available on the overnight camp and Spyke carried an empty 1.5 litre bladder that we filled and used for cooking and brewing up.

photo of improvised cup for mountain runner

milk carton for for a cup

Spare warm kit and insulated sleeping bag must be waterproofed (i.e. in a drybag)
As the forecast didn’t indicate heavy rain I chose to put my sleeping bag, spare base layer and leggings in a plastic bag sealed with tape. My Rotor Smock went into another smaller plastic bag, again sealed with tape. I planned to use these bags over my dry socks once in camp but other than getting up to the loo, once in the tent I just stayed there rather than wandering round camp. Had the forecast been for heavy rain I would have probably chosen proper dry bags for a better seal on the second day (it was difficult to get the used tape to reseal).

photo of improvised dry bags for clothing

sleeping bag, base layers and warm top in plastic bags

Mandatory Kit, each team must carry the following at all times:

Cooking equipment including stove with sufficient fuel for duration of the race, plus some spare for emergency use, left at the end of the event.
I carried a titanium gas stove (weighing 48g although some are now even lighter) with a 100g gas canister (200g when full) which nested inside a titanium Alpkit Mytimug 650ml. The Mytimug was used for boiling water and I used it as my bowl for breakfast. I used a simple Fire Steel as a lighter and took a small plastic spoon.
It would have been possible to save weight here as alcohol stoves or hexamine type fuel would have been lighter. Although a gas canister is heavier it is simple to operate, clean, adjustable and there is no danger of spilling it. I wanted to be able to get the stove going as quickly as possible with minimum faff when cold and knackered at the end of day 1. We used 60g of fuel. The Fire Steel (28g) was preferred to a lighter as it still works even when wet.

Food for 36 hours for two people
We took 2 x dehydrated chicken curry meals (600 kcal each) plus some dried couscous for the evening meal, a couple of handfuls of salted peanuts, some porridge for breakfast and 6 tea bags (we only used 3). No pudding, no hip flask, no luxuries!

Tent with sewn in groundsheet
This was Spyke’s Laser Photon, only really designed for one person so it was a bit of a squeeze! Weight with tiny titanium pegs was around 650g. Spyke carried the tent, I carried the stove and food.

The final weight of my pack was just less than 4kg but this was before the overnight food was added.

photo showing Mountain Marathon pack weight

final pack weight (without overnight food)

Overall thoughts / what would I change?

My main concern prior to the event was that I would be freezing overnight. I hadn’t used the sleeping bag before and so wasn’t sure how warm it would be. My plan was to wear every item of clothing I had with me, including waterproofs in order to stay warm overnight. Although temperatures fell below zero overnight (I know because my shoes started to freeze!) I managed without the waterproofs, just wearing 3 layers plus hat and buff (which I pulled up over my face and nose whilst trying to sleep). Luckily I had stayed dry during the day so I didn’t need to take any wet layers off or lie in damp clothing. I wasn’t warm by any means but I managed not to lie there shivering all night. However, with two people in a tiny tent you have to expect a long uncomfortable night with little sleep! I’m only 5 foot 3 and don’t take up much space which makes things a little more bearable – for my tent mate at least!

My sleeping mat was minimalist and not particularly comfortable but it was the size of the tent that prevented me from getting comfy rather than anything else. I think I could add an extra layer of bubble-wrap to make it a luxury edition!

Kit worn on the hill was fine. Day 1 was very cold at times with strong winds and a few snow showers but all zipped up and moving I never felt cold. Had the snow showers continued I’d have put on my Goretex mitts so although I didn’t use them they were worth taking. Day 2 was warmer although not enough to take off the jacket when in the cold wind so it was a case of zip up on the tops and unzip in the lee and on the climbs. Towards the end of the day I could have done with taking the jacket off as I was getting too warm but I didn’t want to waste any time.

I found using a compass without bearing markings to be odd. It also meant that we couldn’t check each other’s bearings. In hindsight I’d have been better with the Silva 360 Jet instead.

I was also unsure about how much food to take to eat on the hill as in the past I’ve overestimated. I think I just about got it right in terms of quantity with a bit left over at the end counting as emergency food. I struggled on day 1 and probably didn’t eat enough and in hindsight should have taken more gels or some baby food sachets that are easier to eat when your mouth is dry.

Camp food was just enough. I struggled to eat the porridge and even resorted to adding a chocolate gel to it to make it more palatable. It didn’t work! Oh and we took too many tea bags!

worth the weight! (Veterans Category)

More details of the OMM here https://theomm.com/

Note, the article contains affiliate links, you don’t pay any more if you order via them but I get a small commission.

Charlie Ramsay Round

The Charlie Ramsay Round is a running challenge in the Scottish Highlands, the aim being to cover 56 miles, 24 Munros (mountains over 3000ft) with a total of over 28,500 feet of ascent in under 24 hours.

56 miles, 24 Munros 28,500ft

Standing outside Glen Nevis Youth hostel on a sunny day in late May I was feeling a little nervous. The plan was to tackle the “round” with my mate Ian with only limited support; a couple of people meeting us at Loch Treig (about eight and a half hours into the run) with food and supplies for the next leg, and someone at a remote point by Loch Eilde Mor another 6 hrs later, again with food and enough supplies for us to get to the finish. We would have no support on the hill so would have to navigate ourselves and carry all our own kit. This also meant that we would have to “manage” ourselves i.e. keep an eye on our schedule, make sure we were eating and drinking enough and motivate ourselves when the going got tough.

a flavour of the Ramsay Round scenery on a previous reccy

My main concern wasn’t the physical difficulties of the Ramsay Round but the fact that I’d only managed one reccy of it and had no knowledge of the route through the Grey Corries. This was going to make route finding a bit more difficult and meant that we hadn’t had chance to check out the quickest lines. I was pretty confident that we could navigate the route but we couldn’t afford to spend lots of time studying the map. Choosing a bad line would be costly. Not having run the first section also meant that it was difficult to know what schedule to use as we had no idea how hard it felt.

and they’re off! Leaving Glen Nevis Youth Hostel (photo Masa Sakano)

We set off clockwise just after midday on Monday (our original plan for a weekend attempt had been postponed by bad weather) in warm sunshine. The forecast was for dry weather and equally importantly light winds. After 15 minutes of jog / walking up the Ben Nevis tourist path we passed a group of lads looking hot and tired who asked us “how far to the summit?” Not sure they believed our “a few hours!” reply!

Things went well for the first few hours, the rock was dry, visibility was good and navigation was straightforward. After Aonach Beag we found a good line down “Spinks’ Ridge” named after the line Nicky Spinks took on a previous round. We were slightly behind our schedule but had heard that it wasn’t a big deal to be slow on leg one and not to worry if we were 15 minutes or so down. However towards the end of the leg Ian wasn’t feeling too good and by Loch Treig we were over half an hour down. Helen and Pawel our 2 support crew were sheltering on the dam wall from the un-forecast rain shower (thankfully the midges hadn’t yet emerged) with our supplies and we were soon wolfing down some real food.

pit stop at Loch Treig (photo Pawel Cymbalista)

Ten minutes goes very quickly and no sooner was my chilli con carne scoffed than it was time to go again, picking up fresh drink, food, map and head-torch for the night leg.

We’d had the chat beforehand about splitting up if one of us was struggling and so as we headed up the lower slopes of Stob Choire Sgriodain Ian did his “Captain Oates” impression and urged me to press on. That was definitely the lowest point of the round, leaving my mate who was struggling and heading off into the gathering gloom alone. It was going to be a long night!

I hit Sgriodain on schedule and turned my torch on. The good news was that I was back on schedule for that summit and confident that I could make up lost time, the bad news was that low cloud was covering the summit and navigating to Chno Dearg was going to be tricky. I wasn’t looking forward to the next section, I had reccied it and knew it involved a rough, steep descent off Chno Dearg and an awful, steep climb through heather up on to Beinn na Lap. In daylight I had been able to pick out the lines of least resistance but it would be harder in the dark.

Coming off Beinn na Lap in the dark I was trying to run on a compass bearing but managed to get myself into some thigh deep heather with large boulders that hadn’t been there on my reccy! Thankfully it didn’t last long and I was soon on the good track leading to Loch Treig and I knew I could make up time with some fast running. I’d opted for support at the ruin at the NE end of Loch Eilde Mor which meant crossing the river (Abhainn Rath). I hadn’t reccied this bit but had marked the exact crossing point on the map based on a friend’s attempt. Once I’d successfully negotiated this I could again run quickly on a good track to the support point. I was relishing the thought of a welcome brew when my head torch flashed, warning that the battery was failing! I was still a good 10 minutes away from support, track or no track; “Please don’t fail on me now!”

Masa had cycled in from Mamore Lodge the previous evening and was waiting by the ruin in his tent with hot water and my supplies for the next leg. I struggled with my ration pack bacon and beans but the licorice tea was fantastic! I had made some time up on the previous leg despite being solo in the dark and with a grey hint of dawn in the eastern sky I knew that the worst was behind me. I’d reccied almost all of the next leg through the Mamores and as long as I kept eating and drinking I felt I could continue to make up time.

brew stop at Loch Eilde Mor (photo Masa Sakano)

Refreshed and resupplied and with Masa’s spare head torch I set off on the long haul up Sgurr Eilde Mor. By the summit the torch was off and I’d whacked 9 minutes off my schedule without killing myself. With the night behind me and the sun rising into a cloud free sky I knew that I could do it. It was just going to be a long run, in lovely weather in the glorious Scottish mountains – what was not to like!

The Mamores passed without incident apart from meeting two people! At each summit I looked ahead and identified my next target, then looked at the schedule and said to myself “No way!” The time allocated seemed impossibly short “It will take me loads longer than 35 minutes to get up there!” But it didn’t, I was knocking time off at every Munro. Feeling strong towards the end I was able to push on and when I managed to take 12 minutes off the Stob Ban split I knew that barring disaster I was home and dry.

Equipment I used:

a selection of the equipment & clothing carried

The route is a mix of different terrain: rocky, heather, track, short grass so for footwear I chose Inov-8 Mudclaw 300 which I knew would cope with everything. My feet were sore at the end and I had a couple of bruised toenails but no blisters. The only time I noticed my feet hurting was coming along the hard track and road at the end – you could possibly consider changing into something more cushioned for the last 30 minutes or so.

Running for over 23 hours with a backpack means that it needs to be comfortable! I used the Montane Jaws 10 which was big enough to fit in enough kit for a solo attempt. Mine is the older version with rigid bottles and I carried one bottle which was easy to refill from streams. The front pockets carried my compass, folded map and emergency phone whilst I adapted the pack by using an attachment from another bag to carry my Garmin Etrex GPS.

I wore a short sleeved cycling top with rear pockets to carry my food for the hill and long socks to protect my legs when in long heather (also in case I encountered any snow patches, again to protect my shins). Shorts were Ashmei 2 in 1 Merino (expensive but wonderfully comfortable!)

I chose the Petzl Nao head torch for 2 reasons; its long battery life and its reactive capability which would make map reading more comfortable (it automatically dims and so doesn’t dazzle with reflected light from the map). Unfortunately I made the mistake of selecting high power reactive rather than low power reactive which meant I only got four and a half hours from the battery rather than the anticipated 6 hrs +. Thankfully it got me through leg 2 – just!

I carried OMM Kamleika waterproofs (top & bottom) and had to wear the jacket (smock) when it started raining towards the end of leg 1. I kept this on until dawn, the deep zip allowing me to vent the smock when working hard. I wore thin gloves for the night leg and carried a buff (not worn). I carried an OMM Rotor Smock as an emergency layer as well as a long sleeved base layer (not used). Other emergency kit incluced a SOL emergency bivvy along with a small first aid kit comprising of bandage, plasters, paracetamol and 2 sheets of toilet roll – not needed! – and a mobile phone. I also took 2 spare batteries for my GPS.

I laminated sections of map, annotated with route notes and compass bearings. Having these back to back meant that I needed 5 separate maps for the whole round.

laminated map with route notes

I recorded the run on an old Garmin Etrex hand held GPS (I changed the batteries after 15 hrs) and recorded the split times on both a Garmin 910XT (which lasted about 16 hrs) and a Polar 610 sports watch (non GPS).

Food & Drink

Being unsupported on the hill meant carrying my own food and so was a balance between taking enough and being overloaded. I found on the Paddy Buckley round that I took too much and the same was true this time. Food for the hills was a mix of Nakd bars, Aldi pressed fruit bars, Cliff Shot Bloks, assorted gels and my secret weapon: baby food in the form of Ella’s Kitchen pouches. I used Elivar Endure and Hydrate Plus powder mixed with water that I found on route and from the 2 resupply points. I ate “real food” at the resupply points: Adventure Food chilli con carne with rice and bacon and beans. I was planning to have my favourite Bombay Bad Boy pot noodle in the middle of the night but as I was behind schedule I didn’t want to wait for it to rehydrate (it tasted good at the end though!) I had a bottle of Lucozade at Loch Treig support point and cup of licorice tea at Loch Eilde Mor. Water was plentiful on the route. I started fully hydrated and rather than carrying drink from the start I put powder in my bottle and filled it when I got to the Red Burn.

Navigation

This was by good old fashioned map and compass with pre prepared maps annotated with split times, heights of significant points, important compass bearings etc. I also had most of the summit waypoints loaded onto my GPS so that I could confirm that I was in the correct place if needed. I only used this twice, to check that I had reached Chno Dearg in the dark and clag and to confirm the correct location for the river crossing on the night leg. There was still a bit of snow on the Ben and on a couple of north facing slopes but nothing that caused us to deviate from the planned route.

Schedule

We planned to start soon after midday going clockwise. The thought process behind this is that you’re starting having had a decent night’s sleep and have only been up for 4 hours or so (an evening or early morning start means that you’ve been up for hours already and are starting “tired”). A midday start also meant that we would run the long flat section after Beinn na Lap in the dark. Navigation on this section would be easy and the terrain conducive to fast running, lessening the need to slow down in the dark. Also psychologically dawn is a good morale boost which is more welcome after several hours of running. We were hoping for a 23.30 round looking to start on schedule and pick up time on the last leg. The chart below shows the schedule times and indicates where I was behind (red) and up (blue) on schedule.

schedule with split and actual times

Lessons Learnt

The schedule wasn’t realistic. In hindsight I’d add time to leg 1 and take some off leg 3.
Know thy torch! I chose the Petzl Nao for its long battery life – having it on full power defeats the object!
I took too much kit. I could have done away with the long sleeved top and about a quarter of the food.
It is very unlikely that two people running on the same schedule will be evenly matched; one may be finding it easy whilst the other is struggling so it’s good to have a plan for that situation.

Low Point

Leaving Ian, behind schedule and setting off alone into the night.

High Point

Approaching Binnein Mor around 5am and getting back on schedule. The sun rose into a cloudless sky and a little bird was singing away. I felt then that I was going to do it.

Thanks

A big thank you to Helen Smith and Pawel Cymbalista for supporting us at Loch Treig where they waited in the rain, optimistically arriving early in case we were up on schedule! Also to Masa Sakano for cycling in to Loch Eilde Mor at night with a tent, stove and food for both of us (and for loan of his torch) and for waiting for Ian to arrive and lending him his bike to get back to Kinlochleven. Also thanks to Ian Loombe for his company on leg 1 and for encouraging me to press on when he was struggling.

back where it all began 23 hrs 18 mins later (photo Masa Sakano)

Map used:

Click the logo to see more of what I do:

Paddy Buckley Round

The Paddy Buckley Round covers 61 miles and ascends around 28,000ft as it crosses 47 peaks of North Wales.

Moel Siabod leg in beautiful weather

As well as the obvious investment of time spent training to get fit for the challenge it also requires a large amount of planning in terms of route choice, (it can be started anywhere unlike the Bob Graham Round which always begins in Keswick) equipment, food and support crew.

Planning the route:

The Paddy Buckley can be broken into 5 main legs, each finishing at road crossings where support can be accessed. I chose to run on a 23.30 hr schedule starting at 11am from Capel Curig, the idea being to get the longest and arguably most complex navigation leg over whilst I was fresh. The 11am start meant that if I was on schedule I would be into the Snowdon leg as it went dark and would see dawn as I approached the Glyders.

Getting to know the route is important and so I made a number of visits to Wales paying particular attention to the section between Moel Siabod and the Moelwyns which features a number of knolls that have to be visited. This part of the route is also particularly boggy and knowing the least wet line can save time and energy. I also carefully reccied the Elidir’s section including the line to Mynydd Perfedd as I knew I would be running this in the dark.

I also chose to have support at the old quarries at Croesor where friends would walk in with more water and a little food.

Planning the kit:

do I really need all this?

One thing I found really difficult was deciding what kit to take: bottle or bladder? bumbag or back-pack? waterproof or windproof or both? The weather is obviously an important factor and so with a hot, dry forecast I opted for an Inov-8 race pac4 with a 1 litre bladder that I would refill at the end of each leg. I carried a Montane Minimus waterproof smock and Featherlite windproof bottoms. I also had a dry bag containing my emergency kit consisting of OMM Rotor Smock, hat and gloves plus spare torch batteries, plasters, bog roll and paracetamol (thankfully the bag remained unopened!). For the last couple of legs I swapped the sack for a small Inov-8 bumbag.

hot sun and steep hills – race pac and bladder

I wore a light coloured buff for sun protection rather than warmth and a new pair of wool socks. Shorts were Mammut MTR 141 whilst my top was a short sleeved cycling shirt which I use for longer distances as the rear pockets allow easy access to gels, map compass etc. I also carried a long sleeved top to put on if it got cold (I put this on at the start of the night leg). For footwear I chose my trusty Inov-8 Roclite 285 shoes and had a pair of Inov-8 X Talon 212 in the support vehicle as back up just in case. The leg over the Glyders has a couple of sections of loose scree so at the start of this leg I changed socks, putting on Inov-8 debris socks. These worked well, it’s just a shame that the leg starts by crossing wet ground to the comfort of dry socks only lasted a few minutes!

For the night legs I used a Silva Cross Trail II kindly loaned by Matt at Lumenator. I used the torch on medium power with just a couple of bursts on full power for route spotting. The 3xAA batteries in the external pack easily lasted the 5 or so hours of darkness. I also wore an Alpkit Gamma torch around my waist, angled down to shine just in front of me. I find this helps maintain some depth perception and was really useful over the rocky ground after Crib y Ddysgyl and on Elidir Fawr.

on leg 4 in the dark

I made laminated maps of each leg with split times and any important route notes annotated on to them. I used the Paddy Buckley 1:40,000 for general planning but used a 1:25,000 scale on the actual day (for me particularly important for trying to map read at night or with rain on the map).

Planning the food:

I was pretty clear about the food that I would eat whilst running: a mix of gels (SIS and Mule), Clif Shot Bloks, baby food pouches (Ella’s kitchen) and Nakd bars. This was washed down with High 5 Zero electrolyte. What I wasn’t so sure of was what to eat at the support points. I managed a couple of bananas but also knew I would want something savoury to counteract the sweet stuff so I opted for tuna sandwiches, boiled potatoes with salt & butter, Bombay Bad Boy spicy pot noodle and spicy rice crackers. I also had a few cups of licorice tea.

Bombay Bad Boy!

I found the sandwiches were a mistake, I simply couldn’t chew the bread and ended up just eating the tuna. The potatoes were fine and the pot noodles were brilliant with the hot sauce being really welcome after hours of sweet tasting food. I decanted the tea into a bottle to take with me and swigged it with the rice crackers as it cooled.

The schedule:

I worked on a 23.30 schedule factoring in 10 minute breaks on each leg. The schedule and split times can be seen here Splits. (the last 3 spits are estimated as my watch ran out of memory)

How did it go?

The weather on the day was hot and sunny giving the advantage of excellent visibility but adding to the risk of dehydration and hyperthermia. The night leg was partly cloudy with a little hill fog over the Glyders at dawn but on the whole giving no problems with navigation. Even overnight the temperature was mild and the sky never seemed to get fully dark, the distant hills always a faint silhouette.

starting the night leg

I made one glaring error coming off the Glyders and descending the wrong gulley which cost me half an hour and a lot of stress! Apologies to my supporter Mike who was even more stressed – an introduction to down climbing wasn’t on the agenda when he agreed to help out! I also lost time on the last leg, coming off the very last hill where I lost the path and ended up in deep heather, not having reccied this section.

I completed the round in 23.05, twenty five minutes up on schedule.

Lessons learnt:

Route finding on a recce when you are fresh is totally different to doing so when you’ve been on the go for 18 hours. Don’t assume you know it.
Recce as much as you can and in different weather conditions. The only section I hadn’t checked properly cost me time.
Stay hydrated. Using a bladder meant that I drank little and often which seemed to work, particularly in the heat of the day. I chose an electrolyte drink rather than electro / carb mix and this seemed to work fine.
Keep eating, even if you’re not hungry. Towards the end of the run I used Clif Shot Bloks in the side of my mouth, letting them dissolve rather than having to chew and swallow. Take a spare map: mine fell out of my pocket on leg 1 but thankfully we had a spare.

Thanks:

I had a great time on the round, helped mainly by excellent (if a little too hot) weather conditions. It would not have been possible without the support of friends so thanks to Ian L, Tim, Ian F, Jules, Mike, Neil, and particularly Lynn and Darrell who drove lots of miles and met me at every support point.
Thanks to Ian F, Mike and Tim for the photos.

23 hours later!

Thought for Food

What is the best thing for a runner to eat during a long run?

Good question, and one to which there is no best answer. However there are certain things that work for me and I’m happy to share my thoughts.

The basic science is that Carbohydrate is the body’s main fuel source for hard exercise. This is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, however the body has only got enough stores to last for about 90 minutes of hard exercise. So if your race or hard training run is going to take more than an hour and a half you are going to need to refill the tank as it were by eating carbohydrate rich food. But with lots of choice of gels, energy bars and other food sources it can be hard to know what to use.

Fell Runners’ Favourite

A lot of fell runners I know swear by jelly babies! They are easy to chew / swallow and have a high carbohydrate content. Whilst I have used them I find them too sweet and I prefer other types of jelly sweet. My current favourites are Tesco Cherry & Pomegranate Gummies. These are more chewy but much less sickly than Jelly Babies whilst still having a high carbohydrate content. I tend to look for sweets that contain fruit juice rather than just sugar such as the Gummies and Rowntrees Fruit Bottles.

Runners’ Fuel

There are also a number of specialist gels and bars on the market. I use Science in Sport (SiS) isotonic gels. These have the advantage that they can be taken without water whereas most others are designed to be washed down with a drink and thus diluted. Some gels also contain caffeine although if I’m honest I haven’t noticed any difference between these and the non caffeinated ones. The bars also come with and without caffeine and resemble a very chewy flapjack. I tend not to use these as I find them difficult to swallow – they need a lot of chewing! – and it’s not ideal having a gob full of goo whilst trying to run fast!

The new kids on the block are Cliff Shot Bloks. These are like the old fashioned squares of Rowntree’s jelly only slightly firmer. They are easily palatable and not difficult to chew. Although the packaging advises taking with water I have eaten them on their own with no ill effects.

Gels & Bars

As these products have been designed with the athlete in mind they are seen as “specialist” and with that comes the inevitable cost. A single gel will cost £1, not a bank breaker on its own but if you are doing a high weekly training mileage, training for a long race for example such as the Ultra Tour of the Peak District, those pounds are going to add up. So are there any cheaper alternatives?

I like to use Coconut bars, nice tasting with quite a high carbohydrate content and cheap (39 pence from Tesco). Other options are School Bars, these are fruit concentrate bars, and Peanut Brittle.

Alternative Fuel

Whichever method of refuelling you choose you can check the carbohydrate content by reading the nutrition advice on the label. Look for the value per 100 grams, that way you can compare like for like regardless of the weight of the packet.

My strategy is to use sweets and alternative bars when training. Because I am not running as fast and can afford to stop for a few moments I am much less likely to inhale a peanut! I save the expensive gels and Shot Bloks for races. I might supplement the gels with a few sweets. Make sure whatever you choose is easily accessible, I carry them in a side zip on my bumbag. On a long run or race I will start snacking on the sweets after about an hour and take a gel after about 80 minutes of racing. I try to time the gel consumption to a steep uphill section where I am likely to be going slow and thus find it easy to open my bumbag and scoff the gel – it’s much harder to do this at pace. It takes about 10 minutes for the gel to take effect and the trick is to take the fuel on board before you feel the bonk.

Whatever fuel you use on the hill, please don’t drop the wrapper – including the little tab off the top of the gel. Unfortunately empty gel packets are becoming a common site on some race routes.

I rarely take a drink with me unless I’m on a long run in hot weather. Then I choose something like Tesco or Aldi’s own isotonic juice. This is much cheaper than Lucozade / Powerade etc and it seems to work.

Cheap Isotonic Juice

So what about post race? Well not only will you need to replace carbohydrate but protein as well. This is essential to allow your body to rebuild and recover. The general advice is to take on a carbo / protein mix straight after exercise. I do this with Frijj milkshakes – the chocolate and fudge brownie ones are Dee-lish! A cheaper alternative is Tesco Chocolate Milk, 2 for £2, better value but nowhere near as tasty! I will also have a banana with the drink.

Post Race Food

As with any food, one man’s meat is another man’s poison, or just because it works for me it might not for you. I know some people who react quite badly to certain gels whilst other people have no problem with them. The best thing to do is try a few different products and find what works best for you. And don’t use something on race day if you’ve never tried it beforehand – you don’t want to be diving into the bushes halfway through the race because your nutrition has given you the wrong type of runs!

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