Kong Mini Mountain Marathon - Bethesda

Round 1 of 4 in the Kong 2018 series was held from Bethesda. Each race is a 4hr navigation challenge of the score variety - so you get to chose how many check points you visit within the 4hrs and are awarded points for each. Being held in early February always runs the risk of it being chilly, and this weekend promised no spring warmth.

Snow on the ground above 500m or so and the ground frozen much lower down meant that my toes were positively frozen before leaving the car park. The good news was that the hills looked inviting and the day promised to be clear (unlike the previous day when the course setters must have got drenched).

Tim and I walked the 1km or so to the remote start and quick smart Tim was away. I loitered a bit, had the first of many kit faffs, then dibbed and was handed the course map. There was only one way to set off so no need to hang around pondering the map - I did this as I moved. Crikey - the course area was massive. I pretty much folded the map in half and never looked at the right hand side - far too ambitious for me to think about heading all the way out to the eastern edge of the map.

I devised a route that would take in 8 or 9 check points and tried my hardest to ignore my feet - they weren't warming up despite climbing over 250m to the first check point (CP). Dibber dibbed. Tick on the map and having already planned my next CP (I'd even taken a bearing too so I didn't beeline for the wrong hill!) I set off. A downward slope over rough terrain (no path in sight) and my poor map reading hadn't accounted for a gully - this didn't make for fast progress.

I had plenty of people to vaguely follow here, but knowing that some might not be taking the best lines I kept my map out. There's another faff - how to hold a map with big mitts on and no where handy to stuff it when not needed. 1.5km and another 150m climb later I'm scrambling over icy rocks to the next CP. Easily found and my route to the next CP in mind I set off in the right direction.

It's about now that I'm still not feeling warm (except hands, and yet another kit faff to stash the inner down mitts - this made stuffing the map away a little easier as my mitts without inners are massive - hand warmer already in there neatly joined by map and hand). I'm also feeling a bit off. Is it the cold that is messing with my head, or am I not feeling right?

I continue to the next CP - a rough tufty grass traverse round to a narrow ravine. I'm doubting my nav even though I can't have gone wrong. My head isn't in the nav game today for sure. I dib this CP then seriously ponder turning back.  I check my watch and see I've only been out about 55mins. Blimey, I can't go back yet. Only 3 CPs found....my minimum aim in these events is always 5. That seems a nice number. I can easily retrace my steps so far and the next CP is again around a rough traverse. Even if I go at walking pace it's only 1km away so at that point if I turn back I'll only be about 5km from the finish....tonnes of time to just walk. Oh the conversations that go on in my head!

I pick up a bit of pace having found a trod that is traversing straight for the sheepfold and the CP. Great. 4 CPs dibbed and at least another 3 look well likely to get a vaguely respectable not-last-position. The climb out of the last CP is brutal - 100m over less than half a km. No trods either, just tufty frozen grass and delightful spiky gorse stuff at ankle height.

I'm on a hill I've been on before so gaining the high point and dropping over the other side gets me onto a path I know. Turn right then the next CP is down a steep bank on a river bend.  On the climb though I really start to feel pretty rubbish. I'm too hot but taking a layer off puts me really cold. I feel sick and actually really alone. There'd been a few other runners close by for a while but now I'm really alone.

I check the map. The CP on the river bend would have me lose about a good few hundred metres in height only to have to regain it again. The ground is really rough and steep. I decide to give it a miss. It just doesn't feel right for me so I trundle along at a snails pace, mostly walking, back around the flanks of Moel Wnion. More map checking, more kit faff. Am I hungry? Will eating take the sick feeling away. I try a well tested chocolate bar and in it's semi-frozen state it goes down and stays down. Phew. But over the next 15-20mins I don't feel any better.

It's about now I have a serious talk to myself. Firstly I need to stand up and move. Just get moving and go somewhere.....preferably roughly back towards the finish. Looking at where CPs are there are two that I should be able to get but scanning the hillside I really don't feel up to the long steady climb/traverse to one. Scrap that then.

All this time, with me feeling rubbish and not really being very successful in gaining many CPs I keep reminding myself that I am so lucky to be in the hills. They truly are resplendent and stunning with the snow covering them high up. The sunshine is out and I make myself believe I'm warmer than I probably am. I really do appreciate being in the hills and am thankful we went to do the event.

So, I now have one final CP in mind to get. Even walking I have loads of time but I keep trying to run. Even on downhills I feel really not right so keep stopping to admire the views and return to walking pace. Then comes the wet marshy bogs across the saddle area....bugger, my feet were kind of feeling a bit warm but are now plunged into icy cold water. Even where no water seems apparent the ground is sodden and splashes with every footstep. This probably only goes on for about 200-300m but it feels way longer.

Focus. Next CP will be my last. I drop down to a river in a gully and firstly realise that the CP is further away than I thought. My concentration clearly isn't right today. Then, two guys pass me and one semi-falls in the river. It isn't that deep but I'm not confident crossing it. I sit a little, the guys speed off up the hill, and as I'm crouched down chastising myself for being a wimp another guy appears. He offers to help me cross but there's no point - I'm coming back this way so I need to do it alone or not at all - he deftly leaps across some icy slippy boulders and is away up the hill too.

Nothing for it but to write this event off as a decent few hours in the hills. I really did love being there, though would have preferred to feel warmer, and not sick!! I return to the finish then the long kilometre on the road back to the van. Soup, tea and cake help console me as I await Tim returning.

Thanks to the Kong organisers, cake bakers and soup makers. Nav events are fabulous and I'm looking forward to our next adventure in Wales in a few months.

Dovedale Mini Mountain Marathon

Dovedale and the area we'd be running in

I partnered up with Jud, a Glossop Mountain Rescue member and fellow Glossopdale Harrier for this two hour Dovedale Mini Mountain Marathon. It's a familiar format for us, having partnered at the Edale MMM back in November last year - just the difference with this being 2 hours, not 4. It was a humid evening, with a few spots of rain here and there but overall good running conditions. Thankfully not very wet underfoot as the limestone in Dovedale can be treacherous when wet.

Jud on a steep climb, still smiling

We registered, chatted with a few other Glossopdale Harriers also running, and caught up with SBRT who's another regular at these events. At the start we dibbed, got handed a map and then studied it trying to decide which way to go. Jud had run a marathon only 5 days ago, and then proceeded to top it up with an 8km walk - all part of his training for an ultra in mid-August. His legs mostly worked fine, though there were a few words along the way when they started to falter. I should have been fresher than I was, I reckon the twice up the Snake Pass (which is currently closed) on my bike has taken more out of me than I realised. Not to worry, we were out in the hills and amusing ourselves with 'interesting' route choices.

searching for a checkpoint with other runners

looking down one of the minor valleys into Dovedale

We didn't really go wrong anywhere, just didn't take optimal lines or home in on checkpoints as smoothly as we could. The lesson learnt is to trust your instincts and not get carried along by others who may or may not know where they're going. Enough said on that.

meeting up with John S, fellow Glossopdale Harrier
as he climbs out of, and we descent into Milldale

It became apparent about half way round our loop that returning back within 2 hours, and thereby not having points deducted for a late finish may not be feasible. We ditched the idea of one checkpoint, focusing on a return to the finish picking off a couple of checkpoints along the way.  After what seemed like an eternity and a time-warp-distance-sapping run down Dovedale we started on the climb up Lin Dale....onwards and upwards. I'd have loved to nip onto Thorpe Cloud to grab that checkpoint but we were certainly going to be back late so no need to lose even more points. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I have ever been to the top of that place, I must return sometime.

Thorpe Cloud, left for another day

We had a super couple of hours out in the hills, which is what it's all about. Turns out we were 3rd in our category and 55th/107 overall. Pretty good considering we were 8:23mins late and therefore lost 13 points. If we'd been back on time we'd have been about 50th. Many thanks to the organisers, these events are always well set up and the bonus free cake at the end this time was very much appreciated.

Dark & White Mini Mountain Marathon: Edale

Checking the forecast before this event we knew it was going to be foggy in Edale and on the Kinder plateau for this 4hr mini mountain marathon. I double and triple checked that I had my compass packed. It was a necessary item for kit checks, and one this is virtually always in my bag anyway when I'm heading into the hills. Yesterday, it got used. The fog was so thick at times visibility was down to about 50m - even obvious things like a cluster of rocks you can identity from a few kilometers away weren't recognizable until you were stood next to them.

I was running with Jud, a friend from Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, so I was fairly confident we wouldn't get properly lost. We didn't. But we did take a few interesting routes to a couple of check points. I was mildly nervous before the start. Having only recently come through rehab for a calf strain I haven't run more than 90mins since mid September (just checked, didn't know it was that long). On this type of event though, for me at least, it's all about sustaining a pace that you can go at for the whole event, so no point blowing up on the first hill. Tactics were to walk the up hill bits and run where we could.

After registration it was outside for the kit check and dib at the start as we were handed the maps. Great to see no check points (CPs) on the Mam Tor ridge, and most seemed to be on the southern edge or Kinder. Slight relief that we wouldn't have to navigate across the plateau in such testing conditions.

We decided on a vague route, agreeing that we'd keep on eye on the watch, distance out from the finish and energy levels.

Our first CP was 15, and we both knew the route to it so maps away and off we went. The scale of the map was 1:30,000, so not massively different to the scale I'm used to (1;25,000). After finding CP15 it was an uphill slog to CP16 at the end of Ringing Roger, which on a clear day would have been very easy to find. First slight error of the day put us on the path on the easterly side of the point we wanted, but recognising the path thankfully only cost us slightly.

Next up CP 14 which I felt was not entirely in the right place, though the description was right. Back on the edge path we soon found CP12 and onto CP5....our plan next was CP4, but after a discussion decided to beeline (in a very round-about-way) to CP1 and bag 40 points over at Edale Rocks. We navigated back to the edge path much quicker, then dropped into The Cloughs for CP4, a quick hello to a few fellow Glossopdale Harriers hacking uphill, and we were descending steeply through dead bracken for CP3.

We were quickly on a good path heading to Upper Booth, and a left turn uphill for CP9. Quick calculations of ascent and distance back to the finish to CP10 meant that we were going to have to push in the final 30mins to get back without a time penalty. Navigationally it went really well here and apart from not knowing if we were slightly above or below CP10 we got to it in 14mins. Really good going after 3.5hrs and with a climb of about 140m from the last CP. We now had around 19mins to get back to the finish. I roughly calculated about 2km, but we had a tufty grass traverse to do for about 500m then a steep rocky descent to lose about 250m before the final 750-800m on tarmac down the road. It was going to be tight.

The fog was still thick, so anytime myself and Jud were more than about 20-30m apart we faded into the shadows. I kept pushing on the traverse, knowing if we went a walking pace we'd be in time penalty's. Finally we got to the path, had safely avoided the out-of-bounds area and were on the rocky descent. The couple of fields we had to cross were lovely soft springy grass so we could stride out for the first time. Then tarmac and only just over 4:30 mins left. I've run this road before, and it always goes on for longer than you want so I upped the pace and pushed us in to the finish with just 42secs spare. By my watch we had 53secs, so always good to go that bit harder than you want. Superb running by Jud, we did our fastest kilometre on that final one, pushing a sub 5min/km pace is not an easy thing to do after 19km and about 900m of ascent.

The soup, bread and cake was very welcomed once we'd changed and got inside the village hall. Thanks to Jud for being a super running and nav partner, and to the organisers for a great event. Nice to see friends and familiar faces in the hall too, sorry I missed a few people...until next time.