Good afternoon all
Hope all is tiptop with you.
Second blog within a month, what is going on?
Ideally aiming to keep these less sprawling and more frequent. Might have failed with this one.
Here is a quick wrap-up of happenings.
(A bit fellrunningcentric this time, as apart from working and sleeping that has all that has been going on in Tadlandia).
Round-up.
Glorious summer sunshine.
Resisted the generous offer off “Motorway” to buy my van.
Although I hate harming animals, I make an exception with slugs (and ticks and horseflies). When I was a raving alcoholic, in Australia I would bathe in and drink this delicious nectar by the gallon. (Although when I was liike death the next morning, my Aussie landlady would say “Mate, why do ya drink that dog’s pi$$?”
Now I am a self righteous teetolaller, I used this (10yrs out of date) bottle of lovely VB to intoxicate the slugs, RIP little fellas.
Got a cool card off the Young ‘un for Father’s Day 🙂
Everyone should take note, especially those ignorant mutes around Papyrusville!
I love Temu!
The Bob Graham Round.
“The Bob Graham Round; the 66 mile, 27,000 ft circuit of 42 of the highest peaks in the English Lake District within 24 hours.
First done way back in 1932 by Bob Graham, hotelier of Keswick, Cumberland, at the age of 43, the 42 Peak Round has become a testing ground for the supremely fit. Each summer around 200 of the most highly tuned ultra-distance fell runners will attempt the Round within the allotted 24 hours. Only one in three will return to the Keswick Moot Hall before the clock runs down. Most of the rest will be back again…!”
(Bob Graham ran it in pyjamas and plimsolls, sustained by boiled egss and was back at work serving breakfast the next morning.
That is what the website says anyway!
If you do do it, you become a member of the Bob Graham Club, get a certificate at a swanky dinner and bragging rights for a few weeks/months/years, opening supermarkets, signing autographs and kissing babies.
Made immeasurably more popular since the release of Richard Ashcroft’s “Feet in the Clouds”, the BG is a (sub) 24hr challenge for fellrunners and other associated lunatics, starting and finishing at the Moot Hall in Keswick marketplace, scaling a circuit of 42 peaks. Part of a holy trinity of sub 24hr challenges, along with the Paddy Buckley Round (Wales) and the Ramsay Round (Scotland). Just recently James Gibson completed this trilogy within 6 mths, but he actually did double rounds of each. Across the three double rounds, Mr Gibson ran 370 miles, climbed 226 mountains, and ascended a total of 167,000 feet – almost six times the height of Mount Everest.
Permission to gulp!
The BGR is not the be all and end all of fellrunning, there are equally/arguably more tough/beautiful/aesthetic rounds, but as most runners will be asked “Have you done a marathon?” (answer yes), “Ahhhh, but have you done the London Marathon?”
Fellrunners will be asked “Have you done the Bob Graham Round?”
I “did” mine in 2009 with my mate Glen.
It wasn’t the best 24hrs of my life*, it didn’t change my life, the angels didn’t sing, I had to have all sharp objects taken away for a time, but I am very proud that I did it (and relieved that I did it and don’t have to do it again!)
(*It possibly could/should/would have been one of the best 24hrs of my life, but things just didn’t go to plan in the immediate 6 week lead-in and I got injured, and definitely ran sub-par and suffered like a dog! It was to be expected).
Glen was an inspiration throughout and without him (or his support/logistics) I seriously doubt I would have got round. I owe yer buddy! One of the absolute highlights of my whole experience was meeting the late, great Fred Rogerrson, who signed my certificate.
One of the conditions of doing the round, and thereby becoming a member of the Bob Graham Round club, is that you agree to help other people attempting their rounds. Ergo, one might find themselves at Dunmail Raise at 3am on a Saturday morning, peering up into the lashing rain, wind and clag for some poor sod who is looking for the “right cairn” on Fairfield and 2hrs behind schedule! Added to which mayhem, there may be other rounds going on, so make sure you get the right person.
In much more favourable conditions, I found myself waiting 45mins in a busy/fell Keswick car park on Saturday morning on longest day weekend, strategically waiting to pounce on the first person to leave, then trotting to Booth’s car park, where I waited like a French revolutionary during the war on a train platform, to get a lift to Wasdale, to meet our intrepud 2 runners and cajole/help/navigate/try to keep up** with them around the final 2/5 of the round, on legs 4 and 5. (**It turned out to be the latter!)
Leg 1 – Keswick to Threlkeld
Leg 2 – Threlkeld to Dunmail Raise
Leg 3 – Dunmail Raise to Wasdale Head
Leg 4 – Wasdale Head to Honister Pass
Leg 5 – Honister Pass to Keswick
Piece
Of
Cake!
What the legs descriptions above don’t tell you is that there are 42 bumps sandwiched in between all these road crossings!
Leg 1 – Up Skiddaw, down to swim across the River Caldew, up Great Calva, a mini Mount Fuji which would probably never had many visitors at all were it not for Mr. Graham, across the river and bog up the back of Blencathra, then teeter down Hallsfell ridge to Threlkeld.
Leg 2 – Straight up Clough Head, along the Dodds, up Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Dollywagon Pike, down to Grisedale Tarn, UP Fairlfield, down and up Seat Sandal (dead centre of the Lakes) and down to Dunmail Raise, avoiding getting run over.
Leg 3 – Straight up Steel Fell, onto a confusing land of knolls (a nightmare in the clag), Calf Crag, Sergeant Man, High Raise, Langdale Pikes, down (into the valley of despair) and up Rossett Pike (half way) and then an ascending traverse up Bowfell, Esk Pike and onto the Scafell ridge, starting with Great End, Broad Crag, Ill Crag, Scafell Pike (“roof of England”, busy but not as busy as Snowdon as there is no train nor cafe), then the route choice between:
a) Foxes Tarn (don’t do it)
b) Broad Stand, a rock climb albeit low grade but more polished than Mr. Sheen’s mantlepiece. Quick option, but really does need a rope, unless you are Alex Honnold.
c) Lord’s Rake and the WWT, the best route. A steep and loose (and generally damp) scree slope which used to have a HUGE chockstone balancing precariously at the top. It was always a scary, hold-yer-breath moment to thread the needle. Now gone, the chockstone fell down one night, thankfully not killing any round attempters.
Halfway up, turn left up the West Wall Traverse and onto the summit plateau.
Watch out if anyone is coming down LR or WWT, as a falling rock would be troublesome. Up to the summit and screesurf/freefall/tumble down all the way to Wasdale Head NT car park.
Leg 4 – Straight up Yewbarrow (the nemesis of many a round), onto Red Pike (Wasdale, not Buttermere), out and back to the delighful Steeple, back on yourself to Pillar, Kirk Fell, Great and Green Gable. Legend has it that if you are still semi-human and in time, you’ll do it from here, down to Brandreth, Grey Knotts and to Honister Pass for one final pit stop.
Leg 5 – The victory lap! UP Dalehead, the same way as the Borrowdale race, false summits just keep giving. An arc round to the penultimate top, Hindscarth and one final climb up Robinson, 42 peaks done.
A plunge down to Little Town to the road (change into road shoes or not dilemma), then 6 miles/10km along the lane all the way to the outskirts of Keswick which by now feels like a big city after having been in the wilderness so long, turn right into the market and sprint to the Moot Hall, up the stairs and bang the door. Job done!
(All the above in reverse if you are mad enough to go ACW).
Back to Christopher and Gaz.
Christopher is the likeable host of STUDMARKS podcast and an uncanny resembleance to Superman. Gaz is a Wirral male model and the O’Keefe’s foot cream star from Rossendale, who graces a Todmorden vest. I had met Christopher (at the Old County Tops), had never met Gaz and didn’t really know any of the other people on my legs (the bits I was helping, not actually on my legs). Fellrunning however, is a very small world, so as it turned out I did kind of know some people and we were all friends by the end of it all, (but not in a weird, mass, cult-style blind date way).
Keswick was bonkers busy. Due to the Triathlon on the Sunday, the main car park was shut and with the double whammy of a sunny forecast and it being the longest day weekend, everywhere was rammed.
Like two French Revolutionaries meeting on a train station platform, I met Toby (who I had met before, in the Achille Ratti dorm on the night following the “Urinegate” scandal). Toby was doing road support, a task as hard as the round itself, and kindly drove Tom, Stephen and myself “round” to Wasdale Head. 13 miles as the crow flies, 450 miles in a car, with the last bit being especially tortuous, due to the fecklessness of some drivers, one of whom was driving at 5mph whilst filming the scenery, there are words for such people!
Christopher and Gaz had set off from the Moot Hall at 1am on Saturday morning. (Start time is entirely optional). They had set forth into heavy rain and sub-optimal conditions and unfortunately Christopher had succumbed to a nasty stomach bug during the week, sadly causing him to pull the plug on his round on leg 2.
Feet can be lubed up, legs can be taped up, but if you cannot eat, you will not get round, it is a physical impossibility.
This left Gaz on his own.
Runners attempting a round have a “schedule”. This schedule gives “splits” time targets to aim for and help supporters have a rough idea when to be at one of the 4 road crossings/support points.
We were due to meet Gaz at 16:18, but he had slipped behind on his schedule, and as he was on a 23:50 schedule, (with only 10mins leeway), as he had slipped 40mins behind, getting round in sub 24hrs looked tight.
After a very brief pit stop at Wasdale (no sitting down lounging in a deck chair for 20mins like many folk), Gaz, Tom, Stephen, Chris and myself were gurning our way up the steep side of Yewbarrow (“YouBa$tard” as it is often called). 40mins down on schedule still at the summit, but on perhaps the most glorious days I have ever been out on, it was a joy to be out on the fells with like minded athletes/idiots 🙂
When helping on a round, you only get a snapshot of the round attempter’s day. A lot can happen in under 24 hours. A lot happens in 24 hours on a normal day. When I used to work 12hr shifts, the day lasted f-o-r-e-v-e-r, so double that whilst running up and down hills and you are highly likely to get some drama.
Yewbarrow is steep, it towers over the road and belies it’s height (it is only 2057 feet/627m above bath water), it is a slog, even on fresh legs, but if you get your head down it is over quickly and the fun begins immediately with the trot across to Red Pike (Wasdale, hopefully not Buttermere) and the delightful out-and-back to Steeple. then you are on the super highway of so many Lakeland Classic races. Pillar-Kirk Fell-Great Gable-Green Gable…
It was the Golden Hour. The views/lighting just got better and better.
I don’t know if it is a new trend, or just because it was it was summer solstice weekend, but we saw sooooo many folk camping on the summits.
I know that “wild” camping is popular these days, but this was ridiculous. Every summit was a mini campsite (7 tents on the rocky plateau of Pillar). Later on (at midnight to be precise, after Kirk Fell, Great Gable, Brandreth, Grey Knotts, Honister Pass, up Dalehead and around about Hindscarth) we saw a plethora of flashing lights, which we later found out was not high level dogging, but a mission to have people light up the summit of each and every of the 214 Wainwright summits, (not to be confused with Light the Lakes, an organised annual event which sees teams of police officers, staff, retired officers and police friends light up the famous Wainwright fells of Cumbria in memory of colleagues that have died).
Robinson is always emotional. The last of the 42 summits on the Bob Graham Round, from there it is just a freefall to Little Town (courtesy of a sweeeet line led by Tom, devised by Arthur Hill). Then, just the matter of 6 miles/10km of tarmac back to the Moot Hall of Keswick, and then finally, you can stop running!
Gaz absolutely lapped up the miles and turned around a 40 minute deficit at Wasdale. A cracking effort, and at the finish I bet his O’Keefe’s feet looked in way better fettle than mine!
I really, really felt for Christopher, as his round had been planned and anticipated so much for so long. He’ll be back.
Round 2
This weekend just gone was a round that had me a bit twitchy in the lead-up.
Excuses first and foremost.
I fell off my bike on Monday (all the pointy bits that you fall on; knees, elbows and hips, have very little flesh and I was very sore).
Whilst I didn’t know Gaz before his round (I do now, and went for a run with him in sunny Rossendale on Wednesday), I did know (and still do know) BIG AL, who was going for a 22hr 30min round schedule, leaving at 10pm on Saturday night.
The forecast was good but at 7pm there was a HUGE thunder storm on the way up.
This blew over and conditions were perfect for the 10pm kick off.
Now, I am not a massive fan of the end of season relays (which is good, as I am not fast enough to be picked these days), because you always have to be “your best self” as it is more competitive than the World Cup.
Generally in a race, even if you are Usain Bolt, if you get beat, people forget about it (or really just do not care, which is completely understandable), BUT in a relay if you mess up, it can have consequences, which are not forgotten, ever.
This pressure is magnified when assisting in a round attempt, because if any of your shortfallings are the cause of a round failure, you are letting down a lot of people and one person in particular, who has invested a lot of time and effort into that sub 24hrs!)
Jacob Tonkin is perhaps one of the most well known of fellrunning folk in the Lakes, and I was honoured to be asked by him and Big Al (Alexandra, a really classy ultra runner) to help out. It was a crack team of very fast fellrunners, mainly from Keswick AC, and then there was me.
Honoured ✔
Out of my depth ✔✔
Bricking it ✔✔✔
Although I was told “Pressure is for tyres”, it still didn’t stop me from fretting endlessly all week!
After a few hours of restless kip chez JT, it was soon 4:30am and although the tracker device had packed up, the texts backup system toldd us that Al was moving well, so it was a rush to get in position at Dunmail Raise for a dawn handover and the march up Steel Fell. Not helped by an Audi driving at 5mph.
Originally I was to be on the familiar ground of legs 4 and 5, but was shifted sideways to leg 3, a round where I had to bury some ghosts (not goats and not to Westlife!) I had a truly diabolical time around Rossett Pike on my own round, and the place makes me feel uneasy still).
However, I was with JT and the forecast was stupendous. Clear blue skies and sunshine. Moving really well overnight, Big Al whizzed round leg 3 on a hot morning and then proceeded to fly round leg 4 on a hot, hot, hot afternoon and speeded up even more on leg 5!
Planned time: 22hrs 30mins
Actual time: 22hrs 23mins
Job done!
Runningwise, I am taking a break from racing, as my season is a bit like a straw house. It has zero foundation and as a result has already fallen down. Not taking a break, just having a rethink and rebuilding for next year!
A tale of 4 compasses…
Next time!
Raiders round-up
It was all going so well…
Up until the weekend, the mighty Shipbuilders had beaten Workington, Sheffield Eagles, Dewsbury and Salford, but up against the (full time team that is) Newscastle, we got a spanking and dropped a place in the league to 4th spot.
BIG game away against Widnes next weekend!
COYR!!!
And finally
Just in case you haven’t seen the beautiful (and very, very emotional) film that is George, here it is:
Just in case you haven’t seen the beautiful (and very, very emotional) film that is George, here it is:
Hasta la proxima amigos!
Johnny
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