Originally Posted by
Travs
I think it's more likely that people who used GPS in the race in question just haven't seen the thread, or perhaps aren't even forum members. I count approx. 20 different forumites who have commented on this thread, and i guess only a fraction of them were racing in the race in question. This represents a small percentage of both the forum, the race in question, and the fellrunning community as a whole.
Although it would certainly be interesting and perhaps helpful to hear the opposite view of a strong case for using GPS.
On a slightly related note, i'm doing the UTS100 race in a couple of weeks (which in fact is GPS backup compulsory rather than just acceptable), and given the quite stringent entry criteria, i'm absolutely amazed at some of the questions fired at the organiser on their facebook page. The usual "what shoes to wear", "how easy is the route to follow" "where are the aid points" (i'd have thought that Pen-y-Pass didn't need much more description to pinpoint it's location!).
My personal favourite, a guy expressing dismay on seeing a photo of the Nantlle ridge, that it was too high, exposed and steep, and he wouldn't be able to manage it! although i think he was possibly on the 50 mile race with a lower entry standard, but should still be a competent mountain runner according to the requirements of the race).