The Epic Tri

[Fly]

Don't know if anyone has heard of this but Ex Walton chasers (my orienteering club) Bruce Duncan and adventure racing friend Ant Emmett are attempting to do the Bob Graham then JOGLE on a tandem then the Devizes to Westminster Kayak race all in one go.

Starting with the Bob Graham on 18th April.

All for a the cancer charity. Cancer research UK.

Check it out here
http://theepictri.com/

[tomphillips]

I think you mean Anthony Emmet - Tim Emmet is a Rock/Ice climber

[Fly]

Yep, you right. Don't know where that came from Thanks for the correction.

[matthew]

I always wondered if the 2 were related.... It looks very impressive though

[andy k]

Tuesday 19th April
supporting Bruce and Ant on the Bob Graham section of their EpicTri.
Legs 3 and 4; Dunmail to Wasdale to Honister.
I think because my training has been feeling pants in recent weeks I found myself getting pretty psyched on the way down to the Lakes on Monday, worried that my legs would just say no, or my heel, or I'd just grind to a useless halt. I was frightened of letting Bruce and Ant down and I was nervous.
I rolled out of bed at 3 am and pretty much straight into the Ralph's car, we arrived at Dunmail and slowly got sorted whilst eating a big bowl of porrige. It didn't seem like too long before we saw the beams of headtorches from beyond the skyline Seat Sandall, and they were with us on schedule. I think we left Dunmail a little late but were soon up Steel Fell with the rising dawn and a full moon setting orange. Spirits were high as we crossed to Calf Crag and on to Seargent Man and a pale sun rose. We were making good time, even though Ant was feeling sick and couldn't find the right food, everything was just sitting in his stomach with little or no energy getting through, Bruce was suffering pain in his ITBs. Still the guys pushed on and every summit was reached on time or under. We made great time up Bowfell and still splits were good all across the Plateau. I was loving the whole journey, bouncing around, no sore heel and no tiredness. We were the only people up there on a glorious sunny morning. From Broad Crag I set off ahead to warn Matt with the ropes on Broad Stand of the team's imminent arival. On Scafell there were a couple of blokes, so I leafleted them with a little business card about the Tri (this was one of my jobs as well a navigation, carrying and encouraging). Up BS and Scafell and we were soon in Wasdale something like 10 minutes up. The time was used for a leisurely changeover. I had thought I may only go this far but it took little consideration to decide to go on, it was such a glorious morning, still only 11:30 and most people just heading up for Scafell Pike. Plus mainly I wanted to continue to support Bruce and Ant.
The truth is they spent much of their preparation for the Tri practising the skills of riding a tandem and paddling a double kayak, not running in the mountains.
One thing that you need for the Bob Graham Round is a great deal of climbing and descending in your legs, time on your feet and in the hills. The guy's hadn't got that so they were really starting to hurt as we progressed through leg 3 you could see it in their movement and behind the steely determination set on their faces, this was hurting them.
Setting out on the steep slog up Yewbarrow we warned that the split for this and Red Pike looked really optimistic compared to the speed we had been going at and the splits we had been doing. The sun beat down and it got pretty warm on the climb, but not for too long as altitude brought some relief. Sure enough Yewbarrow and Red Pike were over time, we lost about 12 minutes on the schedule and a couple more getting over to Steeple.
After Steeple the guys continued to walk rather than jog the easy ground. I decided this had to stop, we were about 15 minutes down on schedule (with only a 25 minute buffer for the whole round) much of the loss was down to unrealistic splits but if you start to leak a little on every summit then the time soon goes. The climbing of Yewbarrow and Red Pike if sheer and can only go at a walk, we had pretty much walked Steeple though there is some gentler ground. The boys had got used to walking and were still walking the flats and even some gentle downhills, they needed to get out of the habit and jog whenever possible. So I started to get on their backs a bit. "Come on guys, lets get shuffling, we need to keep making these splits". There were no complaints , the guys picked it up and we made Pillar and Kirk Fell on time, across Kirk Fell Ant was even running uphill.
Great Gable looks like a beast to climb, but for me it is never as hard as you think it will be. I told Bruce and Ant this, they clearly thought I was bulshitting them, but I still think I'm right. Bruce was going stong and I was behind with Ant who was completely running on empty, he never said a word but you could tell from the way he was moving that he was running only on will power, everything concentrated on keeping a steady rhythm and forward motion. We made it under time. From Gable its an easy run in to Honister Bruce was struggling on the descents and Ant on the climbs, but overall they evened out nicely as they yoyoed back and forth. Coming across this last section Bruce said something about me keeping them moving through leg 5. I had been considering the same problem. We were about to change support crew, the new team would not have the sense of the pace needed to keep hitting time, I had chivvied the guys on through much of leg 4 and it had kept us on schedule but if that pressure dropped the round could go over 24 hours. Luckily for me Dave Harisson had also been contemplating problem and volunteered to push on through leg 5 to keep the pace where it needed to be, Star !.
At Honister there was loads of support. We kept the changover strictly to the 5 minutes and in no time the boys were off up the last big drag to Dale Head. I decided to go with them for the first 10 minutes, but whether they had some adrenaline kicking in for the final section, or my head had just switched off, I couldn't keep up any more and I turned back after 5 minutes.
Back to Portinscale in Tony's van and a nice long shower and then it was up to the market square in Keswick for the finish. Lots of people were gathered and as we waited more and more people stopped to ask what it was about and they all stopped to see the finish. Somehow, by the time Bruce and Ant arived the only people in the square were people, friends, well wishers and total strangers, waiting to see them finish. It was pretty strange, but there was nothing else happening and when they arrived they received an ovation from everyone all the way up the square, it was no ordinary BG finish. No ordinary guys, no ordinary mission.

Its now Sunday afternoon Bruc and Ant have barely slept for 6 days
Following their BG, completed in 23:46
they cycled John O' Groats to Lands End in 78.5 hours, finishing at 2:20pm yesterday (Saturday). They then raced up to Devizes in the Support van and hit the water at 7:50pm, just 10 minutes inside the deadline for last starts.
Now, at 2pm Easter Sunday they have just passed Maidenhead and are on schedule to finish late this evening.
They will have covered a total of 1065 miles by the time they reach the finish line at Westminster Bridge - 65 on the BG, 875 on JoGLE, 125 on the Devizes to Westminster.
you can see their progress at http://theepictri.com/
They have undergone this challenge to raise money for Cancer Research.
follow the link from their website or go direct here if you would like to support their cause http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund...Url=theepictri

[Fly]

Great stuff Andy. Thanks for the write up. Biting my nails now waiting for them to get to Teddington bridge before the tide changes. Almost there now