Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
talking of surprises
we passed yiannis heading up the pull towards brim fell and got quite a bit in front but to my surprise he was recieving his prize as we ran into the finish funnel
clearly a master at navigation
well done yiannis and partner , pure class;)
one day i hope to be as good as you and to be able to race on the fells with such knowledge.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
Quote:
Originally Posted by
daz h
talking of surprises
we passed yiannis heading up the pull towards brim fell and got quite a bit in front but to my surprise he was recieving his prize as we ran into the finish funnel
clearly a master at navigation
well done yiannis and partner , pure class;)
one day i hope to be as good as you and to be able to race on the fells with such knowledge.
Agreed, and I also want to be running at such pace when I'm half of a V120 pair - sub 9 hour finish, fantastic. Well done Yiannis and partner.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
What a fantastic day out we had!! Agree with others, thanks to everyone for the organisation, the checkpoints, the support and the cowbell!!
Had a decent race, finishing in 9.37. Lost some time coming off Scafell Pike, where I was slow on that terrain and my partner, who had never been to the Lakes before(!), struggled on the rocks.
Picked it up after that though, good run down to Cockley Beck and then he was introduced to the smashing climb up below Grey Friar:D
Well done to everyone else. Nice to see you Marvin and Daz - you did have a steady start 'cause you only went past us on The Bog. Cracking stuff, I'm sure the BG'll go well.
See you all next year!
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
You must have been just behind us then MR. We had a great start but then disaster struck when we were hit by cramp big time at Angle Tarn and it was a hobble from then on. Still, a grand day out, picked up a bit more route knowledge;) and best of all, there were still some egg butties at Cockley Beck! Thanks to Arthur and all the organisers and marshalls.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grouse
You must have been just behind us then MR.
Damn, if I'd known that, we'd have speeded up a bit and gone past you;):D
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grouse
We had a great start but then disaster struck when we were hit by cramp big time at Angle Tarn and it was a hobble from then on.
Do you usually suffer from cramp? I never have in a race before (including last year's OCT) but did a couple of times this year and then had the most excruciating cramp in my calf on Saturday night:mad: I'm still trying to figure out why - I seemed to drink enough, perhaps didn't take in enough salt.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
:eek: :eek: Was my first time running in lakes for this too and fully intend on indulging myself as much as possible from now on!!
I suffer from cramp pretty consistently (3 peaks, edale, wuthering hike) and felt a bit of a knock just b4 climb up Grey Friar so whacked out the mc donalds salt sachets!! Oh yes!! bombed a couple of those bad boys and then sucked on a couple as i was running and didnt get cramp at all. Admittedly i was gagging but it worked a treat.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
Grouse doesn't suffer from cramp - his partner does. (So he tells me):rolleyes: .
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mr1470
What a fantastic day out we had!! Agree with others, thanks to everyone for the organisation, the checkpoints, the support and the cowbell!!
Had a decent race, finishing in 9.37. Lost some time coming off Scafell Pike, where I was slow on that terrain and my partner, who had never been to the Lakes before(!), struggled on the rocks.
Picked it up after that though, good run down to Cockley Beck and then he was introduced to the smashing climb up below Grey Friar:D
Well done to everyone else. Nice to see you Marvin and Daz - you did have a steady start 'cause you only went past us on The Bog. Cracking stuff, I'm sure the BG'll go well.
See you all next year!
yes nice to see you mate
we had a nice steady start and i think it paid off, having done quite a few recces now and long races we are just about resisting the urge to go quick from the off. To be honest we hadnt had time to recce this race really and we where relying on remembering various parts. Id never done the Old man before and neither had Andy and we just got the wrong line back and lost a bit of time heading back to the road. But thats long distance fellrunning:) .
I couldnt of asked for a better day or a better partner.
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
What a difference a year makes! A belting race this year, pretty decent weather and plenty of people looked like they were enjoying themselves.
Fantastic effort from Arthur, the organising team and the helpers.
An adventure for the wife who had never been out longer in miles terms than a London marathon a few years ago and in hours terms Wasdale last champioship year, so was not sure what was waiting for her.
Ducked under 9 hours after a bit of effort from the last checkpoint. Impressed with the way the winers of the Mixed took 12 minutes out of us on the section from Cockley Beck to the finish; too many egg sandwiches and too much flapjack at CB! Or maybe they were younger and fitter than we were!
Big stroke of luck was catching Yiannis and partner just before the Pikes. Despite 3 previous attempts to recce the direct descent off the Pikes to Great Moss, the weather never allowed this to be done safely, and there was no prospect of dealing with it in last year's race. It's a great line if you know it (and now I do!)
Great to see so many positive comments.
Morgan
Re: 17th May - Old County Tops
Quote:
Originally Posted by
daz h
talking of surprises
we passed yiannis heading up the pull towards brim fell and got quite a bit in front but to my surprise he was recieving his prize as we ran into the finish funnel
clearly a master at navigation
well done yiannis and partner , pure class;)
one day i hope to be as good as you and to be able to race on the fells with such knowledge.
Daz,
many thanks for such generous comments. Route knowledge might have been a good point but on the negative side, I had to fight some pretty unpleasant bouts of cramp now and then.
...And to make you feel better, quite a few years ago, with Steve cliff, we were leading the race from Cockley Beck. On the way back from the Old Man with a good lead over the opposition and while circumnavigating Great Carrs in thick fog, we dropped too low and came up to Hell Gill below Mart Crag. That forced us down to the road and we had to run all the way up to the 3 Shires Stone. We finished third.
...And now that I started, I better add some more tails. It appears that this closing stage of the race gives people problems. A few years ago, in bad weather, my companion bailed out at Angle Tarn and I asked the marshals to let me carry on. I was lying second and slowly catching up with the leading pair. At the Old man they were only a few minutes ahead of me. I pressed on to finish first (out of contention) with a decent margin ahead of them. Aparently, apart from struggling a bit they took a less than optimum route around the area of the 3 Shires stone and I never saw them while overtaking them.
Yiannis