BG anticlockwise 22nd June

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Originally Posted by Stolly

Haha, thanks Simon. We clearly didn't man up sufficiently ;)

Our anti-clockwise leg three started from Wasdale at about 4:20 pm and we were within 200 yards of the top of Scafell just as the rain really set in. We were in cloud, strong wind and rain all across the boulder strewn tops with the rain becoming nightmarish after Great End. And that rain, cloud and wind pretty much stayed with us from there to when we pulled the plug at Threlkeld at 5:20 on Sunday morning. Our problem at Threlkeld was that we would have had to have got around Blencathra, Great Calva and Skiddaw in 3.5 hours. No amount of manning up and going for it at that point would have got us there

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I think he meant "man up" in the context of even attempting it, which you did, because people are reluctant to let down an army of supporters, when common sense might adivse giving it a miss, and on your own you would probably do something else. Actually some of those supporters instead of feeling "let down" by the cancellation ,might well have breathed a sigh of relief if it had been called off.

You clearly did that by even starting!
Respect.
You will easily do it in finer conditions. Each one of those factors, the weight of rainy gear, the wind, the tip toing down steep stuff in driving rain, probably cost you the difference. Taken together you would have made it with time to spare.

PS those trackers are a mixed blessing. When they work is great for supporters. When they stop , people seem to end up more worried than when there is no tracker! Oddly it seemed to seize up when you passed sharon coming the other way.

PS 2 - stolly.

Maybe you should do what a couple of others did on this forum. Move the attempt to a fine day, see it on the forecast before committing.

Spend a couple of weeks recovering - spot a fine day on MWIS, and I am sure you would find a band of us misfits willing to come up midweek if needed at a couple of days notice to go for it in good weather. I might volunteer, so long as you don't go too fast!

Its kind of hard to explain and I'm sure I'll say this badly but I'm not attempting the Bob Graham as a kind of bucket list 'event in my life' thing. Or badge of fell running honour. Or to be member of the BG club. In fact I positively like the pot luck of setting a date and just going for it regardless - epic outings in the hills is what its all about and me and Gav got that in spades at the weekend. Expect a re-re-reattempt shortly!

And anyway going in fine weather would leave me with one less excuse :)

No Stolly I meant you did "man up", the guy I supported stopped after section 4 and in my eyes was a legend, great sense of humour, kept going... everyone was a hero in the conditions... my Round was a doddle in comparison, I had the luxury of some flexible support that could work with my weather window, I booked myself and leg 1 support into the Queens Hotel (less than 1 minute from the start) and had about 30 mins of night before a relatively perfect day with just a bit of rain and clag on section 2... finishing before 10 30pm mid June i.e. in day light. I got a lot more out of my 25 hour round which had a lot of bad weather, getting lost, a real journey! Happy days,

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Originally Posted by alwaysinjured

.....the tip toing down steep stuff in driving rain, probably cost you the difference

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One of the challenges of an a/c round leg 3 is there aren't much in the way of downhills to go down, let alone tip toe down :). We got to skid down the scree-ey top bit of Foxes Tarn, scramble down from Bowfell under Hanging Knotts, trot down to Langdale Combe under Black Crags and have a longer grassy run off of High Raise and Sergeant Man but that was it, other than a very slick and slidey descent off of Steel Fell. It feels all up hill in fact ;)

Hi Stolly Sounds a real epic as ever. Perhaps you are 1 of the rare species of fell runners that would actually find a Winter attempt easier than a summer effort. Let's face it you were in the dark for the majority of the way looking at the conditions. A superb effort.. well done

I'd willingly help on your next attempt, hopefully soon.

Cheers Mark (PS. I helped (?) leg 2 Clockwise last August when we had the clag down to our ankles - again....

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Originally Posted by Stolly

One of the challenges of an a/c round leg 3 is there aren't much in the way of downhills to go down, let alone tip toe down :). We got to skid down the scree-ey top bit of Foxes Tarn, scramble down from Bowfell under Hanging Knotts, trot down to Langdale Combe under Black Crags and have a longer grassy run off of High Raise and Sergeant Man but that was it, other than a very slick and slidey descent off of Steel Fell. It feels all up hill in fact ;)

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Agree. I reckon ACW is mostly uphill , then down unrunnable stuff. Up Pillar goes on forever.
Interesting the descents you don't mention which is why I hate ACW - such as Gable and Particularly yewbarrow and fairfield.
Agree Hanging knotts is pretty dire. I have supported a few and those are what stick in my mind...

Thanks for letting me join :thumbup:. I am fairly new to fell running community and it was good to make some new friends. I am still not 100% sure who was who on Leg 4 :confused:

I really enjoyed Leg 3, didn't enjoy Leg 4 as much maybe because I was a bit low in energy by then and had the same wet socks and gloves on and was starting to feel a bit cold.

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Originally Posted by alwaysinjured

Agree. I reckon ACW is mostly uphill , then down unrunnable stuff. Up Pillar goes on forever.
Interesting the descents you don't mention which is why I hate ACW - such as Gable and Particularly yewbarrow and fairfield.
Agree Hanging knotts is pretty dire. I have supported a few and those are what stick in my mind...

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The Cofa Pike descent from Fairfield is pretty good I'd say but some of the others are a bit crap. The descent from Clough Head is brilliant but on Sunday morning having realised we'd blown our chances it wasn't quite so brilliant as it could have been. The irony is that the last leg has 3 brilliant descents back to back...........

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Originally Posted by Stolly

and me and Gav got that in spades at the weekend.

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I think the correct description would be "got it in buckets":)

Would "it was raining cats and dogs" apply?