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The Strava Run page on facebook posted yesterday that Ricky plans on having a go at the BG record next year. Is this the first time someone has explicitly gone after Billy Bland's time?
https://m.facebook.com/StravaRun/
The rekindling of elite interest in the BG, and the other long distance rounds, has been great to watch. Long may it continue.
I'm not on FB, there's a piece on Strava - http://stories.strava.com/the-fells
Jebby went this year, and I've heard rumour of a few other racing snakes thinking about fast attempts next year.
Very brave to put it out there, but he's definitely got the talent, drive and local knowledge to do it if anyone can.
I would love to see someone have a real go at it. Of all the current possibles, Ricky has the ability, and the knowledge. Why not?
I'm only surprised that he hasn't had a go at something possibly more achievable e.g Borrowdale fell race record. He has come closest in recent years.
This is great news! looking forward to next year now!
Will he use a guide!? :rolleyes:
I'm available....... £ 200 for the first leg
Road crossings for me please.��
2hrs 18 mins is record pace for leg 1. How many people can do that? If he paid me £200 he'd be asking for his money back. I'd be dropped by lattrigg gate and I reckon after 2hrs 18mins I'd be stumbling lost somewhere on mungrisedale common.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennings
Killian.....;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
I'd be anchor - literally!
When I wrote the code for the schedule calculator on my site I had 18hrs as the fastest selectable time. My reasonings were that anyone going faster than this would most likely know what schedule they needed to keep to (at the time there were probably only 8 people with a time less than 18hrs anyway) and I didn't think the calculations would work at those paces. Also I didn't find Billy Bland's times until later.
I've since done a local version where I could drop down to 14hrs and the resulting times are pretty close to Billy's so it would seem that the slowing down over the course of the Round is reasonably consistent across all speeds/schedules though of course the fast guys are still quite a bit faster. Even when fresh I couldn't get up Yewbarrow as quickly as BB after 40 miles.
Billy's leg 1 time is a bit too quick, I've been told by those that know better than me. He set out fast and suffered for it later on - at Honister a 'Naylor Shake' was required to sort him out!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobster
One of the reasons people may have been put off fast attempts is looking at this Leg 1 split, going 'no chance for 60 miles' and not thinking of it any further.
I don't know what time could be lost on leg 1 to Billy to still be in with a chance.
From experience of others' schedules, Bob's calculator offers slack in the later splits (in case of explosion/implosion). This may suggest that his quick schedules tally up with Billy's time.
I don't know if Rob Jebb's splits are available online. Since he's the closest to Billy there should be some clue/indication there.
From memory Billy had a 15min stop at Honister compared with just a minute or two at the other three road crossings. Schedules for the fastest three rounds (at the time) may be found here http://www.macclesfield-harriers.co....fastestBG.html - the only one Billy wasn't fastest on was the Helvellyn leg.
[QUOTE=ba-ba;628449]
I don't know what time could be lost on leg 1 to Billy to still be in with a chance.QUOTE]
And that is going to be the difficulty of anyone going for a record (although I would imagine they will have it all under control, paced and scheduled etc). From memory, I think there is a comment in one the recent books (The Round?) that the potential difficulty for anyone seeking to break the record is that they will be under pressure from the off whereas Billy just had his own time to beat. Exciting stuff for us mere mortals anyway. The individual splits from Keswick and Ellonborough BB Relays last year makes for interesting analysis:
http://www.billyblandchallenge.org.uk/?page_id=440
I interviewed Rob Jebb about his round - for an article in the next Fellrunner (and to update the paperback version of 'The Round', coming out on 19 January). He says he set a 14-50 'schedule'.
From the book: "He was 'about a minute or two down on legs 1 and 2.' He then started picking up time, and I speculated that his leg 3 three-time schedule was too cautious. Rob disagreed. ‘No, I think the weather held us back on leg 1, as it was so muddy. Leg 2 is hard to get time on as it is such fast running. I don't think there is much to play with time-wise.' "
Obviously he was going increasingly well as he gained those couple of minutes back, plus another 30 - to finish in 14-30 - partly through running straight through the road support stops.
He did have a couple of setbacks, as he also described a minor nav error off Scafell and problems on later descents due to knee and toe issues.
He also says he wasn't specifically going for Billy's time. His motivation was: 'I wanted to do the best I could do. I just decided that is it, I want to do it. I never thought about Billy's time, that is still on a pedestal really. I thought there is no reason why I couldn't do the second fastest time.'
[The Round: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Round-Bob-G...8775430&sr=1-3]
Blatant plug Steve, but just pre-ordered :)
Surely not!! The plug not the pre-ordering :)
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Originally Posted by stumpy
I'm sure a donation will be on the way to the FRA!!
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Originally Posted by brett
I assumed that the FRA received a royalty from this book given the number of times it is advertised here.Quote:
Originally Posted by brett
Yes, I assumed that too. It would only be fair :DQuote:
Originally Posted by brett
Last year (I think) Ricky did leg 1 in just under record pace, then ran back down the old railway path back at a very swift pace. He said it felt OK. Noticed it on Strava, and thought an attempt was imminent. Maybe other commitments got in the way until now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobster
Is that Joss grabbing you by the shoulders or an amphetamine smoothy?Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
Something above triggered a memory and after a bit of delving I found the evidence for it.
All the way back in July 1963 Eric Beard did his 24hr record of 56 summits. His first leg was Keswick to Threlkeld with four summits in just 2hrs 21mins. The extra summit was Skiddaw Little Man. The notes mention that he didn't wear running shoes but "lightweight rubber soled climbing boots" they can be seen in the photo on this page https://quickquickpotato.wordpress.c...20/eric-beard/. I suspect that over the now standard three tops of that leg that Beardie's might well be the fastest time.
How things have changed over the years. From 'Beardies boots' to the clutter of ironmongery that he carried in the last picture whilst helping the BBC with their filming.
At least these days a pair of Mudclaws and a Go-Pro makes life a little easier ;-)
Jasmin was roughly 11% slower than Billy, so if you use the pacing of her round (perhaps more even with minimal stops) as a basis for a men's record schedule then you'd be looking at around 2.27 for leg 1. The sections where Jasmin gained relative to Billy were Dunmail to High Raise and Yewbarrow right through to Honister, especially given Billy's break at Honister. Once he got going again his finish was relatively quicker. Obviously folk have their own strengths and weaknesses, so any personal schedule has to reflect that, but definitely think the first leg doesn't need to be sub 2.20!
Just to clarify, when I say relative to Billy I mean Jasmin speeded up by 11% was significantly faster over these sections than Billy, though by far the biggest difference is from the break at Honister.