1,254 mile Mountain-Marathon.

First Ever Solo off-road run from Lands End-john O'Groats.
1,254 mile mountain-marathon: Lands End -John O'Groats


http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/attac...1&d=1254524062

(details: www.benumber1.co.uk/lejog )

On the 12th of July I completed the Lands End-John O'Groats fell/trail run I'd been planning for sometime. As the support crew dropped out at late notice I had to run the challenge Mountain-Marathon style.

I should have written this report much earlier but since the run I've found it diffcult to motivate myself to even get out of bed somedays - never mind much else, I suppose fatigue comes into it - but I didn't really feel tired, just plain depressed; perhaps result of an endorphin crash? Anyway I'm starting to feel more like myself again now and have finally got round to writing about the run- the last stage anyway, which I hope explains my delay in posting.


The week following the run I kept waking in cold sweats several times a night, sometimes accompanied with tears, in a confused state with one thought going round my head "I can't do more, it's not possible" - somehow I kept thinking that; I hadn't quite finished and had more to do - or I kept returning to the last week in Scotland.

After that week my sleep became more normal, but I realised I felt really uncomfortable talking about the run, I actively tried to not think about it as it made me feel sick and nervous and scared - it might sound melodramatic but through a mixture of poor choices (made when tired) and over-enthusiastically estimating my abilities I found myself ill equipped to handle the task before me, I dramatically and unnecessarily magnified the levels of stress (emotional and mental and physical) that I had to face, to the extent that the experience was traumatic.

The body perceives little difference between the source of stress, i was already pushing my body close to it's limits through physical and mental stress, adding emotional stress could and should have been avoided with better planning, however it wasn’t.

The state of over-training/under-performance syndrome and clinical depression share nearly identical signs and symptoms, leading some experts to claim the two are one and the same, essentially a fatigue of the entire organism - a burnt out central-nervous-system, not a localised muscular fatigue, it can take weeks-months even years to overcome; I've learnt to read my body quite well and know I am now starting to recover from the ordeal. (external signs such as writing this, and joining a gym to cross-train, regaining fitness are obvious indicators of a better state of mind also).

The first 5 weeks of the run went fine 1000.5 miles - a handful of blisters, very manageable levels of fatigue. The last 8 days was very different, 254 miles over much tougher terrain (wild fell/mountainous terrain). The extra miles per day over tougher terrain was a much tougher effort physically and the mental effort in controlling motivation was greater but this was part of the foreseen challenge, I was looking forward to it and had prepared for it.

The big mistake was food. the run had always been planned as a supported effort - a motorhome following me, a warm bed each night, company and dry clothes etc would all have been nice, but most importantly was being able to control what and when I ate - having meals carefully planned and packed in the van. without the support crew I had to eat what I could find as and when I came across outlets, in England this was manageable but hardly ideal - not many health-food shops along the Pennine way selling protein shakes, electrolytes and healthy oat bars; my diet consisted of chocolate, cola and crisps - with salt sachets taken for electrolytes - it got the job done.

in Scotland, north of Fort William things went very bad. I ran out of cash in Fort William and was severely limited to how much food I could purchase, still I wasn't going to give up; I calculated a minimal calorie intake I thought I could run on (this called for me to lose almost a lb a day in stored fat, but I knew although uncomfortable it was possible - In training I fast twice a week for upto 24hrs before running 20+mile runs to teach my body to run on fat first and treat sugar as a added bonus if present).

I did the calculations fine, but in the shop (prob’ due to fatigue) I incorrectly divided the weekly amount of calories and bought 1000cals less per day than I needed. I didn't realise this until 2 days of running/eating later when the rations seemed to be shrinking quite fast. I emptied my sack and counted the calorie of all the food - I had enough for 1,200 cals a day if I could maintain a strong pace. I was using over 7000 a day - this would mean losing over 1.5lbs a day for 5-7 days, a state possible to push through if hiking but very tough if running(walking in a well trained athlete can be done on fuelled from fat stores, so long as the fat is there to burn, running even in highly trained athletes requires some sugar - this would have to be found by destroying body muscle, in this state the brain becomes foggy - it's preferred fuel of glucose being absent) , I began to worry, to be more efficient I had to slow the pace.

North Scotland called for many river crossings, most of which are impossible if the rivers are in-spate. Early on the fourth day of that week I was half way up a climb to a shoulder I had to pass when I heard lightning, then again - it was getting closer. I should have dropped not to safety, but with the lightning came heavy rain I had to cross a large river on the other side of the pass, If I dropped and waited for the storm to pass the river would be in spate - which might mean camping and waiting for the water to drop or a 15mile tarmac detour to a road bridge and back - both options were impossible on with the food restrictions I had, I had to cross the river that day (there was two more mountains and one other sizeable river to cross that day) I pushed on and up, trying to silence the voice in my head calling me stupid and reckless - climbing in a storm. The rain lasted all day, I didn’t stop to change into waterproofs, keeping a fast pace to generate body heat, after crossing the river, the next pass was littered with burns that had swelled to the size of fast streams/small rivers, it was a pathless pass and the going was slow; it was too late when I realised I'd not changed into waterproofs in-time. I was cold to the extent of shivering (yes in July) as I ran, I changed layers but for the rest of the day I was physically and mentally slower than normal - having let myself become dangerously wet and cold in windy conditions. My pace was well behind schedule, the ground being more difficult to cover when so wet underfoot; and my shivering cold body reusing to generate the effort I was asking of it. I realised I had to pick up the effort and pushed harder, this just led to repeatedly tripping over obstacles and falling over- landing on boggy marshy land and feeling like I was getting wetter/colder (not possible when wet to the skin and cold to the bone but it definitely felt that way). after one fall I shot up and carried on running ( a force of habit from fell running, a sprained ankle usually only stiffens if allowed to stiffen, if you can keep running although extremely painful for a minute or two it remains agile and useable). But everything was dizzy, I don’t recall what hit where, I know I was winded from my back slamming on the ground, perhaps my head had whipped back and received a sizeable blow also - I felt panicked and dizzy and scared, I had ran over 1000 miles and fell just twice, this was my 4/5th fall of the day it was disconcerting, which accounts for feeling scared (I was lucky not to have fell on a rocky section) but the dizziness could only be explained by a blow to the head, I hoped it wouldn’t get worse.

It wasn't all bad - at this point I was running through a Glen surrounded by Munroe’s - the most remote and stunning location I have ever ran in - and I wasn’t just running here - I had ran here! All the way from the tip of the country, I knew I was doing great.

After a few more miles of running, the dizziness still very much hampering my progress, I realised I had to stop being foolish and persisting in a dangerous state, running in over rocky tracks and boggy moorland in a remote area un-supported is dangerous enough, running over the rocks in the rain when dizzy is plain stupid no matter how much stopping might feel like 'giving up' I had to call the plug on that days effort at just under a marathon distance had been covered (I needed to cover 40miles).

The unplanned stop meant taking an evening’s meal from the rations, and an unplanned breakfast - I recalculated my rations, My stomach was aching I had food in-front of me and couldn’t touch it.

***continued in next post***

***continued from above - forum wouldn't allow full length report in one post***

The next day I woke feeling surprisingly well (the night spent in a Bothy instead of the foil survival blanket I bivi'd in must have helped). I began running, always keeping the food rations and corresponding my pace to this the pace was slow-to slow. On the rations I had to slow the pace to be able to run and not walk, but slowing the pace, meant adding extra days - where again the food would run out there was no way around it, tried as I might to recalculate the problem, it simply wasn’t possible to run.

I kept running along, tears began and kept on streaming down my face, not tears of self pitty but almost of shock and disbelief - I'd trained and planned my life around this event for months (on top of years of running training to be able to even consider a challenge of this scale) and I was only 150 miles from completing my dream. I was about to be forced to stop not because I was injured or ran out of steam, I knew I could finish the run I was so close I could almost taste it but something so stupid as poor arithmetic when tired had made me bring too little food.

I could feasibly walk/crawl to the finish without food - i.e. complete the goal of reaching John O'Groats but that would be a very sad way to end a 'run' I had to find a way to run - I needed more fuel.

I knew there was a hotel in around 20 miles, I had to make a tough decision; I had to put the attainment of my goal/dream in someone else’s hands, I had to give up trying to do something impossible by myself and ask for help. After resuming eating as and when my appetite demanded, instead of rationing the fuel I began to run much stronger, still I felt sick.
The whole outcome of months of my life came down to the decision of the owner/manager of a Hotel who I'd never met before, I looked and smelt much worse than any tramp (this Hotel caters for Salmon fisher men- very wealthy posh clientele) just the sight of me in their establishment could have put their backs up.

Fear and confidence come in many different flavours, I had the confidence to stand at one end of the country and begin running with the firm belief I could reach the other end, I overcame my fear of having less than perfect navigation skills to run through the mountains of Scotland yet, walking into a building looking a stranger in the eye and asking for their help was a much scarier prospect - not just because if they said no it meant the end of my challenge, but I lacked the confidence to face rejection/ask for help anyway.

It is incredibly humbling to have to explain you cannot afford to eat, and to place the success of your dream in the hands of a stranger.

I entered the hotel, and explained what i was doing and then "I'm 130miles from completing the first ever LEJOG off-road run, I know I can complete the run but I have very little food and even less cash, without your help I cannot make it"

luckily once realising the run was for a good cause they obliged, and sent me away with a pack so full of food it was too heavy to run with; for a couple of hours i had to walk and eat to lighten the load before a shuffle-jog could be maintained, after more copious eating I had a bag light enough and legs refuelled to a level I could begin running again.

I don't really think I have the writing skills to convey just how stressful the 20mile run towards that hotel was, and the act of asking for help. I was either running to a heart warming refuel/pitstop or the end of my challenge - I had no way of knowing until I arrived and asked.


Even after this help a couple days later food was again low, 93miles from the finish I had to make one big push - foregoing sleep as much as possible to finish the run before the food finished (there was no more hotels left to pass - the next available food was the finish).

I began running at 7am - finished at 5pm the following day, 93 miles in 34 hours, the single most traumatic day of the event, the final 20 miles having to be on tarmac - my hips and knees screamed in agony (the shock of the shoes being useless after 700+miles of running) i was essentially running barefoot on the road with a heavy 9+kg backpack in the rain, it rained all day. I hadn't the energy to run fast enough to generate warmth from body-heat, the waterproof I had had started the run one of the best pieces of kit you could buy, after hundreds of miles of abrasion from the rucksack shoulder and chest straps it did next to nothing to repel rain, i only wore it as it provided some warming, much in the way a wetsuit works by trapping water between my skin and the outer layer I hoped that water would be warmed by body-heat, and take heat away from me slower than fresh rainwater on the skin - it probably worked to some extent, but I was cold all day. The pounding on asphalt sending shockwaves through cold tendons was agonising.

This time it was tears of pain that streamed down my face- at least the rain was so heavy i didn't have to worry about being embarrassed, a grown man crying in public by passing motorists, it was impossible to notice the tears in the rain.

There was the physical pain and exhaustion, there was again fear though, the previous night around 11pm running over the boggy plateau near knockfin heights (stupidly taking what I thought would be a quick bearing across the plateau I spent hours running around bogs in the twilight - it never really gets dark that far north that time of year), I noticed the sky flash - but there was no rumble or clap, how can you have lightning without noise - it doesn't happen, again it flashed I looked all around, everything looked still, no sign of lightning no noise then it went again. this time I saw more clearly what had happened, the sky hadn’t flashed brighter, my vision was flashing on and off, making the sky appear like it was flashing on. I didn't know what would cause your vision to flash on and off, I remember reading karnazes having vision problems in his first 100mile run, although he never mentions what may have caused the problem, i hoped it wasn't serious, just an electrolyte or sugar imbalance that could be fixed later; still whatever was causing the problem I sure as hell didn't know how to treat it, and couldn’t get help where I was, it was caused by my running but stopping in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t help the condition. If I stared intently at the ground just a few metres in-front of me then I could remember the next few foot strikes of terrain i had to negotiate as and when the fake-lightning flashed this went on for about half an hour and then went I felt fine, I'd been popping caffeine and paracetamol tablets that day; had i overdossed? I didn't think so I counted my empty packets to check it seemed fine (still I'd had trouble counting my calories when stood still in a shop after a couple of coffees and a big lunch in Fort William - cold and tired running with blinking vision in the middle of nowhere, it was quite likely I could have been wrong again) eventually I found a track I would have met much earlier if I'd followed Thurso river rather than trying to take a direct route across the moor, running along I felt calmer the running was much easier, the track reflecting the moonlight and making running much easier, it was cold but after a while I felt a thick layer of sweat around my mouth and neck which puzzled me, why was I sweating at this effort at this temperature and why localised sweat - if anything I'd expect sweat on my brow not my chin; I wiped the sweat away with the back of my hand and was pretty worried when I realised it was sticky, looking at my hand it was caked in blood - I'd been bleeding from my nose for some time, I was worried, strange as it seems not for my health but at the thought of not completing my goal - I was so single-mindedly focused the challenge seemed more important than myself. Again I had to calm myself- going into shock is dangerous and useless, wastes energy, weakening you very fast. I talked myself down, walked for a while pinching my nose and tilting my head to force a clot. what would cause my vision to fail and then my nose to bleed, i was sure I hadn’t overdosed - I checked again, I didn’t even have enough drugs to have overdosed. Whatever had caused the problem I didn’t know how to treat it, and I doubt it would get better just by lying down and waiting for help - I walked for a while and lucked out big time by finding an unlocked summer house next to the track which was on a private estate, the estate owners had been kind enough to let hikers/fishermen etc to make use of their building - it was not a Bothy but I decided to rest until the bleeding stopped.

Some 13 hours later I was running along, every now and then I was scared that perhaps I'd damaged something internally - although apart from the actual symptoms of vision and bleeding problems I felt fine (as good as you can feel after 1000miles of running) my main worry was that it would come back, maybe worse - perhaps I would black out, the vision switching off and not switching back on, or the bleeding would become persistent, I had to push the thoughts to the back of my mind. It took every trick I had up my sleeve to ignore both physical and mental pain at the same time, eventually I began realising I kept slowing to a walk and then halting - my legs just wouldn’t listen to me anymore. I refused to walk for any length of time this was a run, I'd prefer to stop wait until I could summon enough drive to push my legs on and run until they refused to be tricked and stopped again, this went on for the 11 out of the last 13miles.

The last two miles I ran in with a real rage, I was hungry to finish the challenge - to silence the voice that kept telling me it was ok to stop and walk or just stop full stop.

Great effort well done.
I had the thought. last year, about connecting all the trails up to do a LEJOG. But I never gave any serious consideration to doing it in a MM style. I was always considering it as a supported effort, sleeping in hostels and large tents set up by my support team. It never got beyond a thought though. I always seam to have something on, plus the thought of quiting work to do this, means it will proabably remain a thought. :rolleyes:
Your feet at the end make my post TMB feet look healthy.:D

I presume you used the the WHW then the Great Glen Way to get to Inverness. But which route did you chose from there? Was it just the path / line of least resistance?

Great effort :D. I'd love to do this so long as the route could be kept off road and as wilderness based as possible. Oh and of course if I could get sufficient time off work on top of the time I'd want to spend with my kids. What route did you take? Was it based on this one?

Your run wouldn't have been the 'first ever' I suspect - while running on the pennine way below Pen y Ghent in the summer I bumped into a scottish guy running JOGLE rather than LEJOG and I suspect its walk/trot/ran by a fair few.

Very well done carr, enjoyed reading about your epic jaunt! Amazing, and just the sort of thing to read when your injured and pining for a trot:cool:

*80s John Hughes-style slow handclap*

Hugely inspirational report that carr. Well done. That sounds like a mammoth effort, and glad to hear you're back on an even keel emotionally. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of stress that put on you, and I think you're right, expressing it in words doesn't even come close.

Have thought of something like this myself, but as with Stolly and Alan, am not going to be in a position to do this for a long time with family and work commitments. Until then, I'm happy to live vicariously through stories like yours.

A pint is yours if ever I bump into you on the fells.:D

Amazing read, and a fantastic achievement. I don't know how you kept going without sufficent food. I'd be interested to learn how much weight you lost in the process.

I hope your 'mates' from the wayward support team are reading this. They should be totally embarrassed and disgusted with themsleves.

was around 80-82% off-road. Used national rails where possible, footpaths, canal paths, bridleways and tow paths to link up in-between, unfortunately some tarmac had to be used in places- some national trails for example the Sw coast path include a fair amount of tarmac as and when the trail reaches villages/towns.

The route I used was primarily from a book by Andy Robinson:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/End-Trail-OG...4570926&sr=8-3

I used free digital mapping by QUO - which is fantastic much better than the overpriced memory map software. It allowed me to purchase 'tiles' of maps in 40km by 40km squares I used 1:50k scale, to buy 1:50k mapping of my whole route only cost £38 - paper maps would have been close to £2000 and would have been hacked to pieces and cut down with scissors/useless by the time I'd finished with them.


Although I used the Severn way and Cotswold way instead of turning left at Bristol to go into Wales and Offas Dyke - I wish I'd gone the Wales route, I thought the Severn way would be a nice easy few days along a flat river bank after the steep climbs of the Coast path and before hitting the Pennine way - I was wrong the Severn way is a national embarrasment - it's classed as a national trail but is the most over grown- badly managed trail I've seen anywhere in the world - and it's right in the heart of the Uk I hope that there isn't many visitors to the Uk unfortunate enough to use use this trail- there was shoulder height stingle nettles and thistles, not growing over from the sides of the track but in the actual path it self - in stretches it hasn't had any maintainance in years.


Route:

South west Coast path, Exmoor, Quantox, Bridgewater-Cheddar along old drove roads, Cheddar Gorge, Lime stone way, Cotswold Way, Staffordshire Way, Limestone link, Alternative Pennine way, The Pennine Way, The southern up-land way, The west highland Way, - Glen Garry, Glen Affric, Loch Shin (passing on North side), Knockfin heights, thurso Water, thurso river, Watten, John O'Groats.



- This was very tough for me as North of Fort William I was alone most of the time in the last 254 miles the route crossed only 6 roads and three pub/hotels, the alternative route though is to head to inverness but this leaves you with the only possible route of a busy A road along the East coast From Inverness-John O'Groats a miserable way to end a 'fell/trail run' across the UK.

My navigation skills are adequate but not faultless - it was daunting to go into the Highlands/wilderness relying solely on my GPS and a guide book with strip maps.

Still the Mountains were the most fantastic part of the whole run, breath takingly beautiful.


Stolly - do you know what date you passed someone running the 'Jogle', and any idea of his miles per day?, and if he completed the run? Yorkshire is only half way!?

Before I planned the run I looked on google to try and find the existing record for the fastest off-road run between Lands End-john O'Groats -I came up with nothing, not one mention of a record or even an attempt.

However just because something doesnt appear on Google or wikipedia doesn't mean it never happened, it may have been done in the 60's-70's-80's before the internet.

Still I would have expected to find a mentionof a book about the event on the internet.

For instance the book that inspired me to do this run was

'Running high' by Hugh Symonds - he ran to the top of every mountain over 3000ft in the whole of the Uk - and he ran between them!! Over 2000 miles back in 87 I think, before the internet was in use but I found out about it on the internet as the book was reviewed on amazon.


-I knew if anyone would know of a record it would be the FRA or the TRA I contacted The Fell running Association and the trail running association to find out the existing record for the fastest off-road run between the two Lands End-John O'Groats, both returned answers that there was no current record, and that no one they knew had ever heard of anyone attempting to run the route solo before - one running group had ran it as a relay in the late eighties/early nineteys.

I still havn't heard of anyone else completing the run.

I know many people have walked it - especially last year, it seems a lot of people found themselves redundant in the recession and used the unexpected time off and paycheck to go walkabout and think what they will do next.

But I've never come across an account of anyone comleting the run before, it'll be annoying if the guy you saw, managed to complete the run a day or two before me and managed to beat me to being 'first' !

If he did complete the run - Think I need to find him and give him a handshake.

Weight Lost -

You can see in the start picture I look a bit podgey for a runner, as soon as I found out the support crew had dropped out (just two weeks notice before the start date-which I couldn't change) I started eating burgers and doughnuts between and after meals! - I had to put on fat fast, I added 1.75stone to my normal weight before the off.

It didn't feel great, I was tapering for obvious reasons, so hardly running, then sat around eating junk food, most of the day - it doesn't fill you with confidence, certainly didn't make me feel at my 'athletic-best' but it was definitely necessary, I lost just over the 1.75 stone I'd gained-almost two stone; although it wen't nearly all in the last 254 miles north of Fort William - around 15-16lbs in 8 days. I wasn't my normal shape though, I'd lost a lot of muscle not just fat.

Very Very impressive Carr.
The mental toughness and pure doggedness to complete shows what can be achieved.
So many folk dream of things but never attain them because its so easy to quit and jack in.
Hats off to you....Top Man:)

Great write up of an amazing run. I read it first thing this morning and it really moved me. You should be VERY proud :)

Astounding run Carr.

Just one word - RESPECT!

Carr - I'm simply awestruck...! I hope to graduate to doing some 'ultras' at some point, but this is just astounding. I echo TN's comment: RESPECT !

I'd say you've got some strong material for a book here, will you be writing one ? I imagine you'd get a lot of interest - fascinating and inspiring stuff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carr

The route I used was primarily from a book by Andy Robinson

---

Hey, that's me! I hope you didn't curse me too often. Well done: I've thought about running it, but I don't think I'm up to it to be honest, although I might change my mind if I could find a way to give up the day job. I'd need weeks to recover. I've not come across any reports of anyone running LEJOG offroad, but that doesn't mean nobody's done it before of course. Not everyone writes up what they do, or even talks about it.

Haven't read all your posts yet, carr: I've just seen this & I've no time tonight & a race in the morning. I will when I get the chance.

Once again: well done - what an achievement! :):)

Hehe already on wikipedia

July 12 2009: British Ultra-Marathon runner, Kevin Carr, successfully completed the first ever attempt to run the route off-road; becoming the first athlete to run the length of the UK as a Fell/Trail run. Like Driver, Carr ran unsupported; 'Solo'- a format commonly known amongst fell runners as a "Mountain-Marathon." Carr ran the challenge as part of an event organised by Benumber1 an event which saw several top level British athletes (mainly Olympians) completing the LE-JO'G challenge. The event was designed to encourage school students to participate in sport and realise the positive benefits of a healthy lifestyle, whilst raising significant funds for the British Heart Foundation. The run covered 1,254miles ran over footpaths, bridleways, canal paths, river banks, National trails, fields, moorland and mountains. Over 80% of the route was off-road, the route resorting to tarmac only when necessary to link two trails - or where a trail passed through a village/town. The run took 6 weeks 3 days and 17 hours to complete - (including 3 rest days). Factoring in the rest days, this run called for an average effort of just under 30 miles a day, every day - for more than 6 weeks

The Scottish guy I saw in the summer was definitely running/trotting the route 'downhill' Scotland to England and he was definitely following the off road routes. Maybe though he was just doing it for fun ;).

Epic!

Kevin,

That's very impressive. After my British Isles Challenge (which pales into insignificance next to your run) I can understand some of the difficulties you had, but your determination is inspirational.

Seriously well done.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Splatcher

Hey, that's me! I hope you didn't curse me too often. Well done: I've thought about running it, but I don't think I'm up to it to be honest, although I might change my mind if I could find a way to give up the day job. I'd need weeks to recover. I've not come across any reports of anyone running LEJOG offroad, but that doesn't mean nobody's done it before of course. Not everyone writes up what they do, or even talks about it.

Haven't read all your posts yet, carr: I've just seen this & I've no time tonight & a race in the morning. I will when I get the chance.

Once again: well done - what an achievement! :):)

---

Brilliant - it hadn't crossed my mind the author of a hill-walking guide might be a fell runner also. Certainly didn't expect to receive a respons from you on the forum.

I intended to contact you soon to thank you for all the work you put into creating the book - it's amazing really detailed I think I spotted less than a handful of mistakes in the whole 1200+miles (the maps were never wrong though and incredibly helpful - I think it was just two occasions where the written instructions said to turn left/right at a certain point when it should have been the oppostie - a quick glance at the map though soon got me back on track).

I found the written instructions a fast way to navigate ont he run - just looking out for land marks and remebering 3-4 instructions at a time, I had the whole route transposed onto 1:50k maps on my computer (took hudreds of hours to do accurately) then onto my GPS (with OS mapping on screen).

Truth be known I did curse occasionally - some terrain was redicioulsy tough to run on - the stretch before Glossach falls (think I spelt that right - the highest falls in the UK) was incredibly tough under foot - very very slow progress there.

Anyway, I hope you didn't hear any of the curses or take them to heart! Your root guide is an amazing piece of work - it saved me months and months of planning/recceing and gave me a lot of confidence in the hills - the accuracy of the strip maps and description is spot on:

Unknowingly -you played a huge part in the biggest challenge of my life so far
and the most fantastic adventure of my life - Thank you.

As for others running LE-JOG/JOG-LE before, I'd love to know if anyone has ever heard of an attempt/succesful run before.

I think even if someone didn't do a write up in a local paper/magazine/forum etc, there would be plenty of family and friends who would know of the event - its not something you could go away for a long weekend and do without anyone knowing, it takes a fair amount of time no-matter how fast you are.

I just assumed that even if the person who ran it was the most modest person ever and didn't write a report - word would surely have got out, when friends of the runner told other fell runners at races etc, it'd be very difficult to keep the run a secret!

p.s. - Andy/any other reader of this post, if you would like to have gps/.gpx data fies for the route - I'd be happy to mail them, you can then download this onto any handheld gps and have a copy of the whole route in your hand. The only drawback being that my data shows my route which was the cotswold wya+severn way rather than the welsh route - on retrospect the welsh route is infinitely better. Still anyone considering this could save themselves hundreds of hours by downloading my route data, instead of drawing the route from the book onto digital mapping on a computer and then uploading onto the gps-it's incredibly accurate.

Once Again Andy - I can't thank you Enough, hope to meet you one day, shake your hand - and buy you a beer or ten!

Kevin.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FarFromTheFells

Carr - I'm simply awestruck...! I hope to graduate to doing some 'ultras' at some point, but this is just astounding. I echo TN's comment: RESPECT !

I'd say you've got some strong material for a book here, will you be writing one ? I imagine you'd get a lot of interest - fascinating and inspiring stuff.

---

Hi yes I've begun jotting down ideas for a book.

The run left me with fairly substantial debts though, (not so much the cost of the event, but the lack of earnings due to time off, before,during and after the run - all in all, I didn't work for 4 months) so I'm working a lot of hours at the moment trying to apease the bank manager.

Still why it's all fresh in my mind I'm writing down a list of events/people/places etc that I think will be of interest in a book about the journey.

That way I shouldn't forget. When I have time, I can then visit each point on the list and write about that one section/day/person that was part of the experience.

I hope to have a rough version of an accountof the whole run by late January - this will have to be sent to a professional writer to edit-make readable, I tend to ramble when writing.

I'll keep you posted as to how it's progressing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carr

I hope to have a rough version of an accountof the whole run by late January - this will have to be sent to a professional writer to edit-make readable, I tend to ramble when writing.

I'll keep you posted as to how it's progressing.

---

What an amazing achievement, well done :eek:

keep us up-to-date on any book :)

Hi Kevin. A bit knackered from racing this morning, but now I've read your posts properly I'm not going to complain about being a bit tired ever again...or for a week or two anyway :D

I'm sure a lot of us recognised some bits of the state you got into towards the end of the run, but I for one have never been near getting that many of them at once. Credit where it's due for keeping going anyway. You just can't fail that close to something as epic as that can you? Not unless you physically can't move any more. I guess what some won't realise is just how remote some of that country is though. I'm pretty sure you could hang around on the Knockfin Heights for weeks without seeing a soul, even in the distance.

Thanks for you kind comments about my book (pause for blushes). PM me or email me (see my LEJOG website). If you can remember the details of the errors I'd like to put corrections up on the website. Mind you I suspect there's enough interest in this thread to continue on the forum for a bit longer, so I'm happy to continue on here as well for anything of more general interest...

...Such as getting a book published. To be honest you'll be very lucky to get such a book published by a mainstream publisher. It would have to be a really good book: an account of an epic journey in itself isn't enough. Most LEJOG accounts have been self-published or published by "vanity" outfits, i.e, you'd have to pay for it and do your own distribution. One thing you could do though is to write an article & see if you can get it published in one of the running or outdoor magazines (e.g. TGO). If you've got some good photos to accompany it that would make a difference, & you'd need to get moving, before the run's too far in the past. That would then be something you could use on publishers. (Not that I did that: it's easier to get a guidebook published, as long as you hit a gap in the market.)

Oh, & I was wondering which hotel saved your bacon. Sounds like Oykel Bridge to me - if so, good for them! I ate there when I walked LEJOG, then slept in one of the fishermen's huts further up the river. Newly creosoted - the smell was with me for days.

Anyone else got publishing tips they can pass on?

Matt at www.mudsweatandtears.co.uk is a real nice bloke and am sure he would put something on his site and may point you in the right direction ( no pun intended)

I will dig around and see if I can help you with a publisher.

How's it going Kevin?

I've just been mulling over your account of your epic run whilst out on the fells alone today (where I do almost all of my most profound mulling of course!)
I can really identify with the 'low' you experienced after completing the LEJOG.
After some of my big runs, I have often hit a real low for a week or so afterwards, but I'm sure that I can't even begin to comprehend what you went through / are going through after your six-week epic.
I still don't know what causes this.
You may well be on the right lines with the Endorphin crash.
Fatigue?
A feeling of deflation and total emptiness following completion of a project that has been all-consuming over the past months?
Maybe all of the above, compounded by sleep deprivation and severe depletion of the body's resources - physical, mental and emotional.

One thing I am more certain of is that you WILL recover, but it is going to take some time, even for someone with your undoubted resilience, tenacity and mental strength.

I'm sure that writing about your experiences is a huge step towards finding closure and moving on to other challenges.

So, take it easy over the coming months and look after yourself.

Kev

PS Put me on the list for a copy of your book!

It was the Oykel Bridge Hotel - They Really helped me out, I need to get in touch asap and thank them. I hit there at the wrong time of day to make use of the fishing huts for shelter.

Most nights I slept in my foil blizzard bag as a bivi/sleeping bag in one with a small tarpaulin covering head/torso if I thought there was risk of the weather closing in.

My whole sleeping system weighed in around 700g - Blizard survival bag, silk liner, half a thermarest z matt, the outer of a tent cut in half to form a micro-tarp over my head.

I had never come across a Bothy before this journey, I made use of three - on the southern upland way a purpose built log cabin - now ruined with grafitti and people partying there who have started using the logs of the cabin to burn for fuel to close to a road and location given away on google earth).

Glen Affric - a lovelly building in the most amazing location, and on a night when I really needed to be warm and dry.

Someone had left a nearly full bottle of 15YR old Dalwhenie whiskie there!
I couldn't believe it - I felt so terrible that day (running in a storm/rain most of the day, falling over lots) and sorry for myself I was tempted to sit by the warm fire and drink the better part of the bottle-and take the next day as a rest day, I may well have done if I'd had any more food.
As it was I had one large dram, two paracetamol some of tesco's knock off snickers bars and promptly slept sound all night.


I never knew how to choose just one single malt as a favourite - Dalwhenie is now mine - i discovered it in Glen Affric, the highest collection of Munroes in one place I'd ever seen, and upon reading hte bottle I discovered it's produced at the highest altitude whiskey distillery in all of scotland - in the mountians, perfect I was running a mountain marathon, was left a drink by a generous stranger in the mountains and it's produced in the mountians - it will always bring me fond memories, and so now I've chosen my favourite single malt!

I also stayed in a private bothy (maintained by estate not MBA) Bendronaig lodge- this is a fantastic location and really well maintained building with no less than four working fire places to keep people/groups warm. The owners here are very generous, making sure there was logs, kindling, paper and matches prepared by the side of the fire. Also candles for light, and a bag of hard boiled sugar sweets above the fire! - even a working toilet in the building. I slept well here also.

As for publishining- I think I will go down the print-on-demand self publishing route, I don't know how large an audience will be interested in this story, at least this way I dont have to pay for hundreds/thousands of books to be printed at once and then leave them in an attic gathering dust - it will also be registered on Amazon so people can find it.

I found I began running Ultra's after spending a year or two reading others accounts of their runs

John Annerino - running wild, first person in modern history to run the whole of the grand canyon, a fascinating read and very inspirational.

The long walk - not a run but true story of prisoners escaping siberian prisoner of war camp in the war and walking all the way to India!

Hugh Symonds - Running high I think this is the most impressive run I've ever heard of. He ran every mountain in the uk and between them, over 2000 miles and 300 mountians - absaloutely amazing.

when I was running in the Highlands, whenever I got tired I looked up at the peaks all around me and imagined just how tiring it would be to run up the mountains - all of them not just over the shoulders of a few passes and around them - I imagined Hugh running there and told myself 'you got it easy so quit whining' - other times I imagined I was Hugh, that I could run that strong and so I had nothing to worry about - I knew I could make it, might sound strange - I never met the guy but his book inspired me so much - it's the reason I attempted the LE-JOG mountain marathon.

Pam Reed - going the extra mile. An incredible story I can relate to in many ways.

Twight-Confessions of a serial climber. A brilliant entertaining read and an insight into the psyche of one of the worlds top athletes, can be read by mountaneers and everyday folk alike.

There are many many more - after a while though I got fed up of reading about amazing stories - I was literally on Amazon looking for another book to purchase when I decided enough is enough - you need to make your own storie, have your own great adventure not just read about someone elses. I think I re-read Hugh symonds book several times.

People say you become what you think- or you become like your peers. I live in Devon not a hot spot for fell running - I tend to run solo most of the time, still my 'peers' - those who I chose to let influence me are the authors of these accounts, I found they encouraged, motivated me and led me to believe that it is possible to push myself, reading accounts of what others had done allowed me to dream bigger, as I had proof it could be done.

It's why I plan to write my book - apart from never wanting to forget the run. memories fade in time - I'd like to sit down in my eighties and read through the book and re-live my adventure, hopefully I'll have a grandkid or two to read it also. But primarily I hope that someone who is probabally just a kid today will read my book in ten-or more years and get inspiration to push themselves. Hugh Symonds book was published in 87 - 22 years later I found the inspiration to live my craziest adventure thus far becasue he took the time to write his story.

I'm not too concerned if it sells many copies or not, a mass publishing deal would be great but I don't expect it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Splatcher

Hi Kevin. A bit knackered from racing this morning, but now I've read your posts properly I'm not going to complain about being a bit tired ever again...or for a week or two anyway :D

I'm sure a lot of us recognised some bits of the state you got into towards the end of the run, but I for one have never been near getting that many of them at once. Credit where it's due for keeping going anyway. You just can't fail that close to something as epic as that can you? Not unless you physically can't move any more. I guess what some won't realise is just how remote some of that country is though. I'm pretty sure you could hang around on the Knockfin Heights for weeks without seeing a soul, even in the distance.

Thanks for you kind comments about my book (pause for blushes). PM me or email me (see my LEJOG website). If you can remember the details of the errors I'd like to put corrections up on the website. Mind you I suspect there's enough interest in this thread to continue on the forum for a bit longer, so I'm happy to continue on here as well for anything of more general interest...

...Such as getting a book published. To be honest you'll be very lucky to get such a book published by a mainstream publisher. It would have to be a really good book: an account of an epic journey in itself isn't enough. Most LEJOG accounts have been self-published or published by "vanity" outfits, i.e, you'd have to pay for it and do your own distribution. One thing you could do though is to write an article & see if you can get it published in one of the running or outdoor magazines (e.g. TGO). If you've got some good photos to accompany it that would make a difference, & you'd need to get moving, before the run's too far in the past. That would then be something you could use on publishers. (Not that I did that: it's easier to get a guidebook published, as long as you hit a gap in the market.)

Oh, & I was wondering which hotel saved your bacon. Sounds like Oykel Bridge to me - if so, good for them! I ate there when I walked LEJOG, then slept in one of the fishermen's huts further up the river. Newly creosoted - the smell was with me for days.

Anyone else got publishing tips they can pass on?

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Navigator

How's it going Kevin?

I've just been mulling over your account of your epic run whilst out on the fells alone today (where I do almost all of my most profound mulling of course!)
I can really identify with the 'low' you experienced after completing the LEJOG.
After some of my big runs, I have often hit a real low for a week or so afterwards, but I'm sure that I can't even begin to comprehend what you went through / are going through after your six-week epic.
I still don't know what causes this.
You may well be on the right lines with the Endorphin crash.
Fatigue?
A feeling of deflation and total emptiness following completion of a project that has been all-consuming over the past months?
Maybe all of the above, compounded by sleep deprivation and severe depletion of the body's resources - physical, mental and emotional.

One thing I am more certain of is that you WILL recover, but it is going to take some time, even for someone with your undoubted resilience, tenacity and mental strength.

I'm sure that writing about your experiences is a huge step towards finding closure and moving on to other challenges.

So, take it easy over the coming months and look after yourself.

Kev

PS Put me on the list for a copy of your book!

---

I think the main reason for depression/lack of energy is a burnt out central nervous system - stress (be that mental, emotional, physical or a combination of all three).

All contribute to elevated cortisol levels, when the stress is chronic/constant the cortisol levels (stress hormone) is constantly at very high elevated level, after a while the body (central nervous system) begins to become desensitised to the effects of the hormone, first you're hyper agitated(stressed) but after constant exposure you go the opposite way - the stree hormone is still very very high, but your body stops showing the stress response, the adrenal glands stop listening to the cortisol and the flight-fight response dissapears. This might sound good - you become calmer/stop being 'stressed' but you're instead of being in a state of hyper-arousal (agitated,anxious,worried) you now find it very very difficult to become aroused by any stimulus - you go to far the other way, under-aroused - no motivation, no passion, no energy or drive all there is obviously psychological response to this as well - leading not only to a 'flat'-feeling in physical energy but also mentaly you feel flat.

I think I'll be back to normal by December. I plan to start training again in Jan. Guinness world records wouldn't award me a record for the Lands End -John O'Groats run as they said there are too many posible route choices off road it would be impossible to verify two athletes ran the exact same course- leadoing to a variation in course times means they wont hold a record - if it isn't open to contention they won't hold it. Really annoying -it's almost like they're saying it never happened.

I'm tempted see how far I can run without sleep - it's a contentious record Karnazes claims he has ran the furthest -350miles without sleeping (after Pam reed made 300miles no sleep) - these two runs were actually on the road - between points, i.e. Karnazes ran the equivilant of Devon to Yorkshire in one push (no sleep) which he claims is a record. The furthest actually ran withpout sleep is over 400miles by grek ultra-running legend Yiannis Kouros- I think around 440miles, he did this on his way to breaking the 1000mile record. Karnazes claims the two records are distinct as he actually ran between two points 350miles apart where as Yiannis ran around a track (so never ran further than a few hundred metres in distance) but repeated it thousands of times.

Either distances are crazy but it would be fun to try seeing how far I can go without stopping - rather tahn 'stage-running' where I run quite far in a day - but hten see how many days I can keep going. I think it will be less stressful on the body.

WOW! Brilliant! Very well done. When i cycled it there was a fella doing it on a skateboard!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skennaugh

WOW! Brilliant! Very well done. When i cycled it there was a fella doing it on a skateboard!

---

Cheers. I have the book by the guy who skateboarded it - Dave cornthwaite. He only did it as a publicity stunt/practice for his skateboard across the whole of Australia! - he had only been skateboarding for 4-6months when you saw him on that journey - bagged himself a world record on a training run! Incredible determination, his feet were disgusting.

He said he was wearing shoes out quite rapidly! Ha ha!

that's ridiculous that Guinness won't recognise a record - so what if there are route choices - if somebody wants to go a different way and can do it quicker then so be it surely? :confused:

latest Runner's World mag mentions a lass who's currently planning to run round Grand Canyon - can't remember her name atm :o - how far IS that! :eek:

Dalwhinnie has long been my fave single malt - obviously I have good taste! :p

stunning.....

and a very well written account, top stuff

Great account. Would love to read the book.

Well done Carr.
I have the Andy Robinson book and have been looking at the route.
Have had a good look around the net and like you cant find anything about records.

The eyesite thing usally starts with Tunnel vision which slowly closes in to a point which is when you get the flash, AS yours happened at night you did not notice it start to happen, You need a sugar hit and your sorted. What was the blood all about though??

Great Effort well done.

Quote
Only one who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

Totally riveting and just the sort of thing many people (me included) love to read about in a book. I would argue that this story could me more popular and more deserving of full publication than some are thinking. It just needs the right publisher that understands the attraction of true stories of grit, determination, massive personal challenges, ultimate success, not forgetting the aftermath. I'd certainly buy the book, no question.

Massive congratulations Carr. You're a hero.

I'll be buying a copy of the book too - I collect every End to End account I can find. Warning though Kev: I'll be giving it a brief review on my website as well. I'm generally polite apart from the real stinkers - and yours is unlikely to be one of those by your writing so far.

In fact, I might put a placeholder in my online bibliography, just to encourage you...:D

Seconded... you publish it and I'll buy a couple of copies. It's an epic, mate.

Just read this thread…. Amazing and inspirational!!! Many congratulations on an absolutely amazing adventure.

Hope time is starting to heal your wounds and you can start to look back and be proud of what you have achieved. Hopefully the good bits will seem better and the bad....well just something to be rembered.

Cannot wait for the book!!