I am writing to let you know of the "Lakesman Triathlon " Kendal athlete Paul Clavey accomplished on the weekend of 23/24 July.
This involved:
10.5 Mile Windermere swim
Fred Whitton Cycle
Bob Graham.
Here is the report of his amazing achievement:
Four years ago in 2007 I successfully combined three classic Lake District endurance challenges into a unique continuous triathlon. The open water, 5.5 mile swim of Lake Coniston was followed by a ride of the infamous route of the Fred Whitton cycle sportive and then the final run was to complete the gruelling Bob Graham Round. The challenge took 43.5 hours.
Since then, despite the achievement, a nagging question kept haunting me…simply, should I have swum Windermere, which at a length of 10.5 miles is England’s longest lake and a challenging open water swim. So, to put the doubt to rest once and for all I decided to do it all again, only this time incorporate the 10.5 mile length of Windermere as the swim to create the first ‘Lakesman’ triathlon.
It all started at 6am Saturday 23rd July from Fell Foot Park at the southern end of Windermere. I had postponed the attempt at the last minute from the weekend before due to a bad forecast and as I gazed up the length of the lake on a calm, cloudless dawn I was pleased with the difficult decision to call things off the week before.
The longest I had previously swum was the 5.5 mile length of Coniston, so it was with some trepidation that I set off to my destination at Waterhead 10.5 miles away. Dave and Dom were supporting me in a rowing boat hired from Windermere Lake Cruises…the plan was to break the swim into half hour intervals to take on food and drink. That’s ok, I thought, if I swim at 2 mile per hour I can easily manage a mile every half hour…so I just need to do that 10 times. But things are never quite as simple as they seem! Things actually went swimmingly well, until we got to the half way stage at ferry nab where a glance up the lake revealed just how much further there was to go. Swimming can be rather mind numbing and I was soon lost in my own little aquatic world with just the looming anticipation of a 30 minute break ahead to keep the momentum going. The first of the weekends sunrises crept over Gummers Howe as we steadily made the way north up the lake.
Towards the top third of the lake the water became choppier as a brisk northerly wind picked up. This combined with the creeping effect of the cold began to make swimming more challenging as my lower back and shoulders started to ache from hours of repetition and it was a welcome sight when Low Wood hotel came into view. One more focused push and Waterhead was in sight where I eventually stood up…the time taken was 5 hours and 15 minutes.
It took a few minutes to gather my bearings, standing slowly to avoid the embarrassment of falling straight over in front of the collected audience of supporters and bemused onlookers! A change of gear and some warm food soon revived the senses and at 12.15pm we set off on the Fred Whitton.The Fred Whitton Challenge has become the benchmark for all other cycle sportives in the UK and remains one of the toughest day rides in the country. The route is an ultra hilly 112 miles in length over all the famous Lake District mountain passes including Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott and finally Wrynose pass. In between are numerous other climbs and the cumulative ascent gained is approximately 3800 metres.
The initial climb up to Kirkstone felt hard as I struggled to find my cycling legs, but once down the other side and into Patterdale I felt much better and the rigours of the swim were left behind. I was joined on the ride and provided with road support by several mates; the fantastic support and distraction of riding in a group helped pass away the time as we made good progress along the route. We sped down the A66 to Keswick and into Borrowdale. Once over the trio of climbs leading out of Borrowdale - Honister, Newlands and Whinlatter the route takes to the west coast, where we had great views across to the Isle of Man and south Scotland and the northerly wind began to work to our advantage. Over Cold Fell and down to Ennerdale Bridge, on to Calder Bridge and then the ride up Eskdale with the climbs of Hardknott and Wrynose looming we made great time. Fortunately Hardknott was traffic free in the early evening and a final push over the last couple of passes signalled that the worst was over and just the ride through Coniston and back to Waterhead remained. We rolled back in to Waterhead at 8.30pm, with the ride completed in 8 hours and 15 minutes.
It had been a really fun ride, the weather superb and with great company and as I sat in the car park tucking into a hearty meal it was easy to forget that I would be starting the ‘Bob Graham Round’ in just a few hours time. I had purposely scheduled a midnight start to the BG in order to have some time to eat and rest. Based on my experiences in 2007 I knew what lay ahead and there seemed no benefit in rushing to start the run…that would come soon enough! For the moment I was content to reflect on a great day out…a challenging swim and a hard but memorable bike ride...I could quite easily have gone home a contented man except…..there was still the BG to complete!
The Bob Graham Round is probably the most well known of all long distance fell running challenges in the UK. Its 72 mile route traditionally starts and finishes at the Moot Hall in Keswick and ascends 42 Lakeland summits with a cumulative height gain of 27,000ft. I had a strong and experienced team of pacers to help guide me through the five legs that make up the round, but it still seemed a daunting proposition as we set off from Keswick at midnight on leg 1 heading for the first summit of Skiddaw.
Although the night was calm and clear in the valley, Skiddaw was covered in a cloak of cloud and as our head torches reflected back in the mist we struggled on the descent to find the route off down Hare Crag. But we were soon back on track and as we lost height the cloud dispersed to leave a clear but chilly night. Over Great Calva and then up the long climb to Blencathra the first hints of daylight appeared and by the time we were half way down Hall’s Fell daylight was upon us. Psychologically it was good to get this first section in the dark behind me and after a brief stop at Threlkeld for a sock change and some food we set off up Clough Head.
Rest to follow shortly......
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