BGR 2014 roundup

[andy k]

The first time I supported a round a/c I Si Bourne was also in support.
We had both done our rounds CW.
We were on leg 3, reached the top of the Bowfell rakes - which is basicallly spot on half way - We looked across the view ahead to the Langdales and beyond, Si and I then just instinctively looked at one another and said "easy ground from here !".
SO it does have its advantages.

Another aspect of why maybe fewer people go A/C may be that detailed data on A/C summit splits is less accurate - because there is less of it available. Perhaps people try a few legs and find they are way off some splits ?

The last time I supported A/C the contender was there on spec, I don't think he'd done any recce, the schedule was borrowed / cobbled together from various sources. I supported from Honister to Dunmail and within 2 summits I had concluded that the schedule was rubbish and I was providing estimates on what we should expect off the top of my head based on knowing the ground (I did pretty well too). ( He did complete by the way - that kind of guy - He did the same thing on the Ramsay, just joined in with some other guys on a whim and completed ).

[Bob]

Interesting Andy.

FWIW, the original schedules used in my calculator came from Mike Sadula's site which I then tweeked a little as I found that some of the splits were well off. (This is clockwise BTW) One section that sticks in my mind was White Side to Helvellyn Low Man @ 13mins then HLM to Helvellyn @ 10mins when the split is closer to 18 & 5. Also 25mins for the Steel Fell climb seemed a little harsh and I think I extended that. Red Pike to Steeple was also way out.

The only time I've supported A/C was on John Fleetwood's winter round so I've not a lot of experience with how the splits pan out. His time was pretty close to Mike Sadula's A/C schedule.

[wheezing donkey]

Another possible reason for the swing in popularity from ACW rounds back to CW rounds:-
Alan Heaton and his late brother Ken were at the vanguard of the ACW round and this influenced nearly all C-le-M to go ACW.
Back in the day, C-le-M members represented a huge portion of BG attempters/completers, not to mention fell runners in general; I can remember one fell race report in the 80's claiming that it was one of the very few races in the British Isles that did not have a C-le-M member in the results.
With the plethora of fell clubs that now exist ( not to mention general athletics clubs with members taking an interest in the fells ), C-le-M does not posse that high percentage of the fell running populace that it did 30 or 40 years ago. Thus the influence to go ACW is not what it was.

[rsk]

Do any charts exist displaying the data of people's times?

[Bob]

I'm working on providing summaries of round data via an API so there won't be a page as such but if you wanted to look at comparing total round time vs starting time or similar then with a little programming you'll be able to do so. It will be "anonymised" so generally you won't be able to pull out data about an individual though obviously if only one person has completed the round in a particular month/year/whatever then it won't be totally anonymous.

[bestathlete]

I think the reccying of the route leads to more CW attempts.


Living close(ish) I was easily able to become familiar with Keswick to Dunmail by either running back along rail line after L1 or arranging a pickup at Dunmail or getting bus back to Keswick after L2, or doing L2 out 'n back.
Many of my training runs were therefore a bit like dress rehearsals of a CW start, so I never considered going AC.
Of course this doesn't help explain why most contenders choose CW, just why I did.

But compare a 7-9 hour run following the course in either direction and imagine how much more difficult it'd be to get back to Keswick from Wasdale compared to from Dunmail.
Or say if you only had 4 hours to spare then you could easily do L1 CW including jogging to Keswick before or after the leg.
L1 AC hardly needs to be done from the start to Littletown more than once to learn the way so you may be more likely to drive to Honister to begin, and thats a lot of extra travel time if you've already driven a couple of hours from outside the region to reach Keswick

[Bob]

Back on topic - I've updated the list of members to the end of 2014. Follow the link on this page: http://www.bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=members

[Nayth]

Back on topic - I've updated the list of members to the end of 2014. Follow the link on this page: http://www.bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=members

It must have been discussed on here before... is Bob Graham not a member?!

[Bob]

No, he died five years before the club was formed. I don't know why Fred Rogerson and the others didn't make him member number 1 (or zero).

[MorganW]

No, he died five years before the club was formed. I don't know why Fred Rogerson and the others didn't make him member number 1 (or zero).

Strikes me it's hard to be a member of a Club that was formed after you died.

And, assuming you were still alive, would you really want to be a member of a Club that was named after you?!

One for the philosophers.....