Thank you all - I have been ticking off Wainwrights with frog's legs and the biggest smile on my face for the last week or so.
Thank you all - I have been ticking off Wainwrights with frog's legs and the biggest smile on my face for the last week or so.
Charmian Heaton
Just heard from the Moot Hall that Paul Wilson has successfully completed his Frog Graham Round in 18hr 39min.
There have been a number of successful rounds lately and Paul becomes the 16th person to complete it.
http://www.froggrahamround.co.uk/roll-of-honour/
Martyn Price
North Leeds Fell Runners
Obviously buoyancy aids are cheating but I understand that wet suites do provide some assistance. As a very poor swimmer who has some aspirations to do this, what kind of wet suits could people recommend. Do you need a fresh dry wet suit for each swim stage, or can you use the wet one again effectively from the last swim?Also have all successful completers used front crawl, as that really is my weakness. Any advice on the swimming aspects great fully received!
Well, apart from the horror of putting a cold soggy wetsuit back on ....
...there's a cryptic note in the FAQ about biodiversity impact, with a bit of googling I found this page about invasive weed species in Derwentwater and Bass Lake which the conservation people are keen not to have spread into the other lakes. The implication being you ought to either (a) use a different wetsuit etc. for Crummock and Buttermere or at least (b) clean & rinse all kit very thoroughly after exiting the water so you're not carrying any scraps of weed that could regenerate. Be useful if anyone better informed could comment though?
If you jump on the facebook page there is loads of info on there, most are washing the suit in a convenient beck or at Whinlatter en route.
Generally a swimming specific wet suit is best but at least 1 completion was in an Otillo style suit, worn all the way round.
Any stroke will do, and the swims are not excessive TBH, the daunting one is Derwent at the end but this is broken up by 3 islands that reduce the psychological issue.
Actually, there's not really such a thing as "cheating" in the context of using something that will enhance your safety. So buoyancy aids are absolutely fine for use on the FGR, by that I mean water wings, a Donald Duck rubber ring, pull buoys, foam tubes, kickboards, wetsuits (some have extra buoyancy built in for sinky-legged swimmers), float-bags etc. About the only thing it's been agreed are not in the spirit of the FGR are performance-enhancing tools such as paddles and/or fins.
Martyn Price
North Leeds Fell Runners
^ Martyn thanks for clarification re buoyancy aids. As a swimmer who doesn't particularly like swimming this opens up a whole new world for me
One of the many interesting / attractive aspects of the Frog is its relaxed approach to "rules" but focus on safety. Which is obviously not a pop at the BG club on my part
About time I got off my fat lazy arse
Poacher turned game-keeper
You have been threatening that for sometime DT. I am 'strongly' considering this next year as it is more relaxed, but I am no swimmer but just have to learn! This year I did Fred Whitton as a brand new cyclist and coped well especially with the climbs, so adding swimming to the repertoire would be a new challenge. To be honest its the run that is likely to be the most problematic as my knees are so bad. I'd be up for a few recce days out swimming and running next spring although the first target is a width of the local pool.