First MM / Fellsman-type thing

[ZootHornRollo]

my mate and I are looking at entering a mountain marathon, or similar event, next year.

Neither of us has done one before but we're both experienced bad-weather walkers, I've done a bit of fell-running, we're both pretty fit, decent navigators (he's very good, I'm adequate) etc.

He knows the Lakes well, and we thought that would be a good place to try our first one. So I've been looking at the Saunders.

Anyone got any other recommendations? Is it too late for me to have a crack at one of these things this year to get a flavour of it?

I've done a bit of clicking around but not really sure how all these other events - Fellsman, Lakeland 100, etc - differ from MMs.

[IainR]

They are more long distance trail races than MM's.

There's an increasing number of new mountain marathons now, and there's also the one day events that dark and white organise.

The Rab MM should still be open, I'd suspect the OMM is now full.

http://www.darkandwhite.co.uk/mountain-marathons.asp

[AJF]

2nd the Rab! Which is also ran by the lot from Dark and White. Also the Mourne mountain marathon if you fancy a trip across the sea?

[Splatcher]

I preferred the RAB last year to the SLMM and the OMM, & would have felt the same whatever the weather. The RAB is smaller, & that's a big advantage in my book. I can't do it this year as it clashes with other events I want to do. The RAB is score only, so you need to decide which checkpoints to try for as you go along, winning points for each checkpoint. Advantage: fewer processions, Disadvantage: more thinking to do when you're knackered. The OMM has both score and fixed route classes. I think the SLMM is fixed route only, i.e. you have to visit all checkpoints in order. The OMM is still open for entries - they close at the end of July, then draw for who gets in. The weather on the OMM tends to be worse due to the time of year. If you're reasonably fit, pick the 2nd or 3rd easiest class for you first MM - that's what we did anyway.

[ZootHornRollo]

cheers all

it looks as if you can't enter the top classes in these events anyway if you've not done one before - which is fair enough.

[Splatcher]

...you were also wondering about the difference between the MMs and the other races you listed. I've only done MMs (last year only - I'm not that battle hardened yet), & haven't attempted the other events, but MMs involve being up on the fells for a limited time on each of the 2 days, and only running in daylight. You get a long rest overnight. Some of those other events are (I think) non-stop through the night events so you'd need night navigation skills and more endurance.

[Toreador]

The Rab MM should still be open, I'd suspect the OMM is now full.

Entries for the OMM don't close until 29th July, and no places are allocated until then.

RAB - a small event, more relaxed than some about rules etc. But they only have Score classes, which are in general harder than Line courses (more decisions to make, generally harder navigation, more scope for mistakes).

OMM - the biggest event, and for that reason my least favourite, but you're almost guaranteed that there'll be somebody else worse than you. Line courses have loads of teams so crocodile-following is hard to avoid. Could be hard to get a place this year due to the publicity from last year's event, also they're reserving almost half of places for people who started last year.

Saunders - seems to fill up earlier every year. More classes to choose from so fewer crocodiles. Beer at the mid-camp!

LAMM - my favourite, cos it's in the Highlands, but can be quite tough for the same reason. The first MM I did was the LAMM, in 2005.

Highlander - never done this one, they were short of entries this year so getting a place shouldn't be a problem. Weather more likely to be bad (April in the Highlands, could still be ice climbing season).

In short, I'd say Saunders is probably the 'friendliest' way to start, but if you fancy one this year then either the RAB or the OMM (or both) would be good.

But the LAMM is still the best

[Stolly]

The high peak marathon isnt a two (seperated) day event. Its a team of four carry on till you finish event over a 42 mile (ish) rock hard route around the high peak, starting at stupid o'clock at night in early March.

The fellsman is run (yomped or walked) solo over a (marginally) not quite so rock hard route thats 61 miles long, run in May. Again no over night stop - you just carry on until you finish. Kind of uniquely it teams you up in fours for the after dark bit to minimise lost souls and possible fatalities .

[ZootHornRollo]

The fellsman is run (yomped or walked) solo over a (marginally) not quite so rock hard route thats 61 miles long, run in May. Again no over night stop - you just carry on until you finish. Kind of uniquely it teams you up in fours for the after dark bit to minimise lost souls and possible fatalities .

is it the same route / checkpoints each year?

[ZootHornRollo]

what I'm trying to find is some info on the routes in the past that the various classes in the SLMM have been run over - to get an idea of how long and tough each class is.