OMM in Borrowdale!

[twilk]

I'm off to the soup kitchen.


...and another thing. The weather was so bad I couldn't get up my garden to cut a cabbage. So, I did the obvious thing and opened a tin of peas. You should have seen the rain on my conservatory roof. It was difficult but we survived.

Later, when it quietened down a little, we checked the freezer (a bit short on oven ready chips) and battened down the hatches to watch "Saw". Put the leccy blanket on but took the top blanket off when we went to bed so that I could feel conditions a little closer to those 'lost' souls

I know it is going to be difficult for the organisers but they should just ignore any negativity and understand that we still love them. Big hug.

Wish I had been there.

Tut, tut, eating tined peas, a man with your horticultural talents, shame on you.

[Deejay]

Telegraph says:

'Endurance race that nearly turned the Lake District into a morgue'

Tut

A shame, it sort of takes some of the gloss off their editorial which says
"Extreme sports like this inevitably see health and safety officers clutching for their clipboards, but it is a testament to the preparedness and judgment of the runners that they are all safe.

Indeed, the weekend serves as a useful reminder that when individuals are relied upon to be responsible, they tend to rise to the challenge"

[theNoor]

The two best articles on this event that have appeared in the national press were in the editorial section of The Telegraph and a report by a competitor who wrote in The Independent.

For comedy effort, I enjoyed The Daily Mail - apparently we all set off at 10am and paired up with a partner once the race began. The elite runners headed up to the hills whilst the others headed for the Borrowdale Road! The implied route was near enough direct from Seatoller to Gatesgarth, which from their map was only about 5 miles.

[dylan]

http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk/racer...rticle_id=5441

for those of you have not seen it this is a brilliant report and gives a true report unlike the rest of the drivel being published in the press

[emmilou]

Another post from Sleepmonster.....

http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk/forum...816&forum_id=2

[ydt]

Even the Guardian got things wrong. They have a map with silly labelling, they quote a 9am start and assume that competitors rely on instructions en route hence blame the banning of mobile phones. Mind you, I cannot blame the paper entirely when they quote a participant (name in paper) saying that he eventually "got to the camp at the north end of Buttrmere lake".
The paper also quotes another runner (named) saying "I don't think it should have ever gone ahead". It makes one question his judgement for setting off!
Yiannis

[theNoor]

Maybe I've missed the official reasoning for it being called off, but I would hope it was the fact the overnight camp was waterlogged.

Yes, the streams/rivers were full, but we crossed all of them by climbing higher. Yes, the weather was bad, but the 2007 OMM Durisdeer had worse weather in my opinion.

I've never quoted myself before BUT I've just read this on www.sleepmonsters.co.uk; "According to Mike Parsons the condition of the mid-camp was really the tipping point for the decision to call the race off – rather than the weather conditions on the hill."

This is what I wanted to hear, because I genuinely didn't think those weather conditions should have been reason to call off the event.

[invalidpassword]

Tut, tut, eating tined peas, a man with your horticultural talents, shame on you.

Well it was a tin of peas or the pub.

...and another thing. My messiah or "expert" as the papers call him is calling for a 'mountain centre' where we can all be taught about "geography, weather hazards and how to survive if caught out in difficult conditions AND what preparations those on the fells need to take".

I can feel myself being called.

[twilk]

I wonder where he thinks this 'national mountain centre for England' should be then?[/B]."[/I][/QUOTE]

As he says on his web site, the mine is in the center of the lake district, I wonder if he's thought of having it anywhere near his mine, that would be a good idea wouldn't it. Think of all the extra income it would generate for him. Surely that never crossed his mind.

[Real Ale Man]

I've never quoted myself before BUT I've just read this on www.sleepmonsters.co.uk; "According to Mike Parsons the condition of the mid-camp was really the tipping point for the decision to call the race off – rather than the weather conditions on the hill."

This is what I wanted to hear, because I genuinely didn't think those weather conditions should have been reason to call off the event.

Entirely agree with Noor - The sleepmonsters aricle by Ron Howard sums up the distorted media stories superbly. Worth a quick read.

The event will become stronger from this experience - There seems to be just too much sensitivity in the Lake District these days..?