Fellsman

[MOUNTAIN MAN]

Yes I would say you are well on the way to having the ability to do a BGR but see comments on the other thread comparing the two.

[Donkarlo]

Does completing a Fellsman give you any idea of how you would fare with a BG round?? A few of us a are thinking of having a go at the BG next year. We finished the Fellsman in about 17hrs. All of us were in reasonable good shape at the end.

Hi Centaur,

I did the fellsman this year and I'm also thinking of a BG next year if you fancy any recces etc in the coming months give me a shout if you're short of someone to run with.

[Donkarlo]

Results are up !

[Dog Breath]

Can't believe the amount of retirements. I know it was a warm day, but it wasn't a heatwave. Were people just completely unprepared physically to walk/run 61 miles, or didn't they look after their bodily needs by taking on sufficient fluid and just ran themselves into the ground.

With long events such as this, it is vitally important to take on food/drink at every major checkpoint, and except for Hill Inn, I usually spent 10-15 minutes at each doing just that, and still managed 17.5 hours.

Retirements can always be expected for injury or illness, but not this many. I was walking with someone between Dent & Stonehouses who seemed to be going very well, only for them to walk into Stonehouses and retire - still looking very fresh. I think some people just don't fancy it.

It would be interesting to hear of people's reasons for retiring ?

DB

[Headless]

It would be interesting to hear of people's reasons for retiring ?

DB

I stopped at Fleet Moss just after swimmingdunce. At the time I was with people who did sub 15 hours.

I had been drinking throughout, downing 1/2 litre at every refreshment checkpoint and at least 1/2l between every refreshment checkpoint plus extra on some legs when I found streams to top up my water bottle. With hindsight, I suspect that this wasn't enough and was the primary contributor to my eventual retiral.

I was feeling rough on the climb up Knoutberry but I was still able to drink and nibble at the food I was carrying. At Redshaw I had a cup of weak tea (half tea half cold water) and this made me throw up. I then carried on slowly from Redshaw to Fleet Moss nibbling at food and drinking fluids. I threw up a couple of times because my digestion had stopped accepting input. Probable reason - it was under stress due to not getting enough fluid.

When I've been in this situation before I've eased right off and ticked along slowly waiting for my body to recover which is what I was doing between Redshaw and Fleet Moss. I could have carried on to finish but I could see signs of deterioration due to the lack of food and drink since Redshaw. It would have been slow but I've gone further at the end of events when feeling far worse.

The difference this time is that I'm doing the 100 and didn't want to trash myself ahead of that. To carry on would have put more strain on my body and endangered the 100. As it was, I was out on the road bike for 2 hours on the Monday evening with only minor aches in my legs and one small blister on the end of a toe. For me, on this occasion, it was the right decision.

[Dog Breath]

Very interesting Headless. I would certainly put you in the category of being too ill to continue. No good if you can't keep anything down, and sensible to retire.

Good luck on the 100 (is it your first ?) and keep eating & drinking.

DB

[Headless]

Too ill to continue at a competitive pace but without the 100 approaching I would have continued and finished albeit rather slower than I had been going.

I've done plenty of ultras and multi-day events but this will be my first continuous 100.

[swimmingdunce]

Retirements can always be expected for injury or illness, but not this many. I was walking with someone between Dent & Stonehouses who seemed to be going very well, only for them to walk into Stonehouses and retire - still looking very fresh. I think some people just don't fancy it.

It would be interesting to hear of people's reasons for retiring ?

DB

That was my first dnf in any race of any sort since 1988 and I've done 100 milers, Ironman triathlons, 200 mile bike rides.

I probably could have finished by walking (my stomach wouldn't let me run ), but it would have been a joyless plod. Is that a good enough reason to stop? I have completed races in a worse state, but on this occasion it seemed pointless and unnecessary. May be I should have pushed on, but its too late now to worry about it.

My next race is a 100k in Cumbria, and I'll make sure I finish (don't want to start forming bad habits )

Colm

[duracell]

Results are now on the website at

http://www.fellsman.org.uk/doku.php?id=results:2008


Well done to all finishers

[Derby Tup]

Entries open Jan 1st. I've been running scared for several years but will be there this year