Mountain marathon advice

[Hank]

I had skipped over the page in Mountain Nav for runners that mentions 5km/hr as the speed which is 'rarely exceeded'
In the fog yesterday on Sutton Common/ Wincle Minn, up hills, on paths and off, but in an unfamiliar area, I managed not-quite-5 miles an hour.

Logically it all makes sense, and makes for a better event in prospect ;-)

Doing the first Spring Rab/ Dark+White mini-MM on Sunday. It's in an area I know, and on paths, so will aim for similar - 5 miles an hour - and see how i get on

As mentioned above, it's the terrain that can really slow you down. In my experience the OMM dishes up the most brutal terrain; not the biggest climbs, but rough, slow going and tough nav (especially on the score classes). For Long Score on Dartmoor in 2010 (which wasn't that slow going) 7k/h would've won, 6k/h you'd be top 10 or thereabouts (assuming you made the most of the distance covered).

[drmorris]

Well, I did the D+W miniMM yesterday, and managed 14miles in 3hrs, picking up 210 points and finishing 58th of 104 runners/teams.
It was on paths/ rights-of-way, and an area I knew.

Used the trick of a piece of string marked at 1km(4cm)intervals and reduced my sights down so only marked out 20km, but ended up doing a little more (22.4km) as I used the string on the way round, and bagged a couple of extra checks.
I can easily see 4.5-5km/ hr will be enough on the OMM

A good day out. I carried my OMM pack and a good load of kit, as I wasn't out to win but to get an idea/ training.

Happy with the result, just slight issue with chafing inner thigh :-(

Good practice; for me, locally, this series and the Gritstone Tryal look like they are going to be a good spring/ summer of events

[Elise1234]

Read "Mud, Sweat, and Tears" by Moire O'Sullivan (http://moireosullivan.com/). She conquered mountain marathoning and offers some great advice! Good luck, and don't rush!!

[nutkey]

Well, I did the D+W miniMM yesterday, and managed 14miles in 3hrs, picking up 210 points and finishing 58th of 104 runners/teams.
It was on paths/ rights-of-way, and an area I knew.

They're fun aren't they! I'll add another data point to the ones I quoted earlier - I did the one in Calver, got 206 points, did a similar distance, and came 52/150. So now we can race each other if we do the same one

[DrPatrickBarry]

I am being lazy here as I could search through the race calendar, but what long distance races/mountain marathons are available in the Autumn?
My brother is interested in coming over from Ireland for one.

Peris I am aware of having done it myself.

[Finbarr]

Your right Pat, that is been lazy :wink:. Okay what we are looking for is a recommended 15-25 miler that will not require extreme "mountain goat" skills from an "old crock" like me. August-October time frame be nice.

John

[stumpysmith]

Hello
we have a course on Nav and a drop in chat area that will cover a lot of aspects of MM and adventure racing. On 12 Jan in Keswick
http://www.nav4.co.uk/nav4-training/...-training-day/

Come along and ask a load of questions and have a good day out to.

Cheers

Stumpy