Fellsman

[AndyA]

Just tried the link seems to work ok on for me. Win XP and firefox.
Probably worth just googling it
think I found it on Roadkills delicious feed

this seems to work on W7 and chrome;

www.davedriver.co.uk/felltrack/

[thedatastream]

I'm back early having packed in at CP4.
I knew within half an hour of the start that my injured calf wasn't going to prove up to the challenge.
Going up the steeper section of Whernside, I couldn't put any power through my left leg at all, and sort of 'hopped' up to the ridge.
I didn't fancy repeating the experiment up Gragareth.

It was however great to take a small part in such an event and if I can shake off injuries will be back next year to have a proper go.

The wind chill is likely to cause some problems. Winds were quite strong on the tops and it was distinctly cold even back at Threshfield.

I bumped into several forumites at Ingleton en route, including Pilgrim, Stolly, JP (number 4), and Hes. Hope they're still going well.

Sorry to hear you pulled out mate, it was nice to chat to you on the way down from Ingleborough. You weren't making bad time but carrying on with that injury would not have been big or clever bearing the conditions in mind. Still look, they got our best side - http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/fellsman-10401#photo lol

Walked from Dent with and got grouped with cefn_dave of this parish and what a nice chap he is too. Draughted a strong team over Fleet Moss which made things much easier than they could have been. Saw friends who were at the Snaizeholme checkpoint which was a boost. We got withdrawn upon reaching Cray at 3:30am. Lots of hypothermic cases there. One of our group lost his sight almost totally on the approach to Hell Gap so I had to walk him hand in hand the nearly 2 miles down into Cray. Was gutted I couldn't carry on as I was feeling OK. Still had a great time - hope folk from our team and everyone else are OK.

JP

[Mike T]

Sorry mate but that's a bit of a shocker; you've only got yourself to blame for your 30+min wait. You're right that he should have been better equipped but you lots should have managed it better; kept him in the middle of a close group, nominated a sweeper and rotated the lead.

People are far too cavalier about the grouping system; perhaps the organisers need to lay down the law a bit more about just how to behave in a group. This guy (or any other runner) could easily have tripped and brained himself; you would never have found him and he'd probably be dead right now.

My group consisted of myself (novice) and three guys with over 30 fellsmans between them. As a result they knew the route well and we made good progress. Even so, I still had to restrain the lead runner from stretching the group out too much. It's easy to see runners with head torches on but if they trip and break their torch, suddenly they are an invisible casualty in a featureless landscape.

Excellent advice AA. Grouping and nominating - and checking with - a sweeper are crucial to safety on the hills.

[Tussockface]

Sorry to hear you pulled out mate, it was nice to chat to you on the way down from Ingleborough. You weren't making bad time but carrying on with that injury would not have been big or clever bearing the conditions in mind. Still look, they got our best side - http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/fellsman-10401#photo lol

Walked from Dent with and got grouped with cefn_dave of this parish and what a nice chap he is too. Draughted a strong team over Fleet Moss which made things much easier than they could have been. Saw friends who were at the Snaizeholme checkpoint which was a boost. We got withdrawn upon reaching Cray at 3:30am. Lots of hypothermic cases there. One of our group lost his sight almost totally on the approach to Hell Gap so I had to walk him hand in hand the nearly 2 miles down into Cray. Was gutted I couldn't carry on as I was feeling OK. Still had a great time - hope folk from our team and everyone else are OK.

Hey, you can even tell I'm limping in the photo!

Bad luck being withdrawn. It says something that you can still write "Had a great time"! What a strange breed we are!

[Hes]

Hiya Dogbreath, it was nice to meet you at the start. I've got to admit that I agree with the other's comments about letting one of the group become 30minutes apart! I also ran with a Petzl Tikka headtorch and, whilst I am the first to admit its not as good as a lot of the great headtorches people had, it was perfectly adequate for the job and I ran easily with it as I always do when I'm doing a headtorch run. I suspect it was the person's confidence generally, tiredness, the cold and perhaps inexperience that meant he was lagging behind a lot? Our group got strung out on a number of occasions. Myself and another member of the party were weaker than the other two but we were never totally out of sight and if that was a likelihood, one person or another would shout out for the front runners to wait. It also meant that the two of us who were struggling looked out for each other and the stronger two kept us pushed on. I think that in conditions like that it was really important to crack on and keep moving as fast as possible but if one person falls behind, that person can easily get demoralised and drop off even more, so a sweeper and a bit of kindness might have prevented that and your 30minute wait.

I hadn't realised that I was running with Twinkletoes until now but would just like to say thank you for being a great team mate and for all the encouragement when I was suffering badly with the cold, feeling sick and mashed quads. Crag Rat was a brilliant navigator and I can't thank him enough for getting us all safely back and choosing some great routes.

Of the 18 Fellsmans I've now completed, that has to be by far the coldest. I've had some pretty rough ones over the years, but I don't think I have ever been so cold. I couldn't warm up at all. Even a determined walk up Great Whernside did not generate any heat. I can understand why people got hypothermia, and was probably not far off myself. I know grouping is for safety reasons, but everyone still has to take personal responsibilty and in conditions such as those experienced you get into survival mode. One guy with us had a Petzl Tikka for his torch, which may be OK round the camp site, but up there when you NEED to see where you were going, it was useless. Consequently, we had a lot of standing around in the freezing conditions waiting for him. There weren't too many groups behind as we got through Park Rash before it was abondonned. But the worst point was that 900 metres before Capplestone CP, we waited for him at the stile, and then continued to the CP. We were only walking and he should have been with us but wasn't, and we had to wait 30+ minutes in the freezing conditions before he materialised. We were all getting varying degrees of shudders while we were waiting. The CP staff just told him to get in their tent and sent us on our way. I eventually finished in 19:43 and was my slowest time for many years. I've just about thawed out, but blimey that was a cold one.

[old un]

thanks protodoc if i can help i will mate. we had a chief navigator and a sweeper in our group of 5 with one of suffering. on the top of buckden pike we caught group at the check point and they took off sharpish and left a member !!!! he tagged on with us for 5 -10 mins untl we caught them again he was a bit unsure what to do for the best and there torches were out of sight when we set off after them. if they'd have taken adifferent line or he had he would been on his own and we got hit with a hail shower in the chase too. poor form in book. when your put into a group its a team effot from then on and you get each other through the lows. ive had the same type grouping on long mynd and it can make or break your expeirence and have always been lucky to date as i think most people enter into the spirit of the event. personally i make sure im self suffuceint gear and nav wise and if i was ever left like that i dont think id be happy or chase them down but let them explain it at the next check point.and if they had to wait further along the line then its down to them.

[sore legs]

Well now that todays activities are over and I have a little more time on my hands I would like to say a big thanks to the Fellsman staff for a great event and some lovely catering at the check points. It is a shame that I never got to meet or chat to any forumites (not that I know anyway). Congratulations to everyone for attempting the event with the weather and forcast as it was and was and fingers crossed you are all home safe and well having warmed up.

I found it quite interesting when I caught a conversation in the school hall by one of the organisers/helpers saying that they had got the grouping time wrong and it should have been at least 30 minutes later.

[dmd]

Just spoken to Ali (leedsflyer), she made it to park rash and was told the race was abandoned, she had to wait 50 mins in a tent with a few people in body bags with hypothermia for the minibus. Apparently approx 20 with hypothermia, she confirms bitter headwind most of the way round. She felt awful at Dent but seemed to rally and felt fine for the rest of the time. She was on for a time of 19 hours, bloody good in those conditions for a first ever Fellsman!

We would love to be able to get everyone who retires transported immediately, we are constantly working to make this as slick as we can. Unfortunately one of the minibuses "went tech". Somehow the bus co-ordinator managed to rustle up a 29 seater which helped the operation, but these were extreme circumstances. We hope we didn't let you down. We tried very hard not to.

[dmd]

this seems to work on W7 and chrome;

www.davedriver.co.uk/felltrack/

I wasn't supposed to publicise the link, when I posted it before I was a bit premature and did it without committee agreement, sorry. However, it's out there isn't it, so I'll let you know that the actual link is http://felltrack.fellsman.org.uk/
I must stress that any times listed are NOT official, they are subject to amendment and they do not take account of waiting time or other adjustments. Also this event turned out to be a little unusual and we still need to finalise the arrangements of how the results for compulsorily withdrawn entrants will be treated - hence some possible inconsistencies in what you see in FellTrack.

[protodoc]

We would love to be able to get everyone who retires transported immediately, we are constantly working to make this as slick as we can. Unfortunately one of the minibuses "went tech". Somehow the bus co-ordinator managed to rustle up a 29 seater which helped the operation, but these were extreme circumstances. We hope we didn't let you down. We tried very hard not to.

Dmd, don't worry she was very complimentary about the organisation of the event and I have to say I was mightily impressed by what I saw and I only saw Ingleton, Hill Inn and Threshfield, amazing, heroes one and all!