Three months on from failed attempt number two, this was to be a smaller scale attempt with one pacer for most legs, less road support and less build up. I was not keen to put pacers and family though an other failure, though it was always a very real possibility.
The weekend of the 12th of August was probably the last chance for an attempt in 2011 with other things going on and committed on the Wednesday, picking a Saturday night start as the weather looked better than for a start 24 hours earlier. The forecast was not great, showers, cloud, poor visibility on the high hills and 35mph gusts, but was to get better on the Sunday.
We travelled up on the day and I dropped the family in Keswick at about 5.30 to get chips and went to pick up Stu. from Threkeld. On arriving back at Moot Hall at about 6.30pm, we find Andrew had thrown up (a week later I got the bug while at a music festival) which proved to make Myra's weekend just that bit harder. Fortunately, the sickness only lasted for a few hours and he was much better the next day. What can you do other than thank fate that you have a better half most capable of tackling such matters alone, do what you can while you are there, then put it aside in your mind. With 7 folks lined up in various roles for the next 8 hours or so, delaying even an hour to help sort out the little chap was not an option. Prior investment in Travelodge for the night for the family proved well worthwhile.
Graham from north of Inverness (we had a short exchange on the fell runner forum before hand) was also going at 7pm, so we had a chat and photos by the green door.
The final team and positions had come together late, but I was very pleased Stu. from Penrith (obvious really) could do leg 1. We meet 18 months previous on a snowy February day out on legs 1 and 2 where he was somewhat fitter/faster/better than I was. Stu. went on to do a fast round last year and paced leg 1 for my second attempt. He has been incredibly encouraging, sometimes with the subtle charm of a brick. Stu. kept me calm, feed and amused up Skiddaw where we were 9 minutes up and on Calva we got an other minute or so. We let Graham disappear into the distance who was working on a 21 hour schedule and kept to our pace. I kept being told not to look at my watch, but having been up there so many times I know at each stage if I was up or down relative to the schedule on this leg. We crossed the Caldew which was fine, feet were already wet. A few 100 meters up the climb of Mungrisdale common, I started to slow, not sure why, but we both noticed it and I struggled. After about 10 minutes I got a good talking to from Stu. and clicked out of it.
Looking back this was a positive event. I have heard that a wobble can happen anywhere on the BGR and having one this early and getting your head back into gear was a good thing. We probably lost all the time we gained earlier. Worse, so much worse, I mispronounced Mungrisdale in the presence of a Cumbrian and was very lucky not to get buried in soft peat there and then. The rest of the trog up Blencathera was fine. Towards the top the mist really came in which combined with the dark meant less than 5 meter visibility. At the top we heard a voice somewhere in the mist who said they wanted to follow up down, we said OK, but they never followed us!
If I was going to change one thing about my successful round, to admit to one error, then this would be it. I would have gone down Doddick, but not because of any merit of the route itself. There were many reasons for this, the best being that I took someone who is a very serious and experienced mountain man, but not 100% comfortable with the Yiannis Parachute Descent, down it. It would also have stopped him having something to rib me about until I am into my 70's which alone was reason enough. So the lesson here is that even though the descent very much suited the runner, it also needs to suit the team. Visibility was 5 meters at most. Even though I though I knew it quite well, I managed to go off route again, but in a different place this time. A great descent for consenting adults who all embrace a loony trip in the wet down a very steep slope at the end of a leg 1 reccie. To use it on a BGR all the party need to have the intellectual approach of Mike Blake to steep descents, otherwise play it safe. While I remember really enjoying the descent, I understand that Stu. is still in therapy as a result of the experience.
We finished leg 1 about 10 minutes down on schedule. I came into Threkeld in good humor, well feed and watered which Stu. takes the credit for, the 10 minutes down rather than 10 minutes up was down to me and the mist alone.
Dave Swift (tailing for his Paddy round) had also done support for Ronnie (success at just over 23 hours) that weekend, was very kind to get the leg 2 pacer and his car in the right place, and to do tea and sympathy at Threkeld. Porridge, tea, sock and shoe change and we were off. The pacers for leg 3 were also in attendance which confused me a little.
Leg 2 : Jim Mann
Leg 2 is a hard leg in navigation terms at night or in bad weather and with visibility down sometime to less than 5 meters in the mist, even with GPS with a track, it needs a solid navigator which I had. Jim and I have done this leg at least 4 times together and it it always seems to be in poor weather. Clough Head, a low point on my 1st attempt passed without problem with a split just about on schedule. The way up Great Dodd took a bit for effort to find the path in the mist and that pattern continued along the Dodd's. At most of the summits we would need to turn our torches off to see the trig point or pile of stone faintly silhouetted against the sky (there was a full moon behind the clouds, but we never saw it). My stomach played up. I managed to eat enough, though drank just about enough to arrive in Dummail in a reasonable state. I suspect over the leg we lost 10 or 15 minutes on navigation and 5 minutes because you could not see far enough to go full speed (relative to what you could travel at if you could see far enough ahead to place your feet), which given the conditions is very good indeed. A minute looking for a summit here and 30 seconds looking for a path there added up, but no faults in the navigation. Torch decided to give up just after Dollywagon Pike, but we had a spare (and a spare spare). Fairfield and Seat Sandle were done just about on the split times. The leg and each summit seemed to go quickly which suggests we had a good natter and that route finding took a lot of attention. Given the weather conditions and my condition no one could have done anything to get me across leg 2 faster or in better shape.
Near the botton of Fairfield we encountered Graham (who set off the same time as I did) who was on the way up Fairfield having had some navigation problems on leg 2. I have no idea where he overtook me later, there was a lot of mist between Dummail and Wasale, but suspect it was around Great End and he went well to finish in just over 23 hours.
I arrived at Dummail Raise in O.K. condition, happy, but really starting to tire. We were about 20 minutes down on schedule. I had been unable to arrange road support for Dummail, but Edinburgh lads sorted out tea and rice pudding. My feet were soaked, but decided not to change shoes or socks which proved to be a good call. Wet Sealskin socks continued to be comfortable without causing any problems, as did the MudClaws which I wore the rest of the way round. Jim was taking it easy that weekend, so only 1 leg as part of his taper for the BAMM Arctic marathon in northern Sweden where he and Duncan put in a highly respectable 2nd on the 70km.
Leg 3 : Pacers Olly Stephenson, Jason Hubert and Willy Gibson. Tim Hoskin as poor sod on Broadstand for the 3rd time.
I paced Olly and Jason on the Snowdon section of their Paddy last year. They came over from Edinburgh to do legs 4 and 5 on my attempt last September when I wimped out in Wasdale, so there were never any question of stopping at Dummail, I owed these lads a run out. I had meet Olly and Jason again for minutes in a car park in Llanberis at 2am as I handed their friend Mick over on his successful Paddy round in early June this year. Willy joined them at the last minute. For 2 people I had only meet briefly before and their mate, there was not a second in the 7 hours we were together where any of the 3 failed to put in maximum effort and commitment to get me across leg 3 in the best shape possible. It was truly humbling.
Stell Fell is always a bit short and sharp and I found the 1st half hard. At about the mid point I asked for my iPod to see if it would help distract me from thinking ahead which is the real danger on a round. If you just worry only about getting to the top of the hill ahead of you, you are OK, if you start thinking any further ahead, madness and dragons lies beyond. By complete accident, the 1st tune was the tender works of Motorhead and I went up a gear immediately. Its hard to describe but the distraction of the music allowed me to learn that I could push myself just that bit harder with no immediate bad effects, so I did. For the rest of the round, a mix of Julian Cope, Faithless, Cure, Cult, early pink Floyd, James, Happy Mondays, Stranglers, Smiths, Levellers, The The, Squeeze, Ramones, Nirvana among others, distracted my thoughts from beyond the next summit and to focus on the hear and now, the next foot step. I could still hear the lads talking and chatted a bit, but it was not a section to engage in witty banter, it was a section to keep going.
Parts of leg 3 I felt really good and parts were really hard. Steel fell to Calf Crag I really enjoyed, the climb up Sergeant Man was OK and High Raise to Stickle O Pike was a lot of fun, still hard but I remember spending a lot of that time with a smile on my face. It got light between Calf Crag and Sergeant Man, though we were still in the mist, the GPS and route knowledge made navigation a non issue.
I had a bad patch from the bog before Rosset Pike until about Esk Pike where I found the going very hard. Bowfell, in particular, was a struggle. The lads kept feeding me to the extent my stomach could cope with it. In contrast to my May attempt I worked hard on forcing at least a little food down even when I did not want it and Zantac made a difference. Willy was the tattie man and provided me with 2 or 3 spuds an hour. At one point Olly gave me a bit of a Marmite sandwich which shocked my taste bugs, but the different taste seemed to make eating other stuff easier.
Willy had a strange nack of heading off in the right direction without having a map or any prior knowledge of the route! The peaks came and went, but the mist and general wetness stayed meaning a lot of care (read slower) was required over the rocky ground on the 2nd half of leg 3. Scarfel Pike was deserted, I think we saw a single couple walking up as we went down to Mickledore.
Tim, stalwart climbing partner for close to 20 years now, had set himself up on Broadstand for a 3rd time. Last September there was ice and in May it was tipping down with gale force winds. However, this time was much better, it was just very wet indeed. Jason and Willy did the West Wall Traverse to meet me at the top. Olly was determined to win the "weekend balls of steel award" by following me up Broadstand. I did my best to persuade him it was horrible and he could take an alternative.
As I climbed I asked Tim if he fancied roping Broadstand a 4th time if required and his reply translated into "probably not", but the words he choose were very different. As in May, with only a few minute contact time, it is easy to forget how serious a contribution Tim made. I don't much pleasure from climbing steep wet rock, but it works better for me than the alternatives. Had it been dry I would have been very happy to solo Broadstand. With water running off it, I was very pleased to have the rope there. Using Broadstand probably saves me 15 minutes with the energy saving included(your milage may vary) and I am most grateful again to Tim who has now spent 2 nights this year camped on top of Scarfel in appalling conditions to see me up this section. However, he introduced me to the book "Feet in the Clouds", so sitting half way up a wet rock face for an hour or more waiting for a runner to wobble out of the cloud, to see them safe up 15ft of easy rock is just part of the price one has to pay for such gross lack for forethought. I think, but am not sure that Tim also helped Graham's party up Broadstand. What a guy!
I went to the summit, met up with Jason and Willy as I came back down to the coll and down we went. I think I had a bad patch during 1st part of the descent, I don't really remember that clearly that I said to Jason I was probably going to pack it in. If Jason did nothing else that day (and he did a huge amount in the previous 6 hours) then his moment came, his very calm words along the lines of "your are just about on the 24 hour schedule, you look to be getting stronger, at least set off from Wasdale, don't decide now" kept me going long enough to have a really enjoyable and quite fast run down the scree. A run down steep loose rock always seems to cheer me up.
Myra, Rowen and Andrew were the road crew at Wasdale with Dave Almond waiting for the next leg. It was great to sit in the chair, get a hug from the King crew, get socks changed and I could actually eat without having to forcing it down. Some porridge, Zantec and some pain killers along with SIS pink recovery gloop, flat coke(as recommended by Nick Ham) and tea. I actually wanted to eat and was surprised by how easy a pot of porridge went down.
I was worried I was too much of a liability for leg 4 and asked Dave if he was sure he was O.K. taking me. I was very swiftly reassured.
A new face appeared, said some nice things about me getting stronger. I had to ask who they were? It as Jason. I had just spent 7 hours with the guy, I felt terrible and must have been away with the fairies while sitting in the chair at Wasdale.
While I was 10 minutes down on the 24 hours schedule I wanted to finish even if the final time was over 24 hours. What Olly, Jason and Willy had done was set me up very well for leg 4. I was well feed and watered, my legs were in good shape for having run 44 miles and 19,oooft of climb and despite some mental low points, I was also in good spirits by Wasdale and my stomach had started wanted food again. I had also learned something vital during this leg about how to push myself harder when tired than I though possible . I did not have great legs 1, 2 and 3, but they were good enough and looking back they provided a firm foundation for the rest of the round.
Leg 4 : Pacer Dave Almond
If roles were reversed and I was asked to take a near exhausted runner over leg 4 on my own, I would have to think about it for a minute and understand howwreaked they really were. Dave never showed any doubt, not even for a second, that I would get round in under 24 hours and he was going to make it happen.
Yewbarrow (Alternative fell runner name : Yew-bastard), well you know what I mean, its 1800ft of upward horribleness that seems to go on for ever. iPod inserted and ground it out in a few minutes under the split time. Yes, it was very hard indeed, and the wobbling wreak that spluttered "thirty bloody one" and then wobbled off towards Red Pike got very strange looks from the walkers having lunch on the summit.
The only part of leg 4 where I had gentle encouragement to go a bit faster was between Yewbarrow and Red Pike. Dave could see we were getting back on schedule and gently pushed me to up the pace a little, not on the steep hills where I was flogging myself quite adequately, but on the gentler sections even to the point of suggesting a power walk (in one's dreams). We picked up a few more minutes on Red Pike and with much improved (good viz, light wind, clear sky) we picked up a little more time over to Steeple. I felt like I moved up a gear between Steeple and Pillar and probably did some of the best running I have ever done. The climb and subseqeuent descent of Pillar passed in what felt like a flash. We gave a cheer when we passed the point where I sat down on my attempt in May at Blacksale Pass. I kept eating spuds and Dave's mini Mars bars. Had plenty to drink, sometime water, sometimes Nuun. I was able to enjoy the downhill sections at a respectable pace.
Kirk Fell and Great Gable are 2 climbs that feature in many write ups as hard and moral sapping. Yes, they were hard, very hard after 56 miles or so, but there was never any question in my mind of giving up or slowing down so they became OK. I do though recall a far amount of grunting on my way up Gable as I tried to claw back a little more time. We took 3 minutes off the schedule between Pillar and Kirkfell and then 7 minutes between Kirk Fell and Great Gable. I remember getting some really funny looks from the people eating sandwiches on top of Great Gable as I touch the summit, muttered "Thirty bloody Seven" and wobbled off in the direction of Green Gable. Neither of us were 100% sure we could find the grassy strip to the right, so we opted for the more cautious rocky descent, it did not matter, 3 more minutes off the split schedule between Great Gable and Green Gable.
In June 2010 I supported leg 3 of the Tattenhall Boob Graham round ladies relay and tagged along for leg 4 for the training. Going at about the same pace was a guy from the north east on his round and he passed me on the bog just before Grey Knots. I was struggling at the time and thought how the hell do you run when you have done such much. I found out for myself and was able to continue to make good time down to Honister. Legs were still fine for descending, I had been a little worried about the long and steep run down into Honister but I really enjoyed it.
Great to see kids at Honister. Some of Dave Almonds friends had come along and gave me great support. Rice pudding, SIS gloop, cold-ish tea (I had gone a fair bit faster than expected so water had not boiled in time), some pain killers and a change of shirt and I think I wondered off 30 seconds or so before my pacers were ready.
Leg 5 : Dave Sargent, Tim Hoskin, Jim Mann, Rowen King
Dave on navigation and food and Tim on Nuun. I had meet Dave on his unsuccessful Paddy attempt back in June which as the most fun and best spirited round I have been involved in as a pacer and look forward to his successful attempt next month.
I have been climbing with Tim for nearly 20 years now. We have had some great and some fairly scary times together on various types of vertical fun from E4 rock to Alpine ice climbs to Scottish winter and much in between. The poor sod had also roped Broadstand for me 3 times. He introduced me to the Bob Graham Round concept so it seemed very right he was there on leg 5 and I was delighted to be able to run the last leg with Tim as a pacer.
Dale Head felt like it went on for ever. While there was no question of giving up, it just dragged on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and I was relived beyond expression to get to the top. I still felt OK and made good progress over Hindscarth, but felt the larger climb of up to Robinson. I pondered at the time that I should have felt something more then "forty bloody two" as I got to the summit rocks on Robinson, but I did not. With exactly 2 hours left on the clock and 100 minutes on the schedule between Robinson and the Green Door and I knew it was quite possible that I might fall apart either on the descent of Robinson or on the road, so any extra time gained would be insurance against blowing up.
Dave knew the descent down from Robinson like the back of his hand. We may not have taken the most direct route, but it was probably the quickest and easiest. I found it hard to believe I was still able to run at all, let alone make good progress down the steep grass slope after the rock step and down to the path, though my quads might not have agreed at the time and then a reasonable pace along the grass track, even running the slight uphill before the house.
There is a small cottage on the left hand side of the track as you start to drop down into Newlands. I had a chat with the elderly lady who lives there when I passed doing a leg 5 out , 2nd part of leg 3, leg 4 and leg 5 back as a training run back in April. She had mentioned she used to run in her younger days, but it was not the done thing for girls to do "The Graham". She wished me luck for my attempt.
I was really pleased when we passed she was outside. We did not stop as I had no clue how tight time was, but mentioned we had meet before and I thanked he for her wishes back in April. I don't really believe in providence, but ......
Team King were ready at the car park near Newlands Chruch for a change of shoes, socks and shirt.
Dave left us at Newlands, drove back to Keswick and would rejoin us near Portinscale. Tim and I wondered off along the road, but I knew we were easily on target as long as I kept going and did not blow up, this meant I could relax a bit and enjoy the road section as much as you can enjoy running on a road after 60 plus miles of fell. Walking the hills and to my great surprise 9 or 10 minute miles on the flat. I don't like running on roads at the best of times and running now was hard. However, it was not impossible and we kept the pace up between Newland and Keswick with a bit in reserve.
About 2 miles out from Keswick Jim Mann joined us and said we had plenty of time now, just enjoy it. Dave Sargent rejoined us before Portinscale. At Portinscale Bridge, Rowen joined us which was a real lift as I was finding running very hard by this time. Her running style was very good, as noted my both myself and Jim Mann in contrast to my forced stumble. Andrew having been sick the night before was not up to a run of near a mile. The 5 of us ran along the track by the river and into Keswick, negotiated some traffic and onto Keswick High Street where Andrew joined us for the last 100m or so.
Rowen, Andrew and myself ran up towards Moot Hall holding hands and got a really great reception from Dave and friends, some fell runners who just happened to be around, Graham's crew and even from some people who were out for an evening in Keswick. The three of us touched the door 23 hours and thirty four minutes after leaving the green door.
Writing about the last 10 minutes now makes me feel emotional. During the round, the big thing that kept me going was wanting to run the last bit with my 2 monsters. They had been really upset last time when I bailed out on leg 4 as they had the expectation they would run the last section with me. I thought it was be a really emotional event and I would struggle to contain my emotion. The Bob Graham Round does funny things to your emotions and my emotions were all used up by the time I got back to Keswick to be replaced by a confused haze of being thankful it was over, disappointed it was over, a vague understanding that I had achieved something significant and wanting to eat. I was pleased, do not doubt that for a moment, but the elation would come later, days later in fact.
Don't get me wrong, at the end it was truly wonderful to have some of the folks who had help me there and their friends to cheer me on. It now feels very special to have had such fantastic family support and that Myra, Rowen and Andrew could be part of that last section. The memories, and they are great ones, will last until I get put into a box, but at the time I was very conscious that I was not feeling emotional and remember commenting to a few people about it.
Graham who had set out the same time was still around. We did some photo's and to be fair Graham looks in much better shape at the end than I did, though I was expecting to be a heap by that point, but to my great surprise was broadly still functional.
Myra got some chips, that well known recovery food. We sat and chatted, eat chips and people started to go their separate ways. 45 minutes after finishing, we were on our way back to Aberystwyth with Myra driving thankfully. There were a few folks who had given me such wonderful support over the 3 years of this campaign, I felt I owed them a call. Coach Jon from Aberystwyth University Sports Sciences who expertly put some science into my training got a very incoherent sunday evening phone call, as did my brother. Penrith Stu, Mark Smith and Dave Hindly had been super supportive and I let them know there won't be a rematch. When I got home I took my clothes off to get into the shower and got hit by the smell of cortisol, a by product of my body breaking itself down to keep going during the day.
The following week both body and brain were unable to focus for more than a few minutes. Had a lazy but very good following weekend at the Beautiful Days festival (if you ignore the stomach bug Andrew kindly gave me). 9 days later I managed a lazy 3 miles, but was my legs were still tired. I also eat and slept more than I had for a long time.
So what went right on the 3rd attempt? Well, these are the things it was not.
- Better pacers. All the pacers on each attempt have been top notch and fully committed to this daft enterprise
- Better weather. The weather was better this time with no high winds, but there was better visibility last time at night.
- Clive was fitter. This was probably a true statement and may have helped a bit. The must have been a boost in fitness post attempt 2 and I had been doing quite a bit of speed training such as fast hill reps, so may have found going up hills at pace a bit easier, but I still think this was marginal. I had no really big days out between attempt 2 and 3.
So what did make a difference
- iPod : It managed to distract my little brain from thinking ahead which is the biggest danger on a BGR. It also helped give some rhythm on climbs. Try going slow up a hill with Ace of Spades in your lug holes. I did not use it on legs 1 and 2 which was a good thing, it did start to loose its affect a bit after about 6 hours.
- Food : I basically eat small boiled potatoes, chocolate, some other sweets and Dave Almonds mars bars on leg 4. I drank only Nuun and water while on the round itself. This was a gel free round.
- Pain killers : I took a single Paracetamol around Esk Pike. A Nurofen at Wasdale and a Nurofen and Paracetamol at Honister, well below the maximum dose I could have taken and worked very well.
- Zantec, a Ranitidine based indigestion tablet. I took 3 of these and they really seemed to help. Stomach had some problems up to the end of leg 3, but fine after that. Maybe should have taken one at the start. Doc Smith from attempt 2 suggested this, as he suggested the option of mixing of paracetamol and Nurofen.
- Had a GPS with a track on it. Probably saved us 10 minutes or so on leg 2 and reduced the risk of getting very lost on night sections.
- I wanted to finish the whole round no matter what the eventual time was.
- I had learned from the previous 2 failure. As a member of the tail end of the mid-pack, it was always going to take me a couple of attempts to learn how to overcome the various mental and physical obstacles.
A few people have asked .... So What Next?
For the 1st few days I could not contemplate even thinking about running again, ever. I have no ambition to do a Paddy or Ramsey at this point in time and want to keep off any big challenges until at least 2013. A must is to spend more time on family fun.
- There is much scope for me to get faster on easy fell races [all things are relative :-)], I mean the like of the Peris Horseshoe, Welsh 1000m, Long Mynd Valleys race and some of the Welsh AM races.
- I get a kick out of pacing folks on their rounds and want to do some more of that next year. The Paddy looks to be getting more popular and it is quite easy for me to pop up to north Wales for an evening or night leg.
- I want to get to know the Meirionnydd round in part as it has some close hills I don't know that well and so I can do it by proxy(someone more capable) next year
- I have a vague plan to search out a viable route for a 24 hour mid-Wales (Pumlumon round) over this winter
- Like to still do an Ultra or 2 a year,
- Do some more rock climbing and some more Munro's.
The Bob Graham Round was a part of my life for 3 1/2 years. It took me from my 1st fell race in early 2008 where I finished with the mid pack 60 year old women to running leg 4 in 4 hours and 37 minutes. The journey has been a great one and meet lots of great people who I hope I will know for many years to come.
The Bob Graham Round was always a big scary hard to achieve goal to counterbalance the onset of my middle years, reducing fitness, the nature of my job and its travel requirements. It did take on a life of its own beyond that, but ultimately it did its job which was to get me properly fit. As I bonus I got to know parts of the Lakes quite well.
I took up fell running (not quite true, I did 3 races in the mid 90's) to get fit and experienced enough to do the Bob Graham, but fell running turned out to be such a great sport this blog will remain to record the continuing journey of Clive's running, but less heavy on ambition, at least for a while.
Shap Wells in October, here I come!
