26 September 2011

rab mountain marathon: snowdonia

ruth passed around the lemoncello, whilst jane sat *trying* to do the cryptic crossword (next time we're taking the 'quick' one) and the rest of us lounged about in the sun. it was hard to think that just a few hours previously we'd been battling wind and rain and deathly slippery boulder fields in the search of fiendishly hidden checkpoints.
267/365
after last years mistakes jane and i had come prepared with a plan, we'd even discussed tactics beforehand. jane would navigate on day1 and we'd stick to a strict 4km per hour rule when planning our route. which i know sounds incredibly slow but it would stop us biting off more than we could chew so to speak! the significant difference between this mountain marathon and the others we normally do is that you choose your own route, trying to pick up as many checkpoints within the allotted time as possible. leaving many more opportunities for on hill 'discussions' and 'interesting' line choices.
bearing
day1 started with waterproofs and clag. occasionally the wind would clear a view of seascapes or craggy mountain ridges. despite the weather we seemed to be picking up the checkpoints without too much struggle. we had a great ridge run, which always pleases me, even though we couldn't see a thing. getting to our designated half way point, everything was going smoothly but the weather was seeming to get worse. we decided to miss a checkpoint out for fear of running out of time. eventually we arrived at the mid camp with just over 30minutes to spare. we didn't care, at least we hadn't lost any points! and all of a sudden the sun was shining and to top it off we discovered that cat and ruth had inadvertently camped next to team ibuprofen. all was well with the world.
team ibuprofen
half way route analysis over re hydrated noodles commenced. i love this aspect of mountain marathons, chatting with other folk and seeing their routes, getting tips for the following day and realising that you could've/should've gone for that extra cp.

i woke with a full blown cold on sunday morning, which was reason enough to (bottle out) let jane continue with the navigation. a 42minute slog, straight up the side of hill is a fine way to start any day. clear skies and fierce winds would dominate the days run. again we stuck with our plan and had no navigational issues, jane was on top form. i was starting to struggle a bit but it was hard to tell if it was the normal day2 blues or if i was actually starting to feel poorly. 3hrs in, a few gels stomached and i could confirm that i was ill and not just being a bit rubbish. we cut our route slightly shorter, due to my snotty nose and wheezing lungs.
268/365
but it was great to be in a position where we felt in control of the situation. we always knew where we were and were making good judgments about time and distance. jane convinced me to go for one final cp, "it's practically on the way to the finish".... one final up. we finished with our best ever result in a score event, 83/292 overall and 7/34 female . dead chuffed.
best chippy tea.ever.
and what better way to finish the best mountain marathon in north wales than with the best chippy tea in north wales. enoch's at llandudno junction in case you're passing.

19 comments:

Stu Stod said...

Nice one Kate!

starfish264 said...

It *almost* sounds like a fun way to spend a weekend .... if you're insanely fit, which I'm not! ;o)

Cracking result for you both though - very well done! Hope the cold fades away soon too x

jumbly said...

Limoncello and crossword! New additions to the kit spreadsheet......... Fantastic result. Well done. I am very sad I haven't done a MM this year.

Dawn said...

Crosswords in camp might be a good idea if/when the weather is crap. Probably bumped into you out there somewhere! Well done, and see you at the next one...

Martin Rye said...

Superb effort Kate. We are all proud of you. Still dont get running over hills, but well done anyway.

Anonymous said...

Cryptic crossword every time! You won't develop adventure race brain power with the easy one :D

ultra collie said...

wish i was there too..at the chippy :)
well done and hope the snots are no more

Runningbear said...

Sounds like a top weekend, and what a run despite all the snot..result!

Love the pics, you always do such great action shots.. especially the chippy tea finale. Extra mushy peas on me. RB.

Unknown said...

I know you explained it all to me when I was hammered that time, but I still dont get it... But im not a camper. And dont really enjoy running uphill. And despite my position in Sheffield, I dont really do the countryside.....

Im sure many people are now thinking "how are they friends?"

Simon said...

Well done Kate & Jane!! Great write up & pics as always. Have finally found myself a MM buddy so might be having a bash soon...

Gaynor said...

Well done! Looks and sounds brilliant, especially the chips. I've posted you something to help you with skool, don't get excited...

sbrt said...

Nice one Kate & Jane
Over 100 pts, 100 places ahead and most definitely better looking than us.

kate said...

stu- cheers mate! glad to see you're getting back on the fells.

starfish- that's the great thing about this event, you can make it as hard/short/long/fast as you want. i think you love it :)

jumbly- next year. you were missed.

dawn- hi there! great result for you guys! see you at the omm??

martin- hahaha, thanks buddy :) right now my legs would agree with you!

rosemary- ah, is that your secrete? to be honest we didn't even get one clue :-\

uc- it was worth it all for that chippy tea!

rb- thanks buddy. but MUSHY peas are wrong.

adman- we'll always have dolly and the ability to be supercilious ;)

simon- that's great news. i think you'll become as addicted to them as we are.

gaynor- hmmmm, fingers crossed it's a 3000 word essay on public health ;)

sbrt- too kind sir, too kind. so glad we got to bump into you. we were looking out for you guys at the finish to see if you fancy chips too but couldn't find you :( we'll have to have a run out in the peak soon.

Will Meredith said...

Well done Kate - another great run out and write up afterwards.
Did they not have mushy peas?

Dominic Rivron said...

Sounds like a great event and congrats on the good result. (Love the mountains round there - sustained the injury that's kept me down the last couple of years training for the snowdonia marathon).

kate said...

will- thanks! mushy.peas.are.wrong.

dominic- we really enjoyed, got us thinking of a 3000'ers possibility. are you doing the snowdoina marathon this year, it's soon isn't it?

Dominic Rivron said...

Sadly, no. I'm going to leave full marathon distance for a year or so yet. Can get out on the fells for a few miles though, which is good.

Welsh 3000ers are great. I've not done them in one go yet. My round took 17 years.

Thomas Bussiere said...

Great blog and race report. The landscape looks amazing.

kate said...

dominic- haha, yeh, i think ours will probably ned up being along those lines. good to here you're getting out :)

thomas- ay up! yep, we've got a good variety of hills over here and a lot of 'weather' too ;)