Swedish Adventure Racers Take the OMM Elite Title
Rob Howard / 31.10.2012
The Original Mountain Marathon (OMM – formerly the KIMM) is one of the oldest and most prestigious endurance running events in the world, and as such always attracts an international entry, but for decades now the elite category has remained the preserve of British runners – until this year.
On the 45th running of the event, held this past weekend in the Howgill fells of Northern England, Bjorn Rydvall and Aaron Prince of Swedish Adventure Racing team ‘Silva’ stayed ahead of last year’s winners to claim the title, crossing the line in a total time of 11 hours 21 minutes 01 seconds. After a day of wet and cloudy weather they crossed the line hoping they had done enough to keep their 10 minute day one lead, and despite what Prince described as “some poor route choice” they had. It was a win at the first attempt for Prince, and a reward after several attempts for Rydvall.
This was the 4th time the race had visited the rolling Howgill hills and the weather offered the perfect mix to challenge the OMM competitors. On Saturday, after registration at Sedbergh School, the pairs began in a bitingly cold wind but under clear skies and in bright sunshine, which allowed amazing views of the surrounding scenery. Day two was very different, with low cloud making navigation difficult and constant rain almost all day. Race Planner Dave Willis commented, “The weather has been perfect for this event, one day of great views and fast running, and another to test navigation and how the runners cope in wet conditions.”
The elite runners were tackling the longest of 8 courses of varying lengths and all of the pairs camped out overnight and carried all of the their equipment with them for the weekend. The biggest win of the race was in the D class where Quentin Harding and his daughter Zoe (17) from nearby Lancaster won by a margin of 1 hour 34 minutes.
Quentin said: “This is I think my 25th or 26th Karrimor/OMM event and I had to come out of retirement to run with my daughter on her first OMM event. I carried the gear and she had the responsibility of navigation! Zoe was looking forward to building on her Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) experience. This GB team comprises of six boys and six girls. Actually, the C Class winners Jonny and Chris were in this team too!”
C Class Winners Chris Owens (age 18) and Jonny Malley (age 20) from Sheffield University, commented: “This is our first OMM event, although Jonny has previously competed in three other mountain competitions. The conditions today have been cold and wet with a lot of clag on the hill. Fortunately our navigation was spot on and we went really well. Though it was a rough and cold nights sleep, as we opted for only the essentials to save on weight!”
In both the Long and Medium Score classes it was mixed pairs who took the win. The Long Score event was won by Tom and Astrid Gibbs and the medium by Marcus Pinker and Ciara Largey. Pinker and Largey were tied on points overnight with Graeme Tiffany and Nick Hart, but the male pair’s second day score of 181 meant they slipped from 2nd to 14th by the finish.
All the prizes were presented back at Sedbergh School and next year’s race will be held in Wales and will be part of a series including OMM mountain marathons in France, Denmark and Iceland. Full details can be found at www.theomm.com.
