Karrimor International Mountain Marathon
Just Seconds Apart
Rob Howard / 30.10.2004
The leading two teams in the Elite class came in just seconds apart after the first day of competition. Mark Seddon and John Hunt crossed the line just a few strides ahead of the winners for the last two years, Morgan Donnelly and Steve Birkinshaw. But they’d started a minute earlier and when the times were calculated Donnelly and Birkinshaw had a time of 6.35.48 and their challengers 6.36.27.They will start day two at 7am and Seddon and Hunt will give chase 37 seconds later in a race where Donnelly and Birkinshaw are going for 3 wins in a row, and Mark Seddon is trying to claim the title for a 10th time. Hunt has never won the KIMM Elite title, but Birkinshaw said he was exceptionally strong on day one, carrying Seddon’s pack in the later part of the day.
Seddon and Hunt gained a big advantage on the long leg between checkpoints 2 and 3, choosing a route 9 minutes quicker. “We were running out in the open and couldn’t see anyone.� Said Hunt. “You start to wonder, it just didn’t seem right we were out on our own. Then we got to the checkpoint and asked how many had been through and the marshal said we were the first! Superb! That’s why we couldn’t see anyone else.�
Most others, including Birkinshaw and Donnelly had taken a more southerly route which was boggy underfoot, and slowed them down. Seddon commented, “There was some brilliant running on that stage, and over the whole day conditions were incredibly varied, sometimes impossible tussocks, and at others grassy slopes, like you’d find in the Lake District. I looked at the Planner’s optimum route’s which have been put up and we didn’t do any of them, but on that long stage the planner had not even thought of our route!�
The pendulum swung the other way between CP’s 3 and 4. Hunt and Seddon took a poor descent route down a small stream, then struggled to find CP4 in the dense mist, while Birkinshaw and Donnelly chose the best route down and hit the checkpoint without problems. “It was hard to find,� said Birkinshaw, “and we just were at the right height and hoped to hit it, and we did.�
“It was lucky we saw them then,� added Hunt, “or we might have missed it.� From then on the two pairs were close together. “It was a superb day for running,� said Hunt, “and we were trying to grind them down. We did get away for a bit, and they lost some time at CP6 as the electronic tag wasn’t working and they hesitated, but they came back at us.�
Thinking about the morning start Seddon said, “I’d rather be setting off in front. If they go fast off the start we’ll have to follow.� Birkinshaw was more concerned they might be tailed to difficult checkpoints as Sunday’s course has more technical, difficult to find checkpoints. This might favour Birkinshaw, a former GB orienteer.See All Event Posts
