Karrimor International Mountain Marathon
The Challenge of the Eastern Fells
Rob Howard / 26.10.2005
The KIMM is back in the Lake District, a popular venue for the race in the past. Two of the first 3 races were held there and it’s been back regularly since. When the area was used in 1992 heavy snowfall affected the race ... an unlikely prospect this year given the current mild October weather, which is forecast to continue. The start venue this time is the Park Foot Caravan Park near Ullswater and the competition is the ‘Eastern Lakes’, which means crossing the High Street ridge to gain access to the furthest parts of the competition area. The planners have warned of steep valleys and tough route choices on the western part of the course, wetter conditions (made worse by recent weather) South-East of Haweswater and promise the little visited Shap fells will test the stamina and commitment of all.
This year the planning has a women’s touch, with Stella Lewsley and Debbie Thompson setting the courses, and as usual these will be a mix of fixed routes on the Elite, A, B, C, and 3 Score Classes (short, medium and long), where pairs have a fixed time to collect as many points as possible. They will all be working off a Stirling Surveys map, specially produced for the race and overprinted with controls.
In the Elite class John Hunt and Mark Seddon are racing together again, defending the title won last year, which was Seddon’s 10th Elite win. For the last few years they have had competitive battles with Steve Birkinshaw and Morgan Donnelly, and those pairs have been well ahead of any competition.
The expectation is that the same scenario will unfold again, but there are some strong pairs who will challenge them, including Tim Laney & Mark Hartell, Simon Bourne & Andy Trigg, Nick Barrable & Magnus Johansson, Andy Middleditch & Oli Johnson, and Ifor and Al Powell.
Only two female pairs are attempting the Elite category, Heather Dawe & Rebecca Cash, and late entries Anna McCormack and Sam Dring. One of the oldest competitors in the class has the most adventurous pedigree of all; Sir Ranulph Fiennes is still competing at the hardest level at 61 years of age, and is partnered with SleepMonsters’ gear Editor Jon Brooke.
SleepMonsters will be carrying exclusive coverage of the race this coming weekend, with news and pictures from the course, starting Friday evening.See All Event Posts
