Karrimor International Mountain Marathon

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A Wet Start

Rob Howard / 29.10.2005

At dawn on Saturday morning the lighting gantry over the parking area shone like a beacon across Ullswater and guided the final competitors towards the race venue. As the sky brightened there were patches of clear sky, and the heavy showers had eased, but dense, brooding clouds hovered over the surrounding hills, promising more rain later in the day.

From the registration building it was only a short walk up through the caravan park to the start area on the edge of the fells. The first teams set off at 08.00, but it was barely light as they collected their maps and picked their route up the hillside.

There was a separate map for each course, with the controls pre-marked and the descriptions listed (including the bad weather course option), and all were laminated to protect against wet weather. Marking up maps on the start line and trying to keep them dry so they don’t disintegrate are now past history at the KIMM.

The planner for the fixed courses, Debbie Thompson, was on the start line watching the early departures. As one Elite team walked off she said, “They’ll never make it at that speed,� and confided, “the course could be a bit too long ... but we’ll see.� There is a large Elite class this year and many of them are likely to finish in the dark tonight. This was a concern for Jon Brooke who is racing with Sir Ranulph Fiennes. “I just hope we can reach camp before it’s too dark�, he said, “or the navigation could become very difficult.�See All Event Posts