The Original Mountain Marathon 2006

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A Navigators Day

Rob Howard / 28.10.2006

In the early morning hours when most of the population were fast asleep and planning a lay in for the weekend, OMM competitors were listening to the rattle of heavy rain on their tent flys, camper van roofs and B&B windows. The forecast for a wet Saturday was obviously right!

Before dawn they made their way to parking places on forest roads all around the event HQ and there were long lines of car lights streaming along normally deserted forest roads. The B and C classes boarded their buses to their start line and the other classes walked up to a start at a track junction in the cloud and the mist.

As they set off at minute intervals the rain continued to fall. Dawn was just a slow lightening of the gloom and the mist was so thick anyone 10m away was lost to sight. It was to be a day for sticking close together and careful map and compass work – a navigators day.

As he raced into the mist Elite competitor Gary Tompsett shouted, “I’ve been waiting for weather like this for years!� Others looked more concerned, but not course planner Marcus Scotney. “This is perfect,� he said, “just what I wanted! The early controls will spread them out for sure.�

With all the score classes starting in one place the pairs were soon spread out anyway, some heading down a forest track, others up a different track and some diving straight into a forest ride. Within a few paces these were ankle deep in bog water ... then calf deep and soon knee deep or more. The ground everywhere is totally saturated and there are large areas of felling, strewn with fallen logs and brush that are hard to cross. Poor route choices today could cost a lot of time ... and a lot of energy too.See All Event Posts