The Original Mountain Marathon
The Flood (Part One)
Rob Howard / 24.10.2008
It was only when I arrived at race HQ at Seathwaite that I could find out the full story of Thursday’s floods, which so very nearly resulted in the first ever cancellation of the OMM. Thursday is a busy day for the race organisation, its when the various teams that make up the organisation (communication, medical, logistics, camp site, timing etc.) arrive to set up – the only problem was they could not get into Borrowdale as all road access was flooded. Driving along Borrowdale today there were numerous holes punched into the stone walls where the water had burst through and Derwent Water was so high it was flooding extensive surrounding areas.
Race Director Jen Longbottom, the teams putting up the marquees, the race planners and a couple of helpers, were already in Borrowdale, but when the worst rain and floods hit they were in different locations, stranded and with no communication. (There is no mobile coverage in the area at all.)
“I was at the mid-camp�, said Longbottom, “and the portaloos had just been delivered, but then a foot of water flowed through the farmyard and they started to float away! The whole place was underwater and I couldn’t get back to race HQ in Seathwaite.�
At Seathwaite things were worse, not only was the main road along Borrowdale badly flooded, the single track road leading to the farm at Seathwaite was up to 4 feet underwater – so was virtually the whole of race HQ. The meant that volunteers Gillain Wilde and Joan Champman were cut off, spending their time playing cards in the van and waiting to see what would happen. For a while they watched the marquee team trucks being towed out by the farmer. One of them did as told and turned the engine, the other didn’t and flooded his engine! (They’d been unable to put up the tents.)
“We were stuck,� said Chapman “but my husband Dave, who is one of the planners, waded in with supplies and luckily the water dropped quickly later in the afternoon.� Dave Chapman did not get as wet as co-planner Peter Gorvett who managed to get out to check some controls but was blown into a river and came out shaken and bruised. Race Planner Roger Smith never got out to check any final controls at all. When he left his car he was blown 50 feet down the road ... so he decided it was safer not to go out.
Fortunately, all the controls had been put out (all 101 of them) and most had been checked. A final check of a sample today found none had blown away or were under water.See All Event Posts
