The Original Mountain Marathon
After the OMM
Rob Howard / 27.10.2008
When the 2008 OMM came to an end at Seathwaite on Sunday most competitors returned along the road from Seatoller, having walked over Honister Pass from Cockermouth or Gatesgarth. Some spent the night on the pass, others at the Lakeland Sheep and Wool Centre or the school at Cockermouth, and most in the barn at the overnight camp at Gatesgarth. Those in Cockermouth School were even provided with a cooked breakfast before setting off back!Graham Brown and his partner who were in the ‘C’ Class were one pair who could not speak highly enough of the help they’d received. “We had set off to walk back over Honister,� they said, “but when we got to the top we were told the road was closed and bussed back to Cockermouth. They looked after us incredibly well there and later in the night switched to looking after local residents who were flooded out.�
Something that has been largely overlooked is the fact that the flooding was more severe than even the valleys were used to, or expecting, and many local residents were flooded out and needed assistance. (One of the difficulties the police had was that they had to make decisions on how to spread thin resources and this may have contributed to their criticism of the OMM.)
As I spoke to Graham race organiser Jen Longbottom walked passed and heard the comment about their being stopped at Honister. “It would have been better they’d let them come here,� she said. Clearly she felt that the competitors had been stopped from returning to HQ where they could be accounted for and looked after - even if they did have wade deep water to get there. (Teams were stopped on the pass first by the owner of the Honister Slate Mine, and later by the Police.)
In the registration barn those who had retired had their Sportident tags cut off and their return registered and they were kept supplied with a constant supply of tea and soup. Some racers had spent the night there rather than camping and one was Brian Leyton, who was completing his 97th mountain marathon. He was aiming to run his 100th at the next LAMM ... and he still is, reasoning that as he hadn’t retired this event still counted as completed! (Not sure that one will hold up Brian!)
Outside registration the Cockermouth MRT were coordinating with Jen Longbottom and Roger Smith to complete the checking off of returning racers. At this time there were only a few still to be checked in and they were discussing putting out appeals on local radio to ensure they were not sat in a B&B somewhere nearby.See All Event Posts
