The Original Mountain Marathon
A Flood of Finishers
Rob Howard / 25.10.2009
<b>14.00; Race HQ.</b>During the day the trickle of runners crossing the finish line became a flood and the rain showers held off so that for the majority of Sunday it was a bright, sunny day - a perfect finish to the 2009 OMM.
As the finishing numbers increased there was a steady stream of pairs walking down to the village hall, where the Glossop Scout troop had set up a marquee to serve water, soup and tea while everyone waited for the buses back to base. Sitting in the sunshine it was chance to relate stories, compare notes and routes, and feel good about finishing the OMM. For a time there was quite a queue for the buses, and again for the meal back at HQ, but that is to be expected with 3000 competitors. It's only at the finish when everyone is gathered together that the true scale of the event, and the organisation, is apparent.
Back at HQ the first prize giving was made just after 2pm when the prizes were given out for the Short Score, C and B classes. (There will be a later prize giving for the longer courses, once more competitors have crossed the line.) In the Short Score the winners were the overnight leaders Nick Barrable and Jonathan Crickmore with a massive 120 point advantage over second place. This was tied on points and went to Andrew Sutton and Simon Barnett with veteran pair John Horton and Mick Anglim taking 3rd. Richard Phillips and Matthew Chapman, who won the Short Score last year, were equally dominant in the C Class, where mixed pair Esther Barratt and Bill Oxley took an impressive 4th.
In the Medium Score there was a surprise when overnight leaders Steven Fenny and Dale Colclough finished much, much further down the field to slip to 16th overall, leaving their nearest challengers Steven Wilson and Tony Marlow to take the victory. There was no such surprise in the Long Score where the top 3 overnight finished in the same positions, with Darrell High and Nigel Bunn winning by a 39 point margin. The close race for the mixed title in this class finished up with Helene and Jonathan Whitaker winning by taking 6th place overall ahead of Anthony Emmet and Helen Jackson. Having finished very late yesterday and incurred a big penalty, Emmet and Jackson finished very early today. "It's a shame the two can't cancel each other out!" said Emmet.
Another impressive mixed performance was the 7th place finish of Jo Inge and Wendy Fjellstad in the A class and while there are at present no mixed teams finished in the Elite the female pair of Heather Dawe and Andrea Priestley have completed the course in just under 14 hours, taking 27th place.
[The full results are on the OMM website and positions given here may updated.]See All Event Posts
