Karrimor International Mountain Marathon

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Title Chasers

Rob / 21.10.2003

Who will win the coveted KIMM Elite title this year? The KIMM has a national and international reputation as the blue ribband of mountain running events, and a KIMM ‘Elite’ title is prized above all others.

Getting your name on a plaque on the elite trophy takes extraordinary fitness and navigation, sometimes a bit of luck, and a lot of experience. The KIMM is not a race where a newcomer is likely to win the title in a blaze of glory, just to join the top 10 teams of the KIMM Elite takes years of apprenticeship. The same names appear regularly in the top positions, though the partnerships change, and the title holders are often hard to dislodge.

This year is likely to be no different, and here’s our form guide to the Elite race.

The King Pair

With a succession of partners Mark Seddon won the title an incredible 9 times in a row and in recent times has been the undisputed ‘King of the KIMM’. Last year his strength and his luck ran out (he’s had wins by mere seconds and even a tie) as he formed a late partnership with Brian Ervine and they finished 6th. However, Seddon still has the motivation of trying to secure his 10th win, and more than other top competitor builds his training up for the KIMM specifically.

This year he is running with John Hunt and might just have been influenced in his choice of partner by the result of the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon in June. Hunt and Ifor Powell came from 3rd place overnight to win, beating Seddon and Mark Hartell by 26 minutes on the day and pushing them back into second place overall. Hunt has never finished higher than 7th in the KIMM elite class (a position he took in 1999, 2001 and 2002), but this pair are sure to be near, if not at, the front.

The Defending Dad’s

The defending title holders are Steve Birkinshaw and Morgan Donnelly and they’ll want to hang onto their title, but both have had other priorities recently ….. they’ve become first time fathers. Morgan’s son, Hamish, was born on Sept. 26th and Steve’s son James arrived on October 10th. Will this have affected their preparation for the race, and will they be glad of a night camping out as a change from nursing and nappies?? Perhaps, if they can find a tent! Prior to the race they realised neither of them owned a light weight tent and they were ringing round trying to borrow one.See All Event Posts