Karrimor International Mountain Marathon

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A Frosty Start

Rob / 25.10.2003

It was a hard, hard frost, but the starlight was spectacular and dawn promised a perfect autumn day. Getting out of the sleeping bag wasn’t easy though, and there were long, long queues in the darkness for the portaloos and to buy breakfast at Wilf’s and Fat Pig’s. There was a fair walk up to the start too, and all uphill as well. (For the A,B,C and Elite courses anyway. The Score classes had a different start the other side of the A7.)

The first start was at 08.00 and the frost was still set hard on the surrounding hills, but it wasn’t long before sunlight started to hit the summits and work it’s way downwards, clearing the frost as it did so. Some arrived well wrapped up, hats and full waterproofs over bulky jackets, but by the time they were half way up the first hill they were regretting not stripping down. Others were in shorts, showing a bit more experience and ready to run.

The starters waited in a field to pass though a gate in a stone wall onto the open fell where the start grid was set out on the ground amongst the bracken. They were called forward at minute intervals, the elite were given a little extra information for the map (a fence crossing and a shoot to avoid) and at the sound of the hooter they were off. Soon a long stream of competitors was snaking it’s way up the hill and some were puffing hard in no time.

Those with a steep learning curve ahead of them stood out. The army cadet types with packs three times the size of everyone else’s, the navigationally challenged who had a long, long debate 200m from the start line about which side of the fence to go, and then went the same way 1000 other people were going, and the pair who were going to argue all the way around. “Take my partner’s picture will you, he’s back there. The guy with the white hair and beard.� Several minutes later he comes by, muttering, “My partner seems to think this is a race.� They were only 300m from the start.See All Event Posts