Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon (LAMM)
The LAMM - Up North with Beer!
Rob Howard / 08.06.2011
Known as the "Connoisseurs Mountain Marathon" the event always seeks out the most remote and challenging terrain in Scotland and course planner Andy Spencely has commented; <i>“One of the things a lot of people enjoy about the LAMM, and perhaps different from other MMs, is the location and ambiance of the mid camp as we try to get remote locations well away from roads etc, so you really feel you are in the wilds.
Again this year the mid-camp is another superb, remote location in the heart of the hills and we’ve found a place that has some good views (depending on the weather being clear!) and offers nice grassy camping with plenty of space to relax, wash, lounge about and chat with other teams. Only the real hard core hill baggers among you would have been anywhere near this campsite before the LAMM.</I>
The race started in 1998 in Ardgour (following on from earlier Rock and Run MM’s) and is organised by Martin Stone (of Sportident), with a dedicated group of volunteers and helpers. There are 5 linear classes and one score class, and the event usually attracts around 500 racers, including some of the best mountain and endurance runners in the UK. The race has enthusiastic followers who travel most years, and elite race Tim Laney is listed as having attended 16 times (so he must be counting the Rock and Run events!).
The race has always been the most innovative of the mountain marathons and runs both a university and outdoor industry MM Championships. It also raises funds through a ‘Climate Saving Contribution’ given by participants and matched by the race, and matched by the event. They have also recently cunningly combined fund raising with beer drinking in support of Mountain Rescue.
Last year Fyne Ales, a local microbrewery, provided barrels of beer on Friday night and after the event on Sunday and more than £2,200 was raised for Arrochar MR Team. An additional £10,000 was raised by the colleagues of Martin Potter, who was rescued by the team after a serious accident on LAMM Sunday last year. The team will be bringing the new Land Rover that the race helped to fund, to this year’s LAMM where another local microbrewery will provide a bar on Friday evening and Sunday, serving a selection of their own beers with 20% of price going towards mountain rescue funding. Then on Sunday, all competitors will be presented with a commemorative bottle of ‘event beer’ just beyond the finish.
There is also a special elite prize this year. Anders Morell who organises the BAMM - Bjorkliden Arctic MM has for the third time offered a prize of a free entry for the BAMM on 19-20th August 2011. The prize will include transport from a local airport and accommodation/food at a hotel the night before and after the event. The LAMM will share the cost of this prize and we will pay £500 towards appropriate flights from a UK airport.
Bjorkliden is located 200km (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle just north of Sweden's Abisko National Park, almost on the border with Norway and it is possible to travel to or from the venue to the UK in one day.
It is a great opportunity to take part in a Mountain Marathon in another wonderful location far from home but there's a catch. This prize will not necessarily be offered to the winning Elite team. It will be offered to the best performing Elite team that remembers to confirm at LAMM Registration Information Desk that (barring exceptional circumstances) they will be able to take part in the BAMM.
Details of this years exact location/venue will be released at mid-day on Thursday and the race <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.lamm.co.uk')" class="main">website</a>has all the event details, start lists and will host the weekend webcast. You can also follow news reports right here on SleepMonsters.
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