What is the Bob Graham Round?

(I didn’t have the blog when I did this 24 hour challenge in 1999, but I thought it would be a good additional post!) The route was first done in 1932 by (yes, you’ve guessed it, Bob Graham) and involves 42 Lake District peaks, 72 miles and 26,000 feet of ascent in under 24 hours. If you think about it, this means an average speed of just over three miles an hour, so you tend to walk the uphills and run the downs and the flats. It wasn’t repeated until 1960, but since then over 1700 people have done it.

Preparation

Over the previous year I had built up to running/walking 45 miles (i.e. being on my feet for 10-15 hours) and had reccied all of the route at least twice, using my Dad’s house in Windermere as a base — and calling on his babysitting abilities while Dave ferried me to distant start points and accompanied me on runs (or more often went gear shopping in Keswick!).

Organisation

The route is divided into five sections where it crosses roads (HonisterPass, Wasdale Head, Dunmail Raise and Threlkeld) and at each of these points a different pair of ‘pacers’ take over to carry your food, fine tune the navigation and record your time on each summit. I’m lucky that my brother — who has done the BG in both summer and winter (fool) — could organise much of this, although John Duckworth and some other Derbyshire folks accompanied me on my first attempt and Dave Clough saw me briefly (!) on the second one.

You can run either clockwise or anticlockwise and it’s best to set your start time so that you do the grassy Helvellyn ridge in the dark — this means a morning start going anticlockwise or an evening one if going clockwise, although having said that, a lot of people start at midnight and do Skiddaw in the dark.

Attempt 1: Clockwise, May 28th

I shouldn’t really have started this as the weather was so foul and, sure enough, we lost a lot of time at night to atrocious visibility. I didn’t have the energy to start running again once the dawn broke, but I carried on a bit, hoping for a second wind. It never came, so we packed in at Rossett Pike, about half way round, and took the low route on to Wasdale. I don’t know if I’d have got round then, even in good weather, as I was recovering from a cold, had only trained to 30 miles, and felt pretty bad for missing a night’s sleep so early on in the run … a new strategy was required — an anticlockwise attempt.

Attempt 2: Anticlockwise, July 10th

A walking holiday in Ireland plus doing the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon with Dave got me in good shape for this. You have to do a write up for your run to count officially, so here it is.

I opened the curtains on Saturday morning gutted to see mist of the consistency that had thwarted my previous BG attempt six weeks ago, and even considered postponing things on the drive to Keswick. Good thing husband/road manager Dave talked me out of it! Joined pacers Tony Walker and George Robertson at the Moot Hall and set off at 7.30 through the mizzle to Low High Snab, reaching the summit of Robinson in 90 mins. The mist was thinner on the tops, so navigation wasn’t a problem (yet!). One of the main roles for pacers on this section is to slow you down, but I’m glad Tony and George didn’t do this.

At Honister, Mark Flemming and dog Maggie took over. After Mark’s canny route off Great Gable, where I was thoroughly disoriented, we were on schedule to Pillar but started looking for Steeple too early — before hitting the wall on Scoat Fell — so lost 15 mins, but apart from that, Maggie had a pretty good nose for the path when she wasn’t too busy chasing her tail! Was cheered to see Hilda on her clockwise BG at Steeple and still on schedule. Good scree run off Yewbarrow — better than stumbling through bracken covered boulder fields, as on my previous recce.

At Wasdale was met by Dave Clough from our orienteering club who’d walked over from Honister having just missed me. Had some of Kate’s chicken stew and a Dioralyte to rehydrate, plus mandatory tea and Isostar. Seeing Fred Rogerson there made the BG attempt somehow seem more real.

Then new pacers Brian and Susan Clough for the Big Bad Central Section. On the way up Sea Fell took an impromptu decision to descend via Lord’s Rake rather than Fox’s Tarn and this saved a lot of time as it was only 31 mins summit-to-summit. Saw some of the Wasdale racers on Sea Fell Pike — great atmosphere up there; the pacers seem to know everyone we pass, like it’s their local high street. Brian and Susan had some canny routes and a seemingly endless supply of jelly babies, which saw me through my only bad patch. I remember saying to Brian when we were descending Bowfell that Rossett looked like the Eiger, but we were there in a jiffy, having coffee and Battenburg with Munro Bagging chums Sue, John and Martin. They said they’d seen me looking worse, but only after a night in the pub! The mist had cleared now and John Cann joined us to Dunmail, where he arrived in his white T-shirt, looking more like a Persil advert than a fell runner!

The crowd put on a great welcome and I had some more stew and Dioralyte by the dual carriageway. The last three sections had taken 12 hours 50 mins, exactly to schedule.

It was a good feeling setting off up Raise Beck with BG guru Eric Draper and husband Dave, knowing that I had 11 hours to get back to Keswick and plenty of daylight to get off Fairfield. Eric found the gully down and we were soon zigzagging up Dollywaggon. Helvellyn was reached, 30 minutes up on the schedule. The wind was starting to pick up now but there was no mist and the grassy whalebacks of the Dodds were soon traversed. However, the 30 minutes were soon lost in the farmland at the bottom of Clough Head where we plodded through endless tussock of reeds with a few stone walls for good measure. Boy, was I relieved when I heard Eric say he was on the road.

Met brother and BG veteran John Brockbank at Threlkeld where I scoffed some egg butties and set off up Halls Fell Ridge, Eric continuing on this section too. Torches off at the top and jogged down Mungrisdale Common to a technicolour dawn (which, having caught on camera, John proceeded to fall into a bog and submerge said camera), and ice-cold Caldew and that endless fence up Calva. I was slowing on this last section, and it was a good job it wasn’t any longer or I wouldn’t have made it. On the top of Skiddaw we met Dave in an icy wind and jogged down to crystal clear views of the whole of the Lake District rippling out in front of us. Met Caroline and Kate (Eric and John’s partners) on the way into Keswick and arrived — incredibly happy — at the Moot Hall at 7.03 where there were hugs and Bucks Fizz.

Thanks go to all the pacers for their excellent company (and those that paced six weeks previously); to training partners in Derbyshire and the Lakes; to John for inspiring me, showing me the routes and rallying the support for both attempts; to Dave for believing that I could do it, not letting me give up when winter training was getting me down (this tended to involve taking me to the pub) and miles of driving over Lakeland passes; and to my Dad and Dave’s family who spent many a weekend looking after Zoe while “Mummy ran up the mountains”.

The night before and chips for all the family – honest!!

After over a year of anticipation, the day finally dawned – although I should say the alarm went off at 4:30am, 2 hours before dawn! Registration at the TA Centre in Blackheath closed at 5:30 and I had a DIY breakfast of potato farls in the hotel room (ever smuggled a toaster into a Hilton before?).

Dave drove me there and waited to see me start. There was quite a buzz about the place and good facilities. They do a bag transfer to the Finish, but we didn’t use it. Dave picked up his own Route Book, which was handier than the photocopies I’d made. Road support is quite tricky when you don’t know the area and have children who won’t navigate for you!

I later learnt that there were 196 of us at the Start and I soon found myself at the back of the leading pack of 5, bearing left down hill across the grass. The bit through Lewisham and Catford is fiddly – through a mixture of back streets and urban parks. A torch was necessary for the first half hour or so.

6am start at Blackheath TA Centre

There’s an unlikely bit where you go through a retail park after Catford Station, then you run alongside the Pool River to the first hill at Bellingham. People were starting to overtake me here and I made an error coming out of a wood on the golf course which meant I ran extra distance round a field.

I got to Bromley Station at about 6:55, you then stay on a B road for 5 km to the first checkpoint at Keston. I arrived there at 7:38, 3 mins behind my 12hr schedule time but still pleased. There was plenty of water so I filled my empty bottle (hadn’t carried any for the first 10 miles to save weight) but only bananas so I had some food I’d carried.

Suddenly the route is in the countryside and the navigation is very tricky. I lead whatever pack I was now with to Furze Bottom, from which you can see a column of runners walking up towards Biggin Hill RAF Station.

After that it’s up the nose of Biggin Hill itself and over some flinty ploughed field to Tatsfield, where there’s a nice village green for supporters to hang out – but mine were still emerging from the hotel!

A kilometre later was the first of the day’s permitted detours across private land. These two places are the only bits where the route is signed. A stile had apparently been put up across a barbed wire fence but had been removed so we climbed over some wobbly tree branches.

9:20am – up the hill to Limpsfield Chart at about 18 miles

After that you cross a bridge over the M25 just west of Clacket Wood Services and climb up to another nice village, Limpsfield Chart. Dave and the girls met me here at about 9:30. Had some food and water but didn’t hang around for the coffee. This race is so long that every minute counts! The organisers even warn you not to start walking just coming up to any stiles!!

Had a navigational wobble and went wrong way to Checkpoint 2 but only minimal extra distance but 5 mins hesitation error. Got to checkpoint at 9:40, 25 mins behind 12 hour schedule, which was worrying but I was running well and not feeling too tired. They had the legendary cold roast potatoes here and they went down very well!

3km along farm tracks then you cross Edenbridge Golf Course then some paths on the Eden Valley Walk where you need a compass. Dave met me just east of Dormansland and did 4 miles with me, which he then had to reverse to get back to the car! The route is hilly but very pretty as you approach Checkpoint 3 at 28 miles. Got there at 11:35, again 25 mins behind schedule, but no increase in slippage time which was good.

Coming into Ashurst Wood, I’d got lost on my reckie and still did it sub-optimally – but at least I didn’t have to resort to navigating with my i-phone! You then go east round Weir Wood Reservoir on more farm tracks and up into Lavender Platt wood where there’s a car park where spectators can meet you. Mine missed me, but everyone else’s supporters give you a good cheer! Then it was a nice run into Checkpoint 4 at Horsted Keynes past some very secluded farms and forestry.

Picked up a phone call while having some potatoes and biscuits at the checkpoint and met Dave 2km after. Then saw him again at Freshfield before he went to park at Chailey Common and came out with our youngest to run with me while the eldest got the coffee ready! (Wow, did I really run 34 miles before I got my coffee??)

Exiting Pound Common I went the wrong side of a farmhouse and had to run 3 sides of a square and cross 2 barbed wire fences in thorns. After this I can’t remember much until Checkpoint 5 at Chiltington, 48 miles, where I arrived at exactly 4pm.

Walking up Black Cap with the family

That the 10 mile section to the Finish took 3 hours 7 mins shows how slowly I was going, but I was still running. There’s about 1000 ft of climb over the South Downs and Dave and the girls did the main ascent up Black Cap with me. On this section you are on walkers’ footpaths so the navigation is easy.

You take a bridge over the A27 at Falmer and go parallel with the very fast Falmer Road but in the fields, just on the verge for about 300m. Then you run along the seemingly endless north edge of Woodingdean and turn south onto Brighton Race Course which is very nice running with great views. It was dark by now and I had a black cagoule on so although Dave had reversed the route from the Finish, he missed me and Zoe had to phone him from the Finish.

It’s bizarre but great running down into Brighton on a Sunday night and then onto the beach. It’s a shame I didn’t make it in the 13 hour cut off, but the Finish was still there and I got my medal and T-shirt but was disappointed not to be listed in the Results as just 88 of the 196 starters ran under the time limit.

We’d arranged to have tea and a shower at a friend’s house in Saltdean, which was lovely. She had put me in touch with a friend who’d done it 2 years ago and who told me to reckie – which was excellent advice, without which I’m sure I wouldn’t have finished.

We got back home to Derbyshire just before 1am and I had the next day off work but was in for a 12 hour shift on the Tuesday, still stiff! Much better on Wed. lots of good memories – and better still, Dave wants to do it next year!

On Brighton beach with Sarah 🙂

Hubris at Abraham’s Valley (Cannock Chase)

(This was written for the DVO Newsletter & I dug it out to psyche for the Midlands Champs 2015 on the same area)

After 21 years of orienteering with AIRE, TVOC and DVO for the last 14, it was a dream come true to win W45L at the British Champs in Cannock! I had quite an early run and the first three controls were OK; I always try to make risk-averse route choices, staying on paths until as close as possible to the control. This suits me as a runner, and I try to maintain constant map contact.

The complex area (Nos 3 to 8) filled me with dread so I identified some catching macro-features like fences and wooded ridges, and was pleased to find from WinSplits that I only lost 30 seconds on No 8.

The rest of the course suited me as it was physical rather than technical, with 2 legs over a km in length. It went fine but I realised I was in oxygen debt at No 10 when for some reason I was expecting white on the map to mean open ground, so I tried harder to concentrate after that!

WinSplits showed that Liz Jackson was ahead of me until No 14 but lost a minute here, a veg boundary between conifers and deciduous. I didn’t feel too bad about coming in ahead of her as mistakes near the end of a course have deprived me of a podium place a couple of times. Apparently it’s called post-crux failure syndrome, and shows the importance of maintaining concentration until the very end!

It was a long wait while the results came in, especially with the likes of Stella Lewsley and Kath Broatch still to run. I was hoping for a top 10 place as I was 6^th last year in the New Forest, but was amazed and pleased to be first!

Our team on Sunday looked promising with Michelle and Sue, but I went and blew it on 1^st leg loosing a minute following a ditch at about 30 degrees to the correct one. It was wrong in relation to the open area I could see outside the square of forest, but the oxygen debt must have been too much for rationality to get a look in. The rest of the run was fine, and Michelle and Sue both had clean runs pulling ‘DVO Labour’ up to 4^th. Uncannily similar to the fate of Gordon Brown!

This is why orienteering is so addictive, one minute you think you’ve cracked it, then you realize there’s always room for improvement!