The rocks of the boulder field were treacherously slippy and the slope had reached that gradient where hands could be placed on rock without leaning forward. I moved up carefully, placing my feet so they wedged against adjacent rocks in an effort to stop them slipping. Soon I reached the cloud base and I looked down to my left where I could see other competitors continuing on the grass slope by the stream as they gradually faded away in the mist. The few who had been following me had now also moved left to regain the easier ground. I carried on up and direct into the mist not varying from the line I’d set with my compass minutes earlier. I questioned the wisdom of my route choice more than once as I slowly progressed up the greasy scramble but eventually the gradient eased and I knew the ridge could only be metres away. Climbing, I wondered where exactly I’d gain the ridge, left or right of the control. I could have aimed off but I had expected my line of ascent to be determined by the terrain rather being able to stick to the bearing. So it was with some surprise that I arrived on the ridge to find a small sculptured cairn matching the control description exactly and with a bit of searching I spotted the small orange and white flag marking the electronic device that would record my visit to the control point.
Returning to the ridge path, at around 3000 feet, I turned south and broke into a steady trot smiling with the knowledge that I’d just bagged 50 points, the most for a single control with what felt like relative ease. The smile grew wider as I passed other competitors coming up the ridge in search of the control point, many I recognised as those who had opted for the easy ascent by the stream no doubt thinking the guy who continued straight up the scree slope to be more than a little crazy.
Looking back I think it was this combination of route choice, navigation and a little bit of luck that combined with a reasonable level of fitness to bring me to the Day 1 finish in 25th place out of a field of 300. I’d normally expect to come at least 100 places behind that! Day 2 went well but I chose my route to avoid recovering ground from Day 1 rather than maximising points and I finished in overall 39th place. There are many reasons I could give for recommending a Mountain Marathon to you but here are just two: you don’t have to be a superman (or woman) to do well and you don’t have to do well to enjoy a great two days out in the mountains with a bunch of friendly like-minded people.
For a real flavour of this event take a look at the slide show here.
Chris Brumby
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