Paul’s Blog – The OMM – Part 1 – The event & my Lead-in to it.

I’ve never taken part in an OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) before which is a bit odd for someone who likes to combine mountains & distance, my main excuse being that it clashes with the Snowdon Marathon where I have run in the last eight races. Having failed to enter the Snowdon Marathon earlier enough this year to guarantee a spot I was once again left dangling on the reserve list but was hopeful that the organiser, Jayne, would get me on the start list somehow. However before that could occur fate stepped in & my destiny for late October 2024 was finally to be my first ever OMM & it’s almost guaranteed poor weather & notorious overnight camp in a tent not contusive to comfort.

That fate was Dorina & my calling in at our friends (Barry & Jackie Edwards) house in Beverley for an overnighter on our way back from a long weekend to celebrate yet another of my Birthdays.

Soon after our arrival Barry took me out for a run over rolling countryside at a pace that can best be described as sharp, note that I’d met Barry in 2019 when we both ran the Original Everest Marathon, Barry who is 10 years my elder went on to set a new O.60’s record beating me in the process. Anyhow this time I got away from him on an early hill but true to form by the end of the run it was definitely me hanging onto his coat tails.

Back at their ranch Barry got to his hidden point ‘do you fancy doing the OMM with me Paul’, yep he’d been testing me to see if I was worthy & capable of joining him. I don’t tend to always consider the consequences of what I say, so ‘Yes’ I replied, ‘that’d be GREAT’.

The year moved on, Steve Jones was contacted to give me some navigation training on his new Island aka Arran where in September he gave me a good test on Goat Fell in some typical OMM weather.

Next up I called in on Barry for a planning & kit check, how does all that fit in a 25Litre bag? Judy came up trumps in both loaning me her OMM specific bag as well as her lightweight sleeping bag & a lightweight sleeping mat (more of that farce later).

October came upon me & my nerves began to rachet up a level or two, some, who have seen me do some pretty big things in the last decade or so were probably thinking why is he nervous. May I here clarify that I have never had to navigate in clag in an Autumn storm in a remote mountainside area which I have never set foot in before & that’s before we get onto the overnight camp ‘bit’.

On the Wednesday before the event I finally picked up the courage of trying to fit the kit into the bag & was pleasantly surprised that it did fit, this included Barry’s tent (he would carry the cooking kit), change of clothes, food, water, sleeping bag & mat, first aid, spare gloves etc. etc., almost most importantly of all a Down Belay Jacket as I am prone to get very cold after a day of strenuous exercise, no scrimping on this bit for me just to save a few hundred grams. The bag weight came in at 8Kg’s probably double that of the elite athletes but felt doable & Barry confirmed it sounded O.K.

On Friday I set off at just before 9:00 for Penrith where I was due to rendezvous with Barry at the Booths supermarket car park at 1:00 pm. Clearly we are like minded as we both arrived almost an hour early & were soon transferring my kit into his van as we’d be leaving my car parked on a side street in Penrith for the weekend.

By 1:00 pm we were heading north for the Southern Highlands of Scotland, more specifically Glen Artney & it’s adjacent hills & valleys. We arrived early, just before 5:00pm & were soon exploring the event ‘village’ which covered several acres & would slowly fill with other competitors with their vans & tents over the coming hours. Barry & I would dine in his van & use it as bed for the night before our event got underway the next morning. Here I should state that there are a number of different competitions that make up the OMM varying from straight line courses (where you have to locate all the controls in order to complete the course) to Score courses (where you make up your own route based on what controls you think you can bag depending on your perceived level of fitness & navigational abilities). We wisely had chosen the Score route & opted for the Middle distance, Day 1 – 6 hours, Day 2 – 5 hours. The overnight camp in between is in a different location to the start with the only thing provided by the event organiser’s being Water, Portaloo’s & a Bagpipe alarm clock, yes, you read that correctly.

Early evening saw a crack open up in mine & Barry’s personalities as I produced the first of two bottles of red & Barry declined a glass, my ‘hydration’ plan was something to calm the nerves & induce sleep before the race & then have a ‘dry’ night during the race whereas Barry’s was a ‘dry’ lead in & then a dram or two of Whiskey at the mid-camp helping him to be warm & sleep well in the cramped tent. Clearly experience counted here as mine plan led to a pre-start accident (too embarrassing to go there, yes really) which resulted in copious amounts of blood being left at the start, definitely not where I needed it to be as well as a distinct lack of sleep the following evening.

Dawn arrived, it was briefly clear despite a worsening forecast, before the mist descended to put both mine & Barry’s blood pressure through the roof, thankfully that didn’t re-open the previous evenings wound. Not long before the start I bumped into Ellie & confessed my nerves at navigation in my first ever Mountain Marathon, she failed to calm them by stating it was her 125th, thanks Ellie!

Pairs are given different start times, ours were 8:45 for day one & 8:00 for day two. One minute before you start you are given a 1:40,000 map of the course where you get to see the location of your Control options for the next 6 hours for the first time. These controls have different point scores depending on difficulty of position & difficulty of identification, these range from 10 to 50. Once you cross the start line the first thing you do is obviously STOP, kneel down, spread out the maps (one each) & agree a plan of attack that will get you from the start to the finish bagging as many controls (whilst also maximising points) within the 6 hour time limit. In the ‘Score’ races if you fail to reach the finish on time you are deducted 2 points per minute, whereas in the Line races you simply get disqualified & know you’ll spend a crap night in camp for nothing!

We crossed the line, the mist had lifted, were we to be lucky & avoid the clag which would turn ‘fun’ into ‘survival’ (wind speed was forecasted to increase to 50mph later in the day & a friendly organiser had informed us it had been freezing up high all week).

So that’s the lead-in to my first ever OMM & an overview of what we were taking on & when I say we there are literally hundreds of us thinking that what lay ahead was better than another weekend of strictly, bloody, come danc…

Blog two will cover OMM Day 1.

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