Si’s 2013 OMM Adventure

Whilst I can still remember all the detail, here’s my account of my first ever OMM (Original Mountain Marathon).  My running partner and friend is also a Simon, and we had run together for the last 12 months before I foolishly suggested that we enter the OMM.  I was little unsure if the OMM was within my capabilities so I checked with my cousin Andy, a seasoned OMM competitor and he said we’ll be fine.  It’s good to set a goal so our unofficial team name became “Beat Andy” although, to be honest I’d be happy if we just finished.

Twelve weeks before the event and I’ve done no running at all. I have bad sciatica and the physio says I’m to rest and do stretches to try and relieve the pain. With eight weeks to go I’m becoming desperate to get out and get some miles in. But each time I run my legs are like lead and some days I just can’t keep up.  Luckily a local sports therapist (Claire) has just started her own business and is running a very special offer. So off I go each week for a deep muscle massage on my quads and calves to try and loosen up my tight knotty muscles. The treatment is agony but I start to see weekly progress becoming stronger and needing less intensive leg treatment each time I visit. A week to go and I suddenly suffer from acute pain in my left knee. Claire’s sure it’s muscle related and spends an hour and a half doing her best to get my left quad to relax and to ease the tension on the tendons around the knee. I spend a further twenty minutes with an ice pack and cup of tea before being sent on my way.

So as the big weekend approaches I still have residual knee pain and really don’t want to let my running partner down.

Friday:

The day started with a couple of repacks of my rucksack, generally faffing keeping kit in then taking it out again.  No matter what permutation of kit I ended up with I was still looking at the best part of 8kg for my rucksack and I knew serious OMM people had packs weighing only 5kg. L

We set off at 1.30pm hoping for an easy drive down to the event centre at Trecastle. Sadly Friday traffic conspired against us and it took two hours to cover the first 35 miles. Despite the set-back we still arrived at the event centre by 6.30pm and managed to secure a prime spot in the car parking field, hopeful of avoiding a tractor tow through mud at the end of the event.

Time to check in and have something to eat. At registration, an electronic timing key is attached to my arm which must be inserted in to a device at each check point to record your visit and time. First mistake! More later.  We’re also given a couple of plastic bags . . . no pooing on the fells during the event!  We’ve both had to buy some new kit for the event and my teammate Simon is Aldi’s first best customer. We marvel at super lightweight tents costing hundreds of pounds and sleeping bags that roll up to the size of a tin of beans before heading to the bar!

After quaffing our first pint, it’s time for the athlete’s choice of tea – Cornish pastie and beans. Back to the bar and I’ve worked out that it’s cheaper to buy beer by the barrel rather than the pint. We’re pros so we focus on being properly hydrated!

We’ve got an 8.52 start time in the morning so it’s early to bed so that we can be up in time to pack the tent and enjoy the 45 minute walk to the start.

Saturday

My watch is slow and I faff around with kit back at the car and we duly just miss our allotted start time by a minute. The official OMM laminated map is thrust in to our hands as we set off along a forest track. The day’s route is just short of 20 miles and 1650m of climb if you cross all the hills. Given my hefty pack weight hill avoidance is a priority wherever possible. We’re soon out of the forest and in to the familiar Brecon landscape of hills, rivers and bog.  We’ve got to bag 4 out of 6 checkpoints in this first section. We opt for the speedy option bagging the lower level check points as we can run quite well on less steep sections.  We’ve not been going long when the first accident occurs. I jump across a stream picking a rock as my landing point. That was a big mistake, the rock being very slippery. I land hard on my left shoulder and knee. A few moment of intense pain followed by a desire to be sick and I’m soon off running again looking like a chicken with an injured wing.

Despite the set-back we’ve soon completed our first set of checkpoints and it’s time for the long drag (probably seven miles) to the next checkpoint. There are few modest hills in our way and we plot a course to contour as many as possible. We have to climb one hill before the contouring can begin and are surprised to catch up with my cousin, Andy. I’m some ten metres behind Simon and he’s already had chance to relay the story of my fall before I catch up. I mutter something about needing to man up before we continue at pace as we start down hill.

2 hours in to the event and it’s time to enjoy some of my carefully prepared hydration drink. Ah! I’ve lost my water bottle! :-( I’d even packed water purification tablets so that I could refill as we went and be sure of drinking clean safe water. There’s no choice now, I’ll have to drink the peaty brown stream water. Whenever Simon drinks, I’ll drink as he seems to have an eye for the clearest patches of water.

We now have a big decision to make, do we climb over a substantial hill or cover twice the distance on flatter ground. We opt for the flatter choice and are rewarded with an initial blissful run along an old drovers road. We then have to cross a river before heading up the side of a forest. Tussocks!  I hate tussocks. Try and walk on them and you’ll twist your ankle as your foot slides off.  Or try and go between them and occasionally you’ll disappear up to your knees in wet gloopy bog.  It’s particularly slow going (for me) and we’re soon overtaken by a pair of fit girls. Our reward after the tussocks is a fast easy fire road over the crest of the next hill. Our route seems to have been on balance, a good choice.

One more hill to contour along a fairly fast muddy/rocky path and we can see the last hill that we need to cross to bag the furthest away check point. As we cross a stile on to a road, I find that another competitor has dropped his water bottle:) We give it a good rinse in the next stream before refilling with the peaty water and a hydration tablet. Happy Si!

A climb over the hill to the next checkpoint and I’d starting to tire a little. We decide to gain the ridge and run along the top of the hill for the following checkpoint. We make good progress with a strong following wind but I’m now wishing that Simon had the dibber attached to his arm rather than me as the checkpoint is 10-15 metres back down a steep slope and we need to come straight back up again to run along the ridge.

We turn to run along the ridge and the wind is brutal and I’m properly tired. Simon deploys a pack of chocolate buttons which raises morale if not speed. Our decent off the end of the hill is a good choice as the slope is less steep. Another river crossing and it’s time to go up and over a few hills towards the last few checkpoints. It’s muddy going to start with, deteriorating to more nasty horrible tussocks and bog topped off with a steep valley and a river crossing.

The landscape changes a little now, wet bogginess changing to slippery rock and exposed sections of limestone. We have to be cautious.  One more checkpoint to go, which is across a fast section of downhill moorland towards the corner of a forest. A large valley and river soon appear across our path as we descend.  The run in to the finish is fast and steep in places. We arrive at the overnight camp having covered 1000m of climb and just about 20 miles. 

Time to pitch our tent and restore morale. We start with salted peanuts and dried guava washed down with whisky!  Supper is Pot Noodle with added cous cous and choritzo. It actually tastes “not bad”. We have jelly babies for pudding and finish the evening off with coffee and brandy.

Time to patch up my feet and body. I have a couple of large painful blisters on my feet. I’ve rubbed the skin raw on my back and hips where my rucksack has rubbed against the seams of my clothing and my shoulder hurts.

9.15 and we’re both ready for a sleep. And boy, do we need the extra hour in bed!

We’re happy with our first day result. 7 hours 33 mins which puts us 48^th out of 110 that managed to complete the day. There are already quite a few retirees on the results board!

Sunday.

We’re awoken at 6am by a klaxon and announcement that the bad weather course is going to be in operation. Breakfast is served . . . two packets oatsosimple mixed with hot chocolate and ibuprofen. There’s ample time to track down my cousin but we don’t gloat at the previous day’s result as he might have been saving himself for day two!

We arrive at the start in plenty of time and set off on the day’s slightly shorter course. Simon takes the navigational lead again keeping us on faster paths albeit the wrong path at the start of the day. No doubt a few minutes lost there.  We soon bag a couple of check points and pass Andy again. He’s obviously not entering in to the competitive spirit. With the bad weather course in effect, all of the optional check points are dropped and we have to head a few miles across exposed moorland for the next checkpoint. Simon’s navigation is spot on and we appear to have been very lucky to have had some very fast terrain. We make good progress crossing yet another river on the way and find a fast path contouring the hill.

By the time we reach the next checkpoint we’re on an exposed ridge at the western end of the Black Mountains. The wind has been getting progressively stronger making for slow progress in to the wind but fast progress when behind.  Morale plummets as we get caught in a fierce wind with torrential rain and my waterproof jacket fails. Finally we start to descend off the exposed ridge and spot a path that contours the ridge lower down saving us unnecessary climbing to reach the next checkpoint. Without the wind the path would have been fast but with a slippery surface and a cross wind the going was tricky with Simon at one point being literally blown off his feet.

Only a couple of checkpoints to go now but my right leg is in pain each time we tackle a steep downhill. Simon keeps giving me that “cmon, let’s run” look but I’m getting slower on each successive descent. By the time we tackle the last descent off the hill my right leg is agony and only subsides moderately when we get on to the forest trails. 

There’s one more checkpoint to go in the forest and lots of people are missing it and having to retrace their route. We’re lucky and spot it. A couple more gnarly tracks through the trees and that’s it we’re done!  We’ve covered the day’s twelve miles and 800m of climb in 4 hours and 50 minutes finishing 34^th for the day.

With a fast day two we placed 38^th overall out of about 130 starters and only 89 finishers. We celebrated with another beer!

Monday.

My shoulder hurts, my legs hurt, my back aches, I have some raw skin where clothing seems rubbed and some nasty blisters on my feet. But I had a fantastic time (even though it might not have felt like it at the time).

Big thanks go to my mountain goat running partner and chief morale officer Simon. And to Claire’s Massage and Sports Therapy in Standish for working wonders with my legs. No pain . . . no gain!

So what next?  Wait and see :-)