Captions:
"If you spent less time taking arty-farty photos, we'd do better than 36th"
"Paul, we need a raft. Get that balloon bed out"
KIMM 2005
Paul and Joc Dodd.
Excuses…..excuses….excuses.
Apart from running up a huge list of excuses as to why we
didn’t do too well this year, the main purpose of this
report/article is to try and promote some interest in the KIMM
and get more Harriers entering in 2006. It’s a great event
and not nearly as hard as some make out. If you like events like
the Cotswold Relays, the Sodbury Slog and our very own
Slaugtherford 9 then the KIMM may interest you.
| The KIMM (Karrimor International Mountain Marathon) is a very big mountain running event held in a different mountain area somewhere in the UK every year at the end of October. Next year it’s being re-branded as the OMM (Original Mountain Marathon), basically because it was the first ever adventure race held in the country way back in 1968. Thousands take part. You compete in a team of two over two days and have to carry all your overnight gear and food with you. There are 7 classes you can enter. Elite, A, B and C classes are given a set of checkpoints to find – the quickest to visit them all is the winner. The Elite teams generally cover a marathon on each day and are basically sub-human ‘whippet like’ life forms capable of running up steep hills and bounding over heather, gorse and peat hags a metre tall. The C class cover a marathon more sedately in two days. Many C class competitors walk or jog slowly on the flat sections. There are also 3 scores classes – Long, Medium and Short. In each you visit as many checkpoints as you can in your allotted time. Each checkpoint has a different value – the team with the biggest score wins. We take part in the Short Score class (SS) - you are given 5 hours on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. We would expect to cover 50kms and ascend roughly 2400m over the two days. | Captions: "If you spent less time taking arty-farty photos, we'd do better than 36th" "Paul, we need a raft. Get that balloon bed out" |
This year we came 36th in our
class out of 250 finishers. We were the 10th Vet team and the 3rd
mixed vet team. This is our worst ever position in the KIMM since
our first try back in 1993. In the past we’ve managed 2nd, 3rd,
two 5th’s and been 1st Vets and 3 times been the first mixed
team….. but although we didn’t do too well this year we
were really happy with our result. Why you may ask?
Excuse 1: Joc, as some of you know, has suffered from
‘plantar fasciitus’ (don’t worry it’s not
contagious) since November 2004 after doing the Sodbury Slog. As
a result we were not able to do any of our usual mountaineering
exploits in the year and our mountain fitness base was missing.
In fact it was only in the last 6 weeks leading up to the KIMM
that Joc’s been able to do any running at all so training
has been gentle and limited. So, for Joc to keep on her feet in
the mountains for 5 hours on the Saturday and 4 hours on the
Sunday was a major feat of endurance in itself.
Excuse 2: Another reason why we didn’t do as well as we
should have is that we basically cocked up our route planning on
at least two occasions. Let me explain:
In the score classes, at the start, you are given a map that
shows all the checkpoints and their point’s value. You
normally spend around 10 minutes deciding which ones you think
you can visit in the time allowed in order to come up with the
biggest score. (This year one team apparently decided to do
otherwise and simply set off on a nice walk along a scenic route,
visited 1 checkpoint and turned up at overnight camp 3 hours 50
minutes late and managed a score of – (yes… that is a
minus) 412 points, as you get two points deducted for every
minute late).
If the person responsible for organising and setting the course
gets it right then there are often many options and it’s not
until you get back home with loads of time to pour over the maps,
that you realise there was a better route than the one you did (this
is generally accompanied by much gnashing of the teeth and
extreme cursing). If the course planner gets it wrong then the
way to go is obvious and everyone goes the same way. This year
there were indeed many options.
On day 1 we managed to initially choose the optimum route for our
capabilities but failed to make the best adaptation later on and
missed out on getting a further 40 points. We managed a total of
270 points (18th place). On day 2 we failed to spot the best
route and headed off on a route towards a checkpoint with the
biggest point’s value (60 points) – this proved, on
reflection, to be somewhat of a red herring. Although in past
years we could have made it, we ran out of time and stamina and
had to miss it out anyway – cue extreme cursing and gnashing
of teeth. “Ce la vie!”
We’ll be back! Fitter, stronger and wiser!
One aspect of the KIMM is being able to remain comfortable in
poor weather, so some mountain know-how is important. Mountains
in October are invariably wet! With a bit of experience though,
some good advice and a few bits of essential equipment the
running and overnight camp need not be unpleasant. This year,
despite strong winds and torrential rain, Joc and I were very
cosy in our tent, had a good nights sleep, were well re-fuelled
and re-hydrated and started the next day refreshed and ready for
action (I should point out though that sleeping out on a mountain
in a tent during a force 10 gale is Joc’s idea of a treat
– I’m really not kidding).
Many feel that one of the down sides of the KIMM is having to
travel to the place that it’s held. This invariably means a
Friday night battle up the M6 to get to somewhere in Scotland.
This is all part of the challenge – maintaining a positive
attitude whilst parked alongside another 1000 cars somewhere near
Preston really tests your resolve! But, sharing a lift with other
competitors eases the pain somewhat. If we had a troop of
Harriers perhaps we could take a minibus and have a party!
Now, if you are vaguely interested in the event after reading all
this then maybe you should consider …no… not a full
frontal lobotomy…but…entering a score class in your
first year and treating it as a learning experience rather than
trying to be too competitive. Many people in both the medium and
short score classes simply walk their planned route – just
think how well you could do if you merely jogged a few of the
flat sections.
Come on… try some proper running …. the London’s
not a real challenge!
A good source of information on the KIMM is the official website: www.kimm.org.uk
(I wrote an article called ‘How to be comfortable at
overnight camp’ which is in the top 10 stories – this
might give you some idea how fanatical people get about the
equipment needed for the event. If you’re really bonkers
about kit then have a laugh at www.balloonbed.com )
But for some really good pictures and reports see the
Sleepmonsters AR site report on the KIMM:
http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk/racereport.php?race_id=2024#
3 years ago I did the SS with Richard Schofield – follow
this link to see my report on the weekend:
http://www.pdodd.supanet.com/Kimm/Kimm2003.htm