LAMM 2014 FEEDBACK

Just a quick email to say thanks for another excellent LAMM. You certainly have your mojo back, and LAMM is by far the best MM on the calendar. You do all the right things, and it the right amount of detail. Your experience as a competitor really shows, and you know what we want .... unlike some other marketing driven events. I hope Lowe Alpine are happy with it all, and appreciate your efforts. Sharon really enjoyed her first LAMM, 'so much better than the OMM' she said, etc. My only bit of other feedback is that our optimum route in the score seemed to be back over the same ground as Day One for the first two hours, which had we been ultra competitive we would have done. However, we are there for the adventure and scenery so our route and strategy isn't the most scientific! But, hey .... just thanks for a stunning event.
Joe Faulkner
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Just to congratulate you on your 20th - a truly fantastic effort by you and all those who have made it possible both this year and in previous ones. Well done the lot of you, as well as to Debbie for putting up with you, and time for a well earned breather.

I thought it was one of the more memorable events - for me the good ones are mainly linked to good weather, and not too much event-related trauma. Though there were some moments on CP1 on Day 2 when following Angela's dodgy fence...! But the Bealach na Ba was a real high point in all ways and a great "sting" - not lost your touch yet! I had my camera stuffed in an inaccessible part of the sack and felt it a bit premature to ask my (new) LAMM partner to stand by within 20 mins of starting to allow me to empty my entire rucksack on the hillside so I could snap the view along the ridge of Beinn Bhan - it seemed politic to wait until about 3 hours out before dropping that one in.

And goodness knows why you say you lack confidence in your putting these events on - everyone else looks to you as the gold standard! All the best for now
Alec Keith
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Just to say congratulations to you and your team for a fantastic event. This was my niece's first ever mountain marathon at the tender age of 17 and she absolutely loved it. In fact she just texted me tonight to say she has LAMM withdrawal and wishes she was still in the hills....you have another convert:-). Hopefully we'll manage next years. Kind regards
Elaine Gillies
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Thanks for another fabulous event! You were rightly generous with your praise and thanks on Sunday, and in your email today, to all the people and organisations who made this year's event so successful. One person was missed out though and that's you!

If I had the energy and wherewithal on Sunday, I'd have asked everyone to give you 3 cheers for being the driving force and heartbeat of the LAMM for a remarkable 20 years. You deserve it!

So pleased you've got your LAMM mojo back and we'll see you in 2015 at LAMM 21!
Kenny Leitch & Keith Masson
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I just wanted to mention that Phil and myself have taken part in a number of mountain marathons over the years and without a doubt both feel that the LAMM is the best organised of them and always seems to be tuned into the needs of competitors of all abilities. Keep up the good work!
Phil Margrave
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Brilliant event! Welcome back, you were much missed. If I could only do one event each year it would be the LAMM. More specifically, regarding the 1-per-minute lateness penalty that Angela asked for comments on. A good idea, if only I'd noticed the change before the end of day 1 we could have got a few extra points! If you're going to do the same next year (yes please) then you may want to avoid having a control less than 5 minutes from the finish (as 160 was) - anyone approaching the finish from the east, however late, could have gained at least a couple of points by adding a there-and-back to this one. We didn't of course, but that's because I'd marked the score against the wrong control, oops! See you next year
Simon Caldwell
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This was my first LAMM and admittedly it's taken me longer than it should have to get on board. I think I was previously intimidated by the 'serious' nature of the event and thought it might be too big/popular. I now realise just how much I've been missing out! The set up is fantastic - keeping things simple at the overnight camp means you can get to some genuinely remote camps and helps to reinforce the principles of 'leave no trace' for the participants which I think is really important. I've had experience of organising outdoor events on a smaller scale and can imagine just how frought an event as complex and prestigious as the LAMM could be. So a big thanks to you and your team for all the hard work and I look forward to future LAMM events!
Craig Burry
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This is just a short e-mail to thank you and your team for once again organising such a brilliant event. It always amazes me how such a small group of people can put on such a large event. This was my wife's first lamm and she found the first day of the b course particularly tough (she was the runner who sat and cried for 10 minutes between the finish and download, largely from the relief of finishing). However, it was well worth sticking it out and doing day two as it was far more runnable, we loved the last three legs. As an aside, quite by chance i was at the arrochor campsite used as the lamm hq on the weekend of your first event on a munro bagging holiday with a friend. If i'd known then how good mountain marathons were we'd have competed too. All the best, and maybe see you at the next one (it's a long drive from Chepstow).
Matthew Lawson
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Many thanks for an excellent LAMM at Strathcarron. This was my first LAMM but it definitely lived up to its reputation of being the connoisseurs' MM - fabulous scenery and challenging route choices. The excellent weather was a bonus. Hopefully I'll be back again in the future. Particular thanks to all your helpers but especially to you for organising a fantastic event.
Helena Burrows
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Just to say thanks for organising such a great weekend and for all your hard work (to everyone involved). Hope to be back next year! Cheers!
Jonny Midgley
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Big thanks to organisers and volunteers for a great weekend. Really enjoyed it. Not too many midge bites!
Andy McRae and Brad Black
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What a wonderful 20th edition of the LAMM that was (I can say that now its over!)
Alison Holt
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Thanks for a great weekend. I am still recovering but have many great memories - superb weather, great views and interesting courses. We were one of those teams that had to dash to the airport and hence miss the prize giving. I think we were the first vet team on the B.
John Dowty
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Thank you very much for a superb event again. The weather certainly helped - keeping the midges at bay nicely - but as always the organisation was faultless. That is all down to preparation and hard work from you and the whole team. Thank you.
Alastair Marshall
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First of all thanks for another great event. It was my 8th since 1999---I was the one wearing the Blackmount shirt that you spotted at the prize-giving. So far as I could see, everything went very smoothly. I really can't see how what you offered could have been improved. Although peripheral, the mobile app wasn't worth using and didn't yield many photos worth looking at. I found the noise of the quad-copter on day 1 to be an irritating intrusion---although my partner was excited by it and I was interested to chat to the photographer about it at the mid-camp.

What I really like: Other than the chance to get a weekend in the highlands away from work and family and confirm that I've not yet gone into serious mid-life physical decline, the great thing is meeting up with folk I know and encounters with random strangers who have been enjoying doing what I do. For someone who doesn't stop often enough, the mid-camp is (usually) an opportunity to spend a few hours not doing anything in particular in a beautiful setting. I hope there will be a LAMM 2015 so that I can finally run the A class!
Julian Hall
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Thank you and everyone involved with this year's LAMM. What a great team you have- brilliant event. Many thanks
Denise Martin
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Many thanks for staging such an excellent event. I do keep saying never again…. I don't do modern things like PhotoStream but one of my better pics attached. Golfing tonight so muscles might be a bit sore!
Colin Matheson
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Many thanks again for a fab LAMM - as ever, one of the highlights of the year! I hope it all went smoothly behind the scenes!
Ian Whiteside
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Thank you very much for organising yet another great LAMM. We forgot to mention at mid camp that we had spotted a Golden Eagle gliding gently over the ridge as we were approaching the 1st check point on the D course on Saturday.
Andrea Stanbridge
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Thank you to the whole of the LAMM 2014 organising team and everyone who helped along the way. This was my first LAMM and we had a fabulous two days of racing. Elite competition and elite organisation. Hoping to make it an annual fixture in our calendar!
Helen Cassidy
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Could you pass on my thanks to Arrochar Mountain Rescue for their help on Sunday. Also to everyone who expressed their concern and offered to help, subsequently informing Mountain Rescue about me as I hobbled along the Ling path. It's good to know how kind LAMM competitors are. I have in fact broken my ankle, currently on crutches, non weightbearing..... Better luck next year. Still was a really good weekend, Thanks again,
Anne Plenderleith
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Congratulations for a brilliant weekend at the 2014 LAMM. It was a pleasure to be around for the prizegiving and to listen to your passionate summary of another fantastic event (and we didn't get lost this year).
Charmian Heaton
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I see from the results we boobed on check point 5. Just so we know what not to do next time, can you let me know what we did wrong? Nikki forgot to dib when we got to 5. She remembered as we ran away and ran back and dubbed. Is it because there was a delay between us dibbing? Should we both have run back? Great event. Superb route. The climb up Chean dearg was a total swine! Loved it! See you next year.
Ben Robson
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Many thanks for what was once again a great event. The organisation was amazing - I dread to think how long it all took! And the area was just stunning! Again the LAMM stands out as my favourite event of the year. The 20th anniversary bits at the end were great as well. Many thanks
Patrick Brien
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I've just read your collection of thanks to various people for this year's event, but of course the biggest bundle of thanks should go to you. I've organised enough smaller-scale things to appreciate the huge effort of co-ordination that is required, even if you've got wonderfully skilled and efficient folk doing a lot of the doing for you. I take my hat off to you.

My last LAMM had been the ill-fated 2004 one, so I was delighted to find myself back in the same area this year, and we had a superb time on the Score course, making our own circuit round the main block of hills, and enjoying fantastic views into Torridon etc. all the time - we thoroughly enjoyed it, even if we were horribly late on Saturday (fast young running partner not so used to rough terrain!). The snipe to counteract snorers at the midway camp was lovely, and my partner Jenny would like to thank the planner with the sense of humour to put the control in the re-entrant SW of the overnight camp (014533?), with the person-eating bog just on the approach line. This provided her biggest laugh for many a year, as I jogged forwards then suddenly disappeared up to my waist. If my body holds out (not looking forward to being 60 next year!) I'd like to give it another go. Thanks again and very best wishes
Hilary Quick
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Thanks for another great LAMM, it was much missed by many people when you took a sabbatical in 2013!
This was my 7th LAMM, and possibly my favourite in terms of wild mountain scenery in the southern Torridon hills, with some great views north to Ben Alligin, Liathach and Ben Eighe. I had harboured faint hopes that this 20th anniversary year might be located in the Fisherfield "Forest" region, with a midcamp at Carnmore or Letterewe, but I guess that the difficulty/impossibility of getting vehicular access to the midcamp make this impractical? It would certainly make a fine area for a future LAMM if the logistics are soluble in some way!
Paul Armstrong
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Thanks for a great event Martin - really appreciated all the effort involved and had a great time. We had a really good challenging two days on the A course. Particular things I liked:

Great start location and midcamp
Enjoyable adventure to the start on day 1 (A)
Some excellent route choice legs on the A both days
Good T shirt design
Lots portaloos at midcamp
Speediness of reports etc on the web / analysis etc
Andy Llewellyn
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Nine years since my last LAMM which was Mull. Our doughty drivers got us to the event centre for 7pm. Perfect timing to erect the event centre tent, enjoy a Wilf's meal with some local beer, and listen to the music. Saturday morning was fairly leisurely as our start time was almost 9am. We were soon setting off up the hillside, glancing back as the loch opened up beneath us and the mountains fanned out beyond. Soon we were climbing a good path up the ridge to Maol Chean Dearg with the sun bouncing back off white scree. At the summit, what a view! Across the Torridon Liathach and Beinn Eighe dominated the foreground. For some reason we slowed down after that and, although we only had one small navigation hiccup, we trailed into the overnight camp after 10 ¼ hrs. Just as it started to rain. No Problem!We had had such a fantastic day.

I feel, doing the LAMM, that we commune with the Scottish hills in a more intimate way than a mere walk. Following contours, checking lochans, noting ridges, finding descents where no path exists, all increase that intimacy. We are rewarded by a plethora of wild flowers, tiny frogs, strange bird calls (which bird beeps like someone punching a control?) and we even saw a deer calf (so still and camouflaged that when we looked away we struggled to pick it out again). Day 2 we must have suffered for our long Day 1, and I think we lost any competitive urge as we pottered happily in the sunshine. As a result we were very late back but happily beat the 5pm deadline comfortably. And our 'C' team buddies had saved us a glass of bubbly! Wow! Wilfs with bubbly. What a way to end a perfect weekend.
Thank you for a wonderful weekend and thank you for our Munro. Such a weekend goes into the gold vault of memories. Amazing, Martin that you have provided 20 of these. What a gift you have given us.
Diane Icke
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I just wanted to thank you and the rest of the team at LAMM for organising such a fantastic event. It was my third MM, first chasing start and favourite yet - maybe because the tougher D course on Saturday suited our team; although I was a bit relieved to make the finish line. I can't really think of anything that could be improved; it all seemed to work seamlessly. I'm really looking forward to next year. Thanks again!
Gary Fraser
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Overall it was another great event. We did the B course for the first time having done C before. The course was interesting with some control points hard to locate, keeping it interesting. Organisation wise the waterproof route card was a great help. The only negative was the toilets at mid camp. With slit trenches for peeing only that left 100s of people queuing over 30 minutes for 8 toilets, causing us and many to start late on Sunday. We had one control point not working, we noted the code but perhaps worth saying that to people as not everybody may know to do that.
Malcolm Streeton
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Thank you very much for organising this year's LAMM and for arranging near-perfect weather for the event. I confess the D course was rather tougher than previous MM's and I would put a plea in for a less physically demanding D course in future years. Thank you also to your wife for her very kind offer to lend me her shoes for the second day. Your duct tape worked wonders and my shoe performed better than my legs on the second day.
Jenny & Mark Grenfell-Shaw
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I just wanted to say thank you to you and your team of helpers for a top weekend at the LAMM. Rob and I really enjoyed our comeback. Well, perhaps there were moments on the Saturday when we were questioning ourselves but finishing a few places up on Sunday and enjoying the after-race atmosphere really made the weekend.

As you can see from the email below that I sent round my office yesterday, the weekend had a highly positive emotional impact for me (and I think for Rob). It's been a long four years for us both and the accident has left some permanent marks and memories. However, I'm very pleased to say that getting out into the hills remains a real enjoyment - and one which was totally reinforced by Strathcarron 2014! I must admit I had kept our running of this LAMM quiet from most of my family, friends and colleagues for fear they'd worry too much. Now, I hope they'll remember all the good stories we brought back from this weekend. We're looking forward to next year's race already! Thanks again for everything.
Martin Potter
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Just wanted to say thanks for a fantastic weekend martin Great event, much better than the OMM.
Mark Pike
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What a great two days again. Thanks to everyone who was involved in planning, organising, marshalling etc. It was a perfect event. Best wishes
John Lyon
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Thanks for an amazing event. See you next year.
Dan Stowers
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Thanks very much for another excellent event. This is the only one Marcus and I do and, amongst busy lives and small kids, it is a welcome bit of madness, much more than just a race. All the best and see you next year.
Adrian Jowitt
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A good event though i would make a few comments regarding the score class. Don't take these as negative s i enjoyed the event and will be back next year. The overnight camp was too far from the start and finish. Ok for elite runners but who are your bread and butter score competitors? The score class could have been bussed. This years Highlander had a similar problem. The score and short line course camp should be around 15km from the finish. Safety! The area around Maol Chean dearg was very dangerous. The score class was routed through the hilltop then the temptation to descend off the buttresses. Good job the weather was favourable!
All in all a very good event and a well done event centre
Mike Stewart
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Miriam and I really enjoyed this year's LAMM. I had been slightly worried that the D course might be too easy - simple controls along paths. My fears were unfounded! We enjoyed the challenging terrain, the navigation and the route choices and the fact that the course included a Munro. All the controls were on good features. Luckily we realised there was a problem with a grid reference on Day 1 and delayed starting until it had been clarified. The D course was a bit long. We got round but had expected that it would be rather shorter. We hope it will be shorter next time. A few more loos at the overnight camp would have helped - given that the trenches were only urinals. A very small point from the final details - I couldn't remember whether we could use our own SI cards so I carefully checked the final details where it says (under Registration) "At registration you will receive your TWO SI-Cards." I took this to mean that we would be issued with SI cards which we had to use, so we left ours at home and then had to pay extra to hire cards. Perhaps the wording could be clarified. Overall a great weekend.
David Rosen
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I thought this was a very well run event overall, the setup at Strathcarron was excellent both ends of the event and at mid-camp it was fine despite the slight shortage of toilets. All aspects of the organisation seemed to go well from my point of view, good food and atmosphere, so well done to everyone. On the planning side of things I did the D course so you can probably guess what I'm going to say! Day 1 was obviously a lot longer than we anticipated and it seems clear that something went slightly awry with the planning of that leg. I had friends on the C course and from comparing notes they had a marginally softer day than we did on Saturday. Although this was my first LAMM I've done plenty of walking and climbing in the NW Highlands so the long day wasn't a problem per se, particularly as the weather was good. My partner found it tougher as he is more from an orienteering/running background, but thankfully we were not on our last legs at the end of the day. If the weather had turned earlier in the day however maybe it would have been a bit more serious for a few folk and the number of retirements suggests it was too much for some teams. The middle part of the route from controls 3-5 was a particularly tough section for anyone after the ascent to Maol Chean Dearg with a tricky descent from the summit and then a long traverse to controls 4&5. Anyway, I'm sure you've discussed with the planner and any lessons learnt will be factored in for next time.
Thanks for organising the event, I hope to do another one and will be better prepared next time!
George Hare
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Route planning above Loch Duich

The clouds over mid camp

Racing together - the spirit of the event

Lowe Alpine Mourne Mountain Marathon