Elite course - Duncan Archer and Jim Mann
Clouds of midges gave way to clouds of rain (and an excellent rainbow!) just before the start, but it soon stopped and the tops were clear. It was another tough day in the hills, with some fairly rough terrain, and good route choices. Leg #4 was particular brutal, with a very steep ascent to get round the back of the hill hiding the lochan – a proper hands & knees job. After that the navigation wasn’t too hard, but two days in the mountains was taking its toll on the legs and we were both tiring. However, fortunately there weren’t too many more climbs, and it wasn’t too long before we were on the long finish descent (legs screaming for it to stop!), and the finish field was in sight.
So the end of another quality LAMM (great to see it back after a year off – just means you have forgotten how hard it was last time!), taking us through fantastic scenery, and excellent planning. And very pleased to make it three wins in a row on elite.
A Course - Tim Laney and Stephen Watts
Day 2 was a good day of running, both of us feeling slightly more chipper, and enjoying out run out.
After the previous evening luxuriating on the campsite, it had become something of a midgy hell by the morning, so we were both delighted to be able to get going early in the chasing start. The course was another tough one, starting with a climb through deep heather and tussock grass. Following that we had a lot of rocky and deeply vegetated ground, and some interesting route choices around Maol Chean Dearg. Our place in the chasing start made us both feel a little more competitive so it was great to come down to the finish in Strathcarron without having seen any other A-class runners.
Thank you to Martin for another LAMM – a hugely interesting area, and a great course.
Of course, having won the A this year, its back to the Elite again next year….
B Course - Andy Charlton and Bryan Wakeley (Team Open Mountaineering / The Climbers Shop)
Another awesome day - Thanks to the route planner. A double rainbow greeted us as we broke out of the tent through a cloud of midges (the first and last of this LAMM, which was unexpected!). Clouds soon lifted as we made our way up. Some challenging route choices and a bit of scrambling later and we were surveying the whole of the area from the top of Maol Chean-Dearg, our only Munro of the weekend.
From there we were able to look down and see the chasing teams so the mood was confident as we ran down the rocky ridge, basking in the glorious views and great weather. A bit of bog trotting and an almost-cock-up on the last nav leg saw us running down the valley smelling victory and dreaming of Wilfs.
Thanks to the LAMM team for a really well organised race – We’ll be back next year for A-class (and maybe do some training this time!)
C Course - Paul Williams and Patrick Wallis
A midge-fest greeted us in the morning but became less of a worry as soon as we were moving. Good running weather as quite a bit cooler than yesterday. Our navigation was a bit slapdash today but fortunately no major errors despite confusing checkpoint descriptions (we thought a ridge was a re-entrant at one point!). All went well until the penultimate checkpoint (7; 958454) which was being sat on by a bunch of DofE walkers and we merrily sailed past before realising our error and having to backtrack.
All in all, a fantastic weekend in a beautiful part of the Highlands that we’ve never visited before. Thanks to Claire and Rosie (and our kids: Eva, Joe, Elsa, Bee and Josie) for making it possible. Thanks also to Martin and the course organisers for a well-run, thoroughly enjoyable event.
D Course - Daniel Sutherland and Lachlan Macleod
Well what a result. We are both delighted after keeping hold of our lead from Saturdays very tough course over some difficult terrain. This was Our first Mountain Marathon or hill race of any kind so had no idea what to expect. The terrain was difficult however after a few school boy errors on the Saturday, Sunday was much better including the navigation and the ground we were covering. The Coulin Forrest and surrounding hills have been an amazing place to run in. The event certainly lived up to expectations and more however the course was a little harder than expected.
Today our route took mainly the same route as the planners other than we took a route around Fuar Tholl over some nasty boulders, the planners went over which may have been better.
We both enjoyed the chasing start and it certainly added a bit of pressure going first. It was a quiet day out on the hills being in front to constantly wondering where second place were. However in the end we came up good and could finally start to relax on the final run. All in all a great weekend with great people and weather.
We will certainly back with maybe a jump in course or two next year.
Score Course - Kenny Leitch and Keith Masson
5.45am. Piper. Warm. Rain. Midges. Breakfast. Toilet. Dry. Pack. Toilet. 7.30am. Clear. Start. Midges. Decisions. Midges. Midges.
Climb. 30 points. Climb 20 points. Climb 20 points. Climb. 30 points. Munro! Wow. Stunning. Chilly.
Contour. Slow. Boulders. Stumble. Cuts. Frustrating. Contour. 30 points.
Run! 20 points. Descend. 10 points.
10 points. 10 points, Weary. 10 points. 10km. Tired. On time. 90s inside!
Winners! 1 point!!
Huge thanks to Martin and his LAMM team for another high quality event in a superb area.
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