As my slideshow keeps disappearing I've put it in a separate blog. All photos are on picasaweb if it goes again.

The Bob - and a bit

On 5th June 2009 I attempted the Bob Graham Round after 4 months of preparation. Training had gone smoothly, until I damaged my ankle on 1st May during the Great Lakes 3 Day Mountain Marathon. It had recovered enough to do the Fellsman a week, later but by 16th May I took the decision to rest completely after abandoning a recce of Leg 2 in foul weather. By 1st June my ankle seemed strong and the MWIS forecast was for light winds, some cloud, rain and perhaps light snow. I rang round and confirmed my support crew and it was game on.

Leg 1

I set off at 18:38 on Friday with Louise Wilkinson, just after two large groups of runners from Tattenhall Runners and Dark Peak. The weather was perfect with cloud lifting off Skiddaw and Blencathra. We made good time round the first leg, with no major issues apart from my shoes causing some hot spots where they had dried hard in the sun. The sunset was beautiful as we looked back over Great Calva. We overtook the dark peak team on Hall's Ridge and had a slick transition to start Leg 2 in the last of the light.

Leg 2

Jeff PD joined me for Leg 2 and had been up earlier in the week to recce after our aborted one in May. We started well, with broken cloud and a full moon. Unfortunately my stomach was uncomfortable and eating was hard work. We nailed the Dodds efficiently and picked up time over Raise, but the weather had closed in with visibility down to about 2.5m in the cloud. Going from Raise to Helvelyn Lower Man we were blown to a standstill a couple of times as the path skirted the ridge which slowed us dramatically. Coming off Dollywagon we overshot the path in sleet and spent a bit of time getting back on track. We continued to lose time until Dunmail which was a combination of lost focus, sore ankle and probably imperfect route choice.

Leg 3

At transition there was a surprise when Bill said Phil Scarf wasn't with him so Jeff was dispatched to find him. A couple of minutes later he arrived and we set off up Steel Fell in heavy rain. It was getting light as we negotiated Calf Crag and set off to the Langdales. The weather lifted and we picked up time over the Langdales to Bow Fell. As we went up the traverse the wind picked up substantially and it started snowing hard making going slow. After a night of staring at cloud reflecting back in my headtorch beam and then swirling snow, I had a 'kaleidoscope' effect on my vision. As it was affecting my balance, I had a three minute power nap on the summit of Bow Fell (my only rest) to try and alleviate it while Phil found the camera. It was very slippery underfoot over Esk Hause and we were heads down towards Great End, unfortunately too heads down and ended up on Allen Crags! (with hindsight I was obviously in a bad way as I knew I didn't recognise the path, had a map and GPS in my pocket which would have shown we were going up the wrong peak and still didn't think to mention it to Phil, who was now suffering with the cold). We back tracked and used the waypoint in my GPS unit to summit on Great End before heading South. We hit treacherous ground in whiteout conditions and skirted too far East almost dropping back to the Esk Hause junction. We got back on track and went up Ill Crag, but conditions were still bad and the broken terrain was slow going in very high winds. We picked our way over Broad Crag and up to the Scafell Pike path before dropping onto the cairned path down. We pushed on to get out of the foul weather and unfortunately we stayed on the Mickledore path too long and dropped out of the cloud before realising our mistake. We managed to cut across the top of the crags and picked up the climbers trod to Foxes Tarn. By this stage we were both soaked and cold and probably started climbing too soon, so nearly found ourselves crag bound in driving rain. After a couple of attempts we found a way out summitted and descended out of the cloud towards Wasdale. The descent was slow as I didn't want to risk my ankles and we radioed in an order for hot food, fresh clothes and Ibuprofen as we struggled in. By the time we arrived, the realisation I was now down at least 40 minutes on the 24 hour time had sunk in and we'd warmed up slightly so that put paid to any niceties and it was a quick bowl of porridge and out again.

Leg 4

Si was full of beans as we pushed on up Yewbarrow trying to make up time while out of the wind. My stomach was still not right, so I didn't feel strong but managed to make up 5 minutes by the top. We stayed ahead until the traverse to Pillar where the head wind and I suspect non optimal route choice cost 9 minutes. At this point I was considering my options; I was going to finish the round, whatever time it took, as anyone who's discussed 'Feet in the Clouds' with me will know, however doing it in 24 hours was looking like a tall order, which was going to hurt. I could have throttled back and tried again in August, but having so many people sponsoring me for The Alzheimer's Society was the added incentive to keep me pushing. We met the Ennerdale fell race coming the other way between Pillar and Windy Gap with a number of runners I knew (and some I didn't) shouting encouragement which gave me a further lift and over Kirk Fell I made up 7 minutes. I kept trying to wind it up, but I wasn't sure I had done enough. Honistor was a running transition with Ibuprofen, warm Nuun and a cup a soup.

Leg 5

Jeff rejoined Si and I, but I wasn't really aware of it. Heading up Dale Head I was struggling and mentally preparing to hurt myself from Dale Head to Robinson. I knew if I could run most of the section I would be in with a chance. Towards the top I still wasn't feeling strong enough so more Ibuprofen and a caffeine gel was do or die (I don't drink caffeine and the last thing my stomach wanted was a gel). At the top I threw my poles to Si and legged it off the top. I managed to run to Hindsgarth, making up 3 minutes, but couldn't maintain the pace up Robinson. I now had 90 minutes to finish, which I knew was possible if I maintained the pace. Almost immediately the wheels came off though, and I couldn't descend fast enough, so it was back on the poles. I was still too slow to the saddle and knew it would be a long painful descent on my feet so I threw caution to the wind and went for a bum slide down to the reservoir. It hurt as I had to use my feet to avoid rocks but got me back on schedule. Running down to High Snab we met Bill, who'd laid out my running shoes, new socks and some food, but time was still tight so I just changed shoes and ran out. I had another caffeine gel which added nicely to the pounding headache of the first one, but seemed to be giving me some strength. Running hard down the road was agony and when the gradient turned back up I had slowed to a hobble. Timings were still tight but doable so I ran as much as I could. By Portinscale I had 12 minutes left and started to look after my legs a bit so I'd be able to walk away from the finish. I jogged up Keswick High Street to arrive 23 hours 58 minutes after I started.

The End

We camped at Thirlspot with the team from Dark Peak, sadly they'd had to retire after Scafell Pike as they'd lost too much time in the bad weather. After a fine breakfast in the Dark Peak mansion, Bill and I went for a spin round the North loop of Whinlatter. It loosened up my quads but didn't do much for my shins! So another challenge over and another car full of wet, smelly kit to drive home. For me there are always mixed feelings at the end of an event like this. I, like many racers, have a massive feeling of anticlimax at the end of big races, months of preparation and single mindedness are suddenly over and on Monday there is nothing to plan for anymore.

On this event I never got comfortable due to my stomach problems and didn't get a second wind and the euphoric high that comes with it. Then again, I never had any serious moments of distress and coming back from all the problems on Leg3 to pull off the Challenge with a such fine margin was very rewarding. The generosity of so many helped me dig deep and with Unilever fund matching I will have raised around £1300 for The Alzheimer's Society (see http://www.justgiving.com/andym0000 for the latest total and to donate). So job done, I'm around the 1600 person to complete the challenge and apparently the 21st Ironman! Thanks to all the people who helped me put together my attempt, in particular Bill for driving plus Louise, Jeff, Phil and Si for pacing me. Next challenge the Open 12 in 3 weeks, oh and walking normally again!

More information...

More detailed information for anyone planning their own attempt:
My 'race review' notes including the pre race planning document is at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcprns3h_34c6fbh8hm . I've left them off my blog as they aren't in prose and I'll be updating it over the next week or so. Keep checking back if you're looking for insights on what went well and what I think we could have improved.

Below are a couple of charts from http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rfc2dbTaMmh68qTlPs-V1fQ the spreadsheet contains the full splits for each leg.

Ready to go and 'live' updates

Hopefully Bill will be able to post updates here as I pass through the transitions between legs.

It's On!

I've just realised I haven't actually said what The Bob involves in my previous blogs: The challenge is to climb 42 peaks in the Lake District in under 24 hours. The distance is about 70 miles with 27000 feet of ascent, more information can be found on http://www.bobgrahamclub.org.uk/.

Having made the decision to go ahead I've spent the week finalising my support team and making sure everything is set. As this is the biggest solo challenge I have attempted, I have also decided to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society (http://www.justgiving.com/andym0000 ). My Gran will be 90 next week and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's for nearly 10 years. It is a very stressful disease for both the sufferer and their carers. The Alzheimer's Society provides invaluable support for both, as well as funding for medical research. Many of the people who have sponsored me already have sent personal notes of loved ones who have / are suffering from dementia and as I go round it will give me a great boost to know every step raises more money for a worthy cause.

So here I am, the day before, testing strapping options on the my ankle to give it the best chance of surviving. I'll make one more post before we head up tomorrow and hopefully Bill Neave, my support driver will be updating the site with my progress as I go round.

Stress fracture?

My sports therapist and commented the injury could be a stress fracture and looking at the web this seemed like a good diagnosis. With my foot now very swollen and sore I went to my GP who bizarrely was also in a splint for a stress fracture so was very much aware of the possibilty. Half an hour later armed with my referral I was X-Rayed at Clatterbridge and left to ponder the sense of doing the Bob Graham Round.

I decided to rest completely and see what the X-Ray showed. When results were clear so I went back to yoga and starting stretching. The swelling continued to reduce and I got strength and flexibility back in my foot so decided the attempt was on.

Open5+ - 16th

The Open 5+ is the first race in the Open Endurance series which I've entered in the male pairs with Jeff.

It was another first for an Open5 with a mass start on the bikes, it was quite emotional as it reminded me of the transRockies where we set off each morning in a large group of riders. I pushed hard to get clear space on the single track which worked perfectly and we were well placed going onto the run. We chose to do the 200m swim in Derwent Water early so we could warm up again before the bike and before the weather closed in. The water was even colder than I expected and we struggled to get going again afterwards. Jeff was cramping for the rest of the event so we had to modulate our pace to allow him to keep going. We placed 7th which sets us up well for the series.

That evening we went to see Mike Stroud's lecture as part of the Keswick Film Festival and then headed out to recce Leg 2 at night. This had seemed like a good idea when I suggested it a couple of months before but with Jeff still recovering from the race and my ankle now very sore it began to seem like a bad idea. The weather closed in an we wandered around looking for the top of Watson Dodd. By this time I was cold and had realised my paramo was no longer waterproof and it windproofness seemed questionable as well (with hindsight I hadn't reproofed it for over two years of hard use so my fault really!). We decided to turn back and go to the first car which still took 2 hours of wandering slightly confused on the Dodds and a very slow painful descent of Clough Head.

I binned plans to do Leg 1 on the Sunday and helped Jeff paint his kitchen instead!

The Fellsman - 9th May 61 miles

The Fellsman was a bit of an afterthought after a conversation at pilates along the lines of 'a 17 hour Fellsman will set you up well for The Bob'. My previous attempt had taken 22 hours so I figured I'd better go and do it again to give me some confidence going into the attempt at the Round.

I ordered a new pair of shoes half a size smaller which arrived on the Friday just in time for me to drive up. I was so busy worrying about my ankle I'd forgotten to prepare for the event at it was 30 mins before I twigged the route may have changed since I marked my map 3 years earlier - it hadn't so panic over and we set off up Pen-y-Gwent. Our grouping off the start didn't go to plan and leaving Dent I was on my own. Another drenching and waterproof incident was nearly my undoing as I left it late getting more layers on and had trouble opening my pack with frozen fingers. Once off the moor the weather improved and I romped across the hills for the next 4 hours enjoying the easy ground underfoot.

As I headed out round Fleetwith Moss, I caught up with a group that included Julie, the lady I'd met on my Easter recce, I guess the ultra running fraternity isn't that big but it was great to see her. We stayed together then till the finish discussing all things Bob. We came in in 16:20 and my ankle was no worse, so all set for the Bob.

Great Lakes 3 Day 1st - 4th May

The GL3D is an annual event in the Lakes covering around 25 miles a day for the 3 days.

We set off from Thornthwaite and were soon climbing GrizedalePike. I'd set off quite late in the start window and soon had the faster runners passing me. As we headed off Whitlass Pike I stayed right on the direct route down which was a very steep and technical descent. I found the new insoles had raised my foot too much and I was really struggling to stabilise my ankle on the difficult terrain at the speed we were going. As we hit the road at the bottom I was struggling already a with painful ankle. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur until which finished at a beautiful spot on the shores of Wast Water.

The next day I switched shoes and headed off over Yewbarrow at a good pace. There were 3 of us running close together when we got hit by a squall of horizontal hail, it was so painful we all stopped and put leggings on! I picked a better route than the others into the valley and got to the campsite at Thirlmere in good spirits.

Monday dawned cold and wet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag. Eventually there was a lull in the weather so I packed up and headed up Helvelyn. The weather was miserable and my ankle was sore, so it was a long day working my way back to Thornthwaite. Clearly the shoes weren't right but more importantly my ankle had swelled dramatically and made using the clutch interesting on the way home.

The Bob - Leg 5 and Leg 4 26th April

The following weekend was back to the lakes for another recce. I was tired and hungover as I set off for Leg 5 so just did the hills skipping the road and headed back to the car as Sunday would be a long day on Leg 4 (16km, 3.5hours).

Jeff joined me again for a recce from Seathwaite to Honistor. We set in good weather and had some fun scrambling round the side of Scafell Pike rather than joining the hordes on the summit. It was a fine day so we went and had another go at Broad Stand Jeff sussed the technique after I baled and then I managed to get up unaided. We decided to go round Foxes Tarn and try again to ensure we could do it fluidly which I managed no problem. So it was then down to Wasdale and onto Yewbarrow. We skipped Steeple as it was late and headed round the rest of the leg and back to the car (32km 10 hours).

Unfortunately my new shoes, although the same size as the last pair and supposed off the same last, seemed a bit loose. With hindsight my feet has swollen after 11 hours racing and so fitted the larger shoe. Once my feet had shrunk again, I was slopping around in them. After speaking with Inov-8 I purchased some different insoles which made the shoes much snugger.

iROC - 18th April

The iROC race was new in the calender and promised to be a mental as well as physical challenge with 6 races over 2 days.

As we set off for the first fell race the pace was much faster than the plod I'd been used to and my legs were heavy by the end.

The next event was a set orienteering course which I was too slow on, I'd misunderstood the instructions and didn't realise everyone's map was correctly printed for the course they had to cover so everyone had left the start area before I got my head round it. I don't think I'd refuelled properly since the first race and was dehydrated by the finish.

Making amends for the next stage by eating and drinking lots, I placed well in the score event and was soon on my bike for the night time trial this was a blast and the downhill we'd run a few times during the day flashed by at night, the last minute change to the running order meant the fastest went off first so there was no traffic to contend with which was a relief on the narrow sections.

Part of the changes I hadn't appreciated was an extension to the last event of the day, I night fell race. It was supposed to be about 40 minutes which ordinarily I would cope with easily without food and water, I hadn't counted on it being lengthened an hour and the build up of fatigue during the day caught me out so I bonked on the second lap and struggled in completely wrecked.

Sunday was 4 timetrial on the bike which was good for me in comparison to the running events although I had a slight problem when my handlebars came loose - retightened them while riding up a fireroad was interesting (note to self, racing a bike you only picked up the previous weekend and significantly rebuilt the day before isn't recommended!). In the later stages I missed the line into a gully after overtaking someone and was slam dunked into a rock garden, thankfully the bike wasn't damaged and I was remarkably unscathed so finished the stage 6th.

Inov-8 were sponsoring the event and by popular demand brought there current range of shoes up from the warehouse on the Sunday after selling off older models on the Friday and Saturday I picked up a new pair of RocLite 315 to replace the 2 pairs I'd trashed over the previous year.

The Bob - Easter Recce

Good Friday Leg 3
Easter proved to be a challenging 3 day unsupported round, carrying camping kit and food.
I started from Dunmail Raise on Friday morning in fell shoes and a 12kg pack. The weather was cold and misty which was no problem to start with but by Bow Fell I was moving into unknown territory following advice on the best route up. I got slightly lost and cooled down rapidly as well as slipping constantly in shoes too light for the load I was carrying and not good enough for the wet rock. It stayed grim for the next 3 hours across the Central Fells but I was caught by Rick and Julie from Dark Peak who were also out reccing and were randomly starting the same time as me for their attempt. We chatted till Broad Stand which livened me up. I'd read how to do it and ditched my pack before climbing round the first step. I then pulled my pack up an set to work getting up the second - of course I now know not to attempt Broad Stand in the wet but with much slipping a dubious use of the 10 year old rope I got up. I decided it was too dangerous to haul up my pack though so had to descend Foxes Tarn and retrieve it from the first step before heading down to Wasdale for the night (27km 9:36 hours).

Saturday
Next day was better weather as I heading up Yarrowbarrow. Rick and Julie caught me up on Kirk Fell and said they'd had problems finding their way out of Lord's Rake so had been late off as well and also explained why I hadn't seen them on the summit of Scafell. They soon left me to a continue my trek to Braithwaite Campsite. It was now hot and I got to the campsite about 8pm this would have been fine if the showers weren't the best I've ever seen in a campsite and the cafe had shut when I came out! It was a long walk into Keswick to find some food so I succombed to a taxi to get me back (31km 11 hours).

Easter Sunday
I decided to leave the tent pitched and do the last day fast and light, this was good in theory but meant I didn't have the option of camping again and doing it over 4 days. For various reasons such as walking back into Keswick I didn't start till 10:30am so it was 3pm before I got to Threlkeld. I stopped for a pint and lunch as it was hot, I'd made a bad choice of socks, so my feet hurt and Clough Head wasn't appealing. Thankfully it was a still night and by 8:30pm I was heading towards Helvellyn where some hardy campers were surprised to see me. Fairfield at night was lonely although there were campers at Grisedale Tarn so I knew I wasn't totally out of range of other humans. I staggered back to the car around midnight and drove back to the chippy which was closing and gave me everything they had left in the display cabinet - grease overload :-)

Monday
I headed South and finally picked up my new bike (a Whyte 19) from Wheelbase and cycled about 17km in 2:20 which was plenty, my legs were heavy to say the least!

The Bob

So on 16th Jan I decided this might be the year to attempt the Bob Graham Round as there were no expedition races in the offing and I needed a reason to start getting fit.

I then did nothing until joining Sleepmonsters/Inov 8 hours before the start of the High Peak Marathon. After being dragged off the start I found I settled well and was still strong by the end so announced my intentions later that week with a vague plan:

28th and 29th March, Leg 2 and Leg 3 Logistics unclear!
April 10th - 13th Full BGR Recce, backpacking wild camp/ Wasdale,convenient campsites
25th April and 26th Leg 4 and Leg 5
17th May Leg 1
23rd / 24th any unclear sections / local training
June 6/7th The Big Day!

Additional training
5th March Open5 (speed work;-))
18th-19th April iROC nav practice
1st -4th May GL3D
9th May Fellsman

This remained relatively unchanged and I had a fantastic few months in the hills.
Recce 1 Legs 3 & 2
Jeff PD joined me on the first recce on a snowy weekend covering legs 3 on the Saturday and 2 on the Sunday. We'd done on route studying and enjoyed a couple of days approaching hills from new angles.

The Open 5 was fast as anticipated on a warm Sunday in the Peak around all my favorite trails

Race Schedule for 2009

So I've been busy sending off cheques again...

GL3D
Open endurance series
iROC
Heb Challenge
Open C2C
Isle of Man End to End MTB race

Oh and did a I mention my Bob Graham round attempt?

I'd best start getting fit!